A Bibliography of Studies Using
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Linked
Administrative Data
By Paul Johnson, Jim Kaminski, Molly Scott, and Anne Whitesell
January 31, 2012*
* This report was prepared by the Urban Institute under funding from the United States Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF), contract number
GS23F8198H, order number HHSP233200800561G. The views expressed here are those of the authors
and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or HHS/ACF.
Introduction
Since its inception in 1996, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program has
been subject to much study. Some of this work has involved linking TANF administrative data to
other data sources. Other researchers, program administrators, and policy makers who are
considering similar linkages to address research, programmatic, and operational questions can
learn from past efforts. These studies can provide information on what linkages have been
possible, how linkages can be used, and potentially, challenges to creating and using data
linkages. This report presents information on the literature using TANF data linkages.
TANF data linkages can serve two different purposes. The first is to improve the administration
of programs themselves. The structure and permanence of these “linkages” vary substantially.
States can create a comprehensive database containing client-level information on eligibility for
and receipt of multiple benefits or services. Alternatively, states may link together separate
programs’ databases by client IDs or have systems in place where caseworkers have access to
separate databases and simply use client identifiers to look up information as needed. The
capacity to develop and maintain these linkages is often subject to budget constraints and
political support. Thus, at any given time, the presence and type of data linkage may vary
substantially.
TANF data linkages can also be used to answer program questions and for research purposes.
Some linked databases are designed to be permanent longitudinal databases containing numerous
data sources and supporting a wide variety of analyses, such as Washington’s DSHS Client
Services Database (Washington State 2010) and Wisconsin’s Multi-Sample Person File (Brown
et al. 2011). However, most data linkages for research purposes are more limited, combining
particular data elements gathered during a particular timeframe for a particular subgroup of
clients, to answer a particular set of research questions.
This report first presents a discussion of the use of administrative data for program
administration and then a detailed list of the research literature using TANF data linkages.
Program administration
Since 1992, federal incentives have been in place for states to integrate the databases that they
use for public programs in order to streamline enrollment and recertification processes for
families. Starting in that year, the federal government began offering a 50 percent reimbursement
to state agencies that developed statewide computerized databases meeting Family Assistance
Management Information Systems (FAMIS) standards set by the Department of Health and
Human Services (GAO 2001). There has also been significant interest in linking these data to
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statewide data on employment and earnings in order to independently verify recipients’ income
eligibility.
As a result of the requirements for FAMIS certification, most of the databases that were created
following FAMIS included data from TANF, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), and Medicaid (GAO 2000). As early as 1999, the
American Public Human Services Association’s Survey of State TANF Agencies’ Use of
Administrative Data, which gathered information from 48 states and the District of Columbia,
found that all but one state TANF agency maintained some kind of linkage between TANF data
and another public program database (Cyphers and Kinsella 2000). The most frequent linkages
were between TANF, work activities databases, SNAP, and Medicaid. There were also linkages
between the core database and the state Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP), child care,
child support, general assistance, unemployment insurance, and foster care databases.
A more recent 2009 study of the integration of data for five public programs (TANF, SNAP,
Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and general assistance) in all 50 states and the
District of Columbia found that all but 5 states used one central data system for the management
of TANF, SNAP, and Medicaid (Seago 2009). California had the least integrated data, separating
out Medicaid from TANF and SNAP and using different data systems for the latter programs in
different counties. Five states—Alaska, Connecticut, Michigan, Nebraska, and North Dakota—
housed comprehensive centralized databases that integrated all five of the public programs
studied.
Research
In order to document the kinds of TANF linkages being used by researchers, we searched for
reports, presentations, journal articles, and briefs that presented results of studies that employed
TANF data linkages as part of the study. We found 103 articles, all of which are included in the
bibliography. While we cannot be sure this search is exhaustive, we have uncovered as much
literature as possible. Each entry is followed by a brief summary of the study. Generally, the
summary was taken from the article’s abstract, but in some cases text from other sources
(executive summary, introduction, etc.) was used.
In order to be included in the bibliography, the study must focus on TANF recipients—either the
entire population or a specific subpopulation (e.g., persons leaving TANF). In some cases, the
TANF population is itself a subpopulation of the population being studied. Such studies are
included if the entire TANF population is included (e.g., studies of all recipients of public
assistance). The study must also use TANF administrative data linked with other person-level or
case-level data from administrative sources. If only TANF administrative data are used, or the
only linkage is to more aggregate-level data (e.g., neighborhood or county-level indicators), the
study is not included.
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To help the reader locate studies of interest, table 1 lists all the studies by state, and summarizes
the type of data used by the study, as follows:
State: This column indicates which state was included in the study. When the state is marked
with an asterisk, it means the study did not apply to the whole state, but to one or more counties
or cities. Some studies applied to multiple states. While these studies are listed just once in the
bibliography, in the summary table they are listed once for each state included in the study.
Employment: Most studies used some form of employment data. The most common source was
wage and employment data from the state’s unemployment insurance records. A few studies
(marked as “Other”) used some other source.
Child Care Subsidy, Child Support, Child Welfare, and Medical Assistance: It was difficult
to categorize the variety of sources from which these data types were obtained, so these columns
simply indicate whether the data type was used, rather than also giving information about the
source. Some common sources include Child Support Enforcement records for child support
data, Medicaid/CHIP records for medical assistance data, and Child Protective Services records
for child welfare data.
SNAP/WIC: Many studies used data from SNAP. Only one study used Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC) data.
Other: While the previous columns capture most of the types of data used, some studies used
additional types. The most common type was data from other social service programs, but birth,
criminal, school, and tax records were also used.
Linked Survey Data: In addition to administrative data, many studies linked survey data to
TANF administrative data. In most cases the survey was a new survey, designed and conducted
as part of the study. However, in some cases the study was able to take advantage of a survey
that had been conducted previously.
Study Years: This pair of columns indicates the range of years included in the study. Note that
for some studies, not all of the data are available for all of these years. For example, a study of
persons leaving welfare (“leavers”) will only have TANF data for their years on welfare, but may
link those data to employment data for subsequent years.
Bibliographic Information: The information in these columns corresponds closely to
information in the bibliography. However, in order to save space, some titles and/or author
listings were shortened.
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Bibliography of TANF Research Using Linked Administrative Data
Acker, Joan, Sandra Morgen, Lisa Gonzales, Jill Weigt, Kate Barry, and Terri Heath. 2002.
“Welfare Restructuring, Work & Poverty: Policy Implications from Oregon.” Center for
the Study of Women in Society, University of Oregon.
From the Executive Summary:
This report presents results from a two-year study of the experiences of families who left
or were diverted from cash assistance (TANF) or Food Stamps in the first quarter of
1998. Our research questions examine the economic status and family well-being of those
who left or were diverted from public assistance, focusing on whether poverty and
economic hardship were diminished. Our findings and recommendations are based on
three sources of data: administrative records; telephone interviews at two points in time
over two years with a state-wide random sample of families; and in-depth, in-person
interviews with a sub-sample of seventy-eight families at two additional points in time.
Acs, Gregory, and Pamela Loprest. 2001. “The Status of TANF Leavers in the District of
Columbia.” The Urban Institute, Washington, DC.
Abstract:
This study reports on the status of former welfare recipients in the District of Columbia,
focusing on two groups of families that left the TANF program: those that left in the last
quarter of 1997 and those that left in the last quarter of 1998. The study uses
administrative data from the DC Department of Human Services for the 1997 and 1998
groups as well as interviews with a sample of those that left in 1998, conducted
approximately one year after they left.
Arizona Department of Economic Security. 2001. “Cash Assistance Exit Study; 2nd Year.”
Division of Policy and Program Development, Best Practices Unit.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/az/AZ-CAExitStudy2ndYear.pdf
From the Introduction:
The Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) was awarded a grant from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services to conduct research focusing on families who
leave the Arizona Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. This grant
was subsequently extended to cover a second year and the results of that second year’s
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research comprise this report. The grant is helping Arizona answer the question: “What
consequences, both intended and unintended, do recipients and their dependents
experience once their link to cash assistance is severed?” The research is based on all
cash assistance cases that were closed for at least one month during the three-month
period of January 1998 through March 1998 (10,647 cases). These cases were matched
with information from the DES’ administrative databases to determine continued reliance
on DES programs and services, and to track employer reported wages. Also, a stratified
random sample of 1,149 leavers was selected for intensive follow-up survey data
collection.
Arizona Department of Economic Security. 2001. “State of Arizona Cash Assistance Entrance
Study.” Division of Program and Policy Development, Best Practices Unit.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/az/AZ-CAEntranceStudy.pdf
From the Introduction:
The Arizona Department of Economic Security was awarded a grant from the U. S.
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for research into the status of
families who apply for the Arizona Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
program but who do not complete the application process. These families are compared
to those who receive TANF services. This grant is helping answer the following
questions: “What happens to families who apply for TANF services but who do not
complete the application process? How do these families compare to families who
receive TANF services?” The study used information from Unemployment Insurance,
Cash Assistance, Food Stamps, Child Support Enforcement, DES Sponsored Child Care,
Child Protective Services, and DES Community Services Administration to compare
each group.
Autor, David H., and Susan Houseman. 2010. “Do Temporary-Help Jobs Improve Labor Market
Outcomes for Low-Skilled Workers? Evidence from ‘Work First‘.” American Economic
Journal: Applied Economics 2: 96–128.
Abstract:
Temporary-help jobs offer rapid entry into paid employment, but they are typically brief
and it is unknown whether they foster longer term employment. We utilize the unique
structure of Detroit’s welfare-to-work program to identify the effect of temporary-help
jobs on labor market advancement. Exploiting the rotational assignment of welfare clients
to numerous nonprofit contractors with differing job placement rates, we find that
temporary-help job placements do not improve and may diminish subsequent earnings
and employment outcomes among participants. In contrast, job placements with direct-
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hire employers substantially raise earnings and employment over a seven quarter followup period.
Autor, David H., Susan Houseman, and Sari Pekkala Kerr . 2011. “The Effect of Work First Job
Placements on the Distribution of Earnings: An Instrumental Variable Quantile
Regression.” MIT Working Paper. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
http://econ-www.mit.edu/files/6627.
Abstract:
Federal and state employment programs for low-skilled workers typically emphasize
rapid placement of participants into jobs and often place a large fraction of participants
into temporary help agency jobs. Using unique administrative data from Detroit’s
welfare-to-work program, we apply the Chernozhukov-Hansen instrumental variables
quantile regression (IVQR) estimator to estimate the causal effects of welfare-to-work
job placements on the distribution of participants’ earnings. We find that neither directhire nor temporary help job placements significantly affect the lower tail of the earnings
distribution. Direct-hire placements, however, substantially raise the upper tail, yielding
sizable earnings increases for more than fifty percent of participants over the mediumterm (one to two years following placement). Conversely, temporary help placements
have zero or negative earnings impacts at all quantiles, and these effects are economically
large and significant at higher quantiles. Substantively, the results cast doubt on whether
the widespread use of temporary help agencies by government programs is a sound
public investment. Methodologically, one surprising result is that a reduced-from quantile
IV approach, akin to two-step instrumental variables, produces near-identical point
estimates to the structural IVQR approach, which is based on much stronger assumptions.
Axelsen, D. 2007. “Welfare recipient work choice and in-kind benefits in Washington state.”
Applied Economics 39(8): 1021–36.
Abstract:
We analyze the work choice of welfare recipients. Potential welfare recipients compare
their on and off welfare utility from after-tax income and in-kind benefits via
employment or welfare, and choose whether to work. Our null hypothesis, which we
reject, is that benefits affect only the decision to work or not, not the hours worked,
which will depend on wages. Using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
administrative data from Washington state, we find that employer provided health
insurance and child care subsidies significantly raise exit rates of TANF recipients and
induce greater work effort. Other work inducing factors include wages and the Earned
Income Tax Credit, while increased levels of Medicaid, Food Stamps and the income
guarantee increase welfare dependency.
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Beimers, D. L. 2009. “Factors Influencing Child Maltreatment Among Families Leaving
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.” Ph.D. diss., Case Western Reserve
University, Cleveland, OH.
http://search.proquest.com/socialsciences/docview/304857852
Abstract:
The study examines the experiences of families exiting TANF and factors that influence
subsequent child maltreatment. Factors examined were individual and family
characteristics, birth data for the youngest child at time of exit, past employment and cash
assistance usage, reason for exit from cash assistance, employment and public assistance
usage after exit from TANF, and neighborhood characteristics. Cox proportional hazard
models were used to examine the occurrence and timing of investigations of child
maltreatment and substantiated or indicated findings of child maltreatment following the
families’ initial exit from cash assistance.
Bloom, Dan, James J. Kemple, Pamela Morris, Susan Scrivener, Nandita Verma, and Richard
Hendra, with Diana Adams-Ciardullo, David Seith, and Johanna Walter. 2009. “The
Family Transition Program: Final Report on Florida’s Initial Time-Limited Welfare
Program.” MDRC.
Summary Report:
This is the fifth and final report in the FTP evaluation. It summarizes the earlier findings
and provides new information in several areas. It follows eligible families for at least four
years after they entered the study—well beyond the point when recipients began reaching
the time limit—and uses data from a large-scale survey to assess, for the first time, FTP’s
effects on key outcomes such as food security and child well-being. In addition, the
report provides new information from in-depth, post-welfare interviews with FTP
participants whose benefits were canceled at the time limit. Finally, the report describes
the results of a benefit-cost analysis, which compares FTP’s financial benefits and costs
for participants and government budgets.
