Structured work and training activities for welfare recipients in West Virginia began in 1962 when the state's entire caseload of two-parent families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children was enrolled in mandatory work and training activities. In 1980s-1990s, the Community Work Experience Program became an important tool in welfare-to-work initiatives. The federal welfare reform legislation of the 1990s pressured West Virginia to accelerate its implementation of welfare reform with no allowance for the state's lengthy history of economic hardship and unemployment stemming from the problems of the coal, steel, and chemical production industries. West Virginia's serious shortage of unsubsidized employment opportunities has made compliance with the work participation rates specified for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients extremely difficult. Despite West Virginia's efforts to prevent TANF enrollment and re-enrollment through support services, diversion payments, and new initiatives aimed at families at risk, the reality of the state's job-scarce economy means that some TANF participants are not likely to leave the system anytime soon. West Virginia's experience demonstrates the shortcomings of the roll-clearing strategies of welfare reform and the fact that, although the advent of support services represents a more enlightened approach to welfare, such efforts are no substitute for anti-poverty policies. (Contains 72 references.) (MN)