Employment Activities:
Evaluation of the immediacy and urgency of the work requirements in WorkFIRST compared to various models of MFIP on the amount of time clients used employment services, employment outcomes, income security, and adult/child outcomes.
Employment policies linked to treatment:
WorkFIRST- Job search and other work requirements for first-time, mandatory applicants started within 5 days of application for welfare.
MFIP- Counties were given the option of starting work requirements immediately or up to 6 months after eligibility determination for single parents; 1 month for two parent families.
WorkFIRST requirements focused on immediate job search or work; limited job training or employment training were made available to mandatory clients. The WorkFIRST counties offered limited post-placement (job retention) services to clients for up to 180 days for clients who left welfare.
Financial Disincentives/Sanctions:
Evaluation of different sanction policies on the number of families sanctioned by each program as well as the rationale for sanctioning.
Non-compliance with key program requirements could lead to a unit 6-month sanction. Non-compliance with other requirements could lead to a 6-month individual sanction. The report explored different outcomes for sanctioned WorkFIRST clients.
Program Requirements:
Evaluation of the effects of the different work requirements esp. the 5-day vs. 1-6 month time trigger on welfare benefit receipt, employment outcomes and well-being.
Social/Support Services
Evaluation of the different rates of Food Stamps and transitional medical assistance utilization rates for welfare leavers. Evaluation of different outcomes in areas of leaver’s employment and earnings, self-assessed well-being, educational experiences and achievements of children, health status and health services utilization, and availability and affordability of day care up to 18 months after application for welfare.
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