The Nation - News from April 19, 1989

The federal government unveiled the broad outlines of a plan for states to help poor families get off welfare and become self-sufficient through education, job training and work programs. The plan provides that one parent in two-parent welfare families will have to work at least 16 hours a week as a condition for receiving benefits, and single welfare parents with children 3 years or older will have to work or participate in training programs. Also, teen-age parents who have not completed high school will be required to return to school or work toward an equivalent degree. The Department of Health and Human Services outlined the plan in proposed rules to implement the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training program passed by Congress last year.