| Principal Investigator: | Deanna T. Schexnayder, MBA |
| Sponsor: | Center for Economic and Policy Research |
| Research Partners: | Center for Social Policy, University of Massachusetts, Boston; and Center for Urban Economic Development, University of Illinois at Chicago |
| Project Duration: | January 2005 – March 2006 |
| Description: | The “Bridging the Gap”Pilot Study has the following goals:
The Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources will produce a preliminary report on the major findings in Texas. RMC will subsequently conduct outreach activities, which will include briefings for advocates and provider organizations in Texas, in order to present preliminary findings and generate feedback from advocates. |
| Reports Available: | Bridging the Gaps Authors: Deanna Schexnayder and Heather Boushey Date: February 2006 Publication Type: PowerPoint presentation, 16pp. Texas Economic Supports for Working Families: A Product of the Bridging the Gaps Project |
NCP Choices: Providing Workforce Development Services to Non-Custodial Parents
| Principal Investigators: | Daniel G. Schroeder, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Office of the Attorney General of Texas and Texas Workforce Commission |
| Project Duration: | July 2005 – August 2011 |
| Description: | The goal of the Non-Custodial Parent Choices (NCP Choices) demonstration is to get unemployed and/or underemployed non-custodial parents (NCPs) with unpaid child support orders into workforce development services so that they can better meet their financial obligations to their children. Child support can be one of the most important sources of income in assisting single parent households to escape from poverty. Despite significant gains over the last decade or so, receipt of child support among public assistance families remains low. Many NCPs are unable to meet their financial obligations due to unemployment or underemployment. Previous attempts to engage low-income NCPs in workforce development services have had success for some participants, but typically have problems meeting enrollment goals. NCP Choices solves this in a straightforward manner: noncompliant NCPs are given the choice of paying their child support, participating in workforce services, or going to jail.
The Ray Marshall Center (RMC) is estimating preliminary impacts of NCP Choices in four demonstration sites. Outcomes of interest include child support collections, workforce development participation, employment and earnings levels of NCPs, and TANF receipt by the custodial parents (CPs). |
| Reports Available: | Non-Custodial Parent Choices PEER Pilot: Impact Report Authors: Daniel Schroeder, Kimberly Walker, and Amna Khan Date: August 2011 Publication Type: Report, 45 pp. Non-Custodial Parent Choices Establishment Pilot: Impact Report Non-Custodial Parent Choices Establishment and PEER Pilots: Preliminary Impact Report Non-Custodial Parent Choices Establishment Pilot: Early Implementation Results Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Program Impact Analysis (2009) Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Program Impact Analysis (2008) Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Program Impact Analysis (2007) Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Preliminary Program Impact Analysis Evaluating the Non-custodial Parent Choices Program in Texas: Literature Review, Early Implementation Results, and Preliminary Impact Analysis Plan |
Urban Welfare-to-Work Transitions Book
| Principal Investigator: | Christopher T. King, PhD and Peter Mueser |
| Sponsor: | W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research |
| Research Partner: | University of Baltimore |
| Project Duration: | 1999-2004 |
| Description: | Christopher T. King and University of Missouri-Columbia economics professor Peter Mueser received a grant from the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in 1999, supplementing funding from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, to prepare a book on welfare-to-work transitions in six, very diverse urban areas around the country: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston and Kansas City (MO). King, director of the Ray Marshall Center and the Hogg Professor of Urban Management at the LBJ School, and Mueser completed their research in 2004. The Upjohn Institute published the book, Welfare and Work: Experiences in Six Cities in February 2005. |
Texas Child Care Market Rate Survey
| Principal Investigators: | Daniel Schroeder, Ph.D. (Ray Marshall Center) Monica Faulkner Ph.D. LMSW, Jim Schwab, and D’nika Travis (Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing) |
| Sponsor: | Texas Workforce Commission |
| Research Partners: | Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing |
| Project Duration: | April 2003 – August 2022 |
| Description: | This project conducts a child care market rate survey to be used by 28 Local Workforce Development Boards that manage the federal child care program in Texas. The goal is to produce up-to-date, reliable data and information to use in setting maximum reimbursements rates that ensure equal access to child care, thereby maximizing public resources. |
| Reports Available: | The reports for this project are published through the Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing at the University of Texas at Austin’s Steve Hicks School of Social Work. The following reports are available on their website.
