Achieving Change for Texans: Evaluation of the Texas Welfare Reform Waiver: Final Impact Report

Authors: Deanna T. Schexnayder, Daniel G. Schroeder, Jerome A. Olson, and Hyunsub Kum
Date: January 2003
Publication Type: Report, 127pp.

Abstract: In 1995, the Texas Legislature enacted H. B. 1863, which formed the basis for Texas’ waiver from existing Federal laws governing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. The Texas waiver, officially known as the Achieving Change for Texans (ACT) demonstration, aimed to assist participants to achieve independence from welfare through an increased emphasis on employment, training, temporary assistance and support services. The random- assignment net impact evaluation measured the effectiveness of two major components of this legislation: time-limited benefits and use of a personal responsibility agreement for recipients of public cash assistance.

This is the final impact report from this evaluation. It includes net impacts of the ACT demonstration from its inception in June 1996 through September 2001, and measures impacts of state time limits and the Texas personal responsibility agreement on welfare dynamics, client self-sufficiency, participation in workforce development programs, and several family and child indicators.

Also Available: Appendix
Printed Copies: Contact Debora Morris, Texas Department of Human Services, (512) 438-3353

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.
Publishers: Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources, The University of Texas at Austin; and the Center for Innovative Projects for Economic Development, Prairie View A&M University

Abstract: In the post-welfare-reform era, many states have begun conducting research to determine how the new policies affect the families they serve.  In particular, states need to understand if former welfare recipients are employed or receiving other types of economic supports, how many have returned to welfare, and reasons for families’ success or failure.

This report addresses the following questions:

• What are the characteristics of families who left or were diverted from TANF?
• To what extent are these families participating in other government programs, especially Medicaid and food stamps?
• To what extent are these families employed and/or receiving other economic supports, such as child support and child care subsidies?
• Over time, how do these families manage and what hardships do they face?
• How do potential applicants view the diversion/application process?
• Are there particular points after leaving TANF at which people are the most vulnerable to returning?
• Which factors are associated with leaving TANF, being employed, or returning to TANF?

This report examines these research questions for two populations of low-income families: those diverted from TANF prior to enrollment and those who have left TANF.  Among ‘diverted’ families, three types are being studied: families redirected prior to TANF application, those denied TANF for non-financial reasons, and approved TANF applicants opting to receive a one-time payment in lieu of TANF benefits.

Also Available: Executive Summary (PDF)

Urban Welfare-to-Work Transitions in the 1990s

Authors: Peter R. Mueser and Christopher T. King
Date: October 2001
Publication Type: Report, 47pp.

Abstract: The Center for the Study of Human Resources conducted joint research to revise a March 2001 report on analysis that focused on patterns of welfare use and employment for welfare leavers for central counties in each of the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Houston and Kansas City.  Researchers examined the extent to which economic growth and welfare policy interact to induce observed patterns.  Following a review of the literature on the determinants of the welfare caseload and employment of welfare leavers, researchers provided detail on the waiver provisions and related welfare reform activities occurring in each of the sites and their respective states, as well as information on how implementation of the 1996 federal reform legislation influenced state programs.  Researchers began their quantitative analysis showing how unemployment rates and welfare caseloads varied across our sites over the period of our study.  It was clear that, at most sites, the decline in caseloads occurred at the same time that welfare-to-work transitions occurred in increasing numbers.

Texas Families in Transition/Surviving without TANF: A Preliminary Analysis of Families Diverted From or Leaving TANF

Authors: Deanna Schexnayder, Daniel Schroeder, Laura Lein, David Dominguez, Karen Douglas, and Freddie Richards
Date: March 2001
Publication Type: Report, 94pp.

Abstract: Since welfare reform began, many states have been conducting studies to determine how these policy changes are affecting the families served by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).  In particular, states are interested in understanding whether former welfare recipients or those diverted from receiving TANF are employed or are receiving other types of economic supports.  They also are interested in how many families are returning to welfare and the reasons for their return.

