PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT 2000

Chapter III

Compendium of HHS Agency FY 1999

Evaluations Completed and In Progress

ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

MISSION: To promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities.

Evaluation Program

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) administers a broad range of entitlement and discretionary programs, including income maintenance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF]); child support; children and family services (Head Start, Child Welfare, Family Preservation and Support, and youth programs); four block grants; and special programs for targeted populations, such as the developmentally disabled, immigrants, and Native Americans.

The objectives of ACF's evaluations are to furnish information on designing and operating effective programs; to test new service delivery approaches capitalizing on the success of completed demonstrations; to apply evaluation data to policy development, legislative planning, budget decisions, program management, and strategic planning and performance measures development; and to disseminate findings of completed studies and promote application of results by State and local governments.

ACF actively engages with other Federal agencies, State and local policy and program officials, national organizations, foundations, professional groups and practitioners, and consumers to stay current on emerging issues affecting its programs and to identify questions for evaluation studies. Systems changes and how they affect vulnerable populations, particularly children, are of primary concern. The movement toward devolving responsibility for health and human services to State and local organizations—in particular, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996—offer both tremendous opportunities and unprecedented challenges in redefining and implementing services for families.

Evaluation study designs are negotiated carefully with the States and other interest groups. Studies often are funded as joint ventures with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and other Federal agencies and foundations. Such collaborations permit large-scale efforts that are better informed and more representative of varying perspectives. Proposals are reviewed by multidisciplinary experts. Work groups of various kinds are used to monitor the progress of projects and to advise on design refinements and the presentation of findings.

Child Care

Sustaining Employment Among Low-Income Parents

This project developed optional research designs to identify and address the effects of child care costs on the employment of low-income parents, and the ways in which child care subsidy policies support employment by making child care more affordable and expanding child care choices. The major work in this contract consisted of a series of three stand-alone working papers and a final report that provide background for developing a research agenda that would inform the design of child care policy oriented toward families leaving welfare for work and toward low-income working families in general. The final report summarizes what we know about the cost of child care and its relationship to the employment and child care choices of low-income parents and proposes an agenda for future research. Two companion papers review research on the links between employment and the quality of child care and the issue of flexibility in family situations, jobs, and child care as it relates to the ability of parents to find a job and remain employed. The final report recommends a repeat of the Profile of Child Care Settings (PCCS) and the National Child Care Survey (NCCS) studies which would support further research on the effects of regulations and subsidy policies on the supply of child care. The studies should include subsamples of low-income parents, a sample of unregulated, home-based providers in at least a subset of sites, and an observational assessment of the quality of a subset of child care providers that could offer a nationally-representative measure of the quality of child care in the U.S.

Family Services

Family Preservation and Family Support (FP/FS) Services Implementation Study

The 1993 Family Preservation and Family Support (FP/FS) legislation authorized nearly $1 billion over five years in new Federal funding for services to strengthen and support families' efforts to provide a safe and nurturing environment for their children. FP/FS funds were to be administered at the Federal level by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families and at the State level by the child welfare agency responsible for administering child welfare services funds. The purpose of this study is to evaluate how States and communities implemented the legislation, the ways in which implementation altered the pre-existing service delivery system, and the effects on service delivery. The report is based on: (1) a review of the FP/FS applications, State plans and 1996 plan updates submitted by each of the 50 States; (2) site visits to 10 States conducted between November 1995 and July 1996; and (3) site visits to 20 communities between September 1996 and June 1997. (two volumes)

Project REFRESH: Research and Evaluation of Foster Children's Reception into Environmentally Supportive Homes

Little is known about everyday occurrences in foster family homes. Assessment tools and evaluation protocols are needed to examine factors affecting quality and satisfaction with care in kinship/non-kinship placements. Project REFRESH, a three- year study, identified factors affecting quality of care and children's integration into kinship/non-kinship foster settings. Objectives were to: (1) evaluate quality of care, (2) evaluate participants' satisfaction with care, (3) assess perceived quality and quantity of caregiver training, (4) test an integration model, (5) develop an assessment tool and evaluation protocol, and (6) disseminate project results. This case study design assessed children's integration processes and juxtaposed integration and quality, and satisfaction with care, in kinship/non-kinship settings. Variables examined during family interviews were: (1) status, (2) time, (3) space, (4) resources and (5) language. Members and associated caseworkers of 60 kinship/non-kinship families served as data sources in family interaction assessment. A subsample of 10 families/caseworkers participated in a qualitative component. Data collection methods included (1) interviews, (2) questionnaires, (3) observations, (4) children's drawings, (5) rating scales and (6) videotaped family interaction sessions. Based on the findings, an assessment tool and evaluation protocol were developed and tested to aid in placement decisions. An immediate benefit is a richer understanding of kinship and non-kinship foster placements. The ultimate benefit is the creation of frameworks within which to assess the quality of services to foster children.

Strengthening Homeless Families: A Coalition-Building Guide

The purpose of this Coalition-Building Guide is to assist shelters and community-based agencies to plan, develop and implement collaborative services designed to strengthen homeless families and create systematic change within the community. The Guide is intended to serve as a self-guided planning tool. The worksheets contained throughout the document may be used individually by shelters and community-based agencies to examine respective issues, resources, or plans, or they may be used collectively by a coalition of agencies seeking to enhance their collaborative efforts. The planning process described in this Guide is designed to support collaborative partnerships among the traditional and non-traditional allies of shelters. Such agencies include medical and mental health agencies, housing authorities, child and family services agencies, churches, schools, private businesses, philanthropic organizations, law enforcement and advocacy organizations. Chapter one provides a brief overview of the multiple needs of homeless families and children and frames the rationale for a comprehensive, collaborative, community-based approach to strengthening homeless families and child abuse prevention efforts. Chapter two discusses the strategic planning process--the conceptual framework for coalition building. Chapter three is a step-by-step implementation guide to collaboration among shelters and traditional and non-traditional allies within the community. Finally, the Appendix contains support materials and suggested additional reading. (See PIC ID 5040)

