[Background Material and Data on Programs within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means (Green Book)]
[Appendices]
[Appendix L. Monitoring the Effects of Welfare Reform]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[1998 Green Book] APPENDIX L. MONITORING THE EFFECTS OF WELFARE REFORM

                                CONTENTS

Evaluations and Reports Required by Law
Major Research Programs Monitoring or Evaluating Welfare Reform
  National Surveys
  State Policy Monitoring
  Development of Program and Social Indicators
  Implementation Studies
  Topical Studies
  State Welfare Demonstration Programs
  Other Evaluations

                EVALUATIONS AND REPORTS REQUIRED BY LAW

     Numerous governmental and other organizations plan to 
monitor the effects of the 1996 welfare reform law. The law 
itself requires information and data reporting by States; calls 
for several reports by States and Federal agencies; and 
authorizes evaluations of programs and policies it created or 
modified. Table L-1 summarizes the various reporting 
requirements and evaluations related to welfare reform 
specified in law.

    MAJOR RESEARCH PROGRAMS MONITORING OR EVALUATING WELFARE REFORM

     A variety of research activities are planned or underway 
to monitor and evaluate welfare reform. These activities 
include the fielding of new national surveys of families likely 
to be affected by welfare reform. Most notable among these 
survey efforts are the Census Bureau's Survey of Program 
Dynamics (SPD) and the Urban Institute's Survey of American 
Families. Several organizations are monitoring State welfare 
policies under the devolved welfare system. Other organizations 
are developing and compiling program and social indicators that 
will aid in evaluating the new welfare program. Some groups are 
undertaking studies to examine how States go about implementing 
policy changes under the new welfare system. A number of 
researchers are investigating special topics relating to 
welfare reform, such as the effects of benefit termination and 
grant diversion, others are studying the role of child care 
under the new system, while still others are focusing on 
certain groups such as the urban poor and immigrants.

   TABLE L-1.--WELFARE REFORM: SURVEY AND DATA COLLECTION, REPORTS TO   
         CONGRESS, AND EVALUATIONS REQUIRED OR AUTHORIZED BY LAW        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Section \1\              Description                 Date due      
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            National surveys                            
------------------------------------------------------------------------
414                   Census Bureau household      Ongoing              
                       sample survey to provide                         
                       data on TANF recipients                          
                       and other low-income                             
                       families. Funding $10                            
                       million each year, fiscal                        
                       years 1996-2002 \1\.                             
105 (PRWORA)          Census Bureau required to    November 22, 1996    
                       expand data collection to                        
                       enable analysis of                               
                       grandparents as primary                          
                       care givers.                                     
429A                  Department of Health and     Ongoing              
                       Human Services (DHHS)                            
                       national random sample of                        
                       child welfare containing                         
                       longitudinal data reliable                       
                       at the State level for                           
                       children who have been                           
                       subject to, or are at risk                       
                       of, abuse and neglect.                           
                       Funding $6 million each                          
                       year, fiscal years 1996-                         
                       2002 \2\.                                        
1110                  The fiscal year 1998         Interim report       
                       appropriation law for DHHS   submitted to the    
                       includes $5 million for a    Appropriations      
                       DHHS study of ``welfare      Committees by April 
                       outcomes.'' The study        1998                
                       should involve State-                            
                       specific surveys and data                        
                       sets, survey data on the                         
                       impact of State waiver                           
                       programs, and                                    
                       administrative data.                             
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Evaluations                              
------------------------------------------------------------------------
413                   DHHS research and            Ongoing              
                       evaluation of TANF,                              
                       welfare-to-work programs,                        
                       and abstinence education                         
                       programs. Also funds for                         
                       State-initiated                                  
                       evaluations. Funding: TANF                       
                       research and evaluations:                        
                       $15 million per year                             
                       (fiscal years 1996-2002)                         
                       \1\; welfare-to-work                             
                       evaluations: $9 million                          
                       per year (fiscal years                           
                       1998-1999); and abstinence                       
                       education evaluations: $3                        
                       million per year (fiscal                         
                       years 1998-1999).                                
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Periodic reports to Congress                      
------------------------------------------------------------------------
411(b)                TANF annual report by DHHS   April 1, 1998 and    
                       includes information on      annually thereafter 
                       whether States are meeting                       
                       TANF work requirements and                       
                       program objectives;                              
                       demographic and financial                        
                       characteristics of                               
                       families receiving TANF;                         
                       and characteristics of                           
                       TANF Programs.                                   
452(a)(10)            Child Support Enforcement    3 months after the   
                       annual report by DHHS        end of the fiscal   
                       includes program costs and   year                
                       collections; number of                           
                       cases in which an                                
                       obligation has been                              
                       established and in which                         
                       collections have been                            
                       made; information on                             
                       collections for families                         
                       who receive, or used to                          
                       received, public                                 
                       assistance.                                      
1637(a)               Supplemental Security        May 30 of each year  
                       Income (SSI) annual report                       
                       by the Social Security                           
                       Administration includes                          
                       current and historical                           
                       data on applications and                         
                       allowances,                                      
                       characteristics of                               
                       recipients, program costs,                       
                       and 25-year projections of                       
                       program enrollment.                              
658K (Child Care and  Child Care and Development   July 31, 1998 and    
 Development Block     Block Grant (CCDBG) annual   every 2 years       
 Grant Act of 1990)    report based on data         thereafter          
                       supplied by States,                              
                       includes number of                               
                       families served,                                 
                       demographic and financial                        
                       characteristics of                               
                       families receiving care,                         
                       monthly cost of child care                       
                       services by type of care,                        
                       number of providers that                         
                       gave subsidized care.                            
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        Other reports to Congress                       
------------------------------------------------------------------------
106 (PRWORA)          DHHS report to Congress on   Feb. 1997            
                       the status of automated                          
                       systems to manage TANF                           
                       Programs.                                        
107 (PRWORA)          DHHS report on outcome       September 30, 1998   
                       measures as alternatives                         
                       to TANF work participation                       
                       requirements.                                    
5001 (Balanced        GAO study of the effect of   August 5, 1998       
 Budget Act of 1997)   family violence on the                           
                       need for public assistance.                      
232 (PRWORA)          GAO study of the effects     January 1, 1999      
                       of: (1) changes in SSI                           
                       eligibility for children;                        
                       (2) extra expenses                               
                       incurred by families with                        
                       children; (3) bar on                             
                       benefits for those who                           
                       have committed welfare                           
                       fraud, fugitive felons,                          
                       and parole violators.                            
------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Information and data reported by the States              
------------------------------------------------------------------------
402(a)                TANF State plans must        July 1, 1997, and    
                       outline State program to     every 2 years       
                       serve low-income families    thereafter          
                       with children.                                   
411(a)                Quarterly reports by the     No later than 45 days
                       States to DHHS that          after the end of the
                       include TANF disaggregated   fiscal quarter      
                       case record information,     beginning July 1,   
                       aggregated caseload          1997 and every      
                       information, and financial   quarter thereafter  
                       information.                                     
411A                  Report by the States to the  At least 4 times     
                       Immigration and              annually and at the 
                       Naturalization Service       request of the INS  
                       (INS) furnishing                                 
                       information on illegal                           
                       aliens in the State.                             
413                   Chief executive officer of   May 31, 1998 and     
                       each State must submit a     annually thereafter 
                       statement about the child                        
                       poverty rate in each State.                      
469                   DHHS must collect and        Ongoing              
                       maintain up-to-date                              
                       statistics by State of the                       
                       child support enforcement                        
                       caseload and services                            
                       provided for paternity                           
                       determination, location of                       
                       absent parents, and                              
                       establishment of child                           
                       support obligations.                             
453A                  States must establish        Directory must be in 
                       directory of new hires       place October 1,    
                       under the Child Support      1997 (no deadline   
                       Enforcement Program. DHHS    for when data       
                       may make this directory      becomes available   
                       available for research       for research        
                       purposes likely to           purposes)           
                       contributing to meeting                          
                       the goals of the TANF                            
                       Program.                                         
658K (Child Care and  States must submit           Aggregate data due   
 Development Block     information on the           from the States     
 Grant Act of 1990)    demographic and financial    December 31, 1997   
                       characteristics of           and annually        
                       families receiving child     thereafter; case-   
                       care assistance and          level information   
                       information about the cost   first due from the  
                       of care provided to          States August 31,   
                       families. Information is     1998 and quarterly  
                       collected on a monthly       thereafter          
                       basis, but submitted to                          
                       DHHS quarterly.                                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Unless otherwise noted, section references are to the Social        
  Security Act.                                                         
\2\ The appropriation law for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human
  Services (HHS), and Education (Public Law 105-78) rescinded the fiscal
  year 1998 funding of $15 million for welfare reform evaluations       
  (section 413) and $6 million for the child welfare sample (429A) and  
  included funding for these activities in a $26 million line item for  
  Social Services and Income Maintenance Research.                      
                                                                        