Bloom, Dan, Sarah Rich, Cindy Redcross, Erin Jacobs, Jennifer Yahner, and Nancy Pindus.
2009. “Alternative Welfare-to-Work Strategies for the Hard-to-Employ: Testing
Transitional Jobs and Pre-Employment Services in Philadelphia.” MDRC.
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/537/full.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
This report presents interim results from a rigorous evaluation of two different
employment strategies for hard-to-employ public assistance recipients in Philadelphia.
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The study is part of the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and
Evaluation Project, which is testing innovative employment strategies for groups facing
serious obstacles to steady work.
Born, Catherine E., and Tracy Kirk. 2004. “Life After Welfare: Regional Analysis of Recent
Leavers.” University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/pgleavers.pdf
From the web site:
This report examines and reports on data describing recent welfare leavers in Baltimore
City and Prince George’s County—the jurisdictions with the largest caseloads and the
largest numbers of exiting families—and compares the findings with those for the
balance of the state.
Born, Catherine E., Correne Saunders, Sarah Williamson, and Letitia Logan. 2011. “Life After
Welfare Annual Update.” University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore,
MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/lifeafterreports.htm
From the web site:
This is the latest annual update of Maryland’s large-scale, longitudinal study of what
happens to families after they exit the TANF rolls. Measured outcomes include
employment, recidivism, receipt of transitional benefits, and involvement in the child
welfare system. Each subsequent report includes additional samples and additional
follow-up data.
Born, Catherine E., Pamela J. Caudill, and Melinda L. Cordero. 1999. “Life After Welfare: A
Look At Sanctioned Families.” University of Maryland School of Social Work,
Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/ffsanctions.pdf
From the web site:
A detailed analysis of the use and effects of full-family sanctions for non-compliance
with work and non-cooperation with child support during the first 18 months of welfare
reform.
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Born, Catherine E., Pamela J. Caudill, and Melinda L. Cordero. 2000. “Life After Welfare:
Regional Patterns.” University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/regional.pdf
From the web site:
The data from “Life After Welfare: Fourth Interim Report” are revisited and examined by
geographical region to provide a picture of trends occurring across Maryland and how
those trends may differ from patterns for the state as a whole.
Briggs, B., and P. Kuhn. 2008. “Paying for the relocation of welfare recipients: Evidence from
the Kentucky Relocation Assistance Program.” University of Kentucky Center for
Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series, DP2008-01. University of Kentucky Center
for Poverty Research, Lexington, KY.
http://www.ukcpr.org/Publications/DP2008-01.pdf.
Abstract:
In May of 1998, the Relocation Assistance Program (RAP) was introduced in Kentucky
as a means of aiding welfare recipients to achieve self-sufficiency by offering lump-sum
payments to those who wished to relocate to seek or accept employment. Unlike other
relocation assistance programs, this program provides moving assistance to welfare
clients rather than to unemployed persons or dislocated workers. We relate this program
to other relocation programs as well as to the UI bonus experiments. We also survey the
theoretical literature to give some intuition for the effects of the program on earnings and
employment for welfare clients. Using program participation to measure the treatment
effect is a contentious issue due to program requirements linking employment to
participation. Given that advertising would certainly influence participation, we construct
an advertising proxy that differs from program uptake/utilization to identify the
program’s effects. Working with a relatively short, panel administrative dataset, we find
that a one standard deviation increase in the RAP proxy is associated with a 20.4 percent
increase in employment and a 18.3 percent increase in quarterly unconditional earnings,
which is robust to various specification checks.
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Brock, Thomas, Isaac Kwakye, Judy C. Polyné, Lashawn Richburg-Hayes, David Seith, Alex
Stepick, and Carol Dutton Stepick, with Tara Cullen and Sarah Rich. 2004. “Welfare
Reform in Miami Implementation, Effects, and Experiences of Poor Families and
Neighborhoods.” MDRC.
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/387/full.pdf
From the Summary Report:
Anticipating that welfare reform might pose particular challenges to urban areas—where
poverty and welfare receipt are most concentrated—MDRC launched the Project on
Devolution and Urban Change (Urban Change, for short). The project is examining the
implementation and effects of TANF in four urban counties: Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Los
Angeles, Miami-Dade, and Philadelphia. This report focuses on Miami-Dade County, and
it addresses questions similar to those posed for the other study sites: How did Florida
change its welfare law, and how did officials in Miami-Dade implement those changes?
What “messages” and services were put in place? How were work requirements and time
limits implemented? What were the effects of welfare reform on the county’s welfare
caseloads? Did reform alter patterns of welfare and employment? How did low-income
families in the county adapt to work requirements and other dimensions of welfare
reform? What were their experiences in the labor market? Were they better or worse off
economically? What were the conditions of neighborhoods in Miami-Dade before and
after welfare reform? Were poor neighborhoods better or worse off after reform?
Cadena, Brian, Sheldon H. Danziger, and Kristin Seefeldt. 2008. “The Dynamics of Food Stamp
Receipt after Welfare Reform.” In Income Volatility and Food Assistance, edited by D.
Joliffe and J. Ziliak. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, MI.
http://nationalpovertycenter.net/news/events/income_volatility_agenda/cadenadanzigerse
efeldt.pdf
From the Introduction:
In this paper, we use panel data from the Women’s Employment Study (WES),
supplemented with monthly TANF and Food Stamp administrative data, to examine
several questions related to Food Stamp use among current and former welfare recipients,
nearly all of whom received Food Stamps when the study began in February 1997. Our
empirical results indicate some “good news” from a policy perspective. First, food stamp
participation among WES respondents was more sensitive to employment variability than
was TANF receipt. Second, women who might have greater need for food stamps are less
likely to exit. For example, women who have at least one child with a persistent health
problem are more likely to remain on food stamps, probably because they face other
hardships, independent of job loss, that keep them connected to food stamp support.
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Camasso, M. J., C. Harvey, R. Jagannathan, and M. Killingsworth. 1998. “A final report on the
impact of New Jersey’s Family Development Program. Results from a pre-post analysis
of AFDC case heads from 1990 to 1996.” Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.
Evaluation of New Jersey’s Family Development Program focusing on its effects on
fertility, contraceptive use, abortions, and sterilizations, with lesser attention given to
effects on earnings and employment.
Cancian, M., and D. R. Meyer. 2004. “Alternative Measures of Economic Success among TANF
Participants: Avoiding Poverty, Hardship, and Dependence on Public Assistance.”
Journal of Policy Analysis & Management 23(3): 531–48.
Abstract:
Current debates about the success of TANF reforms have been obscured by the use of
inconsistent indicators of success, as well as by measurement difficulties associated with
alternative indicators. This paper considers conceptual and measurement issues
associated with three different indicators of economic well-being: independence from
public assistance, having income above the poverty threshold, and freedom from material
hardship. Survey and administrative data from a sample of TANF participants illustrate
the sensitivity of conclusions to alternative ways of measuring each indicator. Also
considered is the extent to which dependence, poverty, and hardship coincide, or capture
important differences in outcomes. The principles underlying TANF reforms have
implications for appropriate measures of economic well-being, as the empirical
importance of these implications demonstrates.
Cancian, M., D. R. Meyer, et al. 2008. “Welfare and Child Support: Complements, Not
Substitutes.” Journal of Policy Analysis & Management 27(2): 354-75.
In most states, child support paid on behalf of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) participants is used to offset TANF and child support administrative
expenditures; this policy primarily benefits taxpayers. In contrast, Wisconsin allowed
most custodial parents to keep all support paid on their behalf. This policy, which treats
welfare and child support as complements, was evaluated through an experimental
design. This paper reports the key results of the experimental evaluation, using state
administrative data to examine the effects on child support outcomes and governmental
cost. We find that when custodial mothers keep all child support paid on their behalf
paternity establishment occurs more quickly, noncustodial fathers are more likely to pay
support, and custodial families receive more support. These outcomes are achieved at no
significant governmental cost.
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Cancian, Maria, Robert H. Haveman, Daniel R. Meyer, and Barbara Wolfe. 2002. “Before and
After TANF: The Economic Well-Being of Women Leaving Welfare.” The Social
Service Review 76(4): 603-41.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/30013112
Abstract:
We use administrative data from Wisconsin to compare employment, earnings, and
income outcomes for welfare leavers under early reforms and under the later, more
stringent Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. We find substantially
higher rates of exit in the later period. Later leavers are somewhat more likely to work,
but their earnings are lower. We also make a pre-post comparison of individual
employment and income experiences, examining a leaver’s outcomes during a calendar
quarter of welfare receipt with these outcomes a year after leaving welfare. On average,
substantial earnings growth is outweighed by declines in benefits, resulting in reduced
total measured net income.
Cancian, Maria, and Marci Ybarra. 2008. “The Earnings and Income of Wisconsin Works (W-2)
Applicants.” Prepared for State of Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.
http://www.irp.wisc.edu/research/welreform/pdfs/DWD-Applicants-R3-Final.pdf
From the Introduction:
In this report we present information on the post-application economic status of
individuals who applied to the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program. We analyze the
earnings and income of applicants in the first year following W-2 application, comparing
outcomes for W-2 participants and nonparticipants. This report addresses the final
objectives of a study designed to (1) examine the Wisconsin Works (W-2) application
process; (2) describe the frequency of applicant dropouts prior to eligibility
determination; and (3) follow the well-being over time of dropouts and their children
based on available administrative data. This analysis builds on two previous reports
completed as part of this project. The first report (Ybarra and Kaplan, 2007) outlined the
W-2 application process and highlighted differences among participating agencies, while
the second report (Ybarra and Noyes, 2008) detailed W-2 placements, drop-out junctures,
drop-out reasons, and associated applicant characteristics. This final report also builds on
a preliminary analysis of post-application outcomes that considered income in the first
quarter after application (Ybarra and Cancian, 2008).
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Cancian, Maria, Robert Haveman, Daniel R. Meyer, and Barbara Wolfe. 2003. “The
Employment, Earnings, and Income of Single Mothers in Wisconsin Who Left Cash
Assistance: Comparison Among Three Cohorts.” Institute for Research on Poverty,
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/sr/pdfs/sr85.pdf
Abstract:
We use administrative data from Wisconsin to compare employment, earnings, and
income outcomes for welfare leavers under early AFDC reforms and under the later,
more stringent TANF program. We consider outcomes for women leaving welfare in
1999, updating an earlier analysis of those who left welfare in 1995 and 1997. We find
substantially higher rates of exit in the later periods. Later leavers are somewhat more
likely to work, but their earnings are lower. We also make a pre-post comparison of
individual employment and income experiences, examining a leaver’s outcomes during a
calendar quarter of welfare receipt with these outcomes a year after leaving welfare. On
average, substantial earnings growth is outweighed by declines in benefits, resulting in
reduced total measured net income. The reductions in income from before to after exit are
greater for those in the 1995 cohort relative to those in the 1997 and 1999 cohorts.
Cancian, Maria, Robert Havemen, Thomas Kaplan, Daniel Meyer, Ingrid Rothe, and Barbara
Wolfe, with Sandra Barone. 2001. “The Take-Up of Medicaid and Food Stamps by
Welfare Leavers: The Case of Wisconsin.” Institute for Research on Poverty, University
of Wisconsin-Madison.
Abstract:
Subsidized medical insurance and food purchases through the Medicaid and Food Stamp
programs potentially improve the health and economic well-being of low-income people,
but only if eligible participants receive program benefits. Reports of decreases in Food
Stamp and Medicaid participation rates following passage of welfare reform legislation in
1996 raised concerns about the health care coverage and nutritional status of former
recipients of cash welfare. This paper describes Food Stamp and Medicaid participation
for two cohorts leaving welfare in Wisconsin: those who left cash welfare in 1995 (under
early welfare reform) and those who left welfare 2 years later. The paper estimates initial
take-up rates (that is, participation rates among those eligible immediately after exit from
cash welfare) of 60 percent for Food Stamps and 80 percent for Medicaid among the
1995 leavers. Initial take-up rates were greater for those who left in 1997. Take-up rates
among leavers declined steadily as time elapsed after their exit from cash welfare.
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Cancian, Maria, Thomas Kaplan, and Daniel R. Meyer. 1999. “Outcomes for Low-Income
Families under the Wisconsin AFDC Program: Understanding the Baseline So That We
Can Estimate the Effects of Welfare Reform.” Institute for Research on Poverty,
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
From the Executive Summary:
This analysis is based on a randomly selected 10-percent sample of female-headed AFDC
Regular (AFDC-R) cases in the Wisconsin administrative record system. One sample
includes 10 percent of all cases open in July 1990 (the “stock”). The second sample
includes 10 percent of all cases that began a new spell of AFDC receipt in the following
11 months (the “flow”). The two samples are thus mutually exclusive and include all
cases in the 10-percent sample receiving AFDC-R in the year starting July 1990 and
ending June 1991. We provide results for three calendar years for each sample: 1991–
1993 for the stock and 1992–1994 for the flow.
Cancian, Maria, Robert Haveman, Thomas Kaplan, and Barbara Wolfe, with Sandra Barone and
Dan Ross. 1999. “Post-Exit Earnings and Benefit Receipt among Those Who Left AFDC
in Wisconsin.” Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin - Madison.