Strengthening Homeless Families: An Annotated Resource Guide

This Annotated Resource Guide is one of two documents to assist shelter staff to enhance their understanding of child abuse and neglect; to create temporary housing environments that support and strengthen families; and to build collaborative, community-based approaches to preventing child abuse and neglect. The Guide provides an overview of the multiple needs of homeless families and children and contains brief descriptions of programs (currently being implemented by shelters) to strengthen families. The Guide is organized into four chapters. Chapter one presents a brief overview of homelessness in the U.S., including a discussion of the risk of child abuse and neglect among homeless families. This chapter also outlines the purpose and organization of the Guide. Chapter two provides an overview of the signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect as well as reporting requirements when abuse or neglect is suspected. Chapter three delineates the complex needs of families and children and briefly describes a variety of programs which have been implemented to address these needs. Chapter four discusses the importance of collaborative, community-based service delivery for families and children. This chapter serves as an introduction to the companion document Strengthening Families: A Coalition-Building Guide. (See PIC ID 5040.1)

Foster Care

Children Placed in Foster Care With Relatives: A Multi-state Study

This study examines (1) the outcomes for children and families in the various configurations of relative foster care compared to the configurations of non-relative foster care, and (2) the associated costs of relative foster care compared to the costs of non-relative foster care. An initial survey was conducted in nine selected States to determine the specificity of the information available at the State and local levels pertaining to children currently placed in relative foster care, their birth families, the relatives responsible for their care, and the information pertaining to children formerly in relative foster care. The specific information obtained in this survey was used in the design of a national study to examine children placed in relative foster care compared to those placed in non-relative foster care. A review of the literature on relative foster care indicated that the incidence of kinship placements was affected by the changing characteristics of the general populations of nonrelative and kinship caregivers as well as by the population of children in need of substitute care. The demographic and geographic characteristics of the entry patterns for kinship care differed from those associated with traditional foster parents. At the same time, the roles and responsibilities of all foster parents became more demanding, with little indication that the agency policies and practices have correspondingly adapted to the need for increasing levels of support.

Head Start

Descriptive Study of Children and Families Served by Migrant Head Start

This study describes the implementation of 26 Head Start Migrant programs. It characterizes the current Migrant Head Start (MHS) client population; provides an overall description of the MHS service delivery system and operational issues affecting both the nationwide service delivery system and local centers; and estimates the universe of need for MHS services and proportion of MHS-eligible families currently served. Primary data collection activities included the Migrant Head Start Parent Survey; the MHS Program Directors' Surveys; the MHS Survey of Social Service Providers and the MHS Health Records Review. In addition, a special analysis was conducted of multi-year data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) to determine the extent to which the current system of service delivery is available to the overall population of eligible families and whether there were major demographic or socioeconomic differences between the population enrolled in the MHS program and the overall MHS-eligible population. The findings revealed the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the population served by MHS fairly closely approximate those of the general population of families eligible for MHS. However, the profile of families served by MHS programs in "upstream" areas more closely approximate the profile of the overall MHS-eligible population than does the profile of families served in "home base" areas. Other findings indicate the need for MHS services greatly exceeds system capacity and conducting a risk assessment of family needs could assure that MHS services reach those children and families among the MHS-eligible population who are at highest risk.

Evaluation of the Head Start Family Service Center Demonstration Projects

This project conducted an evaluation of the 41 Family Service Center Demonstrations through a consortium of local evaluators. The contractor provided coordination, technical assistance and analysis on common data elements across sites to yield a coordinated and integrated summary of process and impact evaluations. The consortium approach ensured a consistent and technically sound method of evaluating these demonstrations of how Head Start can collaborate with community programs to meet the needs of Head Start families dealing with problems such as illiteracy, substance abuse and unemployment. The contractor also reviewed local evaluation reports to identify lessons to be learned.

Serving Homeless Families: Descriptions, Effective Practices, and Lessons Learned

In 1993, the Head Start Bureau (HSB) of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families funded 16 Head Start grantees to implement demonstration projects for homeless children and their families. This report provides the following information about the demonstration projects: (1) the characteristics of the projects and families served, (2) critical issues relevant to project implementation, (3) challenges encountered and effective practices with respect to each issue, and (4) key lessons learned.

PERFORMER: National Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Center
Arlington, VA

Welfare Reform

Diversion as a Work-Oriented Welfare Reform Strategy and Its Effect on Access to Medicaid: An Examination of the Experiences of Five Local Communities

This project collected information from all States and the District of Columbia regarding the policies and practices that constitute diversion programs and/or activities under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Diversion programs are defined as efforts to address the immediate needs of families seeking cash assistance in ways that avoid enrolling the families in TANF. More detailed case studies were conducted in five local communities in order to document actual implementation and operation of diversion policies and activities. A major focus of the study was an examination of linkages between Medicaid enrollment and diversion programs/activities. The study also examined whether and how local communities and institutions, particularly traditional safety net providers, might be affected by diversion programs. The project addressed the following issues: (1) how State diversion programs are being conceived, structured and implemented; (2) the effects of these programs/activities on Medicaid enrollment; and (3) how local community institutions are affected, particularly by Medicaid enrollment rates. The researchers found that 31 States had implemented at least one diversion program and six States operated two types of diversion programs. They report that formal diversion efforts represent one of the many approaches States are using to shift to a more work-oriented, transitional cash assistance program. The researchers categorized diversion programs and activities into three types: (1) lump sum payment programs, (2) applicant job search, and (3) exploration of alternative resources. Primarily because the programs and activities are relatively new, little is known about their effects on families and their implications for other programs, such as Medicaid. In examining local policies and practices, the researchers concluded that there is substantial potential for diversion programs to reduce families' access to Medicaid. (See PIC ID 6759)

The Struggle to Sustain Employment: The Effectiveness of the Post-Employment Services Demonstration

This report serves an update on the effectiveness of the Postemployment Services Demonstration (PESD) program's promotion of employment and reduction of welfare dependency over a two-year period, using administrative records data on program enrollees. Key findings related to the program have been that: (1) extensive outreach and rapid follow-up enabled case managers to reach most clients and to establish prompt communications; (2) overall levels of employment among sample members were fairly high in all four sites; (3) overall, the program had little effect on increasing earnings, reducing welfare, or promoting the move toward self-sufficiency. In this comprehensive study of the PESD programs and their client population, operational lessons were identified that can serve as a guide for other programs considering the provision of job retention services. Recommendations are that programs should: (1) attempt to tailor services to meet client needs and target clients appropriately for different types of job retention services; (2) simplify service delivery mechanisms to enable program staff to focus more on coordinating services and meeting other client needs; (3) form closer links with employers, so that case managers or other staff could help resolve at least some work-related issues; and (4) assess carefully what services their programs currently offer and make changes to fill current gaps in the system, when considering adding job retention assistance to their current set of services.

In-Progress Evaluations

Child Care

National Study of Child Care for Low Income Families

Child Support

Multisite Evaluation of OCSE Responsible Fatherhood Programs and MIS Development
Partners for Fragile Families
Study of the Impact of the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program on Avoiding Costs to Public Programs

Community Services

Job Opportunities for Low -Income Individuals (JOLI) Program

Family Services

Family Investment Program (FIP)
Florida Family Transition Program (FTP) Evaluation Project
Home Visiting Services Demonstration
Jobs-Plus: Community Revitalization Initiative for Public Housing Families
National Evaluation of Family Support Programs
Prenatal and Early Childhood Nurse Home Visitation Program -- Replication/Dissemination

Foster Care

Assessing the Quality of Foster Family Care: An Initiative for the Integration of Research and Practice
Factors Related to the Quality of Family Foster Care
How Decisions to Change the Case Plan Goal Are Initiated
National Longitudinal Study of Children and Families in the Child Welfare System
Partner and Father Involvement in the Lives of Low-Income First Time Mothers and Their Children
Prevention of Foster Care Placement of Children at Risk for Domestic Violence

Head Start

Descriptive Study of Families Served by Head Start
Descriptive Study of Head Start Bilingual/Multicultural Program Services
Early Head Start Research and Evaluation National Study
Evaluation of the Head Start/Public School Early Childhood Transition Demonstration

Welfare Reform

A Study of Infant Care Under Welfare Reform
Achieving Change for Texans
Assessing Effective Welfare-to-Work Strategies for Domestic Violence Victims and Survivors in the Options/Opciones Project
California Welfare Reform Impact Evaluation
Capitalizing the Bridge from Welfare to Independence (CBWWI)
Child Impact Studies
Evaluation of Arizona Employing and Moving People Off Welfare and Encouraging Responsibility Program (EMPOWER)
Evaluation of Community-based Job Retention Programs
Evaluation of Los Angeles Jobs-First GAIN
Evaluation of the Employment First Program
Evaluation of the North Carolina Work First Program
Front-Line Management and Practice Study
Impact Study of the New Hampshire Employment Program
Indiana Welfare Reform Evaluation Project
Maryland Family Investment Program Evaluation
Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP)
Minnesota WorkFIRST Program (Track 2)
Neighbors, Services Providers, and Welfare Reform in Los Angeles County
New Hampshire Employment and Training Program Process and Outcome Study
Ohio Works First Evaluation
Rural Welfare to Work Strategies Project
State Welfare Reform Evaluation Project (Connecticut's Jobs First)
State Welfare Reform Evaluation Track 2
Training, Education, Employment, and Management (TEEM) Project
Virginia Independence Program
Welfare Policy Typology Project
Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP)
Welfare-to-Work: Monitoring the Impact of Welfare Reform on American Indian Families with Children
Wisconsin Pay for Performance/Self-Sufficiency First Evaluation
Youth Employment and Training Initiative (YETI)

Child Care

National Study of Child Care for Low Income Families

This project will study the low income child care market in 25 communities in 17 States with a sub-study to examine the family child care market in 5 neighborhoods drawn from these communities. In addition, the project will conduct a survey of 2,500 low-income families in the same 25 communities to determine how child care decisions are made and to assess the effects of child care subsidies on their choices.The information provided from the study will help inform the issues surrounding subsidized child care and its implementation by the States, with particular attention to the provisions in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) over time, as well as how significant shifts in welfare policy and programs affect the child care market for welfare recipients and the working poor at the community level. Additionally, this project will conduct a survey of 2,500 low-income families in the same 25 communities to determine how child care decisions are made and assess the effects of child care subsidies on their choices.

Child Support

Multisite Evaluation of OCSE Responsible Fatherhood Programs and MIS Development

This contract will provide technical assistance to assist States with appropriate MIS and data collection in order to facilitate an evaluation and the other contract will evaluate the projects. The projects are eight separate State demonstration projects which attempt to facilitate increased payment of child support through assistance to low or no income fathers who owe child support. Services involve the following: (1) child support services, (2) training, (3) related social services, (4) case management, (5) fatherhood motivation, and (6) access and visitation assistance.

PERFORMER: The Lewin Group, Fairfax, VA; Policy Studies, Inc, Denver CO; and Center for Policy Research, Denver CO

Partners for Fragile Families

The Partners for Fragile Families Project strives to assist low-income unemployed, and underemployed, mainly minority fathers to work with the mothers of their children to become "team" parents and share the legal, financial and emotional responsibilities of parenthood. To achieve these goals, the grantee will develop, test and implement Fatherhood Development Workshops, grassroots organizations working with low income fathers, develop and implement a Peer Learning College for child support enforcement professionals. These efforts serve to encourage, support, and assist child support agencies that have recognized the barriers these fathers face to becoming responsible fathers. The Ford Foundation is also providing funding for this project.