 Note.--PRWORA = Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity           
  Reconciliation Act of 1996; TANF = Temporary Assistance for Needy     
  Families Program (title IV-A of the Social Security Act).             
                                                                        
 Source: Congressional Research Service.                                

     A number of evaluations employing experimental or quasi-
experimental methods are also being conducted on various 
components of States' welfare programs. These include studies 
of work requirements, time limits, and increased earnings 
disregards. For example, the Department of Health and Human 
Services (DHHS) has awarded funds to States to continue 
evaluations of demonstration programs that were begun under the 
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) Program. These 
demonstrations were authorized under section 1115 of the Social 
Security Act.\1\ A national evaluation of welfare-to-work 
strategies, the former AFDC Job Opportunities and Basic Skills 
(JOBS) evaluation, is also being undertaken.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Under section 1115 of the Social Security Act, States were 
required to support an evaluation of the impact of program changes 
granted under waivers. The costs of section 1115 waiver evaluations 
were matchable by the Federal Government. While States are allowed to 
continue their waivers under the Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Families (TANF) Block Grant, they receive no automatic additional 
funding beyond the block grant for conducting evaluations. However, 
DHHS has allocated discretionary research funds to protect its 
investment in these evaluations. In fiscal year 1997, DHHS invited 
States with waivers to apply for additional funding for up to 95 
percent of the costs of continuing the evaluations under TANF. Nine 
States were awarded funding to continue their evaluations under their 
existing designs. Most of the waiver evaluations used an experimental 
approach in which participants were randomly assigned to experimental 
or control groups. In addition, DHHS has thus far funded grants to 10 
States to implement modified evaluations for their new TANF Programs. 
Under these evaluations, DHHS is supporting projects that will include 
different evaluation methodologies, such as pre- and posttreatment 
comparisons of the same groups and quasi-experimental designs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     In addition, the DHHS 1998 appropriation (Public Law 105-
78) includes $14 million for policy research, of which $5 
million has been earmarked for a study on the outcomes of 
welfare reform. The House and Senate conferees on the bill 
recommended that the study involve State-specific surveys and 
data sets, survey data on the impacts of State waiver programs, 
and administrative data such as food stamp, Social Security, 
and Internal Revenue Service records. The study should measure 
outcomes in both low and high economic growth areas of the 
country. The conferees urged DHHS to submit its research plan 
to the National Academy of Sciences to provide guidance on 
research design and recommend further research. DHHS is 
expected to provide an interim report to the Appropriations 
Committees by May 13, 1998 (within 6 months of the bill being 
signed into law).
     In addition to these efforts, researchers will be 
monitoring, reviewing, and assessing the evaluations. Some 
groups are forming to set up information clearinghouses 
relating to welfare reform. Others are setting up review panels 
to assess the various research and evaluation efforts that are 
being undertaken. Some groups are attempting to synthesize the 
research and evaluations with the purpose of identifying ``best 
practice'' models of welfare programs; i.e., State or local 
programs whose design, administration, or implementation are 
promising or judged to be effective and which other 
jurisdictions may wish to adapt.
     The following summary provides an indication of the types 
of research activities that are now being planned and 
undertaken. Our intent is not to be exhaustive but to provide 
summary information about several of the major studies.

                            National Surveys

Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD)
    The welfare reform law of 1996 provides the Census Bureau 
with $10 million annually, from fiscal year 1996 to fiscal year 
2002, to continue to collect data on families in the 1992 and 
1993 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation 
(SIPP). Called the Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD), the Census 
Bureau continuation of SIPP will provide a nationally 
representative sample of the population to evaluate the impact 
of TANF. The 1992 and 1993 SIPP panels provide 3 years of 
longitudinal data which can serve as a baseline for examining 
TANF impacts. The Census Bureau interviewed members of these 
panels again in the spring of 1997 and will collect annual 
information from this sample on household characteristics, 
income, and program participation. The legislation also 
requires Census to obtain additional information on the status 
of children.
Assessing the New Federalism--National Survey of America's Families
     Assessing the New Federalism, being conducted by the Urban 
Institute in Washington, DC, is a major foundation-funded, 
multiyear comprehensive assessment of how State's income 
support systems change as a result of the New Federalism. The 
project includes a National Survey of America's Families which 
surveys nearly 50,000 people to provide comprehensive 
information on the well-being of adults and children as welfare 
reform is being implemented in the various States. About half 
the households in the sample have incomes below 200 percent of 
the poverty line. The survey collects information on: 
employment, economic hardship and income; child care and child 
support; health insurance coverage, access to care, and use of 
care; and the behavior and emotional well-being of children, 
families, and individuals. The survey is designed to allow 
State-specific estimates in the 13 States (Alabama, California, 
Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, 
Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Washington, and 
Wisconsin) selected for intensive study, as well as to allow 
national estimates. Two waves of interviews are being 
conducted, one in 1997 and the other in 1999.
Child Welfare Longitudinal Study
     The welfare reform law required DHHS to conduct a 
longitudinal study to describe the outcomes for children and 
families who come in contact with the child protection system. 
The study, which is being conducted under contract by the 
Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina, will examine 
system-level and service factors, as well as child and family 
characteristics, that contribute to child and family outcomes. 
The study will select a nationally representative sample of 
6,000 children upon entry into the child protection system. One 
hundred agencies will be included in the sample. Information 
will be collected at baseline and at three annual followup 
interviews from the children and their care givers, 
caseworkers, and other agency personnel and service providers. 
The contract will cover a 6-year period, with field work 
expected to begin in the spring of 1999.

