This chapter presents key elements in the structure of Iowa's Family Investment Program (FIP). It does this by describing the steps that clients take in entering FIP and proceeding through the PROMISE JOBS employment and training program, giving particular attention to how certain FIP clients might enter the LBP. It also discusses changes in policies related to FIP and the LBP since the implementation of welfare reform.
The reforms to Iowa's welfare system that are embodied in FIP emphasize the provision of employment and training services to welfare clients in order to help them become employed and move toward self-sufficiency. To facilitate this transition, DHS works closely with the Department of Employment Services (DES) and the Department of Economic Development (DED), which jointly operate the PROMISE JOBS program.(1) This program is staffed by workers from DES and from the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) agency in DED. DES workers focus on employment and JTPA workers focus on education and training.
Assignment to the LBP is primarily a consequence of not complying with FIP requirements for participation in PROMISE JOBS. In order to understand how and when FIP clients enter the LBP, it is necessary to understand how clients proceed from DHS to PROMISE JOBS, and through the employment and training services. Figure II.1 shows that the process begins when a potential client applies for FIP and goes through an intake interview at DHS. Those who are determined to be both eligible for FIP and mandatory participants in PROMISE JOBS are referred to the latter program. At PROMISE JOBS, clients attend an orientation meeting where the employment and training program is explained. They then go through an assessment which determines their aptitude, career interests, and barriers to employment. The next step is to work with a PROMISE JOBS caseworker to develop and sign an FIA, which is an individualized employment and training plan. At this point, clients begin the various employment and training activities offered by PROMISE JOBS. FIP clients who do not comply with PROMISE JOBS requirements are assigned to the LBP.
DHS determines the eligibility of applicants for cash assistance, which is provided through FIP, and reviews the eligibility of ongoing FIP clients. After eligibility has been determined, FIP clients whose participation in PROMISE JOBS is mandatory are notified that they must contact PROMISE JOBS to schedule an orientation. Under the old AFDC program, welfare recipients were notified regarding the date and time that they were to report for orientation, but under FIP it is the client's responsibility to schedule an orientation appointment with PROMISE JOBS. After FIP clients are notified of their mandatory status by a letter from DHS, they have ten days to call PROMISE JOBS and set up an appointment.
Clients who go to PROMISE JOBS first attend an orientation meeting and complete an initial assessment. These may occur on the same day. Orientation is typically a group, rather than an individual, activity. Staff members from JTPA and DES, sometimes accompanied by a representative of DHS, describe the PROMISE JOBS participation requirements and the benefits of participation. Topics covered include program components (for example, job search and postsecondary education), the FIA, and the LBP. Immediately following the orientation, FIP clients complete self-assessment forms. They then meet individually with staff members to discuss their goals and barriers to employment, and to receive their assignments to specific PROMISE JOBS workers.
Clients who have no prohibitive barriers to further PROMISE JOBS participation but are unlikely to immediately secure employment generally go through further assessment at a later date. This consists of exercises such as literacy and aptitude testing, self-esteem building, interest assessment, and goal setting. This additional assessment may take place before or after the FIA is written, but it usually takes place before that activity, so that the results can be used in developing the FIA.
All FIP clients who are mandatory participants in PROMISE JOBS are required to work with their case workers to develop and sign an FIA. The FIA specifies the client's plan for becoming self-sufficient in a specified amount of time. The FIA includes intermediate goals and the activities in which the client will participate to reach those goals as well as the ultimate goal, self-sufficiency. The FIA also includes time frames for activities and for achieving goals.
The FIA is a contract between a FIP client and the state; both parties are responsible for fulfilling its terms. While the FIP client agrees to follow the FIA, the state agrees to assist the client by providing services (such as job training) and financial assistance with child care and transportation costs.
FIP clients who are cooperating with PROMISE JOBS may modify their FIAs at any time if their life circumstances change. Allowable FIA modifications include (1) an extension of a deadline for completing of an activity or achieving of a goal, (2) a change in activities, and (3) a change in goals. The ability to modify the FIA makes it possible for clients and for PROMISE JOBS to respond to altered circumstances or the emergence of new barriers to employment. It also allows clients to try one type of activity (for example, college) and then change to another (such as employment) if the first activity does not work out as planned.
After signing an FIA, FIP clients begin to participate in PROMISE JOBS components, as shown in the middle of Figure II.1. These fall into three categories:
Education components include:
Employment components include:(2)
Social and supportive services components include:
Clients who do not have a high school degree are encouraged to enter high school completion or GED programs or to return to high school (if they are of high-school age). Those who need tutoring in basic skills before they can start one of these programs may enter ABE. Those whose native language is not English and need help with their English language skills may enter the ESL program. Teenage parents without high school degrees are required to participate in one or the other of these programs. Clients who desire and are approved for more advanced education or vocational training typically attend classes at a local community college or state or private baccalaureate institution.
WEP and UCS are designed primarily for clients who have little or no work history or who want to gain experience to enter a new career. Clients in WEP and UCS work as volunteers, generally in not-for-profit organizations or government offices. The difference between WEP and UCS is that WEP placement is arranged by PROMISE JOBS, while UCS placement is arranged by the client.
