The central focus of this investigation is to develop and evaluate a new social welfare program that can be used to improve outcomes for social discourse. Although current research demonstrates that there are a host of social issues that must be addressed to improve American society, a careful review of current data suggests that efforts to alleviate poverty are among the most pertinent. Alleviation of poverty could lead to the development of a fully functioning society in which all individuals are capable of achieving a high quality of life. For this reason, the proposed social welfare program for this investigation is an intensive job training program to help one of society's most vulnerable populations-single heads of households.
             Mead (1992), in his review of data on poverty in America, notes that "Today's poor are mainly found among female-headed families and single adults" (p. 9). Mead goes on to argue that because of the heads, in most cases, mothers of single headed households are responsible for dual roles of child care and work, individuals that lead these types of households are apt to work less than in families where two parents are present. With this in mind, it seems reasonable to argue that the development of a job training program for this population would serve as the basis for enabling heads of these households to acquire higher paying jobs. In this context less work would translate into a salary that is commensurate with median income, versus current work, which is commensurate with poverty level wages.
             In order to qualify for the program, parents would need to demonstrate economic need. Given that many single-headed households utilize some type of federal or state welfare program in order to supplement their income-i.e. food stamps, Medicaid or SCHIP-eligibility for the program could be based on current enrollment in one of these programs. The individual applying for job training must display a clear financial ...