PERFORMER: National Center for Strategic Nonprofit Planning and Community
Washington, DC

Study of the Impact of the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) Program on Avoiding Costs to Public Programs

The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework for determining cost avoidance that would be appropriate for use in the Federal and State budgetary and appropriation processes. This study will also assess the current technology in terms of the development and potential application of a cost-avoidance methodology for the Child Support Enforcement program. This study will result in contractor recommendations as to how to prioritize the various components of cost avoidance, i.e., which mechanical and behavioral aspects of cost avoidance should be addressed first, and the sequence of steps to take to quantifying the costs avoided for each area. The contract objectives are: (1) review the literature on cost avoidance and prepare an annotated bibliography; (2) identify academics, research firms and States conducting child support cost avoidance related research; (3) assess microsimulation models; (4) assess the capacity of State administrative databases to measure cost avoidance; and (5) identify the most promising cost avoidance model or models for further testing and refinement.

Community Services

Job Opportunities for Low -Income Individuals (JOLI) Program

This project will provide training and technical assistance and evaluation assistance to grantees funded under the Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals Program (JOLI). The services provided will assist the grantees in the development of their project designs and in the finalization of their evaluation plans. These plans will provide the Office of Community Services (OCS) with useful insights into both project outcomes and processes. In addition, the services provided will assist OCS to effectively evaluate the impact of the demonstration and to disseminate the project results to the Congress and other interested parties.

Family Services

Family Investment Program (FIP)

This study continues the evaluation of a welfare reform demonstration combining program changes designed to ease a family's transition from welfare to work with strict requirements that recipients participate, the Family Investment Agreement (FIA), under Iowa's employment program. The FIA details the steps a family will take to become self-sufficient and establishes a time frame for doing so. See also PIC ID 6762.

Florida Family Transition Program (FTP) Evaluation Project

This project continues an evaluation of a welfare reform waiver demonstration in Escambia County, Florida, that includes a 24-month time limit on cash assistance (with some exceptions), increased earned income disregards and asset limits, increased eligibility for two-parent families, and school attendance requirements for teenagers. The evaluation will produce process, impact, and cost-benefit studies using a random-assignment experimental design, and will examine the effects of FTP on individuals' participation in program activities, welfare use, and self-sufficiency.

Home Visiting Services Demonstration

The demonstrations will test whether adding weekly home visitor services will result in helping first-time teen mothers better support themselves and their children while promoting positive parenting and reductions in repeat childbearing. The home visitors are paraprofessionals. The demonstration sites are Chicago, Illinois; Dayton, Ohio; and Portland, Oregon.

PERFORMER: University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education
Philadelphia, PA

Jobs-Plus: Community Revitalization Initiative for Public Housing Families

This is a seven and one-half year demonstration program aimed at dramatically increasing employment, earnings and job retention among the working-age residents of family housing developments, a large percentage of whom are on public welfare or at risk of dependency. The program supports the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of locally-based approaches to providing saturation-level employment opportunities, including a combination of training and supportive services, financial and other incentives (occasioned by the welfare reform and new public housing policies), and vigorous efforts to rebuild and strengthen the community in support of work. The bottom line question for the Jobs-Plus Demonstration is: Does the program achieve its primary goal of dramatically increasing employment and earnings among public housing residents? And, does a large increase in employment and earnings lead to a better quality of life for residents? Questions concerning the sites' implementation strategies and experiences are also important and will be a major focus of the research. The evaluation design developed for the demonstration combines experimental and quasi-experimental methods in an unusually rigorous approach for studying the effectiveness of a place-based comprehensive social intervention. (It uses randomly-selected sets of treatment and comparison sites.) The study will use administrative records data as well as survey data covering a wide variety of outcomes. It will examine whether the program's impacts vary across sites and whether certain program strategies are likely to yield better results. The evaluation will include comprehensive cost and benefit-cost analyses.

National Evaluation of Family Support Programs

In September 1994, the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) awarded a contract to conduct a national evaluation of Family Support Programs. The evaluation stems from legislation that provides funding to States for family support and preservation efforts. It represents an innovative attempt to combine knowledge derived from prior and ongoing research with new research studies designed to enhance our understanding about the effects of different programmatic approaches to family support. The study has three parts: (1) a comprehensive review of what is currently known about family support programs and their effects, (2) a phase that focuses on planning and implementing a series of research studies designed to fill the gaps in understanding programs and their effects, and (3) a synthesis of the two earlier parts. The evaluation is a five-year effort. The program and research reviews conducted in the first year will guide the formulation of a research strategy for the remaining years of the project. Up to ten new evaluation studies will be designed to fill gaps in the current knowledge base. These evaluations will be implemented in the second, third and fourth years of the study. The work of the final year will combine the information gained in the preceding years into an integrated and comprehensive report.

Prenatal and Early Childhood Nurse Home Visitation Program --Replication/Dissemination

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention are supporting this initiative. The project allows for data collection and evaluation of an initiative to replicate and disseminate the nurse home visiting model. The model has been tested through randomized trials and found to be effective in improving outcomes for mothers and their children on a number of important outcome measures, including: (1) educational attainment, (2) employment, (3) welfare dependency, (4) parenting attitudes, and (5) subsequent pregnancies. The DOJ funded a grant to support technical assistance and training to replicate the model in selected sites. This project supports the evaluation component of the initiative to test the effectiveness of the replication process within normal operating environments. The initiative will answer questions pertaining to: (1) whether programs are implemented with fidelity to the original program model; (2) whether the program is reaching the target population of at-risk, low-income pregnant women; (3) the aspects of the model that are most difficult to implement and maintain; (4) the factors explaining site variation in program fidelity; and (5) the outcomes for pregnant women and families enrolled in each site.