                        State Policy Monitoring

Monitoring State welfare reform
     The General Accounting Office is conducting a multiyear 
study that monitors and reports on the progress States are 
making in achieving the stated objectives of TANF as they 
reform their public assistance programs for needy families. The 
study's major questions are: (1) How are States using the 
design and funding flexibility provided by the law to 
restructure their assistance programs for needy families?; (2) 
What approaches are States taking in promoting work 
opportunities to reduce welfare dependence and what are the 
major challenges they are encountering?; (3) What approaches 
and polices are States using to promote personal responsibility 
to reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies and births, encourage 
formation and maintenance of two-parent families, and promote 
marriage? The study will include site visits to seven States. 
Information for all 50 States will be drawn from State welfare 
plans and compilations of State programs from other sources.
Survey on status of States' implementation of welfare reform
     The American Public Welfare Association is conducting a 
comprehensive baseline survey on the implementation of welfare 
reform in the States in 14 topical areas relating to welfare 
reform. Future surveys will focus on specific welfare reform 
issues such as management, service delivery, and policy 
decisions; eligibility, work, and benefits; children's issues; 
and food stamps.
Database on State legislative activity
     The National Council of State Legislatures is developing a 
database on welfare legislation enacted in each State. Topics 
to be covered include: time limits, eligibility, impacts on 
immigrants, benefit levels, responsibility contracts, grant 
diversion, minor parent provisions, school attendance 
requirements, work and participation requirements, job creation 
strategies, transitional services, and administration and 
oversight.
State Policy Documentation Project
     This project, which is being run by the Center for Law and 
Social Policy and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in 
Washington, DC, monitors and reports on program changes 
(administration, eligibility, services/benefits provided) that 
States legislate and implement. The project covers changes in 
food stamps, general assistance, TANF, and Medicaid Programs.
State child care policies
     The Urban Institute of Washington, DC, is conducting a 
project that will summarize the key features of State child 
care assistance programs for low-income families, including 
detailed descriptions of reimbursement rates, eligibility 
rules, and benefit levels, in all 50 States. State policies in 
effect in 1997 will be compared to those in effect prior to the 
new child care and Federal welfare reform legislation.
State Medicaid Eligibility Decisions and Practices Report
    The American Public Welfare Association is monitoring 
State's choices in establishing Medicaid eligibility. The 
welfare reform law changed State options about Medicaid 
eligibility. TANF recipients are not automatically eligible for 
Medicaid as they were under AFDC. Rather, Medicaid eligibility 
now incorporates the States' standards used for determining 
AFDC eligibility which were in effect on July 16, 1996. States 
may also decline Medicaid services for most populations of 
resident aliens. This study will examine States' choices in 
these areas.

              Development of Program and Social Indicators

Urban Institute's State database
     The Urban Institute is developing a State database as part 
of its ``Assessing the New Federalism'' project. The database 
will incorporate State-specific data in several broad areas, 
including: income security, health, well-being, State fiscal 
and political conditions, demographic characteristics, and 
social services. The database will contain aggregate measures 
of budget growth or decline, tradeoffs among major spending 
categories, discretionary tax increases and decreases, and 
certain indicators of how programs are changing (e.g., welfare 
programs' benefit levels, eligibility rules, time limits, and 
behavioral incentives).
Welfare Reform Information and Support Project
     The Census Bureau has funded a project, being carried out 
by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of 
Wisconsin, that will devise a framework for classifying welfare 
reform programs along important program dimensions. The 
classification scheme will then be applied to welfare reform 
programs in counties that constitute the primary sampling units 
(PSUs) in the Census Bureau's Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD) 
described above. The project will allow linkage of county 
program parameters with the SPD data.
Supporting State efforts to link administrative data systems
     These DHHS grants fund State efforts to link 
administrative program data from a variety of low-income 
assistance programs in order to analyze the collateral impacts 
welfare reform has on recipients and on other State and Federal 
assistance programs. While States may pursue any type of data 
linkages which examine potential impacts of welfare reform on 
other programs, DHHS has identified several topical areas of 
interest, including: foster care/kinship care, child abuse and 
neglect, mental health and substance abuse, teen pregnancy, 
out-of-wedlock childbearing, domestic violence, and work and 
work-related support services. South Carolina, Maryland, 
Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Mecklenburg County, North 
Carolina, have received funding for this project.

                         Implementation Studies

Assessing the New Federalism--case studies
     This project is part of the Urban Institute's 
comprehensive assessment of how State's income support systems 
change as a result of welfare reform (see above). In addition 
to TANF, the project will track general assistance, 
unemployment insurance, employment and training programs, child 
support policies, child care subsidies, and State tax policies. 
Case studies will be conducted in 13 States selected for 
intensive study; the case studies focus on the development and 
implementation of reform policies. The 13 States are: Alabama, 
California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Texas, 
Washington, and Wisconsin. The first round of intensive case 
studies started in late 1996 and were completed in early 1997. 
A second round in the same locations is planned for 1999.
Study of State capacity
     Being conducted by the Rockefeller School of Government at 
the State University of New York in Albany, this 4-year study 
focuses on State governments' capacity to implement social 
programs, including family and children's services, welfare, 
work force development programs, and Medicaid. The study 
focuses on such issues as: planning and management; information 
systems; integration and coordination of services and 
facilitation of access and ease of use; and interaction between 
welfare agencies and other entities including local 
governments, nonprofits, businesses, and service providers. The 
study will conduct indepth case studies of up to 18 States. 
Particular management topics will be addressed in all 50 
States. A small number of States that appear to be innovative, 
or whose implementation appears to be especially interesting, 
will be chosen, along with the case study States, for analysis 
of particular topics in greater detail. DHHS has funded a 
topical study that will examine culture change at the frontline 
worker level in local offices.