Clients' first step toward paid employment is often attending job club, where resume writing, job search techniques, interviewing skills, and basic work habits are taught. They then move to the job search component, where they receive information about current job openings and are required to apply for a specified number of jobs each week. There are three types of job search: group job search (for those who go through job club), individual job search, and self-directed job search. The latter two types of job search are less structured than the former. Clients typically progress from more to less structured job search, but those with good job search skills and a high likelihood of moving rapidly into employment may proceed directly into the less structured job search components. Clients who obtain jobs are placed in monitored employment, which is an initial period of employment during which wages and job participation are monitored by PROMISE JOBS.
Some employed FIP recipients are eligible for the Work Transition Period (WTP), which is a four-month period during which clients receive both the full FIP check and their earnings.(3) After the WTP, the FIP check is reduced in relation to earnings, but the substantial earnings disregards under the state's welfare reform allow many employed clients to continue to receive some cash benefits.
FIP clients may volunteer for assignment to the LBP or, more commonly, they may be assigned to the LBP as a consequence of not participating in PROMISE JOBS. Whether the assignment is voluntary or involuntary is of no administrative significance.(4) Administratively, what is important is the timing of assignment to the LBP relative to the signing of an FIA. There are important differences between a pre-FIA LBP and a post-FIA LBP that relate to the client's rights to reconsideration of the LBP assignment.
If a FIP client does not make an appointment with PROMISE JOBS for orientation and assessment, or if the client makes an appointment but fails to attend and does not contact the worker to reschedule the meeting, then the client is assigned to the LBP. Alternatively, if the client complies by attending orientation and assessment, but fails to develop and sign an FIA, the client is also assigned to the LBP. In either case, the LBP is referred to as a pre-FIA LBP because the LBP assignment is made before the FIA is written. This kind of LBP is less severe than a post-FIA LBP because the client has two opportunities to reconsider cooperating with PROMISE JOBS, thus resulting in an immediate resumption of full FIP benefits. (5) Reconsideration may occur during the first 45 days of the LBP and during the fifth and sixth months of the LBP.
If a FIP client signs an FIA but never shows up for the required activities--that is, job club, volunteer work experience, postsecondary education, and so forth--or if the client otherwise fails to follow through with the FIA plans, he or she is also assigned to the LBP. This is referred to as a post-FIA LBP. Clients who "abandon" their FIAs in these ways have no reconsideration opportunities.
The LBP assignment process is less involved for pre-FIA LBPs than for post-FIA LBPs. The pre-FIA LBP is administratively quite simple and can be implemented directly by PROMISE JOBS staff, who have
access to the necessary computer screens.(6) A pre-FIA LBP assignment is implemented by PROMISE JOBS only after the caseworker has sent a client two notices warning of the pending assignment to the LBP. A post-FIA LBP is more difficult to implement. The PROMISE JOBS caseworker again must send a client two notices warning of the pending LBP assignment. However, for these LBPs, the caseworker's supervisor must also send a notice. If no reply to these notices is received, PROMISE JOBS sends the LBP assignment request to the DHS central office in Des Moines, where it is reviewed by a specially designated staff member for post-FIA LBP assignments. This review protects clients and their families by ensuring consistent application of post-FIA LBP policies.
There have been a number of changes in FIP and the LBP since the implementation of welfare reform in October 1993. Several of the changes have affected the activities that can be included in FIAs and pursued with assistance from PROMISE JOBS. One such change is a restriction on access to financial assistance for postsecondary education that was caused by budget concerns; this restriction led to an increased emphasis on employment in FIP. Another change is the expansion of access to existing PROMISE JOBS components and the introduction of several new components. In addition, changes in the LBP have occurred through a formal redesign of the plan as well as informal evolution in the administration of the plan. A change outside of FIP, but with bearing on FIP clients, is the rationing of access to certain state-administered child care assistance.
As designed, FIP balances the emphasis on employment and education/training ("human investment") as routes to self-sufficiency. However, as implemented, the program stresses employment. The most notable manifestation of this shift in focus from education/training to employment is the existence of a waiting list for PROMISE JOBS assistance with postsecondary education. This waiting list for financial assistance with tuition, child care, and transportation costs was established only 15 days after the October 1, 1993, implementation of FIP.(7) In 1994, PROMISE JOBS administrators authorized a total of 5,000 postsecondary classroom education slots for FIP participants. No additional slots were authorized in 1995, but 750 new slots were authorized in 1996.
FIP clients whose FIAs reflect their desire to pursue postsecondary education put their names on the waiting list for PROMISE JOBS assistance. While on the waiting list, they may pursue higher education on their own by applying for a Pell Grant and paying for any remaining tuition, child care, and transportation expenses out of their own resources. To satisfy PROMISE JOBS participation requirements, those on the waiting list must choose another activity until education slots become available, unless they are able to pursue postsecondary education on their own.