Foster Care

Assessing the Quality of Foster Family Care: An Initiative for the Integration of Research and Practice

The underlying mission of this project is to promote quality in the caretaking environments of foster children. The overall goal of the research is to fill the gap in the literature on foster family care by examining the individual characteristics of foster parents across domains, as well as the environmental characteristics of the home. The research design will include a comparison of relative and non-relative foster homes, and a comparison of African-American and Caucasian foster homes. The participants in this study will be drawn from the pool of foster parents and children in Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, MD, which border three quadrants of Washington, D.C. Both counties are socioeconomically and ethnically diverse, and have had an increase in their high-risk populations due to migratory patterns from the District and foreign countries. It is anticipated that 120 families will be recruited from each county for a total of 240 families. Project results will be presented at national and local conferences, submitted to professional journals, and disseminated to policy and program development entities. A major objective of the proposed project is to produce an instrument that can be utilized by social service staff to assess the quality of foster home placements.

PERFORMER: University of Maryland, Institute for Child Study
College Park, MD

The purpose of this study is to determine the quality of the foster care experience and the factors that influence it, based on data collected from a sample of 500 families whose children spent time in foster care in Wayne County, Michigan, during 1993. The study examines the relationship between the agency and services characteristics (e.g., private versus public agency, caseload size, staff turnover, continuity of case services, provision of family preservation services, and use of kinship care) and quality foster care. The five components of the quality of foster care experiences are: (1) the health and well-being of the child while in care; (2) maltreatment in care; (3) family continuity; (4) types and numbers of placements; and (5) duration of care and recidivism. Examining the experiences of families whose child(ren) entered care in 1993 will allow analysis of the entire stay in foster care for the majority of foster children, and analysis of a four year span of experiences for those children who remain in care through the end of the study or return to care during that time frame. Analysis of these data will proceed in three stages: (1) determination of the quality of the foster care experience for the children in the sample; (2) multivariate analysis of the factors leading to different levels of quality; and (3) development of alternative models of foster care which maximize the quality of foster care experiences for different types of families. Characteristics of the family, characteristics of the child, and reasons for the child coming into care will be included in the model. This research aims to discover which factors are most significant in affecting the foster care experience for which types of children and families. This study will produce a handbook that can be used for informing agency policy, improving agency practice and training agency staff.

How Decisions to Change the Case Plan Goal Are Initiated

The Jane Addams College of Social Work, in collaboration with the National Resource Center for Permanency Planning at the Hunter College School of Social Work of the City University of New York, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and the New York City Child Welfare Administration proposes a three year study of children entering State custody as infants in Chicago and New York City. The purpose of the study is to identify the factors which facilitate or delay changes in the case plan goal. Data will be collected through in-depth interviews with caseworkers responsible for selected cases. Approximately 600 cases will be selected for interviews to be conducted around the child's anniversary date of entering State custody. Half of the children in each cohort will be living with relatives and others will be living in non-related family foster care at the time of the first case selection. Caseworkers will complete brief follow-up questionnaires at 6 months and 12 months following the initial interviews to determine if the case plan goal changed, who initiated the change, and what factors facilitate or delay the change. In this way, barriers and facilitating conditions which occur in a child's second, third and fourth year in care will be identified. Key informants will be interviewed in the final year of the project to develop an understanding of systems factors which appear to facilitate or hinder changing the case plan goal. Key informants and the questions they are asked will be determined through analysis of data collected at the case level. Products of this study will include three major reports and policy and practice recommendations for facilitating permanence for children entering State custody as infants.

PERFORMER: Jane Addams College of Social Work, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL

National Longitudinal Study of Children and Families in the Child Welfare System

The purpose of this study is to describe the outcomes experienced by children and families who come to the attention of the child welfare system, and to gain an understanding of the factors, including system-level and service factors, as well as child and family characteristics, that contribute to those outcomes. The study will select a nationally representative sample of 6,000 children upon entry into the child welfare system. Information on this sample will be collected at baseline and at three annual follow-up interviews from the children and their caregivers, caseworkers, and other agency personnel and service providers. Public use data sets will be prepared following each wave of data collection.

Partner and Father Involvement in the Lives of Low-Income First Time Mothers and Their Children

This project will investigate the role that fathers and partners play in improving the material, emotional, and developmental well-being of low-income women and children. It consists of a set of secondary analyses using data from three longitudinal experiments of a program of prenatal and infancy home visitation serving first time mothers from various ethnic and racial groups.

Prevention of Foster Care Placement of Children at Risk for Domestic Violence

The Family Advocate Project (FAP) will build on the existing programs operated by the Family Intervention Center of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, which provides medical and psychosocial evaluations to battered women and their children. The study will examine 150 mothers assigned to either a study or a control group. The mothers in the study group will receive intensive services in the areas of counseling, housing assistance, legal assistance and health care. Upon entry into the study, the mothers will undergo an extensive evaluation that will focus on control, maternal support, depression symptoms and attitudes toward discipline. The study will look at ways to alleviate the emotional trauma of battered women, and will explore whether the provision of support services to increase self-esteem and coping skills can prevent out-of-home placement or reduce the length of time children spend in foster care. FAP also will develop a replicable foster care prevention model. Finally, FAP is following both the experimental and control groups for a specified time after services are delivered.

Head Start

Descriptive Study of Families Served by Head Start

This three-year descriptive study will provide information on a nationally representative sample of families served by Head Start in forty programs across the country. Through a survey and more intensive case study methods, the study will chart families' demographics, strengths, needs, expectations and experiences within Head Start programs, as well as programmatic efforts to join in partnership with families. (See PIC ID 6331.1)

Descriptive Study of Head Start Bilingual/Multicultural Program Services

Head Start currently serves a diverse range of bilingual and multicultural children and families, and has developed innovative strategies to serve the unique needs of these populations. As the number of bilingual and multicultural children and families increases, several issues must be addressed. First, the number, geographic distribution, and sociodemographic characteristics of the Head Start eligible population for different cultural and linguistic groups must be assessed regionally and nationally. The number and nature of bilingual and multicultural children actually served by the Head Start program must also be determined as well as the range of bilingual and multicultural services provided nationally. Finally, there is need for an in- depth assessment of the service models, staff training approaches, community partnerships, and administrative plans and processes of a sample of 30 Head Start programs that have developed innovative methods for addressing diverse cultural and linguistic needs.

Early Head Start Research and Evaluation National Study

The Early Head Start National Study will evaluate the effectiveness of the Early Head Start (EHS) program in fifteen diverse communities: Brattleboro, Vermont; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; Washington, D.C.; Sumter, South Carolina; Russellville, Arkansas; Marshalltown, Iowa; Kansas City, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; Denver, Colorado; Logan, Utah; Jackson, Michigan; Auburn, Washington; Grandview, Washington; and Venice, California. The study will examine child, family, staff and community outcomes in a sample of 3,400 children and their families, who will be randomly selected into program and comparison groups when the mothers are pregnant or children are under 12 months of age. Assessments of children, families and child care environments will be made when children are 14, 24, and 36 months of age. Service use interviews will be conducted every six months, and programs will be visited each year. The study will produce the following reports: (1) Descriptive Study of EHS Programs; (2) Study of Program Variations; (3) Pathways to Early Head Start Quality; (4) Interim Study of Outcomes; (5) Longitudinal Study of EHS Outcomes; and (6) Selected Policy Papers.

Evaluation of the Head Start/Public School Early Childhood Transition Demonstration

This evaluation of the Head Start/Public School Early Childhood Demonstration projects will assess the effectiveness of providing comprehensive, continuous and coordinated services to Head Start families and children from the time of Head Start enrollment through the third grade. Working in concert with local evaluators, the contractor will develop a set of common data collection instruments to be used across all sites. The project will provide data regarding the effectiveness of the Transition Project models in maintaining the gains that children and families achieve while in Head Start. The evaluation and the demonstrations were mandated by the Head Start reauthorization legislation. Other studies completed during the ten years prior to 1992, notably the Head Start Transition Study and Developmental Continuity, did not provide information on the experiences or services extended to children after leaving Head Start. Additionally, these studies collected only limited data on families, the institutions and the community. This study is intended to supplement these other studies.

Welfare Reform

A Study of Infant Care Under Welfare Reform

Twenty-two States have used the new flexibility granted under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), to require work of parents whose youngest child is less than one year old. The purposes of this study are to learn more about the policy and program challenges facing States that are encouraging welfare parents with infants to work or attend school, and to build the foundation for future research on programs, policies and strategies that can successfully transition parents from welfare to work while promoting the health and development of infants. To achieve these objectives, the study will examine three central issues: (1) the policies, programs and strategies that States are currently using to transition parents with infants off of welfare and arrange child care for infants; (2) the ways in which parents who are transitioning from welfare to work meet the competing demands of work and family responsibilities and how they meet their infant care needs; and (3) the availability of quality infant care and its impact on parents' ability to meet welfare program requirements. The study includes the three following phases: (1) information-gathering, (2) in-depth study, and (3) research design.

Achieving Change for Texans

This project continues an evaluation of the State of Texas' original welfare reform demonstration. The demonstration consists of four major components: (1) a number of policies implemented Statewide addressing such recipient responsibilities as immunization for children, school attendance and adherence to a personal responsibility agreement; (2) a number of policies implemented in counties operating JOBS, the primary feature of which is differential benefit time limits based on consideration of work experience and the need for education; (3) a number of policy options implemented in four counties, providing for individual development accounts and fill-the-gap budgeting; and (4) a one-county pilot offering a check for $1,000 in lieu of regular Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), with no re-application for benefits for one year.

Assessing Effective Welfare-to-Work Strategies for Domestic Violence Victims and Survivors in the Options/Opciones Project

This 5-year (1997-2002) research project will study the effective strategies in addressing the needs of abused women as they try to enter the labor market. This project will document the needs of battered girls and women on welfare, and will identify successful strategies employed to eliminate violence and exit welfare.

California Welfare Reform Impact Evaluation

This demonstration will attempt to estimate the impact of California's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Generally, impacts will be assessed by comparing outcomes in the post-TANF period with the pre-TANF period. The impact of various county programs may also be examined by comparing outcomes among the counties. In developing models to estimate impacts, California will use a 10 percent Statewide sample of welfare recipients. These samples date back to 1987, providing a rich database to use to test the models. The sample data consist of Department of Social Services information on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medi-Cal and foster care. These data have been supplemented by data on unemployment and disability insurance, and Department of Health Services data on births. The major research questions concern the impact of State's TANF program on self-sufficiency, family composition, and child well-being. To the extent possible, the impacts of TANF on different subgroups will be considered. Subgroups will include racial and ethnic subgroups, as well as urban and rural subdivisions. Attempts will also be made to determine the impacts of differing implementation of TANF among the counties.

Capitalizing the Bridge from Welfare to Independence (CBWWI)

This project is designed to expand the employment and training services provided by Goodwill Industries by constructing new centers in four counties in southwest Florida and six parishes in southeast Louisiana. Once constructed, the centers are expected to be self-supporting (i.e., no need for continuing public support) by utilizing the business activity and payroll generated by the donated goods business.