                            Topical Studies

States' early experiences with benefit termination
    The General Accounting Office (GAO) is examining the early 
experiences of three States in benefit termination (mostly as a 
result of work requirement sanctions). The study examines 
implementation problems and effects on families that were 
terminated.
An examination of State diversion programs and impacts on Medicaid
     This DHHS-funded study being conducted by George 
Washington University in Washington, DC, will focus on State 
welfare diversion programs and their effects on Medicaid 
enrollment. The link between AFDC and Medicaid that existed 
before welfare reform was one of the primary means of entry 
into Medicaid for poor families. Formal and informal diversion 
programs, because they limit the contact that poor families 
have with welfare offices, may potentially limit their access 
to Medicaid coverage if steps are not taken to formally assess 
them for Medicaid eligibility. This study proposes four broad 
areas of inquiry: (1) How are State diversion programs being 
conceived and structured?; (2) How are these diversion programs 
actually being implemented and what are the effects on 
participants, particularly with respect to Medicaid 
enrollment?; (3) How might local communities and institutions 
be affected by diversion programs, in particular by changes in 
Medicaid enrollment rates?; (4) Can potential strategies for 
monitoring changes in Medicaid enrollment rates and the effects 
of such changes over time be developed based on existing 
databases? The project is expected to be completed by November 
1998.
A study of diverted welfare applicants in Milwaukee
     Mathematica Policy Research of Princeton, New Jersey and 
the Hudson Institute of Indianapolis are conducting a study of 
applicants who are diverted from receiving welfare. About 250 
Wisconsin families in each of 3 sample groups will be 
interviewed: families that left Wisconsin's welfare rolls 
during the sample interview; families that began but did not 
complete the application process (diverted applicants); and 
families that began and completed the application process. The 
study seeks to determine what precipitated the applicants' 
decision to apply for welfare, what was their experience during 
the application process, when and why they decided to stop the 
application process, and how they are doing relative to when 
they decided to apply for assistance.
Wisconsin administrative data project on former AFDC recipients
     This DHHS-funded study by the Institute for Research on 
Poverty is intended to get early results on the economic and 
employment outcomes of women who left the AFDC rolls in 
Wisconsin--a State that has experienced a rapid decline in 
caseloads over the past 10 years. The study will use linked 
administrative data, including: (1) AFDC and food stamps data; 
(2) earnings data from unemployment insurance records; and (3) 
income and family status data from State tax records. This 
project will not explain caseload decline; rather it will 
describe the characteristics and outcomes of two groups of 
women who have left the AFDC Program in Wisconsin: one group of 
recipients in January 1995, and another group of recipients in 
January 1990, who left AFDC over the course of the year.
Evaluation of community-based job retention programs
     This DHHS-funded project, being carried out by the 
Pittsburgh Foundation, includes two phases. In phase 1, the 
project will provide a detailed implementation analysis and 
short-term outcome analysis for participants receiving various 
mixes of job retention and postemployment services. The 
services will be provided to about 700 employed TANF recipients 
through 5 community-based neighborhood service organizations in 
Pittsburgh. A common set of services will be provided but 
within the context of somewhat different existing service 
delivery systems among the community-based neighborhood service 
organizations. Phase 2, in project years 2 and 3, will include 
State-funded job retention programs.
Assessing effective welfare-to-work strategies for domestic violence 
        victims and survivors in the Options/Opciones Project
     This DHHS-funded research project by the Taylor Institute 
of Chicago, Illinois will study effective strategies for 
addressing the needs of abused women as they try to enter the 
labor force. This project will document the needs of battered 
girls and women on welfare and will identify successful 
strategies employed to eliminate violence and exit welfare. The 
research will focus on services provided through Options/
Opciones in partnership with the Illinois Department of Public 
Aid in one major welfare department office on the west side of 
Chicago. Options/Opciones will provide the following services: 
case management; preemployment training groups; and weekly peer 
support groups for those who have completed the preemployment 
training.
Child care under welfare reform
     The General Accounting Office is undertaking a study that 
will focus on several areas relating to child care and welfare 
reform. Among other issues, the study examines how States are 
allocating resources to provide child care to welfare families, 
to families transitioning off welfare, and to working poor 
families. The study also examines State efforts to increase the 
supply of child care given the growing demand for child care 
under welfare reform and whether States are changing standards 
for child care providers in response to welfare reform. The 
study will rely on site visits, telephone interviews, State 
plans filed with DHHS, and results from other research.
Child care research partnerships
     DHHS has awarded five Child Care Research Partnership 
projects (California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, 
Columbia University, Harvard University, Linn Benton College, 
and Wellesley College) to examine three broad questions: (1) 
How do child care policies and market dynamics influence child 
care demand, supply, and outcomes for low-income families, 
particularly welfare clients, those moving from welfare to 
work, and the working poor?; (2) How do child care 
opportunities and constraints affect the lives of low-income 
families and children?; and (3) What factors affect the cost, 
quality, and delivery of subsidized child care services? 
Collectively, these partnerships involve many local, State and 
national partners, including university research teams; 
agencies which administer child care, welfare, education, and 
employment programs; major corporations; national research and 
professional organizations; many community agencies and 
organizations; child care providers; and families from a wide 
spectrum of American society. Participating States include: 
Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, 
Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon.
National study of low-income child care
     This DHHS-funded project being carried out by Abt 
Associates of Cambridge, Massachusetts will study the low-
income child care market in 25 communities in several States. A 
substudy will examine the license-exempt family care market in 
neighborhoods drawn from these communities. The studies will 
examine how significant shifts in welfare policy and programs 
affect the child care market for welfare recipients and the 
working poor at the community level. They will examine the 
impact that subsidies have on the types, amounts and quality of 
child care available, on children's child care placements, and 
on family decisionmaking. Additionally, the studies will report 
on the largely unknown license-exempt family care market for 
both preschool and afterschool cohorts.
Improving the States' capability to evaluate child care policy options 
        as a component of their welfare-to-work strategies
     The Urban Institute and Mathematica Policy Research are 
conducting a DHHS-funded project to develop an expanded 
simulation model that would enable State welfare administrators 
to consider the interactions between child care assistance and 
welfare reform policies. Currently, Mathematica Policy Research 
is nearing completion in the development of a model to assess 
alternative welfare reform policies--STEWARD II. This project 
would add a component to STEWARD II that allows States to 
assess child care funding policies as they intersect with 
welfare reform.
 The role of child care in low-income families' labor force 
        participation
     The Urban Institute and Mathematica Policy Research are 
also conducting a DHHS-funded project that will develop 
research designs to address the relationship between child care 
and labor force attachment. The major work under this contract 
will consist of a series of working papers that critically 
evaluate research related to child care and labor force 
attachment, and that develop the rationale for the factors 
included in possible research designs.
 The devolution of welfare: assessing the effects on communities, 
        families and young children
     The University of California-Berkeley and Yale University 
Child Study Center are collaborating on a study that will focus 
on the effects of welfare reform on early child development, 
child care, and early education in eight sites in four States. 
In years 1 and 3 of the study, investigators will inventory 
local welfare agencies at each site to determine changes in 