From the Executive Summary:
From July 1995 to July 1996, single-parent AFDC caseloads in Wisconsin declined
sharply, by 23 percent. This is the third and final report in a series that explores the
characteristics of those mother-headed families who left AFDC after July 1995
(“leavers”), compared to those who remained (“stayers”), and examines how they fared
during the 15 months after they left the Wisconsin AFDC program. Specifically, we ask:
What proportion of leavers returned to AFDC, and what characteristics are most closely
associated with that return? Did AFDC leavers and their families have incomes greater
than (1) the maximum benefits they would have received under AFDC or (2) their
incomes immediately before leaving AFDC? Did leavers and their families escape
poverty after leaving AFDC? How much did leavers use other public assistance
programs, and what household characteristics most affected the likelihood that they
would do so? To what extent did leavers work and earn after they left AFDC, and how
did these trends compare to the work and earning patterns of the stayers? Did the
earnings of the leavers grow over time and, if so, to what extent? What family and
economic characteristics among leavers were most closely related to the probability of
working at all, and of obtaining relatively high earnings? What kinds of jobs did leavers
find, and which jobs seemed to offer the highest wages?
14
Cook, Steven T., and Emma Caspar. 2006. “W-2 Child Support Demonstration Evaluation:
Comparisons of Outcomes.” Prepared for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce
Development.
From the Executive Summary:
“Comparisons of Outcomes” is the last of four annual reports. It presents six years of
follow-up information for two randomly assigned cohorts, and two to five years of
follow-up information for two later-entering, full-pass-through and disregard cohorts. It
also includes an analysis of cases in Wisconsin’s Caretaker Supplement program, which
provides a cash benefit to parents who are receiving SSI payments and raising minor
children. The first part of this report corroborates the results from earlier reports showing
positive effects of the full pass-through and disregard policy on paternity establishment
among later entrants which persisted throughout the observation period , higher
likelihood of child support payment in the early years of the program, and lower levels of
W-2 use in the first year of the evaluation. In the second part of the report, we examine
outcomes for participants in Wisconsin’s Caretaker Supplement program (CTS), which
provides assistance for parents receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits, and
compare those outcomes to those for W-2 participants.
Coon, A., M. Geo-Jaja, and G. Mangum. 2000. “From Welfare Poor to Working Poor: Post
AFDC/TANF Income in Salt Lake County, Utah.” Center for Public Policy and
Administration, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.
From the Introduction:
Statewide, the number of households receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children
had dramatically declined from nearly 18,500 in 1993 to less than 15,000 at the time of
the welfare reform legislation and to under 13,000 by 1997 when the new state
Employment Assistance for Utah Families Act and the federal Personal Responsibility
and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act both took effect, continuing down to less than
9,000 by the end of 1999 and to 5,553 households in June 2000. The number of Salt Lake
County households receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) had
dramatically declined from 7,500 at the beginning of 1994 to 5,300 by 1997 and
approximately 3,400 by the end of 1999. While the decline in public assistance
enrollments has been widely acclaimed, it is critical to know what the impact has been for
the families involved in both the state and the county. This study approaches that
assignment by analysis of administrative data. The records of two separate samples of
public assistance recipients were followed over several different years, determining the
extent to which, on a month by month basis, they received public assistance payments or
food stamps and also whether they appeared on the records of employers reporting
quarterly wage payments or upon the unemployment insurance rolls.
15
Coulton, C., and N. Verma. 2000. “Employment and Return to Public Assistance Among Single,
Female-Headed Families Leaving AFDC in Third Quarter 1996, Cuyahoga County,
Ohio.” Prepared for Cuyahoga Work and Training.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/oh/1996exit.pdf
From the Introduction:
As welfare caseloads fall and provisions of welfare reform are implemented in state and
local welfare offices, there is a growing interest in families and individuals who leave the
welfare rolls. However, welfare caseloads have always been dynamic, with families
entering and leaving assistance programs each month. To interpret information on
families leaving welfare since welfare reform, it is necessary to know what happened to
families who left welfare in the past as well. This is a study of a third quarter, 1996
cohort of welfare leavers, who stopped receiving cash assistance before welfare reform
went into effect. It is intended to provide a basis of comparison for future studies of
families leaving welfare under welfare reform.
Coulton, C., C. J. Pasqualone, N. Bania, T. Martin, N. Lalich, and M. Newburn. 2000. “How Are
They Managing? A Six-Month Retrospective of Cuyahoga County Families Leaving
Welfare: Fourth Quarter of 1998 and First, Second, and Third Quarters of 1999.” Center
on Urban Poverty and Social Change, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case
Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
http://aspe.dhhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/oh/Q498_399_report.pdf
From the Introduction:
This report provides interim findings from the study of families leaving welfare in
Cuyahoga County. The purpose of the study is to provide ongoing information to public
officials, human service professionals, advocates and members of the community about
how families are faring as welfare reform is being implemented. Specifically, the study is
designed to: monitor the status of families leaving cash assistance at multiple time points
after exit; compare the experiences of exit cohorts drawn at quarterly intervals throughout
the gradual process of welfare reform implementation; and, describe differences in
exiting families’ experiences before and after time limits go into effect.
16
Courtney, Mark, and Amy Dworsky. 2006. “Child Welfare Services Involvement: Findings from
the Milwaukee TANF Applicant Study.” Working Paper. Chapin Hall, University of
Chicago.
From the Introduction:
This paper begins with a description of how we measured child welfare services
involvement. Next, we present some results pertaining to the prevalence of child welfare
services involvement among the TANF applicants in our sample, finding that the families
in our study are much more likely to become involved with child welfare services than
would be expected based on prior research on populations involved with welfare
programs. We then discuss the factors that predict which TANF applicants became
involved with the child welfare system, finding a set of predictors that help illustrate the
problems these adults are having balancing the demands of work and parenting. Finally,
we discuss the policy implications of our findings.
Courtney, Mark, and Amy Dworsky. 2006. “Income and Poverty: Findings from the Milwaukee
TANF Applicant Study.” Working Paper. Chapin Hall, University of Chicago.
From the Introduction:
This paper focuses on the income and poverty status of participants in the Milwaukee
TANF Applicant Study (See box for a description of the study). We begin with an
examination of change in income over the 4-plus years for which we have data, finding
little change over time in total average earnings. Next, we consider the extent to which
TANF applicants were able to move out of poverty. We find that few TANF applicants
had income that would lift their families out of poverty, even after taking into account
income from sources other than employment earnings and TANF. We conclude with a
discussion of our findings and their policy implications.
Courtney M., A. Dworsky, I. Piliavin, and A. Zinn. 2005. “Involvement of TANF Applicant
Families with Child Welfare Services.” Social Service Review 79(1): 119–57.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=16390027&site=ehostlive
Abstract:
Few studies examine the relationship between welfare and child welfare populations in
the wake of welfare reform. This article compares child welfare services involvement
between 1996 Aid to Families with Dependent Children entrants and 1999 Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) applicants in Wisconsin. Results suggest that
there is considerable overlap between welfare applicant and child welfare populations,
that this overlap has increased significantly since welfare reform, and that, as state TANF
17
caseloads decline, they may be increasingly composed of families that face significant
problems in balancing the demands of work and parenting.
Crew, R. E., and B. C. Davis. 2003. “Assessing the effects of substance abuse among applicants
for TANF benefits: the outcome of a demonstration project in Florida.” Journal of Health
and Social Policy 17(1): 39–53.
Abstract:
This paper examines an attempt by the State of Florida to devise a mechanism for
determining the level of drug use among TANF recipients and to determine the extent to
which such use affects employment, earnings and use of government services by TANF
beneficiaries. Data from tests administered by substance abuse testing providers were
combined with information from Medicaid, Food Stamp, cash assistance and
Unemployment Insurance files to examine differences between the two groups. The
findings suggest that the procedures employed by the State of Florida did not produce
reliable estimates of the level of drug use among TANF beneficiaries. The data did show
very small differences in employment, earnings, and use of government services between
individuals who tested positively and those who tested negatively for substance abuse. In
addition, evidence is presented that suggests that there is very little difference in
employment, earnings and use of government services between users of different kinds of
drugs.
Crew, Robert E., Joe Eyerman, Justin Graham, and Nancy McMillan. 2000. “Tracking the
Outcomes of Welfare Reform in Florida for Three Groups of People.” A report prepared
for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ASPE, Washington, DC.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/fl/CrewTrackingFinalDHHS.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
This project made use of information collected from two sources to track the outcomes of
welfare reform in Florida for three groups of citizens: (1) a group that had participated in
the state’s TANF program but that left this program during the second calendar quarter of
1997; (2) a group that had begun the process of applying for cash assistance during this
quarter but had not completed the process; and (3) a group that had been receiving
Medicaid benefits during this period and was income eligible for cash assistance but did
not apply for cash assistance. Using administrative data from the state’s FLORIDA and
WAGES information systems, from the state’s Unemployment Insurance files and
information gathered through telephone interviews with over 6,000 of the individuals
involved, these three groups were tracked for the 21 months following the baseline
period.
18
Cuciti, P., L. Appelbaum, and C. Badar. 2003. “Families on Colorado Works: Employment
Assets and Liabilities.” The Centers, University of Colorado, Denver.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/co/Welfare-Barriers.pdf
From the Introduction:
This research provides an in-depth examination of the single-parent caseload receiving
financial assistance through Colorado Works as of July 2002. Drawing on administrative
records for the entire caseload and in-depth surveys with a representative sample of case
heads, this report describes their welfare and employment experiences and details a wide
range of both potential assets and barriers to employment.
Davis, Belinda Creel, Younghee Lim, and Michelle Livermore. 2011. “A Fresh Look at an Old
Debate: Assigned Work Activities, Employment, and Post-program Earnings in TANF
Work Programs.” Journal of Policy Practice 10(2).
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15588742.2011.555324
Abstract:
This study asserts that the type of work activity in which a Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) participant engages affects the likelihood of employment and
post-program earnings. Using a Heckman selection model on administrative data from
Louisiana’s social service office and unemployment insurance wage data (N = 15,816)
and controlling for individual and parish characteristics, this study reveals that two work
activities, on-the-job training and unsubsidized employment, are associated with an
increased probability of employment. Further, unsubsidized employment, on-the-job
training, and vocational education are positively associated with earnings, while job
search, school attendance, and work experience are negatively associated with earnings.
Elkin, Sam, Bret Barden, Kip Brown, and Iris Chan. 2009. “Welfare Leavers in Colorado.” The
Lewin Group, Falls Church, VA.
http://www.lewin.com/content/publications/COWelfareLeaverReport.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
This report explores why former welfare recipients in Colorado left the Colorado Works
program and how they fare after exiting. It is part of a multi-year, in-depth study The
Lewin Group is conducting for the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS).
The analysis in this report relies primarily on data from a survey of 494 individuals who
had been on single-parent Colorado Works cases and left the program during the first
three months of 2007. The survey occurred in August through November of 2008, which
was between 17 and 23 months after the individuals surveyed had left Colorado Works.
19
Fitzpatrick, Jill, and Julie L. Hotchkiss. 2009. “Job Separation Outcomes of Welfare Hires:
Insight from Linked Personnel and State Administrative Data.” Contemporary Economic
Policy 27(2): 137–46.
http://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/coecpo/v27y2009i2p137-146.html
Abstract:
This article makes use of a unique personnel data set and state administrative data to
follow welfare and non-welfare hires that separate from similar jobs with the same firm.
Welfare hires are more likely to be on welfare after separation but are equally likely as
similarly low-skilled non-welfare hires to transition to another job after separation.
Among those with a new job, welfare hires experience a significantly lower wage gain,
suggesting that welfare hires would benefit (even more than non-welfare hires) from
focused assistance with job search and transition skills.
Foster, Michael E., and Dana K. Rickman. 2001. “Life After Welfare: Report of the Georgia
Welfare Leavers Study.” Applied Research Center, Andrew Young School of Policy
Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/ga/statereport_law.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
Funded by the Department of Human Resources, the Georgia State welfare leavers study
tracked families as they left Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Using
administrative data combined with the results of a telephone survey, the project
monitored the impact of leaving welfare on the individuals and their families. The study
includes both single-parent and child-only leavers as well as individuals who have
returned to the rolls.
Fraker, T., G. Kirby, M. Kovac, and L. Pavetti. 2003. “Families on TANF in Illinois:
Employment Assets and Liabilities.” Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Washington,
DC.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/TANF-IL-emp03/report.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
To increase knowledge of the current welfare caseload, this study examined the
characteristics, circumstances, and job readiness of single-parent TANF cases in Illinois.
The study population consisted of 33,495 single-parent cases in Illinois on TANF in
November 2001. The cornerstone of this study was a telephone survey of a sample of 532
cases randomly drawn from this population. We completed interviews with 416 of the
sample members for a survey response rate of 78 percent. To enrich the analysis, we
supplemented this survey data with administrative data from the Illinois Department of
20
Human Services, wage data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, and
criminal history records from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.
Freedman, Stephen, Jean Tansey Knab, Lisa A. Gennetian, and David Navarro. 2000. “The Los
Angeles Jobs-First GAIN Evaluation: Final Report on a Work First Program in a Major
Urban Center.” MDRC.
http://www.mdrc.org/Reports2000/LA-GAIN/LA-GAIN-FullReport.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
This document summarizes the two-year findings from a large-scale, rigorous evaluation
of Jobs-First GAIN, a strongly employment-focused mandatory welfare-to-work
program. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS)
operated Jobs-First GAIN from January 1995 through March 1998. The evaluation,
conducted by the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC), has been
jointly funded by DPSS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the
Ford Foundation. Los Angeles operates the largest county welfare program in the nation,
serving more recipients than all states except New York and California. The size and
diversity of Los Angeles County’s population mean that any success achieved by JobsFirst GAIN will have broad significance.
