TY - JOUR
T1 - Public assistance workers' confidence in welfare-to-work programs and the clients they serve
AU - Jagannathan, Radha
AU - Camasso, Michael J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding for this Research was provided by USDHHS, Administration for Children and Families, and the New Jersey Department of Human Services. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meetings of the National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics held in Baltimore, MD (August, 2001).
Funding Information:
9. Were you ever an employee of a JTPA agency or a program funded by JTPA?
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - In this paper we examine public assistance worker confidence in welfare-to-work programs and welfare clients. In line with the expectancy model of motivation, we define confidence as the belief that worker effort will result in good and effective performance. Using survey responses from the entire front-line laborforce (N = 1, 159) in New Jersey's counties with the largest caseloads, we find that only about 25 percent of workers have high confidence in either program or clients. We also find that confidence is especially low among white males who have worked in ongoing income maintenance units for more than 14 years. Additionally, we present some suggestive evidence that links high confidence to higher client participation in employment-related activities. The implications of our research for identifying the sources of under-performance in the welfare-to-work workforce are discussed as are our suggestions for increasing workforce confidence.
AB - In this paper we examine public assistance worker confidence in welfare-to-work programs and welfare clients. In line with the expectancy model of motivation, we define confidence as the belief that worker effort will result in good and effective performance. Using survey responses from the entire front-line laborforce (N = 1, 159) in New Jersey's counties with the largest caseloads, we find that only about 25 percent of workers have high confidence in either program or clients. We also find that confidence is especially low among white males who have worked in ongoing income maintenance units for more than 14 years. Additionally, we present some suggestive evidence that links high confidence to higher client participation in employment-related activities. The implications of our research for identifying the sources of under-performance in the welfare-to-work workforce are discussed as are our suggestions for increasing workforce confidence.
KW - Correspondence analysis
KW - Expectancy theory
KW - Public assistance workers
KW - Worker confidence
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U2 - 10.1300/J147v30n01_02
DO - 10.1300/J147v30n01_02
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33646734555
SN - 0364-3107
VL - 30
SP - 7
EP - 32
JO - Administration in Social Work
JF - Administration in Social Work
IS - 1
ER -