Microenterprise in the U.S.

Findings on Program Strategy:

This series of brief reports describes various components of microenterprise programs targeted to TANF recipients, based on the experiences of the ten grantee organizations.

Business Skills Training for TANF Recipients (PDF)
A brief summary of the structure and content of the business skills training provided to TANF recipients (5 pages). Includes a discussion of key issues faced by programs in providing training to this population. (12/02)

Personal Effectiveness Components of Microenterprise Welfare to Work Programs (PDF)
A four-page summary of the need for and design of personal effectiveneness program components, which aim to address the personal challenges that TANF recipients face in seeking to become self-employed. (12/02)

FIELD forum Issue #7 — Recruiting, Assessing and Screening TANF Recipients (PDF)
This issue of the forum explores the challenges microenterprise programs face as they try to recruit TANF recipients and describes the assessment and screening components they use to help clients determine whether self-employment is a sound option. (Published 10/00)

FIELD forum Issue #3 — Designing Microenterprise Programs for Welfare Recipients (PDF)
Concerned about the impact welfare reform would have on microenterprise programs that serve welfare recipients, in 1998 the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation made a cluster of grants to support programs serving TANF recipients. This forum briefly profiles projects participating in the Welfare to Work cluster, describes some of the challenges posed by TANF and explains how TANF influences program design. (Published 11/99)

 
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