Glossary of Terms
Capital
Area Workforce Development Board (CAWDB): The body responsible
for planning and oversight of the workforce system for the City of Austin/Travis
County workforce development area.
Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS): Assessment
system for adults with low literacy skills.
CHOICES: (formerly JOBS) A Texas Workforce Commission program that assists TANF
applicants and recipients to gain the necessary skills to obtain long-term
employment and self-sufficiency. CHOICES also targets TANF teen
parents and non-exempt youth to assist them in educational services. Local workforce development boards administer CHOICES.
Collaboration: A mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship
entered into by two or more organizations to achieve common goals without
duplicating services. The relationship includes: commitment to mutual relationships
and goals; a jointly developed structure and shared responsibility; mutual
authority and accountability for success; and sharing of resources and
rewards. (source: Peterson, A.H. Wilder Foundation)
Community: A group of individuals or families that share certain
values, services, institutions, interests, or geographic proximity.
Community-based Services: Services provided to individuals, family
members, or other caregivers in the community, e.g. schools, churches,
etc., rather than in an institution. These services are an alternative
to facility-based services or institutionalization.
Continuum of Care: A comprehensive
array of services available at any intensity or level of need required
to adequately address the needs of an individual so that they may attain
their maximum potential.
Critical Conditions: Community condition indicators that can
be assessed and evaluated.
Eligibility: The meeting of specific qualifications to receive
certain benefits; the criteria used by public assistance programs to determine
which people may receive help. For example, to be eligible for the Food
Stamp program, a person must meet certain income requirements and to be
eligible for Medicare a person must be above a certain age.
Food Stamp Program: Provides basic food needs to low-income families.
Livable Wage: The self-sufficiency
earning level.
Medicaid: Provides medical care for eligible low-income people.
Outcomes: Specific, measurable desired changes in conditions
(knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors) resulting from strategies.
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
(PRWORA) of 1996: The Federal welfare reform law that established the
Temporary Assistance for needy Families (TANF) program which transforms
welfare into a system that requires work and provides for time-limited
financial assistance.
Personal Responsibility Agreement: An agreement signed between
the welfare recipient and the State of Texas. Agreement also has strict
rules which welfare recipients must adhere to. (see Personal Responsibility
Agreement in Appendix)
Secretary’s
Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS): A Labor
Department initiative to study employer needs in the marketplace. It categorizing
specific employee skills required by employers.
Supportive Services: A variety of services provided to a participant
or a participant’s household to enable them to live as independently
as possible.
Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families (TANF): Formerly Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC). Purpose is to provide temporary assistance
to families with dependent children who are deprived of basic support due
to death, desertion or unemployment of one or both parents.
Texas
Works: A statewide welfare-to-work initiative of the Texas
Department of Human Services. Its purpose is to assist welfare recipients
in their transition into employment by providing educational assistance
and training. The effort is closely linked with TWC’s CHOICES program.
Transitional Benefits: Child care and Medicaid benefits given
to a recipient for a period of time after their time limits have expired.
Recipient is usually employed at this time.
Supplemental Security Income: Federal program administered by
the Social Security Administration to provide support for elderly and disabled
low-income people.
Work I: Austin Community College term for entry level jobs and
wages.
Work II: Austin Community College term for livable wage jobs.
Working Poor: Individuals working below the livable wage level.
They are often one emergency or one missed paycheck away from needing public
assistance.
WorkKeys: A national ACT system for teaching and assessing workplace
skills places an emphasis on skills not education levels. It connects "knowing
with doing and learning with earning."
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