Federal and State welfare polices and services. A sample of 60 
low-income families with a birth in the last year will be drawn 
from each community and interviewed annually. Data will include 
economic and demographic information as well as information on 
child care (including quality of care). The study will use 
various tests to assess the physical, social, and mental 
development of children in the sample families.
Study of the effect of family violence on the need for public 
        assistance
     Legislation passed in 1997 (Public Law 105-33) requires 
the General Accounting Office to conduct a study on the effect 
of family violence on the use of public assistance programs, 
particularly on how family violence prolongs the use of or 
increases the need for assistance.
Devolution and urban change
     The Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation is 
conducting a foundation-funded, 5-year study of the impact of 
welfare reform on urban areas. Four urban areas are included in 
the study: Los Angeles, Miami, Cleveland, and Philadelphia. The 
study will focus on three broad questions: (1) How are new 
State policies implemented by the local welfare office, and how 
do they affect the structure of the safety net and the mission, 
message, benefits, eligibility, and service mix offered by 
public agencies?; (2) How do the new policies affect the role 
and activities of community organizations?; and (3) How do the 
new policies affect the dynamics of program participation, 
employment, and the overall well-being of low-income families 
with children? The study will rely primarily on administrative 
data from TANF, unemployment insurance, and food stamps, going 
back over time as well as current data. Surveys will be 
administered to at least two cohorts of people who received 
food stamps in 1995 and 1997. Between 750 and 1,000 people per 
cohort per city will be selected for the survey. The project 
will include four additional separate studies in each of the 
areas: an implementation study of how the mission, message, 
benefits and service mix offered by welfare agencies change; a 
study of neighborhood indicators; an ethnographic study of 
approximately 30-50 families in each city; and an indepth study 
of nonprofit organizations and community institutions (e.g., 
churches, schools) and their responses to welfare reform.
Information for action: understanding the challenges of welfare reform 
        from a neighborhood perspective
     The Urban Institute's National Neighborhood Indicators 
Project will collect neighborhood-level data about 
characteristics of welfare recipients, the jobs that are 
potentially available to them, and the impact of welfare reform 
in six cities (Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Denver, Providence, 
and Washington). The data will be incorporated into geographic 
information systems, which can be searched by zip code or 
census tract, for use by communities and local decisionmakers. 
The database will help researchers address such questions as: 
Where do the people live who are at greatest risk of becoming 
welfare recipients?; How does welfare reform affect people and 
neighborhoods over time?; Are recipients able to get and keep 
jobs, obtain health coverage, and improve their overall family 
well-being?
Multicity study of the effects of welfare reform on children
     A consortium of universities including Johns Hopkins, 
Harvard, Pennsylvania State, and Chicago are conducting an 
interdisciplinary study of the effects of welfare reform on 
children and youth living in three cities (San Antonio, Boston, 
and Chicago). The study will collect information on child and 
youth well-being which includes measures on health and 
disability, cognitive development, emotional development, 
school achievement, and fertility in order to address such 
issues as: the effects on children of being in a family that is 
receiving welfare; the effects on children of living in a 
single-parent working family; the implications of welfare 
reform for persons with disabilities; the effects of poverty on 
children; the importance of income per se; and factors that 
mitigate or exacerbate the impacts of having low income. 
Interviews, direct assessments of the well-being of children, 
and administrative records provide the data on which the study 
is based. The study will follow families over time, and new 
families may be added. Detailed information on the rules of the 
local welfare system in the three sites will be collected to 
help determine whether and how impacts relate to welfare 
policies.
Neighbors, service providers, and welfare reform in Los Angeles County
     This Rand project will examine neighborhood variation in 
the availability of public and private social services 
throughout Los Angeles County early in the implementation of 
welfare reform. The study will also investigate how agencies 
are adapting to the current and anticipated changes in demand 
for their services as a result of welfare reform. The focus of 
the inquiry will be on services directed toward children and 
families.
Welfare reform studies and analyses (rural TANF)
     The purpose of this DHHS-funded project by Eastern 
Washington University in Cheney, Washington, is to conduct an 
indepth process evaluation of family response to the 
implementation of welfare reform in three remote rural counties 
of northeastern Washington State: Stevens, Ferry and Pend 
Oreille. The study will examine family strategies to attain 
economic self-sufficiency, family support from social networks, 
and assistance provided by community agencies, including 
transportation and child care.
Restricting welfare eligibility for legal immigrants
     The General Accounting Office is preparing a report that 
will describe the impact of changes in the welfare law on 
immigrants, particularly on their use of the Supplemental 
Security Income, Medicaid, TANF and Food Stamp Programs. GAO 
will examine: (1) how many and what types of legal immigrant 
households have their Federal welfare benefits terminated; (2) 
how States implement the limits on legal immigrants' 
eligibility for Federal welfare benefits (both optional and 
mandatory); (3) what plans States have to provide assistance to 
legal immigrants; and (4) what major implementation issues and 
challenges Federal agencies and States face in administering 
the provisions restricting welfare assistance to legal 
immigrants.
Study on the economic and health status of immigrants, their 
        communities, and the organizations which serve them
     The Urban Institute in collaboration with the University 
of California at Los Angeles is conducting a study, funded by 
DHHS, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, which profiles the status of 
immigrants in Los Angeles and New York City with regard to 
health, employment, and participation in programs administered 
by public and private agencies. The study will pay special 
attention to distinguishing different categories of immigrants 
and drawing comparisons between them and the native population. 
To the extent possible, the project will explore the impacts of 
welfare reform on immigrants, communities, and the 
organizations which serve them, with attention to both 
individual and institutional adaptations. The impact of the 
loss of food stamps among current legal immigrants will be a 
particular focus of the study.
Welfare to work: monitoring the impact of welfare reform on American-
        Indian families with children
     This DHHS-funded project at the Washington University 
School of Social Work in St. Louis is addressed primarily to 
monitoring the implementation and assessing the impact of 
welfare reform on Indian reservations. The study will examine 
the prospects for economic independence of parents currently on 
welfare and the potential changes in the service structure and 
socioeconomic conditions on reservations brought about by State 
and tribal responses to TANF. Descriptive information on TANF 
Program implementation and, if available, evaluative data on 
short-term program impacts will also be generated by the study. 
Arizona was chosen as the study site because it has the largest 
reservation-based American Indian population, with 21 
reservations of varying characteristics.
Partner and father involvement in the lives of low-income first-time 
        mothers and their children
     This DHHS-funded project at Children's Hospital in Denver 
will investigate the role that fathers play in improving the 
material, emotional, and developmental well-being of low-income 
women and children. The project consists of a set of intensive 
secondary analyses using data from three longitudinal 
randomized experiments of a program of prenatal and infancy 
home visitation serving first time mothers from various ethnic 
and racial groups. All three experiments used home visitation 
by nurses or health paraprofessionals to assist the first time 
mothers; the projects were conducted in Elmira, New York; 
Memphis, Tennessee; and Denver, Colorado. Most of the mothers 
were low income, and previous findings from this evaluation 
demonstrate many positive impacts of the program on women's 
maternal life course, caregiving, and child outcomes. Data has 
been collected by these studies on the role of fathers and 
their possible relation to program effects. This project is 
designed to analyze those data.

