    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [March 8, 1997]
    [Pages 266-268]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Memorandum on Government Employment for Welfare Recipients
    March 8, 1997

    Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

    Subject: Government Employment for Welfare Recipients

        Since I signed the historic welfare reform law, I have urged
    businesses, nonprofit organizations, and religious groups across the
    Nation to help make its promise of opportunity real by offering jobs to
    welfare recipients. We are making great progress, but there is more to
    do. And today, I take action to ensure that the Federal Government, as
    the Nation's largest employer, contributes to the greatest extent
    possible to this national effort.

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        I therefore direct each of you, as head of an agency or department,
    to use all available hiring authorities, consistent with statute and
    prior executive memoranda, to hire people off the welfare rolls into
    available job positions in the Government.
        In particular, I direct you to expand the use of the Worker-Trainee
    Program and other excepted service hiring authorities. The Worker-
    Trainee Program allows agencies to quickly and easily hire entry-level
    persons for up to 3 years, with the ability to convert the appointment
    to career status if the employee has performed satisfactorily. Though
    recently underutilized, the program allows agencies to bypass complex
    Federal personnel hiring rules and procedures to bring people into the
    junior grades of the work force.
        I further direct you, in recognition of the different
    characteristics of the various agencies' work forces, to prepare an
    individualized plan for hiring welfare recipients and to submit that
    plan to me within 30 days. This plan should have three principal
    components:
        The plan should contain a survey indicating in which
                divisions and for which categories of positions your agency
                can most easily hire welfare recipients, both in the
                Washington, D.C. area, and in the field.
        The plan should describe in detail how the agency intends to
                recruit and hire qualified welfare recipients. This
                description should include a proposed local outreach
                program, and utilize Federal Executive Boards and Federal
                Executive Agencies to bring Federal job opportunities to the
                attention of welfare offices, State and private employment
                offices, nonprofit organizations, and others that work with
                welfare recipients on a regular basis. This program should
                build upon the Government's existing nationwide employment
                information systems.
        The plan should describe in detail how the agency will
                assist welfare recipients, once hired, to perform well and
                to keep their jobs. The agency should include in this aspect
                of the plan proposals for on-the-job training and/or
                mentoring programs.
        I expect each agency head to report to me about his or her plan at a
    special cabinet meeting called for that purpose. Following this meeting,
    I also expect monthly reports on implementation.
        To ensure deep and continuing involvement in this issue by the White
    House, I ask the Vice President to oversee this effort. Based on his
    expertise in Federal workplace issues, he will assist all agencies in
    carrying out their commitments.
        Finally, I direct appropriate agencies to take three steps that will
    help bring welfare recipients into the Federal work force while
    assisting all other low-income Federal employees.
        I direct each agency head to notify all employees eligible
                for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) of both their
                eligibility and their ability to receive EITC monies each
                month in their paychecks. Currently, not all agencies inform
                qualifying employees of their eligibility and options for
                payment. To insure uniform implementation, I direct the
                Secretary of the Treasury to issue to each agency within 15
                days a statement of EITC eligibility rules which agencies
                can use to inform their employees.
        I direct the General Services Administration (GSA) to issue
                within 30 days guidelines regarding use of the Federal Fare
                Subsidy Program. These guidelines should address whether
                agencies may offer fare subsidies based on employee income,
                which would enable more agencies to participate in the Fare
                Subsidy Program.
        I direct the GSA, after consultation with all Federal
                agencies, to report back to me within 30 days on plans to
                assist low-income Federal workers in finding affordable
                child care. This report shall include information on agency-
                sponsored child care centers and agency contracts with local
                child care resource and referral services, as well as
                recommendations on any appropriate expansion of these
                arrangements to provide assistance to low-income Federal
                workers.

                                                          William J. Clinton

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