Performance Improvement 2003. The Impact of Welfare Reform on Children: The Indiana Welfare Reform Evaluation

This evaluation was part of a five state evaluation of welfare reform’s impact on children. An in-home survey was conducted over a nine-month period during 2000. The survey was administered to 1,679 single parent families with children between the ages of 5 and 12. An additional set of outcomes for 1,126 adolescent children (between 13 and 17 years old) was also presented. The survey addressed child outcomes related to educational performance, social and emotional adjustment, and health. Other aspects in the children’s environment that were potentially affected by welfare reform measures, such as childcare and family stability, were also measured.  Groups were randomly assigned to either the traditional welfare environment or the welfare reform program.  The welfare reform groups were encouraged to find work as soon as possible, with a 24-month time limit imposed on receipt of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Personal responsibility provisions were also incorporated.

The welfare reform program did not appear to have a significant impact, either positive or negative, on elementary school-age children or on adolescents.

This evaluation was part of a five state study (the Project on State-Level Child Outcomes) that examined the effects of welfare reform on children; this evaluation focused on reforms in Indiana. Differences in outcome measures for two groups— one randomly assigned to participate in Indiana’s welfare reform program and the other assigned to a traditional welfare environment — were examined.

An in-home survey that lasted two hours was conducted with a representative statewide sample of single-parent families with children who had entered the welfare reform evaluation in its first year. A seventy percent response rate was obtained, and statistical adjustments were made to control for non- response bias. Primary results were based on a sample of families with a focal child between 5 and 12 years of age; results were also presented for a sample of adolescent children between 13 and 17 years of age. The primary analysis method was regression, adjusting for (modest) baseline differences and for a set of baseline characteristics.

Findings indicated limited effects for elementary school-age children; for instance, there was no  significant program impact on school performance, level of engagement in school, or receipt of special education. There were no effects on the measures of social behavior and emotional well-being, nor were there differences between the welfare reform group and the traditional welfare group in terms of children’s health status, frequency of injuries or accidents, or medical and dental care. Fewer outcome variables were measured for adolescents. Although negative effects of welfare reform were reported for parental ratings of adolescents’ school performance, no differences were observed in other areas, such as school dropout rates and teen births. Moreover, welfare reform was not associated with differences on measures of the home environment (e.g., cognitive stimulation, emotional support); children’s involvement with nonresident fathers; or most measures of household stability. Additional findings showed that children in the welfare reform condition spent somewhat more time in child care, and that welfare reform was associated with lowered maternal depression and a small but significant reduction on a parenting aggravation scale. The families continued to face significant challenges; most remained financially insecure with multiple family problems in both groups.

The findings were consistent with other evaluations of the impact of welfare reform on children. There were generally few effects on elementary school children, and some potentially negative effects on adolescent children. The authors suggested that increasing household income, through earnings disregard or other approaches, may help with other family problems associated with single parent families on welfare.

http://www.abtassoc.com/reports/Indy_Child_Final_Report.pdf

AGENCY SPONSOR: Administration for Children and Families; Administration on Children, Youth and Families

FEDERAL CONTACT: Alan Yaffe, 202-401-4537 PIC ID: 6847

PERFORMER: ABT Associates Inc.