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Project Description

This project will examine the effects of welfare reform on child well-being in Illinois by doing a short-term policy analysis of (a) criminal behavior; (b) social service utilization, primarily child welfare and mental health services; (c) health care insurance uptake among eligible children and adolescents in families who have been on AFDC or TANF in Illinois; and (d) the educational performance of children and adolescents who have been on AFDC or TANF in Chicago.
Major Research Questions: How is a family's participation in income maintenance programs before and after state and federal welfare reform related to educational outcomes, delinquency, health care coverage, and social service receipt for the family's children? Are these outcomes different for those who actually participate in the programs than for those who are eligible but do not participate? How does employment interact with eligibility and participation in welfare programs with respect to those outcomes?

Project duration: Sep 1990 - Sep 2001

Sites studied include Chicago, Illinois

Sample Characteristics and Sites Studied

The study population comprises the families of children who were in the Chicago Public Schools at any point from 1990-2000.

Recent Findings in Brief

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