Geen, Rob, Katherine Kortenkamp, and Matthew Stagner. 2002. “Foster Care Experiences of
Long-Term Welfare Recipients in California” The Social Service Review 76(4): 552–74.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/30013110
Abstract:
Among a sample of 3,560 mostly long-term welfare recipients on cash assistance in
California in 1992, approximately 4.2 percent had a child placed in foster care within 5
years. Caucasian caregivers, caregivers who became parents as teenagers, and those with
more difficult parenting responsibilities were at increased risk of having a child removed
from the home. Although current and long-term welfare receipt increased the risk of
having a child placed in foster care, caregivers who had stable employment were at lesser
risk. However, caregivers who worked while on welfare were at greater risk than
caregivers who only received welfare benefits.
Gonzalez, L., K. Hudson, and J. Acker. 2007. “Diverting dependency: The effects of diversion
on the short-term outcomes of TANF applicants.” Journal of Poverty 11(1): 83–05.
Abstract:
As part of welfare reform, many states developed programs to “divert” applicants from
receiving public assistance. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data from Oregon are used
21
to assess the outcomes of diverted women during a 21-month period in 1998 and 1999.
Within nine months of their initial application, about half of those who were diverted
received TANF. Prior welfare use did not increase the likelihood of TANF use. By the
end of the study, half of all respondents had incomes below the federal poverty threshold,
with more women dropping below the poverty level than rising above it. Neither
employment nor TANF receipt during the study had a significant impact on the
respondent’s poverty status.
Hall, Lauren A., Letitia Logan, and Catherine Born. 2011. “Male Caseheads Receiving TCA:
Who Are They and What Are Their Circumstances?” University of Maryland School of
Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/malecaseheadsbrief.pdf
From the web site:
This report briefly examines male caseheads who were receiving Temporary Cash
Assistance in Maryland in October 2009. The rise in male TCA applicants and current
economic climate which has been more unfavorable for males prompted this
investigation.
Hamilton, W. L., N. R. Burnstein, A. J. Baker, A. Earle, S. Gluckman, L. Peck, and A. White.
1996. “The New York Child Assistance Program: Five-Year Impacts, Costs, and
Benefits.” Abt Associates, Cambridge, MA.
From the Executive Summary:
The New York Child Assistance Program (CAP) is a welfare reform initiative developed
by the New York State Department of Social Services. CAP was implemented on a test
basis in a limited number of counties beginning in 1988-89. This report describes results
over five years in the three counties where CAP operated within a rigorous experimental
design.
Herbst, C. M., and D. Stevens. 2010. “The Impact of Local Labor Market Conditions on Work
and Welfare Decisions: Revisiting an Old Question Using New Data.” Population
Research and Policy Review 29 (4): 453–79.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=12&sid=b16d1adfa4e7-436a-af0c-8f4970d1094b%40sessionmgr12
Abstract:
Using Maryland administrative data between 1996 and 2005, this paper examines the
impact of local labor market conditions on work and welfare use among single mothers.
Our estimates rely on the new Census Bureau Quarterly Workforce Indicators database,
22
which provides county-level economic indicators filtered by industry, gender, and agegroup. We specify a multinomial choice model to estimate the effects of local labor
market variables, demographic characteristics, and controls for unobserved heterogeneity
on the full set of work-welfare combinations. The results indicate that lower
unemployment rates and increased new hires and new hires’ earnings in key industries
increase the likelihood that women choose alternatives that include work. African
American women and those with fewer years of education respond differently to
changing economic conditions. Our results are robust to controls for fixed effects,
county-specific time trends, and endogenous migration.
Hetling, Andrea, and Catherine E. Born. 2005. “Examining the Impact of the Family Violence
Option on Women’s Efforts to Leave Welfare.” Research on Social Work Practice 15:
143–53. doi:10.1177/1049731504272908.
http://rsw.sagepub.com/content/15/3/143.full.pdf+html
Abstract:
The establishment of the Family Violence Option (FVO) in 1997 was met with some
controversy, as critics believed waivers from time limit and work requirements would
hinder women’s ability to leave welfare and find employment. Method: Using
administrative and interview data from Maryland, multivariate equations analyze if
domestic violence disclosure, administrative documentation, or waiver use had a
statistically significant effect on one year employment and welfare use outcomes of
individuals. Results: Waiver holders did not differ from non-victims, but victims who are
not documented received fewer months of welfare and earned less income. Conclusions:
Findings do not indicate that FVO waivers encourage women to stay on welfare longer.
However, the poor outcomes of undocumented victims indicate that some individuals
may be slipping through the cracks of a well-intentioned policy.
Hetling, Andrea, Correne Saunders, and Catherine E. Born. 2005. “Maryland’s Child-Only
Caseload: A Comparison of Parental and Non-parental Cases.” University of Maryland
School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/childonly.pdf
From the web site:
This report describes Maryland’s child-only caseload and makes comparisons between
not only non-child-only and child-only cases but also sub-groups within this population.
23
Hirasuna Donald P., and Thomas F. Stinson. 2007. “Earned Income Credit Utilization by
Welfare Recipients: A Case Study of Minnesota’s Earned Income Credit Program.”
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 26(1): 125–48.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.20230/abstract
Abstract:
This paper examines utilization of a state earned income credit by AFDC and TANF
recipients. Although utilization percentages are increasing, we find that among TANF
recipients in 1999, 45.7 percent of all households and 34.8 percent of eligible households
did not receive the state earned income credit. Moreover, we find that utilization may
depend upon TANF requirements and incentives, information resources, and barriers to
work and filing of income tax returns. Finally, we investigate whether low utilization is
because of little or no benefit from the state earned income credit and find this may be
true for some with barriers or less incentive to work under TANF.
Hollenbeck, K., J. Kimmel, and R. Eberts. 1997. “Using Administrative Data To Evaluate the
Ohio JOBS Student Retention Program.” W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment
Research, Kalamazoo, MI.
Abstract:
This paper presents findings from a net impact evaluation of the Ohio JOBS Student
Retention Program (JSRP). The JOBS program, a component of the federal Aid to
Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, was required in all states for AFDC
recipients who met certain criteria. The Ohio JSRP was an activity pursued by some
JOBS program clients in Ohio to fulfill their responsibilities in order to receive aid. The
JSRP was a threefold support program designed to facilitate entry to and success in
programs of study at two-year community or technical colleges. We evaluated this state
welfare policy while simultaneously dealing with methodological issues associated with
the use of the different state administrative data sets.
Julnes, G., A. Halter, S. Anderson, R. Schuldt, L. Frost-Kumpf, and F. Staskon. 2000. “Illinois
study of former TANF clients: Final report.” Institute for Public Affairs, University of
Illinois at Springfield, Springfield, IL.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/il/tanf_finalrpt.pdf
From the text:
TANF represents a new welfare program that has succeeded in reducing welfare rolls, but
concerns remain regarding what happens to adults and children after they leave the
TANF rolls and their cases are closed. As a result, Illinois, like many states,
commissioned a study of leaver outcomes, to study the experiences of former TANF
24
clients. The study addresses the following questions:
o
o
o
o
o
o
Who is leaving TANF?
Why are people leaving TANF?
What are the employment experiences of TANF leavers?
Who returns to TANF cash assistance and why?
What services and supports do TANF leavers use and need?
What is the overall well-being of clients after exiting TANF?
Kauff, Jacqueline, Lisa Fowler, Thomas Fraker, and Julita Milliner-Waddell. 2001. “Iowa
Families That Left TANF: Why Did They Leave and How Are They Faring?”
Mathematica Policy Research, Washington, DC.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/ia/IA-Report01.pdf
From the Introduction:
The two broad objectives of the “Study of TANF Leavers in Iowa” are to explain why
families leave FIP and to describe their experiences and their circumstances after exit.
This information should provide insight into what steps, if any, policymakers can take to
help ensure the well-being and long-term self-sufficiency of families that leave cash
assistance. The study findings should also shed light on the distinct needs of families that
leave the rolls under different circumstances. In particular, the findings may help to guide
policymakers in Iowa and other states as they design programs to support those who are
moving from welfare to work and as they develop strategies to reengage those who have
left the rolls because of noncompliance.
Keiser, L. R., P. R. Mueser, et al. 2004. “Race, Bureaucratic Discretion, and the Implementation
of Welfare Reform.” American Journal of Political Science 48(2): 314–27.
Abstract:
This article explores the impact of the race of individual clients and of the local racial
context on the implementation of sanctions for recipients of Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) in a Midwestern state. We find that although nonwhites are
sanctioned at lower rates than whites overall, nonwhites are sanctioned more compared to
whites in each local area. This paradox occurs because nonwhites tend to live in areas
with lower sanction rates. Consistent with the literature on race and policy, we find that
sanction rates increase as the nonwhite population increases until a threshold is reached
where nonwhites gain political power.
25
Kwon, Hyeok Chang, and Daniel R. Meyer. 2011. “How do economic downturns affect welfare
leavers? A comparison of two cohorts.” Children and Youth Services Review 33(5).
Abstract:
Early welfare reform research showed high rates of employment for TANF leavers.
However, work-focused welfare may not be effective during an economic downturn. We
investigate the employment of Wisconsin TANF leavers, contrasting outcomes among
early leavers (1998) with those who left during the 2001 recession. We use data from
administrative records on about 6000 welfare leavers, tracking quarterly employment for
3 years after they left benefits. Separate panel data analyses of those exiting in two
different time periods show that individual leavers are less likely to be employed when
their local unemployment rate is high in the later cohort; no relationship is found for the
early cohort. In a panel analysis in which the cohorts are combined, we find that leavers
in the later cohort, who experienced the recession early in their post-welfare career, are
less likely to be employed, a result that holds controlling for observed and unobserved
characteristics. These findings raise questions about how well single-parent families and
their children will fare during difficult economic times now that welfare reform has such
a strong emphasis on work.
Larson, Anita M., Shweta Singh, and Crystal Lewis. 2011. “Sanctions and Education Outcomes
for Children in TANF Families.” Child & Youth Services 32(3).
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0145935X.2011.605305
Abstract:
Most research on the impact of Welfare Reform has been upon the employment status of
parents and trends in declining caseloads. Recent research has examined how children in
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program families are faring, with
growing interest in the effects upon children of the disruptions to cash benefits that result
from program sanctions, the policies that are intended to motivate parents to comply with
work requirements. Adding to the body of knowledge on children and TANF sanctions,
this study used administrative data to examine school attendance rates and disruptions to
enrollment, for children from families with at least one sanction. Findings indicate that
there are important probable connections between the factors that contribute to challenges
to employment that relate to parenting and the school engagement of children in TANF
families.
26
Lee, Bong Joo, Robert George, Mairead Reidy, J. Lee Kreader, Annie Georges, Robert L.
Wagmiller, Jr., Jane Staveley, David Stevens, and Ann Dryden Witte. 2004. “Child Care
Subsidy Use and Employment Outcomes of TANF Mothers During the Early Years of
Welfare Reform: A Three-State Study.” Working Paper. Chapin Hall, University of
Chicago.
.
From the Report Overview:
The country’s major overhaul of its welfare programs in 1996 shifted the focus from
providing cash assistance to needy parents to supporting them in their efforts to secure
work. Because the cost of child care can be a major obstacle to low-income mothers
making the transition from welfare to work, federal and state governments have increased
both funding of and flexibility in their child care subsidy programs. However, very little
is known about the child and family outcomes of the child care subsidy program. This
study begins to fill this research gap by examining the relation between subsidy take-up
and employment duration among low income mothers. Specifically, we examine patterns
of child care subsidy take-up (e.g., who uses the subsidies and when), type of child care
used (e.g., center-based care, relative care, care by nonrelatives in the child’s or
caregiver’s home), and the relation between child care subsidy use and employment
outcomes (e.g., whether mothers who use subsidies stay longer in their jobs) among
single mothers who were receiving TANF or who had recently left the TANF program
during the early years of welfare reform (1997 to 1999) in three states—Illinois,
Maryland, and Massachusetts.
Lee, Bong Joo, Kristen S. Slack, and Dan A. Lewis. 2004. “Are Welfare Sanctions Working as
Intended? Welfare Receipt, Work Activity, and Material Hardship among TANFRecipient Families.” The Social Service Review 78(3): 370–403.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/30013439
Abstract:
This analysis utilizes longitudinal survey and administrative data on 1998 welfare
recipients in Illinois to assess whether different types of grant reductions are associated
with subsequent work, welfare receipt, and hardships. Results show that imposed
sanctions are inversely associated with formal work and earnings, as well as with
increases in informal work, other work activities, and food hardships. Threats to sanction
are unassociated with formal work and welfare outcomes but positively associated with
informal work, other work activities, and rent hardship. Greater knowledge of welfare
rules is associated with more formal work, less welfare receipt, and less hardship.
27
Long, David. 2001. “Montana FAIM Evaluation: Assessment of Welfare Reform in a Rural
Setting.” Prepared for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
Abt Associates, Princeton, NJ.
Montana used administrative data from TANF and unemployment insurance records to
identify the reasons for applying for public assistance, the most common reasons for
leaving public assistance, employment characteristics of former recipients, and other
public benefits received by former recipients. This study included a process study and
outcome analysis. A two wave survey of low-income families, including intensive inperson interviews in focus counties and reservations, was conducted. Statewide
administrative data was used linking individual level FAIM, TANF, and other records to
members of the survey sample. This included data on TANF, food stamps, Medicaid,
Child Care, and UI records.
