The Child Outcomes Study is a long-term and comprehensive examination of the health and well-being of young children from families receiving welfare. The study will provide data on developmental trajectories and outcomes for children in all domains including physical health and safety, mental health, cognitive and social development, and school achievement. The study is the first large-scale experimental evaluation of how child growth and development, mother-child relationships, and maternal functioning are affected by mothers' mandated participation in welfare to work programs. It is being conducted in three sites: Atlanta, GA, Grand Rapids, MI, and Riverside, CA. Children were 3 - 5 years of age when their mothers entered the study. Outcomes will be assessed two years later for approximately 3000 children and five years later for approximately 2250 children with data obtained from home interviews with mothers and children and surveys of teachers. In the Atlanta site, additional longitudinal data (baseline measures of child and family functioning and videotaped observations of mother-child interactions at two time points) are being collected for a subsample of families.
The Child Outcomes study is part of a larger evaluation of the Jobs Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS) authorized under the Family Support Act of 1988. The JOBS program requires eligible welfare recipients to participate in educational, job training, job search, or work experience programs, and provides child care and other supportive services to the families as they make the transition from welfare to work. JOBS programs have been widely implemented in every state and, even as innovations in welfare policy occur at state and federal levels, such programs will continue to be a key part of the programmatic framework for states' efforts to move families from welfare to work. The larger evaluation will assess impacts on adult economic self-sufficiency and is being conducted in seven sites. Limited outcome data, focusing on problem behaviors, also will be obtained for some older children from mothers' reports. Some early findings were reported in February 1996.
In the three sites participating in the Child Outcomes study of the younger children, mothers are randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) a control condition receiving no JOBS services, (2) a JOBS program emphasizing labor force attachment through job search and placement activities leading to quick entry into jobs or (3) a JOBS program emphasizing human capital development through education and training as well as job placement. While the labor force attachment approach is expected to have a more immediate impact on welfare dependency, the human capital approach may match or exceed it over time, especially if benefits for children are taken into account. By comparing these approaches and assessing their impacts for both adult economic self sufficiency and child development over the short and long term, the study can aid state and federal policy makers in making decisions about how to help families move from welfare to work.
Child Trends, Inc., as a subcontractor, is conducting the Child Outcomes Study. The larger evaluation of JOBS is being conducted by the Manpower Research and Demonstration Corporation (MDRC). Primary support for the research is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (by ASPE and the Administration for Children and Families). Additional federal support is provided by the Department of Education. The Foundation for Child Development, the W.T. Grant Foundation, and an anonymous funder are sponsoring special studies of children's topics.
Reports on the Child Outcomes Study
How Are They Faring? AFDC Families with Preschool-Aged Children in Atlanta at the Outset of the JOBS Evaluation. Prepared by Kristin Moore, Martha J. Zaslow, Mary Jo Coiro, Suzanne M. Miller, and Ellen Magenheim, for HHS, 1996. [Put web links to study abstract and exec summary here]. To order copies, fax your request to (202) 690-5514. Specify executive summary and/or full report.
Other Reports on the JOBS Evaluation [Put web link here for report on early impacts. Will later add report list in description of JOBS eval.]
Databases
The descriptive data collected at the outset of the study for a subsample of 790 families in Atlanta will be archived by Sociometrics and available to researchers for further analysis.
For further information, contact:
Sociometrics Corporation
170 State Street, Suite 260
Los Altos, CA 94022
Tel. (415) 949-3282
Fax (415) 949-3299
socio@socio.com
There are plans to archive the baseline videotapes of mother-child interactions at the Henry A. Murray Research Center at Radcliffe College. Once the videotapes have been archived, the Murray Center will be accepting proposals for further research from qualified researchers. For further information, contact:
The Henry A. Murray Research Center
10 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel. (617) 495-8140
Fax (617) 496-3993