This practice brief profiles three programs, two statewide and one local, that provide work opportunities to TANF recipients who are participating in vocational education programs. We selected programs that combine vocational education and paid work because this strategy reinforces the emphasis of the TANF program on encouraging recipients to engage in work as quickly as possible. This also allows them to meet their core 20-hour federal work requirement through paid, subsidized employment and to use their hours spent in school to meet any required hours over 20 (i.e., non-core hours), as long as they are directly related to a specific job or occupation.