Mancuso D., C. Lierberman, V. Lindler, and A. Moses. 2001. “Examining Circumstances of
Individuals and Families Who Leave TANF: Assessing the Validity of Administrative
Data.” The SPHERE Institute, Burlingame, CA.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/ca/ASPE3CountyFinal.pdf
From the Introduction:
This study has three primary objectives: (1) to examine the circumstances of families
who stopped receiving cash aid and families who applied for but did not receive cash aid;
(2) to assess the validity and usefulness of administrative data in examining the
circumstances of these “welfare leavers” and “informally diverted” applicants by
comparing administrative data with outcomes derived from a survey data collection
effort; and (3) to develop, through the use of administrative data that are available to
county staff, profiles of those families at greatest risk of encountering problems after
leaving, or being diverted from, CalWORKs.
MAXIMUS. 2002. “Illinois TANF Applicant Study.” Prepared for State of Illinois Department
of Human Services. MAXIMUS, Reston, VA.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/il/TANF_Applicant_Study_2001.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
This report presents the findings of a study of TANF applicants and the TANF intake
process in Illinois. The study provides information on approximately 4,800 families who
applied for TANF in Illinois during the summer of 2000. The study also presents findings
on the operation of the TANF intake process in Illinois, including an assessment of two
new policy initiatives introduced in late 1998 and early 1999 by the Illinois Department
of Human Services (IDHS)—Up-Front Job Search and the Community Partners program.
28
To achieve the study objectives, site visits were conducted, administrative records data
were analyzed, and follow-up telephone surveys were conducted.
Maxwell, T., and George Falco. 2002. “Leaving Welfare: Post-TANF Experiences of New York
State Families.” The Rockefeller Institute of Government, Albany, NY.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/ny/leaving02.pdf
The final report focuses more on the results of an accompanying survey—uses the
administrative data only to compare respondents to non-respondents.
Moffitt, Robert, and David C. Ribar. 2006. “Earnings, Assets, and Program Dependence.”
Presented at the National Poverty Center and Economic Research Conference on Income
Volatility and Implications for Food Assistance Programs II, Washington, DC.
From the Introduction:
Previous household-level research on participation in food and cash assistance programs
has mostly relied on one of two types of data: either survey data in which people report
their own program participation or administrative case records that describe spells of
benefit receipt but do not follow households after they leave a program. In this paper, we
adopt an alternative approach examining post-reform longitudinal survey information
from a study of low-income families linked with program records on benefits received
from the Food Stamp Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
program.
Morris, L. A., and D. K. Orthner. 2000. “Welfare Reform and the Wage Prospects for Work First
participants: Industries, occupations, and wage rates for jobs obtained by TANF
recipients in North Carolina, 1995-1998.” In Early Implications of Welfare Reform in the
Southeast, edited by L. G. Nackerud and M. Robinson. Nova Science Publishers.
In an effort to add to knowledge of the job and wage experiences of welfare recipients,
we present here findings from an on-going study of the labor market experiences of
AFDC/TANF recipients in North Carolina. Specifically, we present data on the industrial
categories within which AFDC/TANF recipients in North Carolina are obtaining jobs; the
types of entry-level, lower-skilled occupations within each industrial category; and the
range of hourly wage rates paid to newly hired workers and experienced workers in each
occupational category. We will also discuss the skill requirements and potential for onthe-job skills development for the occupations filled by welfare recipients in order to
discuss the policy and practice implications of our findings.
29
Mueser, P., D. Stevens, and K. Troske. 2007. “The Impact of Welfare Reform on Leaver
Characteristics, Employment and Recidivism: An Analysis of Maryland and Missouri.”
DP No. 3131. IZA, Bonn, Germany.
http://ftp.iza.org/dp3131.pdf
Abstract:
State and federal reforms of the 1990s transformed the U.S. cash assistance program for
single parents and their children. Despite an extensive literature examining these changes
and their impacts, there have been few studies that consider the effects of these reforms
from the perspective of the recent period. The analysis here focuses on the characteristics
and employment of welfare recipients in Maryland and Missouri, 1991-2004. We find
that there has been only modest change in the observable characteristics of those entering,
on, or leaving welfare, but the importance of employment has grown for each of these
groups. We also examine the dynamics of employment and welfare recidivism,
comparing cohorts of leavers prior to and after welfare reform. We find that after welfare
reform leavers are much more likely to be working. Although in Maryland those working
have earnings that are somewhat below employed leavers prior to reform, in Missouri
earnings for employed leavers are unchanged. In both states, the types of jobs leavers
hold have not changed substantially, and leavers are less likely to return to welfare
following reform.
Needell, B., S. Cuccaro-Alamin, et al. 1999. “Transitions from AFDC to child welfare in
California.” Children and Youth Services Review 21(9–10): 815–41.
Abstract:
Probability matching software was employed to link AFDC histories for children with
birth records, child abuse reporting data, and foster care data. A total of 63,768 children
entering AFDC between 1990 and 1995 in 10 California counties were followed to
determine subsequent child welfare involvement. Within 5 years of AFDC entry, 27% of
children had child abuse referrals, 22% had child abuse investigations, 8% had child
welfare cases opened, and 3% were placed in foster care. Although relatively few
children transition from welfare to foster care, AFDC child entrants who later experience
child welfare events and their mothers are more likely than others to have certain
characteristics such as single parent family structure, larger family size, low birth-weight,
and late or no prenatal care. Total time on aid and the number of spells on aid are
positively associated with child welfare events. It will be important to monitor these
findings as welfare reform progresses. Administrative data analysis can suggest ways to
effectively target services when fiscal limitations prohibit universal support.
30
O’Leary, C. J., and K. J. Kline. 2008. “UI as a Safety Net for Former TANF Recipients: Final
Report.” W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, MI.
From the Executive Summary:
Among TANF recipients who left the program for employment, this study examines
subsequent joblessness, application for UI benefits, eligibility for UI benefits, and rates of
UI benefit receipt. The levels of TANF and UI income support are compared, and the rate
of return to TANF is contrasted between UI beneficiaries, non-applicants, and ineligible
applicants. Findings are compared to results from earlier studies measuring UI eligibility
and receipt among those who left social assistance programs.
O’Leary, C. J., and K. J. Kline. 2009. “Use of Unemployment Insurance and Employment
Services by Newly Unemployed Leavers from Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families: Final Report.” W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo,
MI.
.
From the Preface:
This study examines participation in Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Employment
Services (ES) by adults who received cash welfare benefits through Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Among those who leave TANF for employment,
we measure the rates of subsequent unemployment, application for UI, eligibility for and
receipt of UI benefits, and the use of Wagner-Peyser funded ES. We also investigate the
correlations between UI and ES services receipt with reemployment and future
independence from TANF. The analysis is based on person-level administrative program
records from four of the nine most populated states between 1997 and 2003.
Olson, K. 2003. “Beyond Welfare: Cass and Williams Counties’ TANF Pilot Projects.” North
Dakota Department of Human Services, Bismarck.
Abstract:
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program provides time-limited
cash assistance to eligible families with deprived children. The TANF program stresses
reducing dependency through job preparation and work. In response, Cass and Williams
counties implemented similar pilot projects to test new approaches to case management.
This report outlines the pilot projects and presents data that suggests they have been
successful.
31
Ovwigho, P., C. E. Born, A. Ferrero, and C. Palazzo. 2004. “Life on welfare: The active TANF
caseload in Maryland.” University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/md/Life-on-Welfare.pdf
From the Introduction:
Evidence concerning TANF caseload composition and changes is mixed. On some
important dimensions, current clients appear to compare favorably to those in prior years,
while on other dimensions they do not. The importance of welfare reform’s next phase to
families and children and the local and state communities in which they live clearly
warrants an in-depth, empirical examination of the characteristics and circumstances of
families currently receiving cash assistance. The goal of our present study is to provide
this type of data for the State of Maryland. To accomplish this, our study uses a
combination of survey and administrative data for a random sample of 819 families
receiving TANF in Maryland in June 2002. We address two questions: (1) What is the
profile of the current TANF caseload in our state? (2) How does this profile vary within
the state? Because the main purpose of this federally-funded project is to provide
information on assets and barriers to employment, we focus specifically on cases with
one adult and at least one child included in the TANF assistance unit. In addition, we
stratify our sample on jurisdiction, to compare single parent TANF cases in Baltimore
City to single parent TANF cases in Maryland’s 23 counties.
Ovwigho, Pamela C. 2001. “Life On Welfare: Have the Hard-to-Serve Been Left Behind?
Changes in the TANF Caseload Over the Course of Welfare Reform.” University of
Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/statewide.pdf
From the web site:
Using cross-sectional samples from October 1996 and October 1998, this study examines
the hypothesis that the families still receiving TANF face more personal and family
challenges in leaving welfare for work, than did families who have already left the rolls.
Ovwigho, Pamela C., Catherine E. Born, and Correne Saunders. 2006. “Profile of the Active
Caseload: Separate State Programs & Short-Term Disabilities.” University of Maryland
School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/ssp.pdf
From the web site:
The controversial reauthorization of TANF via the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 has
created new rules that will represent a significant challenge to states. This report
examines Maryland’s Separate State Programs (SSP) and compares them to traditional
32
TANF cases in order to anticipate what the implications of the various options might be
so that the choices made are the ones most suited to the realities of welfare caseloads at
the state and sub-state level.
Ovwigho, Pamela C., Katherine Leavitt, and Catherine E. Born. 2003. “Life After Welfare: Child
Abuse & Neglect Reports among Early & Later Leavers.” University of Maryland School
of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/cwmva.pdf
From the web site:
Rates of child abuse or neglect reports are higher among children in later cohorts of
welfare leavers than in earlier cohorts. This report presents analysis of post-exit child
abuse and neglect reports among children in families leaving TANF.
Ovwigho, Pamela C., Nicholas Kolupanowich, and Catherine E. Born. 2009. “Disconnected
Leavers: The Circumstances of Those Without Welfare and Without Work.” University
of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/lostleavers.pdf
From the web site:
This study attempts to shed light on the puzzling question of why, in this economy, recent
caseload increases have not been more dramatic by empirically examining the issue of
“disconnection.” This relatively new term in public welfare refers to the phenomenon
where, having exited welfare, former cash assistance recipients have neither income from
their own employment nor welfare income from having returned to the rolls. In other
words, they have neither work nor welfare.
Ovwigho, Pamela C., Nicholas Kolupanowich, and Catherine E. Born. 2010. “Full Family
Sanctions: Long-term Outcomes of Sanctioned Welfare Leavers.” University of
Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/sanctions2010.pdf
From the web site:
This report presents information on the characteristics and outcomes of 15,259 families
that exited Maryland’s welfare rolls between April 1998 and March 2008. We compare
the characteristics and outcomes of those whose cases were closed because of a full
family sanction for non-compliance with work to those who exited for other reasons.
33
Ovwigho, Pamela C., Tracy Kirk, and Catherine E. Born. 2004. “Estimating Welfare Work
Exits: Case Closing Reasons vs. UI Data.” University of Maryland School of Social
Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/exitforworkbrief.pdf
From the web site:
In this research brief, we utilize a subset of data from the “Life After Welfare” study to
more closely examine the relationship between employment and administrative case
closing reasons. Data from both Maryland’s UI wage system is combined with UI wage
data from the District of Columbia and several states that border Maryland (Delaware,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia) to provide several different measures of
“leaving welfare for work”.
Rangarajan, A, and T. Ensor. 2003. “Work First New Jersey (WFNJ) Evaluation: How WFNJ
Clients Are Faring Under Welfare Reform: An Early Look.” Mathematic Policy
Research, Inc. Princeton, NJ.
From the Executive Summary:
This report, the fourth in a series tracking the progress of a statewide sample of an early
group of WFNJ clients who participated in the program during its first 18 months of
operations, focuses on three main questions: (1) How has this early group of clients
progressed economically over the four- to five-year period since they entered the
program? (2) What are clients’ employment patterns, and who is at highest risk of job
loss? and (3) What are the typical marriage patterns of WFNJ clients during the first few
years after they enter the program?
Rangarajan, Anu, and Amy Johnson. 2002. “Current and Former WFNJ Clients: How Are They
and Their Children Faring 40 Months Later?” Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.,
Princeton, NJ.
From the Executive Summary:
This report, the third in a series tracking the progress of a representative statewide sample
of current and former WFNJ clients, focuses on two main questions. First, how have
clients progressed with respect to employment, income, and other indicators of quality of
life during the two-year period since the first survey was conducted, in 1999? Second,
how are they doing in other key areas, such as their knowledge of time limits, how they
make child care arrangements, and how their children are faring?
34
Rangarajan, A., and C. Razafindrakoto. 2004. “Unemployment Insurance As a Potential Safety
Net for TANF Leavers: Evidence from Five States: Final Report.” Mathematic Policy
Research, Inc.
From the Executive Summary:
This study, funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
(ASPE), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), examines the extent to
which former welfare recipients are likely to have monetary eligibility for UI. In
particular, it examines the following questions, among others: What would be the rate of
monetary UI eligibility among former welfare recipients who leave welfare for work, if
they were to lose their jobs, and seek UI benefits? How has this rate changed over time?
For what benefit amounts are these individuals likely to be eligible? How sensitive are UI
monetary eligibility rates to changes in program parameters?
Rangarajan, A., C. Razafindrakoto, and W. Corson. 2002. “Study to Examine UI Eligibility
Among Former TANF Recipients: Evidence from New Jersey: Final Report.”
