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.

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)

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.