                  State Welfare Demonstration Programs

     The following 20 projects are being funded by DHHS as 
components of the State Welfare Reform Evaluation Project, 
under which States continue, possibly with modifications, the 
evaluations of their section 1115 AFDC waiver demonstrations.
Arizona's EMPOWER Program
     Abt Associates is evaluating Arizona's EMPOWER (Employing 
and Moving People Off Welfare and Encouraging Responsibility) 
Program, a continuation of the State's waiver demonstration 
program. EMPOWER's main provisions are: (1) time-limiting cash 
assistance for adult recipients; (2) withholding cash 
assistance for additional children born while the family 
receives assistance; (3) extending transitional medical and 
child care benefits from 12 to 24 months; (4) eliminating the 
100 hour per month work restriction for two-parent family 
eligibility; (5) allowing individual development (savings) 
accounts; (6) requiring unwed minor parents to live with a 
responsible adult; (7) requiring 13- to 16-year-old parents 
(including pregnant girls) to participate in JOBS/TANF; (8) 
imposing automatic sanctions for initial noncompliance with 
JOBS/TANF Program requirements; and (9) implementing a limited 
subsidized employment pilot called JOBSTART.
    The study randomly assigned 5,829 applicants and recipients 
to control and experimental groups. The evaluation will study a 
variety of impacts, including: income and employment; program 
participation; program duration; family structure (including 
fertility) and stability; child well-being; and employer health 
benefit provision. The study will also include process studies 
on how the demonstration was implemented and a cost-benefit 
analysis. The evaluation is scheduled to be completed by June 
2002.
Connecticut's Jobs First Program
     The Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation is 
evaluating Connecticut's Jobs First Program, a continuation of 
the State's waiver demonstration program. Jobs First includes: 
(1) a 21-month time limit for nonexempt recipients; (2) 24 
months of transitional Medicaid; (3) liberalized earnings and 
asset disregards; (4) limited eligibility for children born 
while the family receives assistance; (5) a strong emphasis on 
job search as a labor market screen and use of employability 
assessment only if a job has not resulted from extensive 
search; and, (6) progressive sanctions for noncompliance. Jobs 
First was one of the first programs to impose a time limit in a 
major urban area (New Haven and Hartford).
     The study randomly assigned 6,000 recipients to Jobs First 
or traditional AFDC. The study examines implementation and 
staff and recipient attitudes toward the changes in the welfare 
system under welfare reform. It will examine the impacts of 
Jobs First on: work, earnings and poverty status; welfare 
receipt and costs; job-retention and recidivism; family 
composition and stability; the well-being of children; child 
support and other sources of income; the use and perceived 
quality of program services and child care; attitudes toward 
work, welfare, and Jobs First; and, material hardship 
especially as hardship may be affected by time limit policies. 
The evaluation's scheduled completion date is April 2002.
Florida's Family Transition Program
     The Manpower Development Research Corporation is 
evaluating Florida's Family Transition Program (FTP) in 
Escambia County, a continuation of the State's waiver 
demonstration program. Provisions of the FTP demonstration 
include: a 24-month time limit on assistance (with some 
exceptions); increased earned income disregards; requiring 
parents of children age 6 months or older to participate in 
employment and training programs; a higher motor vehicle asset 
limit; increased eligibility for two-parent families; and 
school attendance requirements for teenagers.
     A total of 5,430 AFDC applicants who met FTP eligibility 
criteria were randomly assigned to either a control group or 
experimental group. The study examines such questions as: Is 
the FTP Program being implemented as intended?; How do program 
staff across all components of FTP attempt to achieve the 
multiple goals implicit in the program model?; How do welfare 
recipients respond to the new package of rules and services?; 
Who reaches the time limits?; What happens prior to and at the 
point when time limits are reached, and after benefits are 
terminated?; Does FTP increase the rate at which welfare 
recipients participate in and complete various education and 
employment activities?; Does FTP lead to increases in 
employment and earnings?; Does FTP reduce welfare receipt?; Is 
FTP cost effective? The FTP evaluation, which began in 1994, is 
scheduled to be completed by April 2000.
Illinois' Youth Employment and Training Initiative
     Illinois State University is completing an evaluation of 
the State's Youth Employment and Training Initiative (YETI) 
operated as a welfare reform demonstration from November 1993 
until July 1997 when TANF was implemented in the State. YETI 
focused on inner-city youth in welfare families and provided 
counseling and classes designed to: help participants stay in 
high school and graduate; increase life skills and self-esteem 
and reduce the incidence of pregnancies and substance abuse; 
increase job-readiness and vocational skills; and facilitate 
the transition from school to work. The overall objective was 
to reduce the likelihood of welfare dependency among inner-city 
youth.
     The evaluation is a random assignment experiment in which 
1,000 students in 3 high schools who volunteer to participate 
were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. The 
major impact questions center on whether the interventions will 
help participants complete high school, obtain and hold regular 
jobs, avoid the pitfalls of substance abuse or early 
parenthood, and achieve economic self-sufficiency. The process 
study centers on whether the program can be effectively 
implemented and operated in inner-city schools. The cost/
benefit analysis determines the cost effectiveness of the 
program for government, participants and the general public. 
The evaluation is expected to be completed by July 2000.
Indiana's IMPACT Program
     Abt Associates is evaluating Indiana's IMPACT (Indiana 
Manpower Placement and Comprehensive Training) Program, a 
continuation of the State's waiver demonstration program. 
IMPACT includes the following major policy provisions: grant 
diversion; a 24 month benefit time limit for adults determined 
to be JOBS eligible; a family benefit cap; child immunization 
and school attendance requirements; and a higher resource limit 
for AFDC eligibility. Under TANF, effective April 1997, two 
major policy changes were added under IMPACT: the 24 month 
welfare benefit time limit was expanded to apply to all 
mandatory employment or training cases, and adults with 
children over the age of 12 weeks and under the age of 3 years 
are no longer exempt from participating in employment or 
training activities.
     Applicants and recipients were randomly assigned to 
control and experimental groups. Central research questions to 
be explored include: Were the reforms successfully 
implemented?; What organizational characteristics, service 
features, and aspects of the demonstration environment 
determine its impacts?; How do these reforms affect benefit 
payments, income, self-sufficiency, children's well-being, and 
family stability?; What are the consequences of the changes on 
welfare entry and the size and composition of the welfare 
caseload under TANF?; What trends should the State expect in 
levels of benefit payments and services needed?; What happens 
to individuals after they leave welfare, especially as a result 
of reaching the time limit? The evaluation is scheduled to be 
completed by April 2002.
Iowa's Family Investment Program
     Mathematica Policy Research is evaluating Iowa's Family 
Investment Program (FIP), a continuation of the State's welfare 
waiver demonstration. The FIP combines program changes designed 
to ease a family's transition from welfare to work with strict 
requirements that recipients participate in the development and 
execution of a social contract, the family investment agreement 
(FIA). The FIA details the steps a family will take to become 
self-sufficient and establishes a timeframe for doing so. 
Families which opt not to develop an FIA or fail to follow 
through with the self-sufficiency plan outlined in the 
agreement are placed on a 6-month limited benefit plan (LBP) 
which leads to the complete loss of cash assistance for a 
following 6-month period.
     Applicants and recipients were randomly assigned to 
control and experimental groups. The study seeks to determine 
the long-term impacts of the FIP initiatives on: cash 
assistance, food stamp and Medicaid recipiency and benefit 
amounts; participation in employment and training activities; 
employment, earnings and total family income (including the FIP 
cash grant, food stamps, earnings, and child support); the 
incidence of poverty; and the number and duration of welfare 
spells, frequency of recidivism, and the number and duration of 
employment spells. In addition to an impact analysis, the study 
will also include process studies on how the demonstration was 
implemented and a cost-benefit analysis. The scheduled 
completion date is April 2000.
Iowa's limited benefit plan
     Mathematica Policy Research is conducting a study, using 
funds from DHHS and foundations, that is one of two add-on 
studies to Iowa's AFDC waiver evaluation. This study will 
examine families, sanctioned under Iowa's Family Investment 
Program, that are placed in the limited benefit plan (LBP), 
which leads to complete loss of cash assistance for a following 
6-month period. The study will describe the experiences and 
outcomes of welfare cases that have been assigned to the LBP 
more than once.
     The study will be based on administrative and survey data. 
Major research questions for the study of repeat LBP 
assignments are: To what extent do recipients assigned to the 
LBP for a second time understand the family investment 
agreement, a social contract required under Iowa's regular TANF 
Program?; After experience with LBP, what efforts do clients 
make to meet program requirements?; What events, barriers and 
circumstances contribute to their failure to meet these 
requirements following their first LBP?; What are the nature of 
changes in family income, employment, housing and stability 
following benefit termination under a second LBP?; What are the 
demographic characteristics of cases assigned to the LBP for a 
second time? The study is scheduled to be completed by 
September 2000.
Iowa study of postemployment services
     Mathematica Policy Research is also conducting the other 
add-on study to Iowa's AFDC waiver evaluation. This study 
examines postemployment services by describing and comparing 
standard and enhanced postemployment services and assessing 
their contribution to clients' progress toward self-
sufficiency. The study, which will be based on administrative 
and survey data, scheduled for completion by September 2000, 
documents the processes for developing, implementing, and 
delivering postemployment services.
Maryland's Family Investment Program
     The University of Maryland School of Social Work is 
conducting a statewide process study to examine and document 
frontline assessment and allocation practices under TANF. The 
objective of this analysis is to help clarify the relationship 
between agency factors and county-level characteristics by 
describing county-level variation in frontline procedures. The 
evaluation is scheduled to be completed by September 2000.
Minnesota's Family Investment Program
     The Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation is 
evaluating Minnesota's Family Investment Program (MFIP). Major 
features of MFIP include: making work pay for public assistance 
families, primarily by using increased disregards to decrease 
grant reduction for earned income until an income threshold is 
achieved; requiring long-term public assistance recipients to 
participate in intensive employment/training services, 
including mandatory case management; and consolidating benefits 
and simplifying rules and procedures for TANF, general 
assistance and food stamps. Impact analyses will be based on 
random assignment methodology comparing experiences of control 
and experimental group members with respect to service 
participation, welfare receipt, employment, earnings, and 
income and poverty. The evaluation is scheduled to be completed 
by December 2000.
Minnesota's WorkFIRST Program
     Maximus, Inc. of McLean, Virginia, is evaluating 
Minnesota's WorkFIRST and the State's TANF Program. The TANF 
Program is a continuation of the Minnesota Family Investment 
Program (MFIP) welfare reform demonstration. WorkFIRST uses a 
mandatory labor force attachment strategy which includes 
providing benefits through vendor payments. MFIP represents 