Mathematic Policy Research, Inc. Princeton, NJ.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/UI-elig-former-TANF03/report.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
This study, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the New
Jersey Department of Human Services (NJDHS) and with the support of the New Jersey
Department of Labor (NJDOL), examines the extent to which former welfare recipients
are likely to be eligible for UI, and the extent to which former recipients who leave
welfare and find work file UI claims. In particular, it examines such questions as: What is
the rate of monetary UI eligibility among former welfare recipients who leave welfare
and find work, and how does this rate change over time? How are nonmonetary factors
likely to affect eligibility? For what benefit amounts are these individuals likely to be
eligible? How sensitive are UI monetary eligibility rates to varying program parameters?
How many former welfare recipients actually file UI claims and receive payments?
Ratcliffe, Caroline, Demetra Smith Nightingale, and Patrick Sharkey. 2007. “Welfare Program
Performance: an Analysis of South Carolina’s Family Independence Program.” The
American Review of Public Administration 37(1): 65–90.
Abstract:
Public agencies are increasingly expected to track their performance according to
established criteria—to be held accountable for the expenditure of public funds and show
that funds are being used to achieve intended outcomes. This analysis of South Carolina’s
Family Independence welfare program examines counties’ performance on five
35
employment-related outcomes: employment rate, employment entry rate, employment
retention rate, earnings gain rate, and earned income closure rate. Counties’ performance
is statistically analyzed, adjusting for variation in external factors (e.g., labor market
conditions and caseload characteristics) that influence program performance but that are
outside the control of county program staff. This analysis shows that external factors
influence employment-related performance, suggesting that states may want to vary
counties’ goals based on external factors, rather than expecting all counties to meet the
same performance level. This analysis provides an example of how agencies can apply
statistical analysis to measure, track, and analyze program performance.
Richardson, Phil, Gregg Schoenfeld, and Swati Jain. 2001. “Welfare Recipients, Leavers, and
Diverters in North Carolina: Final Report of Administrative Records Data.” MAXIMUS.
From the Introduction:
In this report, we present continued analyses of data from the administrative data systems
maintained by the Division of Social Services, the Employment Security Commission,
and other components of the North Carolina State Government. The report compares the
experiences of families under the former Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC) under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act, with the experiences of families
under Work First. To focus our analysis on the differences in outcomes among families in
the AFDC and Work First programs, we concentrated the analysis on “cohorts,” of
families --two groups from the AFDC program and 10 groups from the Work First
program. This report compares the experiences of the members of these groups of
families with regard to the length of time they received public assistance, their success in
remaining off public assistance, their employment experiences, and their earnings. Within
each group, we examine the experiences of families with different characteristics, such as
those with greater or lesser amounts of education, larger or smaller families, and those
who had or did not have work experience prior to receiving cash assistance.
Rockefeller Institute. 1999. “After Welfare: A Study of Work and Benefit Use After Case
Closing in New York State. Revised Interim Report.” The Rockefeller Institute of
Government, Albany, NY.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/ny/after-welfare99.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
To better understand the impact of welfare reform in New York State, we have initiated
an extensive plan of evaluation. Our first efforts (which include this report) examine what
happens to families who leave welfare, by extracting, linking and analyzing data from the
information systems that are used to administer welfare and related programs. In later
studies, phone and in-home surveys of individuals whose welfare cases closed will be
36
used to supplement and expand on the knowledge gained by analyzing administrative
data.
Ryan, S. 1999. “Revised Interim Report: Preliminary Outcomes for 1996 Fourth Quarter AFDC
Leavers.” University of Missouri, Department of Economics.
In-depth analysis of earnings and subsequent benefit receipt of AFDC leavers in 1996.
Sanford, Douglas M., Michael M. H. Ye, Lester Coffey, and William F. Sullivan. 2003. “Former
TANF Recipients’ Monetary Eligibility for Unemployment Insurance Benefits: An
Empirical Study.” In A Compilation of Selected Papers from the Employment and
Training Administration’s 2003 Biennial National Research Conference, edited by
Joshua Riley, Aquila Branch, Stephen Wandner, and Wayne Gordon, pp. 185–207. U.S.
Department of Labor, Washington, DC.
http://wdr.doleta.gov/conference/pdf/BOOK1.pdf
From the Introduction:
We investigate a cohort of TANF leavers and their probability of becoming monetarily
eligible for UI. Our research focuses on three related questions. What individual
characteristics associate with monetary eligibility for UI? What support programs
associate with individuals’ becoming eligible for UI? What exogenous conditions affect
individuals’ becoming eligible for UI benefit? For individual characteristics, we
investigate possible impacts of age, race, education and number of children. For support
programs, we investigate the possible impacts of food stamps, medical care coverage,
child care, and employment programs. For exogenous conditions, we investigate possible
impacts of county economic growth and county wage rate, and industry in which former
TANF recipients are employed.
Scrivener, S., G. Hamilton, M. Farrell, S. Freedman, D. Friedlander, M. Mitchell, J. Nudelman,
and C. Schwartz. 1998. “National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies:
Implementation, Participation Patterns, Costs, and Two-Year Impacts of the Portland
(Oregon) Welfare-to-Work Program.” Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.
From the Executive Summary:
This report describes the implementation, participation patterns, and cost of the Portland
program, and presents estimates of the effects of the program on employment, earnings,
and welfare receipt during the two years following people’s entry into the program. To
determine the effects of Portland’s program, 5,547 single-parent AFDC applicants and
recipients aged 21 and over who attended a program orientation between February 1993
37
and December 1994 were randomly assigned to either a program group, eligible for
program services and subject to participation requirements, or a control group, not
eligible for services and not subject to participation requirements (although they could
participate in other services in the community).
Scrivener, S., R. Hendra, C. Redcross, D. Bloom, C. Michalopoulos, and J. Walter. 2002. “WRP:
Final Report on Vermont’s Welfare Restructuring Project.” MDRC.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/welfare_employ/vt_wrp/reports/vt_wrp_finalrpt/v
t_title.html
From the Introduction:
This is the final report in a large-scale evaluation of WRP. The Vermont Department of
Social Welfare (DSW) — the agency that administered WRP — contracted with the
Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) to conduct a comprehensive
evaluation of the program. (DSW was renamed the Department of Prevention,
Assistance, Transition, and Health Access [PATH] in mid-2000.) The study was based on
a rigorous random assignment research design, which permits comparisons between
WRP and Vermont’s previous welfare program. It uses data from all 12 welfare districts
in the state but focused in detail on 6 of them (referred to as the research districts). The
evaluation — which was initially required as a condition of the federal waivers that
allowed Vermont to implement the program — was funded by the State of Vermont, the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ford Foundation. MDRC is a
nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with more than a quarter-century’s experience
designing and evaluating programs and policies for low-income individuals, families, and
communities. The results from the WRP evaluation provide important evidence about one
of the many diverse strategies that states adopted to reform welfare in the 1990s.
Seith, David, Sarah Rich, and Lashawn Richburg-Hayes. 2007. “Between Welfare Reform and
Reauthorization: Income Support Systems in Cuyahoga and Philadelphia, 2000 to 2005.”
MDRC.
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/445/full.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
This report updates the story of welfare reform in two of the four Urban Change cities:
Cleveland and Philadelphia. How have state service delivery systems evolved as a result
of these changing conditions? And how have the longer-term effects of welfare reform
played out in caseload dynamics and in social and health indicators in low-income
neighborhoods? To address these questions, this report extends three sets of analyses
from the earlier Urban Change studies of Cleveland and Philadelphia: an implementation
analysis examines the policies and programs that welfare agencies put into place through
38
2005; an analysis of administrative records estimates the effects of welfare reform on
caseload trends in welfare receipt and employment through 2003 for Cleveland and
through 2001 for Philadelphia;2 and a neighborhood indicators analysis describes the
changing conditions of low-income communities in both counties through 2003.
Sperber, L., and D. Bloom. 2002. “An Analysis of Vermont’s Community Service Program.”
MDRC.
From the Introduction:
This report was prepared as part of a comprehensive evaluation of WRP conducted by the
Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) under contract with the
Vermont Department of Prevention, Assistance, Transition, and Health Access (PATH).
The report focuses on the CSE component, drawing on data from administrative records
and from surveys of CSE participants and their supervisors that were conducted in 2000.
After a brief summary of the findings, this report describes WRP and the role of CSE and
lays out the data sources used in the report. It then discusses the purposes of CSE,
describes the characteristics of CSE participants, and provides data on how long people
held CSE positions. The remaining sections describe the results of the CSE participant
and supervisor surveys, focusing on placement in CSE positions, participants’
experiences in CSE, and their exit from CSE.
Srivastava, Shafali, Pamela C. Ovwigho, and Catherine E. Born. 2001. “Child Support Receipt
among Children in Former TANF Families.” University of Maryland School of Social
Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/researchbrief01-04.pdf
From the web site:
This brief examines the role child support receipt may be able to play in enabling families
to leave welfare, increase their incomes, and avoid recidivism or returns to welfare.
Strong, Debra A., Joshua Haimson, and Linda Rosenberg. 2004. “Addressing Barriers to
Employment: Detecting and Treating Health and Behavioral Problems Among New
Jersey’s TANF Clients.” Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Princeton, NJ.
From the Executive Summary:
While substantial progress has been made in reducing families’ dependence on cash
welfare, important challenges remain. A majority of those on TANF when Work First
New Jersey (WFNJ) was introduced have left welfare, and most of those leaving the rolls
have secured jobs. Some TANF recipients, however, have had difficulty finding and
keeping jobs, and leaving welfare. Evidence indicates that these individuals experience a
39
variety of personal problems. This report examines New Jersey’s state-sponsored efforts
to identify and provide services to clients with health and behavioral problems. It focuses
on how counties identify those with potential problems, provide treatment and support
services, and help them make the transition to work.
Taylor, M. J., and A. S. Barusch. 2000. “Multiple Impacts of Welfare Reform in Utah:
Experiences of Former Long-term Welfare Recipients.” Social Research Institute,
College of Social Work, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.
http://www.socwk.utah.edu/pdf/sri-final2.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
The call came forth to “end welfare as we know it,” and so we have. This study of Utah’s
long-term welfare families represents a commitment by the Utah Department of
Workforce Services (DWS) to understand and document the situations of families as they
reach the mandatory three-year lifetime limit for receipt of cash assistance. It also
represents a snapshot of a historic time of change. This study reflects transitions at both
societal and individual levels. At the societal level, the AFDC program that had been in
place for over 60 years was replaced by a time-limited program, Temporary Assistance to
Needy Families (TANF). The individual transitions documented here reflect this broader
change. The long-term welfare recipients described were familiar with, and often
dependent on, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Their
experiences adjusting to TANF are in some ways unique to their cohort. Indeed, their
difficulty understanding the reality of lifetime limits and related policies may not be
experienced by their successors in the Family Employment Program (FEP).
Verma, N., and R. Hendra. 2003. “Monitoring Outcomes for Los Angeles County’s Pre- and
Post-CalWORKs Leavers” How Are They Faring?” MDRC.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/leavers99/state-rpts/ca/LA-post-core.pdf
From the Executive Summary:
This study was designed to address the following key questions:
•
•
•
•
•
Who are the welfare leavers, and what are their background characteristics?
How do pre-CalWORKs leavers compare with post-CalWORKs leavers?
What are the earnings and employment experiences of pre- and post-CalWORKs
welfare leavers?
To what extent do pre- and post-CalWORKs leavers return to welfare? What public
and other supports do leavers rely on after they stop receiving cash assistance?
What is the post-exit material well-being of the CalWORKs leavers? What are their
income sources, and what types of hardship do they experience?
40
Verma, N., C. Coulton, R. Hendra, and E. Polousky. 2003. “Monitoring Outcomes for Cuyahoga
County’s Welfare Leavers: How Are They Faring?” Prepared for Cuyahoga Work and
Training and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
From the Executive Summary:
The Cuyahoga study was designed to inform local administrators and policy analysts
about the circumstances of families leaving welfare. Specifically, the study was designed
to address the following key questions: 1) Who are the welfare leavers, and what are their
background characteristics? 2) How do pre-TANF leavers compare with Post-TANF
leavers? 3) What are the earnings and employment experiences of pre- and post-TANF
welfare leavers? 4) To what extent do pre- and post-TANF leavers return to welfare?
What public and other supports do leavers rely on after they stop receiving cash
assistance? 5) What is the level of material well-being of post-TANF welfare leavers?
What are their income sources, and what types of hardship do they experience?
Williamson, Sarah, Correne Saunders, and Catherine E. Born. 2010. “Life on Welfare:
Characteristics of Maryland’s TCA Caseload Since DRA.” University of Maryland
School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/lifeonreports.htm
From the web site:
This is the latest annual update of the “Life On Welfare” series. This series examines
aspects of the active TANF caseload in Maryland, including studies on the characteristics
of families who are receiving benefits and whether and how the profile of active cases
changes over time. The reports in the series are based on administrative data from TANF
cases in Maryland that are active in the month of October each year.
Williamson, Sarah. 2011. “Full-Family Sanctions & Economic Recession.” University of
Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.familywelfare.umaryland.edu/reports/sanctionsbrief.pdf
From the web site:
This brief describes the population of sanctioned families and what happens to them in
the short- and long-term aftermath of their involuntary welfare case closure.
