Status Report on Research on the
Outcomes of Welfare Reform

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

July 2001

This report is available on the Internet at:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/welf-ref-outcomes01/index.htm

Obtaining a Printed Copy

Contents

Chapters:

1. Introduction and Overview
   • Background
   • General Strategies for Understanding the Outcomes of Welfare Reform
   • Future Directions
   • Organization of the Report
2. Findings/Results from Outcomes-Funded Projects
   • Highlights of Findings from ASPE-Funded Leavers Studies
   • Research Findings from Completed Welfare Outcomes Funded Studies
     • National Academy of Sciences Panel Study on Welfare Outcomes
     • Research Grants on Welfare Outcomes
     • Follow-up on the Wisconsin Project for Tracking Former Welfare Recipients
     • The Working Poor Population:  Data Analysis on Definitions, Composition and Outcomes
     • Welfare Reform in Rural Labor Markets (formerly Rural Working Poor)
     • Research Design Framework for the FPLS Database
     • Support for Use of NDNH for Welfare Outcomes Research
     • Conference on Developing Public Policy Applications with the American Community Survey and Local Administrative Records
   • Research Findings from Continuing Welfare Outcomes Funded Studies
     • Preliminary Findings from Grants to States and Localities to Study Welfare Reform Outcomes, with an Emphasis on TANF Applicants and Diversion
     • Devolution and Urban Change
     • Welfare Reform and the Health and Economic Status of Immigrants and the Organizations that Serve Them
3. Projects Proposed to Be Funded by the FY 2001 Appropriation to Study Welfare Outcomes
   • Introduction
   • Crosscutting/multi-topic Areas
     • State Studies on TANF Caseload
     • Survey Development for State Studies on TANF Caseload
     • The Characteristics and Service Needs of Families Receiving TANF
     • Small Grant Program on Use of HHS-Sponsored Data Sets
     • Researcher Initiated Grants on Welfare Outcomes
   • Economic Supports for Poor Families
     • Demonstration and Evaluation of Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ
     • Support for Working Families and Their Children
     • Measures of Short-Term Educational Attainment
     • Measures of Family Hardship
     • Project on Devolution and Urban Change
     • FPLS Research Database Construction
     • Linking State TANF Policies to Outcomes
     • Support for the Research Forum on Children, Families, and the New Federalism Database and Web Site
     • South Carolina Welfare Outcomes Grant
     • Panel Study of Income Dynamics:  Core Support and Expanded Sample for Child Supplement
   • Children and Youth
     • Improving State Child and Youth Indicators of Health and Well-being
     • Welfare Reform and Children
     • Project on Child Outcomes:  Enhancing Measurement of Child Outcomes in State Welfare Evaluations and Other State Data Collections
   • Family Formation
     • Describing State Initiatives to Promote and Support Marriage
     • Synthesis of Literature on Family Composition and Resource Sharing
     • Follow-up Work on Minnesota Family Investment Program Evaluation
     • Learning from State Corrections and Human Services Collaborations:  From Prison to Home – Part II
     • Case Studies of State Initiatives to Reduce Out-of-Wedlock Births
     • Partners for Fragile Families Evaluation
   • Special Populations and Local Service Delivery Issues
     • Case Studies on Privatization of Service Delivery and Performance-Based Contracting
     • Support to the New Immigrant Survey
4. Update on Continuing Projects Funded by the FY 1998, FY 1999, and FY 2000 Appropriations to Study Welfare Outcomes
   • Competitive Grant Programs
     • Grants to States and Localities to Enhance Studies of Welfare-Related Outcomes
     • Researcher Initiated Grants on Welfare Outcomes
     • Continuation of 1998 Grants to States and Localities to Study Welfare Outcomes
     • Grants to States and Localities to Study Welfare Reform Outcomes, with an Emphasis on Diversion
   • Projects to Improve Data Collection, Comparability or Capacity-Building
     • The Feasibility of Replicating the Women's Employment Study
     • Support to the New Immigrant Survey
     • State and Local Telephone Survey to Assess the Incidence of Children with Special Health Care Needs
     • Support for the Research Forum on Children, Families, and the New Federalism Database and Web Site
     • Support for Iowa State University SPD Project
     • Use of Social Security Summary Earnings Records to Assess Welfare Reform Outcomes
     • Technical Assistance to Welfare Outcomes Grantees (incorporates Technical Assistance on Researcher Access to Data Sets)
     • Research Technical Assistance on State Child Indicators Initiatives
     • Access to Welfare Outcomes Data Sets
   • Analytic Projects on Welfare-Related Topics
     • Synthesis of Welfare Outcomes Grants
     • Trends in the Economic Well-Being of Low-Income Americans
     • Transition Events in the Dynamics of Poverty
     • Low-Income/Low-Skilled Workers' Involvement in the Temporary/Contingent Employment Sector
     • Mental Health and Employment
     • Linking State TANF Policies to Outcomes:  A Preliminary Assessment
     • Quick Turnaround Analyses under Welfare Reform
     • Alternative Kinship Care Programs Set up Outside of TANF and Foster Care
     • Implementation of Welfare Reform at the Local Level:  Implications for Special Populations
     • Understanding the Declines in Teen Birth Rate
     • How Low-Wage Working Families Cope as Parents and Workers
     • From Prisons to Home:  The Effect of Incarceration on Children, Families, and Low-Income Communities
     • Poor Families with Infants and Toddlers
     • Enhancement of the Study of Trends in Emergency Assistance Related to TANF (incorporates Trends in the Demand for Assistance Services)
     • Welfare Reform and the Health and Economic Status of Immigrants and the Organizations that Serve Them
     • Welfare Reform and Its Implications for Persons with Disabilities
   • Other Projects
     • National Academy of Sciences Panel Study on Welfare Outcomes
     • Devolution and Urban Change
     • Continuation of New Jersey Welfare/Substance Abuse Evaluation
     • Supporting Families After Welfare Reform:  Access to Medicaid, S-CHIP and Food Stamps
     • Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A. FANS)

Appendices

1. Evaluating Welfare Reform in an Era of Transition:  Conclusions and Recommendations
2. Findings from ASPE-funded Leavers Studies (Grants to States and Localities to Study Welfare Outcomes)
   • Employment and Earnings
   • Program Participation
   • Household Income and Family Well-Being
   • Conclusion
   • Other Outcomes Data

Obtaining a Printed Copy

To obtain a printed copy of this report, send or fax the title and your name and address to:

Where to?

Top of Page
Contents

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

Last updated:  8/17/01