The tightly limited access to postsecondary education through PROMISE JOBS increased the demand for alternative training activities. The state responded to this in two ways in the spring and summer of 1996. First, it raised and then eliminated ceilings on enrollments in WEP and UCS. Second, it implemented a new PROMISE JOBS component, On-the-Job Training, and shortly thereafter eliminated the ceiling on enrollment in that component. In addition, the state responded to the pent-up demand for postsecondary education by allowing FIP participants to fulfill the PROMISE JOBS participation requirements through a combination of part-time education and part-time employment. This change makes it more feasible for clients to pursue postsecondary education without funding through PROMISE JOBS.
The February 1996 implementation of the redesigned LBP was an important change in Iowa's welfare policy. It did not affect the LBP clients who are the basis for this study because they had entered the LBP under the old rules, which continued to apply to them. Nevertheless, understanding the LBP redesign is critical to understanding the evolution of Iowa's welfare policy.
Before the redesign, DHS and PROMISE JOBS caseworkers had reported to their supervisors that the LBP was complex, difficult to explain and understand, and often not taken seriously by clients until their benefits were reduced. Clients were confused because they were notified of their assignments to the LBP, but their cash grants were not reduced until three months later, after many had forgotten the notification or the reason for the action. Consequently, lawmakers changed the LBP. FIP recipients who entered the LBP after January 31, 1996, are subject to the rules of the redesigned LBP.
The redesigned LBP more clearly and immediately reinforces the notion that there are consequences for noncompliance with PROMISE JOBS participation requirements. Under the redesigned LBP, cash benefits are reduced immediately--rather than after three months--and are terminated following these three months of reduced benefits. For the first three months, the family receives cash benefits based only on the children in the family; the noncooperating adults are excluded from the benefit calculation. After this three-month period, cash benefits are terminated and the family remains ineligible for cash benefits for six months. The entire three-month period of reduced FIP benefits is a reconsideration period for those assigned to the LBP prior to signing an FIA. As under the old LBP, there are no reconsideration rights for those assigned to the LBP after signing an FIA.
The design changes in the LBP also acknowledge that some FIP recipients may enter the LBP more than once. Under the redesign, if a client enters the LBP, returns to FIP, and then re-enters the LBP, there is no period of reduced cash benefits, the client is immediately ineligible for cash benefits for a period of six months, and there is no reconsideration period. This design applies to all second and subsequent LBP assignments. The goal of this policy is to send a stronger message to those who have already been through the LBP that receipt of cash assistance is contingent on participation in PROMISE JOBS.
The LBP has also evolved in less formal ways. Initially, caseworkers were instructed to present the LBP as an alternative to FIP for clients who expected to need only temporary assistance. The caseworkers informed the DHS central office that they were not comfortable advising these clients to select the LBP. Their discomfort stemmed from the recognition that these clients' expected needs for temporary assistance were frequently not realized. The result of this was a shift away from advising these clients to select the LBP. However, this evolution in the administration of the LBP has not addressed the risk associated with those clients who expect to need only temporary assistance and who enter the LBP without communicating with their caseworkers.
The State Child Care Assistance Program, which is separate from FIP, is funded by the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant and by state appropriations. Historically, FIP clients who are on the waiting list for PROMISE JOBS postsecondary education assistance and are using alternative financing to attend college have relied on the State Child Care Assistance Program to help defray the child care component of college costs. Access to assistance through this program was rationed beginning in July 1995. The rationing initially took the form of a waiting list and subsequently took the form of more restrictive eligibility criteria. Rationing makes it more difficult for many FIP clients to obtain assistance with child care expenses, thereby increasing the cost of attending college for those without PROMISE JOBS postsecondary education assistance.
1. In July 1996, the Department of Employment Services and parts of the Department of Economic Development were combined to form a new department called Iowa Workforce Development.
2. An On-the-Job-Training component was added July 1, 1996.
3. FIP applicants and participants who start new employment (or self-employment) may receive up to four months of full FIP benefits if: (1) they had less than $1,200 in gross earnings in the 12 months before the month in which the new employment began; (2) they report the new employment in a timely manner; and (3) the new employment begins after the date of application.
4. DHS views all assignments to the LBP as voluntary; in particular, entry into the LBP is viewed as a "choice" based on either actions or inactions of the client.
5. Under the redesigned LBP implemented in February 1996, the pre-FIA LBP provides only one opportunity to reconsider; this is during the three months of reduced benefits.
6. Occasionally a more complex pre-FIA LBP assignment will require technical assistance by the DHS central office. Examples of cases requiring technical assistance are (1) cases for which the computer system (IABC) cannot determine which persons on cash assistance should be in an LBP and (2) cases that need to have a partial or individual LBP entered.
7. PROMISE JOBS has always used waiting lists as means of staying within its fiscal limitations. PROMISE JOBS began a waiting list for all components other than assessment and job club on July 30, 1990. On October 15, 1993, all participants on the waiting list were called off for services to begin January 1, 1994. On October 16, 1993, the waiting list for postsecondary education began.