41
Wolfe, B., T. Kaplan, et al. 2006. “SCHIP expansion and parental coverage: an evaluation of
Wisconsin’s BadgerCare.” Journal of Health Economics 25(6): 1170–92.
Abstract:
The Wisconsin BadgerCare program, which became operational in July 1999, expanded
public health insurance eligibility to both parents and children in families with incomes
below 185% of the U.S. poverty line (200% for those already enrolled). This eligibility
expansion was part of a federal initiative known as the State Children’s Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP). Wisconsin was one of only four states that initially expanded coverage
to parents of eligible children. In this paper, we attempt to answer the following question:
To what extent does a public program with the characteristics of Wisconsin’s BadgerCare
program reduce the proportion of the low-income adult population without health care
coverage? Using a coordinated set of administrative databases, we track three cohorts of
mother-only families: those who were receiving cash assistance under the Wisconsin
AFDC and TANF programs in September 1995, 1997, and 1999, and who subsequently
left welfare. We follow these 19,201 “welfare leaver” families on a quarterly basis for up
to 25 quarters, from 2 years before they left welfare through the end of 2001, making it
possible to use the labor market information and welfare history of the women in
analyzing outcomes. We apply multiple methods to address the policy evaluation
question, including probit, random effects, and two difference-in-difference strategies,
and compare the results across methods. All of our estimates indicate that BadgerCare
substantially increased public health care coverage for mother-only families leaving
welfare. Our best estimate is that BadgerCare increased the public health care coverage of
all adult leavers by about 17–25% points.
Wood, Robert G., Anu Rangajaran, and John Deke. 2004. “Early and Later WFNJ Clients: Are
Their Experiences Different?” Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Princeton, NJ.
From the Executive Summary:
This report examines the progress of a statewide sample of WFNJ clients who
participated in the program during the one-year period from July 2000 to June 2001, three
to four years after the program was implemented. It examines the background
characteristics of these clients, their welfare and employment patterns, their income and
poverty levels, their knowledge of WFNJ provisions, and their use of program services.
On all these measures, it compares the outcomes of these later clients to those of an early
group who participated in WFNJ in its first year, from July 1997 to June 1998.
42
Wu, C. F. 2008. “Severity, timing, and duration of welfare sanctions and the economic wellbeing of TANF families with children.” Children and Youth Services Review 30(1): 26–
44.
Abstract:
Welfare sanctions have taken on greater significance under TANF because of their
increased incidence and severity. Using Wisconsin longitudinal administrative data, this
study applied event history analysis to the relationship between welfare sanctions and the
economic well-being of TANF families with children. Specifically, it investigated
whether this relationship varies by severity, timing, and duration of sanctions. The results
indicate that families with children who are currently being sanctioned are at significantly
increased risk of leaving welfare without a job. However, the different levels of and
duration of current sanctions affect welfare exit and employment outcomes differently.
That is, those families receiving a small sanction are significantly less likely to leave
welfare regardless of post-welfare employment status, while the risk of leaving welfare
without a job or with a lower earnings job increases with the severity and duration of the
sanctions. Moreover, previous sanction experience appears to be significantly associated
with an increased probability of leaving welfare without a job or with a low-earnings job,
suggesting that sanctions have lagged effects on employment outcomes. These findings
have important implications for social work practice and policy.
Wu, C. F., M. Cancian, et al. 2006. “How do welfare sanctions work?” Social Work Research
30(10): 33–50.
Abstract:
Under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, families are subject to greater work
requirements, and the severity of sanction for noncompliance has increased. Using
Wisconsin longitudinal administrative data, the authors performed event history analysis
to examine the dynamic patterns of sanctioning and the patterns of benefits following a
sanction. They found that very high rates of sanctioning (especially partial sanctions) and
multiple sanctions were fairly common but sanction spells were quite short. The most
common transition from a sanction was back to full benefit receipt. The authors also
examined the factors associated with being sanctioned and the severity of sanctions by
comparing a traditional model with an event history model. They found that it is
important to estimate a model that takes into account the period of risk. Results confirm
that those who may be least able to succeed in the labor market are most likely to be
sanctioned.
43
Wu, C. F., M. Cancian, et al. 2008. “Standing still or moving up? Evidence from Wisconsin on
the long-term employment and earnings of TANF participants.” Social Work Research
32(2): 89–103.
Abstract:
This study identified the employment and earnings trajectories of welfare recipients over
six years for a sample of 14,150 women who entered Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families program (TANF) in Wisconsin in its first year. Wisconsin longitudinal
administrative data were used to examine differential patterns of mid-term (3 years) and
long-term (6 years) employment and earnings success. We developed a conceptual
approach to categorizing participants’ employment and earnings trajectory groups.
Results indicate substantial diversity in employment and earnings patterns. Some women
have consistently positive outcomes, others show steady improvements over time, and
others have inconsistent patterns that end strong. We found that 46% of the sample fit
into one of three successful employment trajectories, and 22% fit into one of three
successful earnings trajectories. Results also reveal that many women who were
successful in the mid-term were not able to sustain their progress. For example, only 56%
of those who were earning successes in the mid-term were still successful in the longterm. Finally, logistic regression models were used to compare factors associated with
mid-term and long-term success and with employment success and earnings success.
Implications of findings are discussed.
Zeng, Xuhui. 2011. “Welfare-to-Work Transition in the TANF Era: Evidence from Mississippi.”
Ph.D. diss., Mississippi State University, Mississippi State.
http://gradworks.umi.com/3450368.pdf
Abstract:
This study examines welfare dynamics in Mississippi under the newly created TANF
program. Specifically, it examines welfare-to-work transition between 2001 and 2009 and
tests several hypotheses regarding individual and contextual characteristics. The data
come from multiple sources that include administrative records and publicly available
data. Data on TANF transitions come from the Mississippi Department of Human
Services. Data on TANF employment come from the Mississippi Department of
Employment Security. Data on training come from the Mississippi workforce investment
system. Information on both neighborhood and labor market characteristics come from
the 2000 Census. The findings clearly support the hypothesis that individual and
contextual conditions influence the ability of a poor single mother to exit TANF and gain
employment. On the other hand, there is weak evidence supporting the hypothesis of
welfare dependence when controlling for unobserved characteristics for multiple spells
within individuals. The main implication here is that TANF might have indeed addressed
44
the longstanding concern about welfare dependency. The results, however, show that
individual and contextual factors still play a role in determining welfare dynamics across
poor single mothers with different individual and contextual background.
45
References
Brown, Patricia R., with Dan Ross, Jane A. Smith, Katie Thornton, and Lynn Wimer. 2011.
“Technical Report on Lessons Learned in the Development of the Institute for Research
on Poverty’s Multi-Sample Person File (MSPF) Data System.” Madison, WI: Institute for
Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin.
Cyphers, G., and K. Kinsella. 2000. “Harnessing the Power of Data: State TANF Agencies’ Use
of Administrative Data for Policy and Program Management.” Paper presented at the
National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics 40th Annual Workshop, Scottsdale,
AZ, August 1.
GAO. 2000. “Welfare Reform: Improving State Automated Systems Requires Coordinated
Federal Effort.” In Report to Congressional Committees. Washington, DC: Government
Accountability Office.
GAO. 2001. “Means-Tested Programs: Determining Financial Eligibility Is Cumbersome and
Can be Simplified.” In Report to the Honorable Ernest J. Istook, Jr., House of
Representatives. Washington, DC: Government Accountability Office.
Seago, L. 2009. “Government Lists: How Ready Are They For Automatic Registration? ” New
York: Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.
Washington State Dept of Social & Health Services, Research & Data Analysis Division. 2010.
“DSHS Integrated Client Database.” Olympia, WA.
http://publications.rda.dshs.wa.gov/1394/
46
TABLE 1
Summary of Studies Using TANF Administrative Data Linked With Other Administrative Data
Other Administrative Data Linked to TANF Administrative Data
State
(1)
EmployChild
Child
ment
Care
Support
(2)
Subsidy
Child
Welfare
AZ
UI
yes
yes
yes
AZ
UI
yes
yes
yes
AZ *
UI
CA *
UI
CA *
Other
CA *
UI
yes
yes
yes
FS
Services
New
1999 2000 State of Arizona Cash Assistance Entrance Study
Arizona DES 2001
FS
Services
New
1998 2000 Cash Assistance Exit Study; 2nd Year
Arizona DES 2001
FS
FS
yes
UI
Services
CO
yes
Services
FS
yes
CO
UI
DC
Other
FL
UI
FL *
UI
FL *
UI
yes
FS
FL
UI
yes
FS
yes
yes
FS
yes
FS
Services
FS
Start
End
Title of Article
Author and
Publication Year
1999 2002
Unemployment Insurance As a Potential Safety
Net for TANF Leavers
New
1996 2000
The Los Angeles Jobs-First GAIN Evaluation Freedman, et al. 2000
New
1984 1998
Foster Care Experiences of Long-Term Welfare
Recipients in California
Geen, et al. 2002
New
1998 2000
Examining Circumstances of TANF Leavers:
Assessing the Validity of Administrative Data
Mancuso, et al. 2001
Rangarajan and
Razafindrakoto 2004
1990 1995 Transitions from AFDC to child welfare in California Needell, et al. 1999
Birth
yes
Bibliographic Information
Other
(4)
yes
CA *
CA *
yes
Study Years
Linked
Survey
Data
(5)
Medical
Assis- SNAP/
tance
WIC
(3)
New
1995 1999
Monitoring Outcomes for Los Angeles County's Pre- Verma and Hendra
and Post-CalWORKs Leavers
2003
New
1997 2002
Families on Colorado Works: Employment Assets
and Liabilities
New
2007 2008 Welfare Leavers in Colorado
New
1997 1999
The Status of TANF Leavers in the District of
Columbia
New
1993 1999
The Family Transition Program: Final Report Bloom, Kemple, et al.
on Florida's Initial Time-Limited Welfare Pgm 2009
New
1992 2001
Welfare Reform in Miami Implementation,
Effects, and Experiences
Brock, et al. 2004
1999 2000
Assessing the effects of substance abuse among
applicants for TANF benefits
Crew and Davis 2003
1997 1999
Tracking the Outcomes of Welfare Reform in
Florida for Three Groups of People
Crew, et al. 2000
New
Cuciti, et al. 2003
Elkin, et al. 2009
Acs and Loprest 2001
FL
Services
1997 2006
UI as a Safety Net for Former TANF Recipients:
Final Report
O’Leary and Kline 2008
FL
Services
1997 2003
Use of Unemployment Ins and Emp Services by
Newly Unemployed Leavers from TANF
O’Leary and Kline 2009
1998 2000
Job Separation Outcomes of Welfare Hires: Insight Fitzpatrick and
from Linked Personnel and Admin Data
Hotchkiss 2009
1999 2000
Life After Welfare: Report of the Georgia Welfare
Leavers Study
Foster and Rickman
2001
1997 2003
Use of Unemployment Ins and Emp Services by
Newly Unemployed Leavers from TANF
O’Leary and Kline 2009
New
1999 2000
Iowa Families That Left TANF: Why Did They
Leave and How Are They Faring?
Kauff, et al. 2001
Criminal
New
2000 2001
Families on TANF in Illinois: Employment Assets
and Liabilities
Fraker, et al. 2003
Services
New
1997 1999 Illinois study of former TANF clients: Final report
Julnes, et al. 2000
GA
Other
GA
yes
New
GA
Services
IA
UI
yes
IL
UI
IL
UI
yes
IL
UI
yes
IL
UI
IL
UI
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
FS &
WIC
1997 1999
yes
yes
FS
Child Care Subsidy Use and Emp Outcomes
of TANF Mothers in Early Years of Reform
Lee, et al. 2004
Both
1998 2001 Are Welfare Sanctions Working as Intended?
Lee, Slack and Lewis
2004
New
1998 2001 Illinois TANF Applicant Study
MAXIMUS 2002
Other Administrative Data Linked to TANF Administrative Data
State
(1)
EmployChild
Child
ment
Care
Support
(2)
Subsidy
Child
Welfare
Medical
Assis- SNAP/
tance
WIC
(3)
IL *
IL *
Other
(4)
FS
Study Years
Linked
Survey
Data
(5)
Start
End
Author and
Publication Year
Moffitt and Ribar 2006
1999 2002
Unemployment Insurance As a Potential Safety
Net for TANF Leavers
Rangarajan and
Razafindrakoto 2004
1996 2004
Paying for the relocation of welfare recipients:
Evidence from Kentucky Relocation Assistance
Briggs and Kuhn 2008
2003 2007
Assigned Work Activities, Employment & Postprogram Earnings in TANF Work Programs
Davis, et al. 2011
1997 1999
Child Care Subsidy Use and Emp Outcomes
of TANF Mothers in Early Years of Reform
Lee, et al. 2004
Life After Welfare: Regional Analysis of Recent
Leavers
Born and Kirk 2004
KY
UI
LA
UI
MA
UI
yes
MD *
UI
yes
MD
UI
MD
UI
MD
UI
MD
UI
2009 2009
Male Caseheads Receiving TCA: Who Are They
and What Are Their Circumstances?
Hall, et al. 2011
MD
UI
1996 2005
The Impact of Local Labor Market Conditions on
Work and Welfare Decisions: New Data
Herbst and Stevens
2010
MD
UI
1998 2001
Examining the Impact of the Family Violence
Option on Women's Efforts to Leave Welfare
Hetling and Born 2005
MD
UI
2003 2003
Examining the Impact of the Family Violence
Option on Women's Efforts to Leave Welfare
Hetling, et al. 2005
MD
UI
1997 1999
Child Care Subsidy Use and Emp Outcomes
of TANF Mothers in Early Years of Reform
Lee, et al. 2004
MD
UI
1991 2004
The Impact of Welfare Reform on Leaver
Characteristics, Employment and Recidivism
Mueser, et al. 2007
MD
UI
1987 1998
Have the Hard-to-Serve Been Left Behind?
