American Institute for Full Employment

The American Institute for Full Employment (AIFE) is a nonprofit organization that since 1994 has been promoting welfare reform programs, worked on unemployment insurance and social security.

The "Institute is best known for developing the successful Full Employment Program – a welfare, unemployment and food stamp replacement concept that converts benefits to wage subsidies for transitional, training-oriented, predominantly private sector jobs. It helped implement the program as JOBS Plus in Oregon and Work First in Mississippi." 

History
"The American Institute for Full Employment is a nonprofit public policy research and development center founded in 1994, with offices in Klamath Falls, Oregon and Washington, D.C." 

The Institute conducts research, studies best practices, and works on developing practical solutions in the areas of unemployment insurance, workforce development, retirement income, and public assistance. The Institute assists states with policy and program design and implementation. The Institute also publishes progress reports that provide a vital source of information for state and local officials who want to know how their workforce and public assistance programs compare to those in other areas and what they can do to improve. 

Don McIntosh on AIFE
"In 1994, to spread the anti-welfare gospel, Wendt founded and funded a non-profit organization, the American Institute for Full Employment (AIFE)," Don McIntosh wrote in the Northwest Labor Press. "AIFE works closely with Oregon's JOBS Plus, and it also sends people to state legislatures around the country to promote the idea of converting welfare and unemployment benefits into wage subsidies for companies. [So far, such programs have been created in Mississippi, Texas, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Delaware.] On the AIFE website are links to right-wing think tanks - Heritage Foundation, Cascade Policy Institute, Cato Institute and the National Center for Policy Analysis. board." 

Personnel

 * Ted Abram, executive director
 * Heidi Neel, senior fellow and director, Social Security education project
 * John W. Courtney, director, Unemployment Insurance and Workforce Investment project

SourceWatch links

 * For Our Grandchildren

Contact Information
American Institute for Full Employment 2636 Biehn Street Klamath Falls, Oregon 97601 Phone: 800 562 7752, 541 273 6731 Fax: 541 273 6496 Website: http://www.fullemployment.org/