TANF “Leavers”, Applicants, and Caseload Studies:

Study Design

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Including:

• Strategies for Achieving High Response Rates on Surveys
• Designing Surveys
• Designing Surveys that Examine Current TANF Caseload
• Cross State Comparability

Strategies for Achieving High Response Rates on Surveys

• Designing Surveys Acknowledging Nonresponse
  (Paper by Robert M. Groves and Mick P. Couper)
• Methods for Obtaining High Response Rates in Telephone Surveys
  (David Cantor and Patricia Cunningham)
• High Response Rates for Low-Income Population, In-Person Surveys
  (Charlene Weiss and Barbara A. Bailar)
• Paying Respondents for Survey Participation
• (Eleanor Singer and Richard A. Kulka)
• Tips and Tricks for Achieving High Response Rates in Surveys with Welfare Leavers
  (Paper by Tammy Ouellette, ORC Macro)

Designing Surveys

• Linking Survey and Administrative Data Issues (in PDF format)
  (Paper by Nandita Verma, MDRC)
• Tracking Welfare Reform:  Designing Follow-up Studies of Recipients Who Leave Welfare
  (Report by Evelyn Ganzglass and Susan Golonka, National Governors' Association; Jack Tweedie, National Conference of State Legislatures; and Suzanne Fialk, American Public Human Services Association.)
• Former Clients of South Carolina's New Welfare Program:  Trends and Issues in Surveys to Date (in PDF format)
  (Paper by Dr. Donald Klos, Public Services Research Laboratory)
• Studies of Welfare Populations:  Data Collection and Research Issues
  (Report edited by Michele Ver Ploeg, Robert A. Moffitt, and Constance F. Citro, NAS)
  The National Academy of Sciences convened a workshop on Data Collection on Low Income and Welfare Populations in December 1999. A number of papers were prepared for this workshop to assist state and local governments, universities, and research organizations who are conducting or interested in developing studies of low-income populations, including TANF leavers, applicants, and recipients. The topics of these papers include: strategies for achieving high response rates on surveys, designing surveys that examine welfare leavers/diverted applicants, and using incentives in surveys.

Designing Surveys that Examine Current TANF Caseload

• Survey Design for TANF Caseload Project
  (Report by Martha Kovac, Robin Dion, Jason Markesich, and Donna Pavetti, MPR)
• Studies of Welfare Populations:  Data Collection and Research Issues
  (Report edited by Michele Ver Ploeg, Robert A. Moffitt, and Constance F. Citro, NAS)
  The National Academy of Sciences convened a workshop on Data Collection on Low Income and Welfare Populations in December 1999. A number of papers were prepared for this workshop to assist state and local governments, universities, and research organizations who are conducting or interested in developing studies of low-income populations, including TANF leavers, applicants, and recipients. The topics of these papers include: strategies for Achieving High Response Rates on Surveys, Designing Surveys that Examine Welfare Leavers/Diverted Applicants, and Using Incentives in Surveys.

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Cross State Comparability

Administrative Data Measures

• A Proposed Set of Commonly Reported Administrative Data Outcomes for Leavers Studies
  Expanded report by the staff of HHS.
• Matching and Cleaning Administrative Data
  (NAS Report)
• Access and Confidentiality Issues with Administrative Data
  (NAS Report)
• Measuring Employment and Income for Low-Income Populations with Administrative and Survey Data
  (NAS Report)
• Administrative Data on the Well-Being of Children On and Off Welfare
  (NAS Report)

Comparing Leavers Survey Instruments

• Monitoring Outcomes for Former Welfare Recipients:  A Review of 11 Survey Instruments
  Report by Julia B. Isaacs, ASPE.
• Employment Outcomes for Former Welfare Recipients:  A Comparison of 11 Survey Instruments  (In PDF format)
  Report by ORC Macro.  (Also available in WordPerfect format).
• Calculating Total Income for Former Welfare Recipients:  A Comparison of 11 Survey Instruments  (In PDF format)
  Report by ASPE.  (Also available in WordPerfect format).
• Child Outcomes in Leavers Studies: Exact Items from the Surveys Covering Child Outcomes  (In PDF format)
  Report by ORC Macro.  (Also available in WordPerfect format).
• Measuring Household and Family Composition Among Former Welfare Recipients: A Comparison of 11 Survey Instruments  (In PDF format)
  Report by ORC Macro.  (Also available in WordPerfect format).
• See also the "Survey Library" for copies of the questionnaires used.

Leavers Findings

• Final Synthesis Report of Findings from ASPE "Leavers" Grants
  Report by Gregory Acs and Pamela Loprest with Tracy Roberts, The Urban Institute, funded by ASPE.
• Findings from ASPE-Funded Leavers Studies (Appendix B)
  Report by ASPE.
• Initial Synthesis Report of Findings from ASPE's "Leavers" Grants
  Report by Gregory Acs and Pamela Loprest, The Urban Institute, funded by ASPE.
• Preliminary Analysis of Racial Differences in Caseload Trends and Leaver Outcomes
  Report by Elizabeth Lower-Basch, ASPE.
• A Cross-State Examination of Families Leaving Welfare: Findings from the ASPE-Funded Leavers Studies
  Report by Julia B. Isaacs and Matthew R. Lyon, ASPE.
• Summary of Research on Welfare Outcomes Funded by ASPE
  Report by ASPE.

Where to?

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Home Pages:
Human Services Policy (HSP)
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Last modified on 09/15/03