Changes in the TANF Caseload
Ovwigho 2001
MD
UI
1997 2002
Life on welfare: The active TANF caseload in
Maryland
Ovwigho, Born, et al.
2004
MD
UI
2005 2005
Profile of the Active Caseload: Separate State
Programs & Short-Term Disabilities
Ovwigho, et al. 2006
MD
UI
yes
yes
FS
1998 2006
Disconnected Leavers: The Circumstances of
Those Without Welfare and Without Work
Ovwigho, et al. 2009
MD
UI
yes
yes
FS
1998 2008
Full Family Sanctions: Long-term Outcomes of
Sanctioned Welfare Leavers
Ovwigho, et al. 2010
MD
UI
1999 2002
Estimating Welfare Work Exits: Case Closing
Reasons vs. UI Data
Ovwigho, Kirk, et al.
2004
MD
UI
1996 2002
Life After Welfare: Child Abuse & Neglect Reports
among Early & Later Leavers
Ovwigho, Leavitt, et al.
2003
MD *
UI
1999 2002
Unemployment Insurance As a Potential Safety
Net for TANF Leavers
Rangarajan and
Razafindrakoto 2004
MD
UI
yes
1996 2000
Child Support Receipt among Children in Former
TANF Families
Srivastava, et al. 2001
MD *
UI
yes
1998 2009 Full-Family Sanctions & Economic Recession
MD
UI
2009 2009
Life on Welfare: Characteristics of Maryland's TCA
Williamson, et al. 2010
Caseload Since DRA
MI *
UI
1997 2005
Do Temporary-Help Jobs Improve Labor Market
Outcomes for Low-Skilled Workers?
Autor and Houseman
2010
MI *
UI
1997 2005
The Effect of Work First Job Placements on the
Distribution of Earnings
Autor, et al. 2011
The Dynamics of Food Stamp Receipt after
Welfare Reform
Cadena, et al. 2008
MI *
Services
Title of Article
Earnings, Assets, and Program Dependence
Existing 1997 2005
UI
Bibliographic Information
yes
yes
FS
2002 2003
yes
FS
1996 1998 Life After Welfare:A Look At Sanctioned Families
Born, et al. 1999
1995 1999 Life After Welfare: Regional Patterns
Born, et al. 2000
1996 2011 Life After Welfare Annual Update
Born, et al. 2011
yes
FS
yes
yes
Services
yes
New
yes
yes
FS
FS
Services
Services
Existing 1997 2003
Williamson 2011
Other Administrative Data Linked to TANF Administrative Data
State
(1)
EmployChild
Child
ment
Care
Support
(2)
Subsidy
Child
Welfare
Medical
Assis- SNAP/
tance
WIC
(3)
Other
(4)
Study Years
Linked
Survey
Data
(5)
Start
End
Bibliographic Information
Title of Article
Author and
Publication Year
MI
Services
1997 2006
UI as a Safety Net for Former TANF Recipients:
Final Report
O’Leary and Kline 2008
MI
Services
1997 2003
Use of Unemployment Ins and Emp Services by
Newly Unemployed Leavers from TANF
O’Leary and Kline 2009
Tax
1992 1999
Earned Income Credit Utilization by Welfare
Recipients
Hirasuna and Stinson
2007
School
2005 2006
Sanctions and Education Outcomes for Children in
Larson, et al. 2011
TANF Families
MN
UI
MN
MO
UI
1998 1998
Race, Bureaucratic Discretion, and the
Implementation of Welfare Reform
Keiser, Mueser, et al.
2004
MO
UI
1991 2004
The Impact of Welfare Reform on Leaver
Characteristics, Employment and Recidivism
Mueser, et al. 2007
MO
UI
1995 1998
Revised Interim Report: Preliminary Outcomes for
1996 Fourth Quarter AFDC Leavers
Ryan 1999
MS
UI
1996 2010
Welfare-to-Work Transition in the TANF Era:
Evidence from Mississippi
Zeng, 2011
MT
UI
1998 1998
Montana FAIM Evaluation: Assessment of Welfare
Long 2001
Reform in a Rural Setting
NC *
UI
NC
UI
ND *
Other
NJ
Other
Services
yes
yes
FS
Existing 1995 1998
FS
yes
Services
yes
NJ
FS
NJ
FS
NJ
UI
Services
NJ
FS
UI
NY
Welfare Recipients, Leavers, and Diverters in N
Carolina: Final Report of Admin Records Data
Richardson, et al. 2001
2000 2002
Beyond Welfare: Cass and Williams Counties'
TANF Pilot Projects
Olson 2003
1991 1996
A final report on the impact of New Jersey’s Family
Camasso, et al. 1998
Development Program
1997 2001
Existing 1999 2001
NJ
NY *
1995 2001
Existing 1997 2002
New
yes
Work First New Jersey Eval: How WFNJ Clients
Are Faring Under Welfare Reform: Early Look
Rangarajan and Ensor
2003
Current and Former WFNJ Clients: How Are
They and Their Children Faring?
Rangarajan and
Johnson 2002
Study to Examine UI Eligibility Among Former
TANF Recipients: Evidence from New Jersey
Rangarajan, et al. 2002
New
1999 2002
Addressing Barriers to Employment
Strong, et al. 2004
New
1997 2001
Early and Later WFNJ Clients: Are Their
Experiences Different?
Wood, et al. 2004
New
1989 1995
The New York Child Assistance Program: FiveYeat Impacts, Costs, and Benefits
Hamilton, et al. 1996
yes
FS
UI
yes
FS
2000 2001
Leaving Welfare: Post-TANF Experiences of New
York State Families
Maxwell and Falco
2002
NY
UI
yes
FS
1997 1998
After Welfare: A Study of Work and Benefit Use
After Case Closing in New York State
Rockefeller Institute
1999
OH *
UI
yes
FS
1998 2004
Factors Influencing Child Maltreatment Among
Families Leaving TANF
Beimers 2009
OH *
UI
yes
FS
1996 1997
Employment and Return to Pub Assist Among
Single, Female-Headed Fams Leaving AFDC
Coulton and Verma
2000
OH *
UI
1998 1999
How Are They Managing? A Six-Month
Retrospective of Families Leaving Welfare
Coulton, et al. 2000
OH
UI
Services
1990 1994
Using Administrative Data To Evaluate the Ohio
JOBS Student Retention Program
Hollenbeck, et al. 1997
OH
Services
1997 2006
UI as a Safety Net for Former TANF Recipients:
Final Report
O’Leary and Kline 2008
OH
Services
1997 2003
Use of Unemployment Ins and Emp Services by
Newly Unemployed Leavers from TANF
O’Leary and Kline 2009
1992 2003
Between Welfare Reform and
Reauthorization: Income Support Systems
Seith, et al. 2007
1995 1999
Monitoring Outcomes for Cuyahoga County's
Welfare Leavers: How Are They Faring?
Verma, et al. 2003
yes
Services
Welfare Reform and the Wage Prospects for Work Morris and Orthner
First participants
2000
Birth
New
OH *
UI
yes
FS
OH *
UI
yes
FS
New
Other Administrative Data Linked to TANF Administrative Data
State
(1)
EmployChild
Child
ment
Care
Support
(2)
Subsidy
Child
Welfare
Medical
Assis- SNAP/
tance
WIC
(3)
OR
UI
OR
UI
OR *
UI
FS
PA *
UI
FS
PA *
UI
PA *
UI
SC
UI
Other
(4)
FS
yes
TX *
Services
Study Years
Linked
Survey
Data
(5)
TX
UI
UT *
UI
UT
Other
yes
VT
UI
yes
VT
UI
WA
UI
WI
Other
WI
UI
WI
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
Title of Article
Author and
Publication Year
1998 1999
Welfare Restructuring, Work & Poverty: Policy
Implications from Oregon
Acker, et al. 2002
Both
1998 1999
Diverting dependency: The effects of diversion on
the short-term outcomes of TANF applicants
Gonzalez, et al. 2007
New
1993 1996 National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies
Scrivener, et al. 1998
New
2004 2006
Alternative Welfare-to-Work Strategies for the
Bloom, Rich, et al. 2009
Hard-to-Employ
1999 2002
Unemployment Insurance As a Potential Safety
Net for TANF Leavers
Rangarajan and
Razafindrakoto 2004
1992 2003
Between Welfare Reform and
Reauthorization: Income Support Systems
Seith, et al. 2007
1997 1999
Welfare Program Performance: Analysis of
South Carolina's Family Independence Pgm
Ratcliffe, et al. 2007
Earnings, Assets, and Program Dependence
Moffitt and Ribar 2006
1997 2006
UI as a Safety Net for Former TANF Recipients:
Final Report
O’Leary and Kline 2008
1999 2002
Unemployment Insurance As a Potential Safety
Net for TANF Leavers
Rangarajan and
Razafindrakoto 2004
New
1994 1999
From Welfare Poor to Working Poor: Post
AFDC/TANF Income in Salt Lake County, Utah
Coon, et al. 2000
Existing 1997 2005
Services
TX *
End
New
FS
FS
Start
Bibliographic Information
FS
Services
New
1999 2000
Multiple Impacts of Welfare Reform in Utah:
Experiences of Former Long-term Recipients
Taylor and Barusch
2000
FS
Services
New
1992 2001
WRP: Final Report on Vermont's Welfare
Restructuring Project
Scrivener, et al. 2002
Services
New
1994 2000
An Analysis of Vermont's Community Service
Program
Sperber and Bloom
2002
1997 2002
Welfare recipient work choice and in-kind benefits
in Washington state
Axelsen 2007
FS
Services
Alternative Measures of Economic Success among Cancian and Meyer
TANF Participants
2004
FS
Existing 1999 1999
yes
FS
2006 2006
The Earnings and Income of Wisconsin
Works (W-2) Applicants
Cancian and Ybarra
2008
UI
yes
FS
1995 1997
Post-Exit Earnings and Benefit Receipt
among Those Who Left AFDC in Wisconsin
Cancian, et al. 1999
WI
UI
yes
FS
1995 1997
The Take-Up of Medicaid and Food Stamps
by Welfare Leavers: The Case of Wisconsin
Cancian, et al. 2001
WI
UI
1995 1998
Before and After TANF: The Economic Well-Being
Cancian, et al. 2002
of Women Leaving Welfare
WI
UI
FS
1995 1999
The Employment, Earnings, and Income of
Single Mothers Who Left Cash Assistance
Cancian, et al. 2003
WI
UI
yes
FS
1997 2001
Welfare and Child Support: Complements, Not
Substitutes
Cancian, et al. 2008
WI
UI
yes
FS
1988 1995
Outcomes for Low-Income Families under the Cancian, Kaplan, and
Meyer 1999
Wisconsin AFDC Program
WI
UI
yes
yes
FS
1997 2005
W-2 Child Support Demonstration Evaluation:
Cook and Caspar 2006
Comparisons of Outcomes
WI *
UI
yes
WI *
UI
yes
WI *
UI
WI
UI
WI
UI
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
Tax
FS
New
1997 2003
Income and Poverty: Findings from the
Milwaukee TANF Applicant Study
FS
New
1997 2003
Child Welfare Services Involvement: Findings Courtney and Dworsky
2006
from the Milwaukee TANF Applicant Study
New
1999 2001
Involvement of TANF Applicant Families with Child
Courtney, et al. 2005
Welfare Services
1998 2004
How do economic downturns affect welfare
leavers? A comparison of two cohorts
Kwon and Meyer 2011
1998 1998
Former TANF Recipients’ Monetary Eligibility for
Unemployment Insurance Benefits
Sanford, et al. 2003
yes
yes
yes
FS
Services
Courtney and Dworsky
2006
Other Administrative Data Linked to TANF Administrative Data
State
(1)
EmployChild
Child
ment
Care
Support
(2)
Subsidy
Child
Welfare
Medical
Assis- SNAP/
tance
WIC
(3)
Other
(4)
Bibliographic Information
Study Years
Linked
Survey
Data
(5)
Start
Title of Article
End
Author and
Publication Year
1995 2001
SCHIP expansion and parental coverage: an
evaluation of Wisconsin's BadgerCare
Wolfe, et al. 2006
UI
1997 2003
Severity, timing, and duration of sanctions and the
econ well-being of TANF fams with children
Wu 2008
WI
UI
1997 2003 How do welfare sanctions work?
WI
UI
1997 2004
WI
UI
WI
yes
Evidence from Wisconsin on the long-term
employment and earnings of TANF participants
Wu, et al. 2006
Wu, et al. 2008
Notes:
(1)
Studies marked with "*" are not state-wide studies, but focus on one or more counties/cities.
(2)
"UI" indicates that wage and employment data from the state's Unemployment Insurance system was used. "Other" indicates that some other administrative source
was used for employment data.
(3)
Includes Medicaid, CHIP, and other state medical assistance.
(4)
"Birth": birth records; "Criminal": criminal history records; "School": public school records; "Services": other state services (e.g. emergency aid, housing assistance,
UI benefits, substance abuse, domestic violence); "Tax": state tax records.
(5)
"New" indicates that a new survey was performed for the study, while "Existing" indicates that an already-existing survey was used.