This digest examines community college welfare-to-work programs and the strategies employed to enhance program completion, job retention, and educational advancement. It begins with a discussion of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, and the implications of this "work-first" oriented legislation for welfare recipients and community colleges. Two common barriers to completing welfare-to-work programs are presented (i.e., difficulty balancing work and school and the lack of reliable transportation/child care) along with strategies for overcoming these obstacles, such as programs that offer on-site childcare or that loan participants computers so they can access distance education courses from home. Strategies that facilitate job retention include pre-employment training on workplace development skills and the establishment of mentoring relationships that offer participants ongoing support. With respect to promoting the educational advancement of welfare recipients, the digest identifies two possible strategies. The first is the establishment of fully articulated welfare-to-work programs that facilitate the completion of associate's degrees. The second strategy concerns the creation of an academic culture that encourages participants to view themselves as students rather than welfare recipients. One specific example of this strategy is a program that requires all participants to obtain college IDs and complete admissions applications. (Contains 12 references.) (RC)