Including:
- Background
- Guidance on Producing Data Files
- How to Access Data Files
- Grantee Data Types and Availability
- File Descriptions and Documentation
Background
Under the ASPE-funded Welfare Outcomes Grants, a number of states and large counties have collected and analyzed administrative and survey data on TANF leavers, TANF applicants, and the current TANF caseload. ASPE is working with grantees to make these data available to researchers while protecting confidentiality of the data. Guidance on producing data files was developed to assist grantees with some of the technical issues related to producing and documenting the data files. In addition, ASPE has established an interagency agreement with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) to make grantees' data files available at the NCHS Research Data Center, in order to provide researchers with access to the data while preventing disclosure of confidential information.
Guidance on Producing Data Files
Producing and Documenting Data Files: Guidance for ASPE Welfare Outcomes Grantees. October 2000. Prepared by ORC Macro, under direction of Welfare Outcomes Data Files Work Group and ASPE staff.
How to Access Data Files
ASPE has entered into an interagency agreement with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) to facilitate placement of Welfare Outcomes files at the NCHS Research Data Center (RDC). To gain access to the data, a researcher will have to apply for the data by submitting a structured research proposal, sign an agreement not to disclose individual identities, and either come to the Research Data Center in Hyattsville, Maryland, or use a remote access (electronic) system (i.e., send SAS code through email). Applications for use of data will be reviewed and research use of the data will be monitored to prevent breaches in confidentiality and inappropriate disclosure of data. For example, the NCHS Data Center does not allow researchers to print out individual observations or cells with fewer than five observations.
To support the ongoing maintenance of the restricted access files at the Data Center, NCHS charges modest researcher access fees. Currently, the NCHS Data Center charges $1,000 per week for on-site access, or $500-$1,000 per month for remote access, depending on the size of the files. In order to alleviate burden to researchers and encourage access to the Welfare Outcomes data files, ASPE plans to provide some subsidy of researcher fees, up to a set amount per project and a set amount of projects.
- Procedures and application for the use of the Research Data Center
- Agreement Regarding Conditions of Access to Confidential Welfare Outcomes Data and Researcher Affidavit of Confidentiality (PDF version)
- Researcher Affidavit of Confidentiality (PDF version)
- NCHS Research Data Center
- ASPE Grantee Questionnaires
Grantee Data Types and Availability
State/Region | Leavers | Diversion (Applicants) | Caseload | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Administrative Data | Survey Data | |||
Arizona | NCHS | NCHS | ||
Colorado | Expected | |||
Contra Costa, CA | NCHS | NCHS | ||
Cuyahoga, OH | NCHS | NCHS | ||
District of Columbia | NCHS | NCHS | NCHS | |
Florida | NCHS | NCHS | NCHS | |
Georgia | NCHS | NCHS | ||
Illinois | NCHS | NCHS | NCHS | NCHS |
Iowa | NCHS | NCHS | ||
Los Angeles, CA | NCHS | |||
Maryland | Expected | |||
Massachusetts | NCHS | |||
Missouri | NCHS | NCHS | Expected | |
New York | Expected | Expected | Expected | |
San Mateo, CA | NCHS | NCHS | ||
South Carolina | NCHS | NCHS | NCHS | Expected |
Texas | NCHS | NCHS | NCHS | |
Washington | NCHS | NCHS | NCHS | |
Wisconsin | NCHS | NCHS | NCHS | |
KEY:
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File Descriptions and Documentation
File descriptions and documentation for each completed data file are available from this web page. Click on the grantee name to see what's available; click on the data type in brackets to download the documentation as a zip file. Files currently available (or soon to be available) at NCHS include:
- Arizona, documentation for: [survey] [administrative data]
- Colorado
- Contra Costa, CA, documentation for: [survey]
- Cuyahoga, documentation for: [all data]
- District of Columbia, documentation for: [survey] [administrative data]
- Florida, documentation for: [all data]
- Georgia, documentation for: [all data]
- Illinois, documentation for: [administrative data]
- Iowa, documentation for: [survey] [administrative data]
- Los Angeles, CA, documentation for: [survey]
- Maryland
- Massachusetts, documentation for: [survey]
- Missouri, documentation for: [survey]
- San Mateo, documentation for: [survey]
- South Carolina, documentation for: [survey] [administrative data]
- Texas, documentation for: [administrative data for diverted]
- Washington, Leavers study, documentation for: [all leavers data]
- Washington, Applicant study, documentation for: [survey] [administrative data]
- Wisconsin, Leavers, documentation for: [both survey and administrative data ]