Voicing realities and recommending reform in PRWORA

This article represents the views of 12 women facing welfare reform under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and 12 services providers of two state offices from a midwestern metropolitan area. The author used constructivist inquiry to understand their multiple constructions of reality associated with the "work first" provision of the law. Three aspects of work are discussed: preparation for work, nature of work, and consequences of work. The women and the services providers had some commonalities as well as differences in their perceptions about work first and their recommendations for changes. Although all the women facing reform identified some negative attributions of work first, not all services providers expressed negative views about work first. A majority of the women and a few services providers recommended that women need access to education and training to get better jobs and that they need more incentives to work. However, both groups recommended that they be included in future welfare reform decision making. Social workers need to carry these voices to the federal policymakers before this law is reauthorized in 2002.