[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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