State Implementation of Major Changes to Welfare Policies, 1992 - 1998

This document provides information by state on the timing of major changes to welfare policies under both the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program (through statewide waivers implemented 1992 – 1996) and the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program (implemented 1996 to 1998).

The information is presented in nine tables.  Tables A and B provide summary information on the dates of approval and implementation for major AFDC waivers and the TANF program in each state. More detailed information concerning five types of AFDC waivers is provided in Tables W-1 through W-5.  Specifically, the tables provide state-by-state information on approval and implementation dates for the following types of policy changes:

• Table A.  First major AFDC waiver and TANF implementation [Printer oriented, PDF version];
• Table B.  Overview of six types of major AFDC waiver policies [Printer oriented, PDF version];
• Table W-1.  Termination/reduction time limits [Printer oriented, PDF version];
• Table W-2.  Changes to work exemptions [Printer oriented, PDF version];
• Table W-2a.  Comparison of AFDC and TANF work exemptions policies;
• Table W-3.  AFDC and TANF sanctions [Printer oriented, PDF version];
• Table W-3a.  Comparison of AFDC and TANF sanction policies;
• Table W-4.  Increases in earnings disregards [Printer oriented, PDF version]; and
• Table W-5.  Family caps [Printer oriented, PDF version]

Note that in many cases, waivers were implemented in limited geographic areas, and later expanded to encompass more of a state.  In these cases, we did our best to identify the dates at which the waivers were implemented statewide, or at least covered the majority of the state.  These choices are explained in the footnotes to each table.

The information in these tables was used to model AFDC waivers and TANF policies in the econometric caseload models studied in the 1999 Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) report on The Effects of Welfare Policy and the Economic Expansion on Welfare Caseloads:  An Update.  As explained in the CEA's technical report, one version of the model had only two policy variables (First AFDC waiver and TANF implementation, as shown in Table A), while the other version attempted to estimate the separate effects of six major policies (as shown in Table B).  The 1999 CEA model used date of implementation for the waiver variables.  Somewhat smaller effects are estimated when the date of approval is used (as was done in the earlier, 1997, CEA study).

In addition to the information on policy changes, the document contains 51 state figures that depict trends in welfare recipiency rates over the past two decades, showing how such rates have been affected by state unemployment rates and the major policy changes shown in Table A.  States [All figures are in PDF format]:

• Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware
• DC, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa
• Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota
• Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico
• New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island
• South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington
• West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

For further information about the data in these tables and figures, contact Gil Crouse at gilbert.crouse @ hhs.gov