Performance Improvement 2003. Final Report on Vermont's Welfare Restructuring Project

The WRP program appeared to increase employment, save taxpayer money, had little effect on income, and did not require creation of community service positions.

States have new flexibility in creating their own rule for governance of welfare programs due to the conversion of federal welfare funding into a fixed block grant. States developed a variety of approaches to welfare reform. Vermont’s approach had more lenient standards than other programs; the intent of this evaluation was to determine if less stringent standards still resulted in an increase in employment and reduced welfare receipt.

Since it preceded Temporary Assistance for Needy Families by two years, the Vermont provisions for welfare reform differed from those of most other states. In Vermont, all welfare applicants from July 1994 through December 1996 were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. Members of the Welfare Restructuring Project group were subject to time-triggered work requirements (required to work in wage-paying jobs after receiving cash assistance for 30 months) and financial work incentives (enhanced earnings disregard, and being able to hold more savings and personal effects). This was the final report on Vermont’s welfare reform program, with previous reports having been provided at 21 and 42 months. The evaluation covered an eight-year time period, from 1994 through 2001.

The final outcome evaluation was based on a variety of data sources, including baseline data from a background information from and private opinion survey, field research, staff surveys, administrative records, and program expenditure data. While all welfare recipients from July 1994 to December 1996 were randomly assigned to one of three conditions, this impact study was based on a subset of the cases assigned in the research districts from July 1994-June 1995. This “report sample” represented about 70 percent of the full research sample (N=7,691), of which approximately one third were surveyed for a 42- month (post assignment) assessment, and approximately 80 percent (N=1,872) responded.

Selected findings indicated that the full WRP program increased employment and reduced reliance on  cash assistance for single-parent families, but had little effect in areas such as material hardship, children’s school performance, or other family and child outcomes. Results also showed that increases in employment and income were largest for the most disadvantaged members, and that the net cost of the program was low and more than offset by reduced public assistance payments. There were few program effects for two-parent households.

This evaluation helps inform the debate over the best approach to welfare reform.  As one of the earliest statewide welfare reform programs initiated under waivers, it provides a longer time period of evaluation. However, the contribution of the healthy economy to the program’s success is not yet clear. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/vermont/vt_title.html

AGENCY SPONSOR: Administration for Children and Families FEDERAL CONTACT: Girley Wright, 202-401-5070

PIC ID: 6764

PERFORMER: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation