Office of the
	Assistant Secretary for Planning & Evaluation
	HUMAN SERVICES POLICY

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Interim Status Report on
Research on the Outcomes of Welfare Reform

June 1999

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Table of Contents of Report

[ Introduction & Overview | 1999 Projects | 1998 Projects | Appendix A | Appendix B ]

Introduction and Overview

• Background
• General Strategies for Understanding the Outcomes of Welfare Reform
• Research Findings are Limited and Very Preliminary
• Current and Planned Activities that Support Conferees’ Recommendations
  • State­specific surveys and data sets
    • 1999 state diversion grants
    • Update on 1998 "leavers" grants
    • Update on 1998 state child indicators grants
  • Survey data on the impacts of state waiver programs
  • Use of administrative data (such as Food Stamp, Social Security, and Internal Revenue Service records)
    • Social Security summary earnings records
    • Update on using Food Stamp administrative data
    • Update on linked state administrative data
  • Outcomes in both low and high economic growth areas
  • Guidance from the National Academy of Sciences
• Conclusions

Projects Proposed to be Funded by the $5 Million FY1999 Appropriation to Study Welfare Outcomes/Leavers

• Major Projects Planned for Continuation
  • National Academy of Sciences Panel Study on Welfare Outcomes
  • Continuation of 1998 Grants to Study Welfare Outcomes
  • Advancing States’ Child Indicators Initiatives
  • Research Technical Assistance on State Child Indicators Initiatives
  • Welfare Reform and the Health and Economic Status of Immigrants and the Organizations that Serve Them
• Major New Projects
  • Grants to Study Welfare Reform Outcomes, with an Emphasis on Diversion
  • Tracking Employment Outcomes Under TANF Using Matched Social Security Summary Earnings Records
  • Iowa State Feasibility Project
  • RAND’s Los Angeles Study of Families and Communities (LASFC)
  • Follow-up on the Wisconsin Project for Tracking Former Welfare Recipients
  • Research Grants on Welfare Outcomes
• Other New Projects
  • Trends in the Demand for Assistance Services
  • The Working Poor Population: Data Analysis on Definitions, Composition and Outcomes
  • Rural Working Poor
  • Research Uses of Emergency TANF Data Report
  • Welfare Outcomes Grants Technical Assistance Contractor

Update on Projects Funded by the $5 Million FY 1998 Appropriation to Study Welfare Outcomes/Leavers

• National Panel of Experts on Data Required to Evaluate Welfare Reform
• Grants to States and Counties to Determine the Status of TANF Recipients After They Leave the TANF Caseload, Eligible Families who are Diverted Before Being Enrolled, or Eligible Families who Fail to Enroll
• Creating a Database for Research from Closed and Diverted Cases
• State Indicators of Children’s Health and Well­Being
• Technical Assistance for State Indicators of Children’s Health and Well­Being
• Evaluating the Feasibility of Using Food Stamp Administrative Data to Track Welfare Leavers
• Evaluation of New Jersey Substance Abuse Research Demonstration
• Welfare Reform and Its Implications for Persons with Disabilities
• Understanding the Impact of TANF and Other Laws on Immigrant Families
• Disaggregating the TANF Child­Only Caseload in Three States
• Archiving of AFDC Data

Appendices

1. Summaries of 1998 State and County Grants Awarded for Welfare Leavers Projects
2. Summaries of 1998 Grants Awarded to Advance States’ Child Indicators Initiatives