what might be characterized as a progressive labor force 
attachment model in which work is rewarded through a more 
liberalized structure of income disregards for TANF recipients.
     The study will consist of both a process and impact 
evaluation, the latter employing a quasi-experimental, pretest/
posttest comparison group design. The major research questions 
for the study are: Will the WorkFIRST Program have a greater 
impact on moving first-time applicants into employment and 
promoting long-term self sufficiency, or will MFIP's ``make 
work pay'' strategy prove more effective in moving people off 
welfare?; Is WorkFIRST more effective in preventing first-time 
applicants from becoming dependent on public assistance?; and 
Do tough sanctions reinforce the WorkFIRST message of personal 
responsibility? The evaluation is scheduled to be completed by 
September 2002.
Nebraska's Employment First Program
     This project evaluates State welfare policies initiated 
under a welfare reform demonstration begun on November 1, 1995 
and now incorporated statewide under the Employment First 
(TANF) Program. These policies include: intensive case 
management based on assessment and a self-sufficiency contract/
employability plan; time-limiting cash assistance to 2 out of 
every 4 years; strict full-family sanctions imposed only as a 
last resort and after careful review and mediation; temporary 
or permanent good cause exemptions from participation and time 
limits; liberalized earnings and assets disregards; and 24-
month child care and Medicaid transitional benefits. The 
evaluation will primarily focus on implementation and operation 
of the program and will include a special study to assess 
successful case management. A separate impact evaluation will 
be carried out comparing an intensive up front job search 
strategy with an up front assessment approach. The evaluation 
is scheduled to be completed by September 2002.
New Hampshire's Employment and Training Program
     An implementation study and a separate impact study will 
be fielded to evaluate New Hampshire's employment focused 
welfare program. New Hampshire's TANF Program includes up front 
job search followed by a client assessment and placement into 
one of two types of employment program groups if employment is 
not found within 4 weeks of job search. The groups are divided 
according to employability of clients, and services are 
structured appropriately. Participants who do not find 
employment after a 26-week job search component enter a work 
benefits program, which includes activities such as on-the-job 
training and subsidized employment. Special needs payments are 
available to address employment obstacles, and individuals are 
exempt from employment requirements if personally providing 
care for a child under age 3.
    The impact evaluation will rely on administrative data to 
compare cohorts of persons who were on or entered AFDC between 
January 1992 and December 1993 and would have been designated 
State TANF-mandatory participants with cohorts of persons who 
were in TANF or entered TANF between October 1997 and September 
1999. The evaluation will seek to answer such questions as: 
Does New Hampshire's welfare reform program impact State 
welfare case dynamics, including exit rates, length of benefit 
receipt and recidivism?; Does the program have an impact on 
welfare caseloads compared to forecasted caseload values such 
as new welfare case openings, case closings, denials and 
withdrawals, ``child only'' cases, earned income cases, and 
benefit payments?; and Does the program affect welfare-related 
measures such as foster care placements, child abuse and 
neglect, homelessness, paternity establishments, and child 
support collections? The impact evaluation is scheduled to be 
completed by September 2002.
North Carolina's Work First Program
     Maximus will evaluate North Carolina's Work First Program 
which requires TANF families to work to support themselves and 
their families. Through Work First, parents can receive short-
term training and families can get child care and other 
services to assist them in becoming self-sufficient. Work First 
emphasizes three strategies: (1) diverting families from the 
welfare system by helping them cope with unexpected 
emergencies; (2) shortening the length of time that families 
receive assistance by making work mandatory and time-limiting 
assistance; and (3) helping families who leave TANF to stay off 
by encouraging them to save and providing supportive services. 
The evaluation is scheduled to be completed by September 2000.
North Dakota's Training, Education, Employment and Management Project
     Berkeley Planning Associates will produce a process 
evaluation of North Dakota's Training, Education, Employment, 
and Management (TEEM) Project. TEEM is a welfare reform 
demonstration initiated prior to implementation of the State's 
TANF Program. The TEEM project consolidates TANF and home 
energy assistance into a single cash assistance program. TEEM 
includes the following major provisions: a social contract, 
increased work incentives, sanctions, raised asset limits and 
incentives for family stability and marriage. The process study 
is scheduled to be completed by September 2000.
Achieving change for Texans
     The University of Texas will continue the evaluation of 
the State's original welfare reform demonstration. The 
demonstration consists of three major components: (1) a number 
of policies implemented statewide addressing such recipient 
responsibilities as immunization for children, school 
attendance and adhering to a personal responsibility agreement; 
(2) a number of policies implemented in counties operating 
JOBS, the primary feature of which is differential benefit time 
limits based on consideration of work experience and need for 
education; and (3) several policy options implemented in four 
counties providing for individual development accounts and 
fill-the-gap budgeting.
     The evaluation will produce implementation and impact 
studies. Major research questions include: How does the 
differential time limit function taking into consideration work 
experience and education for setting the duration of the 
limit?; Will personal responsibility measures help TANF 
recipients become self-sufficient faster?; and Can policies 
designed to promote and reward work help the process of self-
sufficiency? For all policies tested there are three general 
questions to be researched: Did welfare use decline?; Did 
clients become self-sufficient?; and Did clients who went off 
cash assistance stay off longer than clients subject to prior 
law policies? The State will also conduct a survey of TANF 
recipients who have left the rolls or been diverted at 
application through the offering of a one-time payment of 
$1,000 in lieu of regular TANF with no reapplication for 
benefits for 1 year. The evaluation is scheduled to be 
completed by March 2002.
Vermont's Welfare Restructuring Project
     The Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation is 
continuing the evaluation of Vermont's Welfare Restructuring 
Project which was begun as a waiver demonstration project. One 
of the key features of Vermont's welfare demonstration is a 
time limit that requires some adult recipients to participate 
in community work experience after 15 (two-parent families) or 
30 months (single-parent families) receiving cash assistance. 
Other policies of the program include asset and disregard 
changes, requiring that minor parents live at home or in a 
supervised living situation, and a requirement that parents 
with temporary disabilities participate in rehabilitation and 
training programs.
     The evaluation will include an implementation/process 
study, an impact study, and a cost-benefit study. Applicants 
and recipients were randomly assigned to experimental or 
control groups for the impact study. Major questions to be 
addressed by the impact study include: To what extent does the 
interaction of financial incentives with time limits for work 
and related activities increase unsubsidized employment and 
earnings, increase job retention, and affect the types of jobs 
and wage levels?; What are the effects attributable to changing 
financial incentives for AFDC single parents and two-parent 
cases?; To what extent does the program reduce or increase 
welfare benefits?; and What is the impact of WRP on various 
subgroups of applicants and recipients? The evaluation is 
scheduled to be completed by April 2002.
Virginia's Independence Program (VIP)
     The Virginia Polytechnic Institute will examine the 
State's TANF implementation which continues policies begun 
under the State's welfare reform demonstration. Among the 
policies to be studied under the State's VIP Program are: 
diversionary assistance, a family cap, time-limited assistance, 
personal responsibility agreements, expanded earned income 
disregards, school attendance requirements, paternity 
establishment rules, requiring minor parents to live in adult 
settings, child immunization requirements, incentives promoting 
individual savings accounts, and transitional Medicaid and 
child care benefits.
     The evaluation will include a description of cases 
reaching the time limit, and an assessment of the early impacts 
based on information from a discontinued random assignment 
experiment. Major questions to be addressed include: What 
happens to families after they reach the time limit?; What are 
the effects of post employment and job retention services 
offered by the State?; What are the implications of the growing 
number of child-only cases the State is finding on its rolls?; 
What are the issues specific to localities where unique 
innovations have been introduced in the State?; How does 
diversionary assistance work in a limited number of 
localities?; and What are the dynamics of the Virginia caseload 
over time under the TANF regime? The evaluation is scheduled to 
be completed by September 2002.
Wisconsin's Pay for Performance/Self-Sufficiency First
     Maximus is evaluating the Pay for Performance/Self-
Sufficiency First Programs in Wisconsin. Under the Self-
Sufficiency First Program, all nonexempt welfare recipients 
must complete 60 hours of work and training during a 30-day 
application period or face denial of benefits. Under the Pay 
for Performance Program, individuals not exempt from work and 
training requirements and who are not working 30 hours or more 
per week must participate in up to 40 hours of employment and 
training activities per week. Cash benefits are reduced for 
each hour of nonparticipation in employment and training 
without good cause by the Federal minimum hourly wage with no 
corresponding adjustment in the food stamp allotment. In any 
month when the hours of participation in employment and 
training activities fall below 25 percent of assigned hours, 
the assistance grant is reduced to $0 and the food stamp 
allotment to $10.
     Applicants and recipients were randomly assigned to 
control and experimental groups. Major questions to be 
addressed by the evaluation include: Do the program policies 
improve employment rates, length of employment, amount of 
earned income, hours worked per month, child support 
collections, total family income, and accumulated savings?; Do 
these policies affect public assistance participation and 
program costs?; Does the program affect participation in 
employment and training activities?; Do these program rules and 
policies affect marriage and separation rates and use of foster 
care?; and Does the demonstration affect the incidence of 
reported child abuse and neglect and health insurance status of 
children? The evaluation is scheduled to be completed by April 
1999.
Federal studies of impact of welfare reform on children
     DHHS is funding child impact studies that will augment the 
welfare reform demonstration evaluations in five States 
(Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, and Florida). The 
studies will assess the effects of different welfare reform 
approaches on child well-being. The ongoing demonstration 
evaluations focus primarily on adult behaviors and outcomes, 
such as changes in earnings and welfare dependency. This 
project adds detailed data on children to these evaluations.
     Impacts on children will be measured through random 
assignment of families in each site. Treatment groups subject 
to welfare reform policies will be compared with control groups 
subject to former AFDC policies. Child outcomes data, focusing 
on children ages 5-12, will be collected through surveys and 
administrative records. Major research questions addressed by 
the studies include: What are the effects of alternative 
approaches to welfare reform on child well-being, including 
school achievement, behavioral problems, and health status? 
What intervening mechanisms, such as the quality and regularity 
of the home environment, child care arrangements, and parental 
employment and income, affect these outcomes? The project 
periods vary from 2 to 4 years.