This preliminary report concentrates on answering the research questions: What are the characteristics of families who left or were diverted from TANF?  To what extent are these families participating in other government programs, especially Medicaid and Food Stamps?  To what extent are these families employed and/or receiving other economic supports, such as child support and child care?

The report summarizes results from initial analyses of administrative data files for families who were diverted from or left TANF from April 1998 through June 1999 and intensive interviews conducted between November 1998 and March 2000 with a sample of these families.

Also Available: Executive Summary (PDF)

Urban Welfare-to-Work Transitions in the 1990s: Patterns in Six Urban Areas

Authors: John Baj, Julie L. Hotchkiss, Christopher T. King, Peter R. Mueser, Phillip S. Rokicki and David W. Stevens.
Publication Date: March 2001
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Policy and Research, Division of Research and Demonstration. 40pp.
Availability: Ray Marshall Center, contact rmcpubs@raymarshallcenter.org.

The Effectiveness of Various Texas Child Support Collection Strategies

Authors: Deanna Schexnayder, Jerome Olson, Jennifer Beck, Ying Tang, Hyunsub Kum, Daniel Schroeder, Patricia Norman, and Daniel P. O’Shea
Date: February 2001
Publication Type: Report, 99pp.

This report studies the effectiveness of several child support collection strategies in increasing the total amount of child support collected from the noncustodial parents on its caseload.  Three of these strategies are analyzed in this report.  They include:

1. Increasing the child support ‘pass-through’ to families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF),
2. Arresting noncustodial parents who are delinquent in their child support payments through a coordinated effort known as a ‘round-up’, and
   
3. Participating in an ‘access and visitation’ program when conflict among the parents created the need for some type of supervised visitation or exchange.

Included are findings and policy implications of all these child support collection strategies for low-income families.

Also Available: Executive Summary, 9pp.

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.

Child Support Division administrators and staff worked with local workforce and domestic court collaborators to establish procedures for service referrals from the courts as part of child support adjudication.  Referrals are frequently a condition of probation for non-payment of child support or contempt of court.  In addition to mandatory, court-based referrals, Child Support Division staff in Harris County initiated voluntary referrals from the child support offices.  This report assesses the effect on child support collections of referring non-custodial parents from the Texas Office of the Attorney General’s Child Support Division and Family Law Courts to workforce and other services designed to increase their income-producing and parenting capacities in Bexar County (San Antonio) and Harris County (Houston), Texas.

Also Available: Executive Summary, 7 pp.

Welfare-to-Work Transitions in Five Urban Areas: Initial Results from the Pooled Multivariate Analysis

Authors: Jerome A. Olson, Christopher T. King, Julie L. Hotchkiss, Peter R. Mueser, Phillip S. Rokicki, and David W. Stevens
Date:  March 2000
Publication Type:  Report, 31pp.

Abstract: In 1998, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, Division of Research and Demonstration awarded funding to an alliance of five state university partners to conduct research on welfare-to-work transitions in five large urban areas: Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Houston, TX; and Kansas City, MO. The objective of this phase of the analysis was to identify and explain similarities and differences in the welfare-to-work transition profiles of adult female welfare recipients in the five urban sites.  The data were used to fit reduced-form regression models in which outcomes were dependent on exogenous (or predetermined) variables.  This approach to organizing the data was based on the seminal work of Boskin and Nold (1975) that has become one of the standard approaches of event history analysis.  This report demonstrated the feasibility of pooling large welfare datasets for cross-urban analyses of welfare and work patterns.  A comparison of the descriptive statistics and regression coefficients has shown both commonalities and differences among the states and the urban sites that are intuitively plausible.

Urban Welfare-to-Work Transitions in the 1990s: A First Look

Researchers: Christopher T. King, Julie L. Hotchkiss, Peter R. Mueser, Phillip S. Rokicki and David W. Stevens.
Publication Date: December 1999, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Policy and Research, Division of Research and Demonstration. 41pp.
Availability: Available from the Ray Marshall Center, contactrmcpubs@raymarshallcenter.org.