Welfare, Welfare Reform, & TANF

by: Dan Bloom, Mary Farrell, and Barbara Fink with Diana Adams-Ciardullo

Terri S. Thompson, Asheley Van Ness and Carolyn T. O'Brien The Urban Institute December 2001 This report was prepared under contract #HHS-100-99-0003 between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy (DALTCP) and the Urban Institute.

Contents Findings in Brief Background Program Approaches and Implementation Features Research Designs and Samples Five-Year Effects on Use of Employment-Related Services and Costs

In 1999, HHS contracted with Urban Institute to conduct the Study of Screening and Assessment in TANF/Welfare-to-Work. The second phase of the study involved case studies of a limited number of localities to further explore how these agencies and their partners responded to the issues and challenges identified during phase one.

Overview Welfare reform policies are sometimes referred to as "two generational" because not only are the lives of the parents changed by government welfare-to-work programs, but the lives of the children are changed as well. At the most basic level, children's time use patterns and child care patterns are likely to change.

Chapter I: Introduction and Overview Background In its report for the FY 2001 Appropriation for the Department of Health and Human Services, the Conference Committee added funds for the fourth year to the Policy Research account in the Office of the Secretary and directed in its report that the funding support studies of the outcomes of welfar