                           Other Evaluations

National evaluation of welfare-to-work strategies (formerly the JOBS 
        evaluation) and child outcomes substudy
     The Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation and Child 
Trends of Washington, DC, continue to conduct this major study, 
funded by DHHS and foundations (with support from the 
Department of Education). Under the JOBS Program, random 
assignment of recipients to experimental and control groups 
began in March 1991 and ended in December 1994. Approximately 
55,000 sample members are being followed for 5 years from the 
time they entered the study using administrative records 
(unemployment insurance earnings and AFDC payment data). A 
subsample of about 10,000 individuals from all research groups 
in all sites was interviewed 2 years after they entered the 
study; some of these individuals will be reinterviewed after 5 
years. In three sites, Child Trends, Inc. will be measuring 
outcomes for children who were between the ages of 3 and 5 when 
their mothers entered the study. Major questions the study is 
designed to answer include: How much can welfare-to-work 
programs contribute to reducing welfare dependency and 
increasing employment? Do certain approaches work better than 
others--for example, human capital development (i.e., education 
and training) versus labor force attachment (e.g., job search 
and other employment-focused activities)?; How do the children 
of welfare recipients fare under welfare-to-work programs?; and 
What do welfare-to-work programs cost?
Bridges to work
     Public/Private Ventures of Philadelphia has undertaken a 
$17 million demonstration program and evaluation of a 
transportation-based antipoverty strategy. The project is 
funded primarily by the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development (HUD) and major foundations. The demonstration 
includes three program elements: a metropolitan placement 
mechanism that gives participants information about the 
suburban labor market and links them to existing private sector 
jobs; a targeted commute component that connects inner-city 
workers to previously inaccessible job destinations through 
increased public transportation and/or van pooling; and support 
services to mitigate demands created or exacerbated by the long 
commute. A random assignment evaluation and implementation 
study will be conducted. The demonstration is being conducted 
in five sites: Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee, and St. 
Louis.