PERFORMER: Goodwill Industries of Manasota, Inc., Sarasota, FL and Goodwill Industries of Acadiana, Inc., Scott, LA

Child Impact Studies

This project augments the existing welfare reform demonstration evaluations in five States (Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota) to assess the effects of different welfare reform approaches on child well-being outcomes, including school achievement, behavioral problems, and health status. The effect of intervening mechanisms, such as the quality and regularity of the home environment, child care arrangements, and parental employment and income, will also be examined.

Evaluation of Arizona Employing and Moving People Off Welfare and Encouraging Responsibility Program (EMPOWER)

Under this Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) demonstration, recipient families are encouraged to become self-sufficient by: (1) time-limiting cash assistance for adult recipients, (2) imposing a family cap, (3) extending transitional Medicaid and child care to 24 months, (4) eliminating the 100 hour rule for two parent families, (5) requiring unwed minor parents to live with a responsible adult, and (6) requiring 13 to 16 year old parents to participate in Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS).

Evaluation of Community-based Job Retention Programs

This his project includes two components. In one, the project will provide an implementation analysis and outcome findings for current and former welfare recipients receiving employment retention and post-employment services through the GAPS program. The services will be provided to about 600 employed TANF recipients through five community-based organizations in the Pittsburgh area that received funding from the Pittsburgh Foundation. A common set of services will be provided but within the context of different existing service delivery systems among the five organizations. The project will describe the experiences of providers and participants, report on the economic success of participants over time, and present lessons for program administrators. The second component will include a descriptive analysis of the Community Solutions program through which the state Department of Human Services contracted for pre- and post-employment services from service providers using performance-based contracting and payments. Providers receive incremental payments when TANF recipient participants attain certain benchmarks including maintaining steady employment for 12 months. This component of the study focuses primarily on the experiences of service providers operating programs under the requirements and payment schedules of the performance-based contract.

Evaluation of Los Angeles Jobs-First GAIN

Using experimental methodology, this project will consist of an implementation/process study, impact study and a cost-benefit study. It will evaluate the results of changing Los Angeles GAIN, a human resource focused welfare-to-work program, into Los Angeles Jobs-First GAIN, a labor force attachment strategy. The change involved: (1) strengthening the job club and having case managers make immediate job activity referrals universally; (2) locating job developers in GAIN offices; (3) using goals and performance-based contracts to reinforce the Work First message within GAIN; (4) change program guidelines and staff training to communicate importance of finding employment; and (5) informing enrollees of the financial advantage of even minimum wage jobs.

Evaluation of the Employment First Program

This process evaluation will primarily focus on implementation and operation of the Nebraska Employment First Program and will conclude a special study to assess successful case management. In addition, a separate impact evaluation will be carried out comparing an intensive up-front job search strategy with the "traditional" up-front assessment approach.

PERFORMER: Nebraska State Department of Health and Human Services
Lincoln, NE

Evaluation of the North Carolina Work First Program

This project will evaluate North Carolina's Work First program which requires TANF families to work towards self- sufficiency. Through Work First, parents can receive short-term training and families can receive child care and other services.

Front-Line Management and Practice Study

This is a study of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) implementation at the local level, and is embedded in the larger SUNY-Albany State Capacity study, which is a 20 State implementation analysis. The principal objective of the Front- Line Management and Practice Study is to evaluate whether front-line workers are implementing the welfare goals and policies established by the States. Locally-based researchers will conduct in-depth observations in three local offices from each of four States. Sites have not yet been chosen, but no two offices will be selected from one county/city. A criterion for site selection dictates that the State give primary emphasis to work and job preparation, thus enabling the researchers to make comparisons among management practices that aim to affect the same sort of policy outcomes. Some sites will be chosen because they use traditional rule-based management and others because they rely on performance-based management.

Impact Study of the New Hampshire Employment Program

This demonstration is designed to determine the impact of New Hampshire's entire Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. It will attempt to determine the effects of TANF on caseload and on employment and earnings, as well as the effects on areas such as foster care placements, child abuse and neglect, homelessness and child support collections.

Indiana Welfare Reform Evaluation Project

This project continues the evaluation of implementation and impacts of the "Indiana Manpower Placement and Comprehensive Training Program" (IMPACT) welfare reform waiver demonstration, now operating under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

PERFORMER: Indiana Family and Social Services Administration
Indianapolis, IN

Maryland Family Investment Program Evaluation

This is a Statewide process study to examine and document front-line assessment and allocation practices under TANF in Maryland's 24 local jurisdictions. The objective of this analysis is to help clarify the relationship between agency factors and county-level characteristics by describing county-level variation in front-line procedures.

PERFORMER: University of Maryland, School of Social Work and Community Planning
Baltimore, MD

Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP)

Using experimental methodology, this project will evaluate Minnesota's Family Investment Program (MFIP) with the following provisions:(1) increasing disregards below a specified income threshold; (2) requiring long-term recipients to participate in intensive employment/training services, including case management; and (3) consolidating benefits and simplifying rules for TANF, GA and Food Stamps.

Minnesota WorkFIRST Program (Track 2)

Using a quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test comparison group design consisting of both an impact and process study, this study will compare the WorkFirst and MFIP-S programs. WorkFirst uses a rapid labor force attachment strategy versus MFIP-S, which represents a progressive labor force attachment model.

Neighbors, Services Providers, and Welfare Reform in Los Angeles County

This project will examine neighborhood variation in the availability of public and private social services throughout Los Angeles County. It will investigate how agencies are adapting to the current and anticipated changes in demand for their services as a result of welfare reform.

New Hampshire Employment and Training Program Process and Outcome Study

This Process and Outcome Study goes hand-in-hand with the New Hampshire Impact Study. By using surveys of recipients, staff and employers, this process study will determine how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) was planned, designed and implemented. There will also be several special studies concerning diversion from welfare, sanctions, child care and transitional case management.