2021 Texas Child Care Market Rate Survey For reports prior to 2012, copies may be obtained from Texas Workforce Commission. The following reports are available. 2011 Texas Child Care Market Rate Survey |
Rockefeller Institute of Government State Capacity Study – Christopher King
| Principal Investigators: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Kellogg Foundation |
| Research Partners: | Rockefeller Institute of Government/The Research Foundation of State University of New York |
| Project Duration: | May 2001 – August 2002 |
| Description: | Researchers at the Ray Marshall Center provided state analysis and annual updates regarding cash assistance, job training, Medicaid, and other social services in Texas. These reports combined with those of researchers in other states to produce national studies regarding the capacity of state government administrators and program operators to efficiently manage services in an era characterized by the devolution of increased responsibility for human services from the federal government to states and localities. The current analyses concerned recent changes in TANF cash assistance and work programs, which were followed by a study of the design and implementation of the Food Stamp program in Texas. The studies were conducted under the direction of Richard Nathan at SUNY-Albany through a field network of Rockefeller Institute Associates in selected states. |
Child Care Subsidy Duration Study
| Principal Investigator: | Deanna Schexnayder, MBA |
| Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
| Research Partners: | Columbia University (School of Social Work and National Center for Children in Poverty), and Oregon State University |
| Project Duration: | 1999-2001 |
| Description: | The Child Care Subsidy Duration was a collaboration of researchers in several states aimed at providing important information to policymakers on the duration of child care subsidy use. The research team used administrative records from state subsidy systems to build comparable linked, longitudinal datasets on children receiving subsidies, and used the data to produce descriptive information on the dynamics of child care subsidy use. The project was a multi-state study of relationships between subsidy policies, the duration of individual’s subsidy use, and the duration of individual child care arrangements. The main objective was to determine the duration of child care subsidy use and to explore how subsidy duration varies by family income, ages of children, and types of child care used. Ray Marshall Center researchers conducted the Texas portion of this analysis. |
Surviving Without TANF: A Longitudinal Study to Determine the Effects of Welfare Reform on Individuals Denied, Redirected, or Diverted from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
| Principal Investigator: | Deanna Schexnayder, MBA |
| Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
| Research Partners: | Texas Health and Human Services Commission (formerly Texas Department of Human Services) and The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work |
| Project Duration: | 1999-2001 |
| Description: | The purpose of this study is to research the economic and non-economic outcomes of Texans who were redirected or denied Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) services for non-financial reasons, those who elected to receive a lump-sum payment in lieu of TANF, and those families who left TANF. Research questions will address the following topics: demographics of families diverted from or leaving TANF; employment and other economic supports; utilization of government programs; applicants’ attitudes toward the diversion/application process; hardships faced by families; and factors influencing TANF exits, TANF returns, and employment. |
| Reports Available: | Texas Families in Transition/Surviving without TANF: An Analysis of Families Diverted From or Leaving TANF Authors: Deanna Schexnayder, Daniel Schroeder, Laura Lein, David Dominguez, Karen Douglas, and Freddie Richards Date: January 2002 Publication Type: Report, 244pp. Texas Families in Transition/Surviving without TANF: A Preliminary Analysis of Families Diverted From or Leaving TANF |
The Cost-Effectiveness of Non-Custodial Parent Referrals to Texas Workforce Services
| Principal Investigator: | Christopher King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Texas Office of the Attorney General |
| Project Duration: | March 2000 – February 2001 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center assessed the cost-effectiveness of referrals of noncustodial parents from the Office of the Attorney General’s Child Support Division and other agencies to workforce services provided through local workforce investment boards and their provider networks in demonstrations operating in Bexar and Harris Counties. The three main components of this assessment were be implementation analysis, quasi-experimental analysis, and cost-effectiveness analysis. |
| Report Available: | The Effectiveness of Non-Custodial Parent Referrals to Workforce Services in Bexar and Harris Counties: An Initial Assessment Authors: Dan O’Shea, Christopher T. King, Daniel Schroeder, and Patricia Norman Date: January 2001 Publication Type: Report, 84pp. |
The Effectiveness of Various Child Support Collection Strategies in Increasing Child Support Collections
| Principal Investigator: | Deanna Schexnayder, MBA |
| Sponsor: | Texas Office of the Attorney General |
| Project Duration: | March 2000 – February 2001 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center analyzed several different child support collection strategies to determine their cost effectiveness. The strategies studied included round-up of non-custodial parents who were delinquent in their child support payments, increased pass-through of child support payments to custodial parents on welfare, and enforced access and visitation privileges for non-custodial parents. Each analysis measured the cost-effectiveness of a given collection strategy. |
| Report Available: | The Effectiveness of Various Texas Child Support Collection Strategies Authors: Deanna T. Schexnayder, Jerome A. Olson, Jennifer Beck, Ying Tang, Hyunsub Kum, Daniel Schroeder, Patricia Norman, and Daniel P. O’Shea Date: February 2001 Publication Type: Report, 99pp. |
Capital Area Education and Careers Partnership School-to-Career Grant: An Assessment of Early Accomplishments, Constraints, and Prospects
Authors: Daniel P. O’Shea and Christopher T. King
Date: March 2000
Publication Type: Report, 23pp.
This report presents results of an evaluation of activities and services delivered under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 by the Capital Area Education and Careers Partnership. The evaluation results are presented in four sections:
- An assessment of the effectiveness of the Partnership in attaining its stated annual objectives.
- Notable accomplishments of the Partnership in Years One and Two.
- Fundamental and persistent issues that surfaced during discussions in the field.
- Recommendation of specific actions for the Partnership to consider in the last two years of its federal grant.
Also Available: Executive Summary, 2pp.
