Rural Research Needs and Data Sources for Selected Human Services Topics
Prepared by: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Contents
Research Summary (in PDF format )
Exploring the Relationship Between Paid Family Leave and the Well-being of Low-Income Families: Lessons from California
This research report presents the results of a mixed-methods study that drew on California state administrative data and findings from focus groups with low-income working mothers to 1) explore how lower-income parents interact with California's PFL program and 2) better understand the relationship between PFL and key elements of family well-being
PFL.pdf
PDF
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. Selected Publications From This Evaluation
Moving People from Welfare to Work: Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies . Prepared by Gayle Hamilton, MDRC, 2002. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation; and U.S. Department of Educatio
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. Appendix: NEWWS Program Summaries
Appendix Table. Summary of NEWWS Program Activities, Environments, and Results
Program
Activities
Sample and Site Characteristics
Five-Year Net Cost per Program Group Member ($)
Year
Control Group
Impact
SOURCES: Hamilton et al., 2001; Michalopoulos and Schwartz, 2001.
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. 8. Conclusion
The Family Support Act of 1988 sent a strong signal to states and localities — a signal that was amplified in the 1996 welfare reform law — that it was important to move people from welfare to work. States responded by developing welfare-to-work programs that were more complex, offered a wider spectrum of services, were implemented on a broa
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. Costs Relative to Benefits: What is the government's financial return on its investment in welfare-to-work programs?
The programs' five-year benefits were also calculated in NEWWS. Benefits included the increases in earnings and decreases in welfare and food stamp payments discussed earlier, as well as dollar valuations of the programs' estimated effects on Medicaid, job fringe benefits, taxes paid, and the costs of administering transfer programs such as food s
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. Costs: What contributes to the cost of welfare-to-work programs?
Different types of five-year costs were estimated for the NEWWS programs. The gross cost per program group member is a comprehensive measure of all the costs associated with providing employment services and related support services to people while they were enrolled in a welfare-to-work program as well as after they left the program and/or the
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. 7. Costs and Benefits
FSA pushed administrators to operate more complex welfare-to-work programs, involve a larger share of the caseload (including the most disadvantaged), and provide more intensive and expanded services -- changes that were likely to increase the costs of the programs relative to those of programs operated in the early to mid-1980s.
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. Mandate Enforcement: What role does enforcing mandates play in program effectiveness?
Participation mandates in welfare-to-work programs are intended to change welfare recipients' perceptions and behavior in several ways. First, they send the message that receipt of welfare is not an unconditional entitlement. Second, owing to the time investment required by program activities, they reduce the perceived value of welfare grants rela
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. Participation Standards: What does it take to engage a substantial proportion of people in welfare-to-work program activities?
Despite the fact that participation in welfare-to-work activities is generally required in exchange for welfare receipt, welfare agencies often have a difficult time engaging a large share of their caseloads in program activities. Reacting in part to low participation rates in welfare-to-work programs, FSA broke new ground in requiring states to e
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. Case Management: Do different strategies yield different results?
As mentioned in the description of the NEWWS programs operated in Columbus, there are two general approaches to welfare case management: traditional and integrated. Although each can be argued to have advantages and disadvantages, some policymakers and program operators have speculated that integrating the roles of income maintenance and employmen
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. Income: How can welfare-to-work programs increase family resources?
The administrators of all the welfare-to-work programs studied in NEWWS hoped that their programs' preemployment services, mandates, and messages would enable welfare recipients eventually to increase their income and move out of poverty, but their relative emphasis on and methods of achieving this goal differed. The education-focused programs emp
Moving People from Welfare to Work. Lessons from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies.. Children's Well-Being: How might programs that have mandates and services but leave income unchanged affect children in the long run?
During the two decades before FSA's passage, mothers receiving welfare who had children under age 6 were generally not subject to the participation and work requirements of welfare-to-work programs. With FSA's passage came the advent of mandatory participation in welfare-to-work activities for mothers with young children. Because the new mandate's