Ohio Works First Evaluation

This demonstration will evaluate the Ohio Works First provisions and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policies which include: (1)completion of a self-sufficiency contract, (2) more generous income disregards, (3) a 36-out-of- any-60 month time limit, and (4) whole family sanctions. In Ohio, local jurisdictions have great flexibility in running their TANF programs, and this evaluation will attempt to determine the differential effects of the various local programs.

Rural Welfare to Work Strategies Project

Although there are extensive bodies of literature both on rural matters and on welfare-related matters, there is relatively little information about rural welfare issues. This report synthesizes available knowledge and, where appropriate, draws inferences from studies about the way that welfare reform is likely to affect rural welfare to work strategies. A long list of research questions remains unanswered. Foremost among them is: what set of strategies is most likely to produce economic self- sufficiency, and for what types of welfare recipients, and under what conditions? Answers to this question can help policymakers, program planners, and community members as they work to accomplish the goals of welfare reform. To build knowledge and research about effective approaches in working with rural populations, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) awarded planning grants to ten states to help develop and study strategies to move rural families from welfare to work. To help inform the ACF project, this project attempted to cull from the literature pertinent lessons about the intersection between key features of rural areas and factors about welfare recipients' abilities to achieve economic self- sufficiency. Findings are discussed in the following seven areas: rural economic development, workforce development, community commitment, transportation, child care, hard-to-serve welfare to work participants and, restructuring administrative elements of the welfare system.

State Welfare Reform Evaluation Project (Connecticut's Jobs First)

Using experimental methodology, this project will continue an originally planned evaluation of the Jobs First demonstration, later incorporated into the State of Connecticut's TANF plan. The evaluation includes: (1) a short (21 month) eligibility time limit for non-exempt recipients; (2) 24 months of transitional Medicaid; (3) liberalized disregards; (4) "Family Cap", limited eligibility for children born while the family receives assistance; (5) strong job search emphasis, with employability assessment only if a search fails to yield a job; and (6) progressive sanctions for non-compliance.

State Welfare Reform Evaluation Track 2

This project, which complements a separately funded evaluation being completed on Iowa's Family Investment Program (FIP), consists of two studies: (1) a study of repeat limited benefit plan (LBP) assignments; and (2) a study of post- employment services. The study of repeat LBP assignments will describe the experiences and outcomes of welfare cases that have been assigned to the LBP more than once. The study of post-employment services will describe and compare standard and enhanced post-employment services and assess their contribution to a client's progress toward self-sufficiency. See also PIC ID 6761.

Training, Education, Employment, and Management (TEEM) Project

This project will produce a process evaluation of the TEEM project. The TEEM project consolidates TANF and LIHEAP into a single cash assistance program. TEEM includes the following major provisions: (1) a social contract, (2) increased work incentives, (3) sanctions, (4) raised asset limits, and (5) incentives for family stability and marriage.

Virginia Independence Program

This project evaluates the State's TANF implementation, which continues policies begun under its welfare reform demonstration, Virginia Independence Program (VIP). Among the policies to be studied under the state's VIP are: (1) diversionary assistance, (2) a family cap, (3) time-limited assistance, (4) person responsibility agreements, (5) expanded earned income disregards, (6) school attendance requirements, (7) paternity establishment rules, (8) requiring minor parents to live in adult settings, (9) child immunization requirements, and (10) incentives promoting individual savings accounts and Medicaid and child care benefits.

Welfare Policy Typology Project

With the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), there are few, if any, strict Federal requirements for welfare programs, and States are not required to submit descriptions of their policies in any detail. This project will lay the groundwork for a database that would contain key information about State welfare policies (including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), State-funded maintenance-of-effort programs, and Federally funded child care assistance programs.

Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP)

This project continues the evaluation of a welfare reform demonstration project. One of the key features is a time limit that requires some adult recipients to participate in community work experience after fifteen months (for two-parent families) or thirty months (for single-parent families) of receiving cash assistance.

Welfare-to-Work: Monitoring the Impact of Welfare Reform on American Indian Families with Children

The overall purpose of this project is to monitor and document the implementation, and assess the impact of, welfare reform on American Indian families and reservations in Arizona caused by the evolving State and tribal responses to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Extensive demographic, contextual, socioeconomic and case-level data are to be compiled from a variety of sources, and analyzed in order to document the baseline conditions and changing patterns, and to identify short-term outcomes. The researchers will: (1) use existing national data (e.g., Census, CPS, and SIPP) on American Indians to provide a context for the study of Arizona, (2) collect quarterly case- or household-level data on the welfare recipients on Indian reservations in Arizona to examine their characteristics and monitor changes in their situations under TANF, and (3) track and document TANF implementation by tribal entities using content analysis of relevant documents, in- depth telephone interviews and site visits. The evaluation of the long-term impact of the reform program is to be undertaken during the last four years of the project.

Wisconsin Pay for Performance/Self-Sufficiency First Evaluation

Under the self-sufficiency first portion of this Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) demonstration, applicants for AFDC who were not exempt from Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) had to complete 60 hours of JOBS activities prior to approval. Under the Pay for Performance portion of the demonstration, recipients were required to participate in up to 40 hours of JOBS activities per week, and for each hour the recipient did not participate, the AFDC grant and food stamp allotment was reduced by the Federal minimum wage.

Youth Employment and Training Initiative (YETI)

The State will complete an evaluation of its Youth Employment and Training Initiative (YETI), which operated as a welfare reform demonstration from November 1993 until July 1997, when TANF was implemented in the State. YETI focused on inner-city youth in welfare families and provided counseling and classes designed to (1) help participants to stay in high- school and graduate, (2) increase life skills and self-esteem and reduce the incidence of pregnancies and substance abuse, (3) increase job-readiness and vocational skills, and (4) facilitate the transition from school to work. The overall objective of the project is to reduce the likelihood of welfare dependency among inner-city youth.

	Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

	Policy Information Center

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

Policy Information Center