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Findings Available
Interim Implementation Findings
Final Implementation Findings
Interim Impact Findings
Interim Descriptive/Analytical Findings
Final Descriptive/Analytical Findings
Findings
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11/01/01:
Colorado Works Evaluation: Third Annual Report, Part II
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Interim Descriptive/Analytical Findings:
This report examines recent trends in Colorado Works caseload size and expenditures. Among the significant findings resulting from analyses of caseload trends, employment outcomes and post exit services participation are:
Colorado Works expenditures increased by 12 percent in State Fiscal Year 2001 despite a slight decline in the overall caseload.
A relatively small number of recipients will reach the 60-month time limit on lifetime assistance in the next year.
Most former Colorado Works leavers do not work continuously in the first year after exit from the program.
About one-half of employed leavers will meet the monetary eligibility requirements for Unemployment Insurance in the event of a qualifying job loss.
Slightly more than one-half of eligible current and former Colorado Works recipients received federal and state earned income credits for tax year 2000.
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08/01/01:
Colorado Works Evaluation: Third Annual Report, Part I
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Interim Descriptive/Analytical Findings:
This report examines two components of the Colorado Works program—diversion and work activity participation—which illustrate the diverse types of assistance Colorado counties can offer low-income families under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program:
Diversion — Most counties in Colorado have implemented diversion assistance programs (State Diversion and/or County Diversion) which offer lump-sum cash grants or vendor payments to families to help them remain self-sufficient and avoid enrolling in time-limited monthly cash assistance.
Work Activity Participation — Recipients of ongoing Basic Cash Assistance under Colorado Works are required to participate in a work activity for 30 hours per week within 24 months after the start of assistance or when determined to be job ready. The most utilized work activity is paid employment. TANF rules also allow recipients to participate in limited educational work activities. Almost all Colorado counties offer some basic education activities—typically, GED preparation classes—to their recipients.
Among the significant findings resulting from analyses of diversion and work activity participation are:1. State Diversion is an effective alternative to Basic Cash Assistance for many Colorado Works participants. 2. Counties have succeeded in targeting State Diversion to recipients who are most likely to benefit from short-term assistance. 3. County Diversion assistance has been effective in helping families maintain self-sufficiency. 4. Few recipients without a high school diploma or equivalent participate in basic education activities while on Colorado Works.5. Occupational skills training programs are helping recipients improve their earnings.
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11/01/00:
Colorado Works Evaluation: Second Annual Report
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Interim Descriptive/Analytical Findings:
Interim Implementation Findings:
Colorado has been about as successful as other states in moving adult TANF recipients into employment
Among those who were employed steadily after Colorado Works exit, earnings increased by 15 percent after a year of steady employment, 23 percent after 18 months, and 37 percent after two years.
Former recipients tend to find employment in the relatively low-paying services and retail trade industries.
Among adults who exited Colorado Works in the last calendar quarter of 1998, 32 percent were employed continuously over the subsequent year, 38 percent were employed sporadically, and 30 percent were not employed after leaving Colorado Works.
Twelve-month re-entry rates for the program are about 18 percent for all Colorado Works leavers. Among those who had 15 months of continuous employment, the re-entry rate was just 1 percent. Those with employment lasting between three and six months after exit had a re-entry rate of up to 40 percent. Those with no employment returned to Colorado Works at a rate of about 19 percent.
Services provided to Colorado Works recipients and leavers are not sufficient to ensure that employment barriers are addressed.
Local economic conditions, as proxied by the county unemployment rate, indeed affect the Colorado Works caseload. Unemployment rates have been at record lows during much of the three years of Colorado Works operation, averaging between 3 and 4 percent statewide. However, two regions of the State--Pueblo County and the San Luis Valley—have seen unemployment rates as high as 11 percent over the first three years of Colorado Works. These areas have also seen the highest concentration of Colorado Works cases per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44.
Thirty-nine percent of Colorado Works recipients who reported job skills barriers were employed, compared to 55 percent of those who did not report such barriers. Among Colorado Works leavers who we surveyed, those with job skills barriers were employed at a rate of 53 percent, compared to an employment rate of 70 percent for those without job skills barriers.
Participation in federally approved work activities has declined, and county-defined work activities have become more prevalent.
Low educational attainment is associated with lower employment rates.
Lack of experience in the labor market is prevalent among the Colorado Works population. Among 1999 Colorado Works Participant Survey respondents, 31 percent reported that a lack of education or training had been a problem in getting or keeping a job.
Personal and structural barriers impede participants’ abilities to secure or retain employment. Nearly all (85 percent) Colorado Works recipients report one or more of the following barriers to obtaining or maintaining employment: lack of education or job skills, mental health, physical disability, transportation, housing, domestic violence, substance abuse, and lack of child care. About two-thirds of recipients face two or more barriers, and one-third face four or more barriers. The presence of these barriers is highly correlated with employment.
Although many counties have in place appropriate assessment and service provision measures, overall provision of services offered by Colorado Works is not sufficient to meet participants’ needs in most of these barrier categories.
Counties have developed services targeted to child-only cases.
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11/01/02:
Colorado Works Evaluation: Fourth Annual Report: Part I: TANF and Colorado Works Expenditures, Caseload Trends, and TANF-funded Child Welfare Activities
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Interim Implementation Findings
- In SFY 2002, TANF-countable expenditures for Child Welfare program services remained stable at $52.1 million, or 23 percent, of total TANF expenditures.
- Most counties we visited rely on clients to self-report their involvement in both the Child Welfare and Colorado Works systems.
- Confidentiality issues were often cited by program staff as a barrier to
collaboration between the Colorado Works and Child Welfare programs.
Interim Descriptive/Analytical Findings
- The Colorado Works program experienced a 12 percent increase in its caseload in SFY 2002.
- About one in five recipients exiting Colorado Works returns within a year.
- After three years of employment, the median earnings of former Colorado Works recipients remain low.
- There has not been a pronounced increase in the entry rates into the Child Welfare program by children in families that have exited Colorado Works cash assistance.
- The size of the dual-system caseload in Colorado, defined as the proportion of children receiving cash assistance who also have an open Child Welfare case, is significant.
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11/01/02:
Colorado Works Evaluation: Fourth Annual Report: Part II: Child Care Assistance to Colorado Works and Other Low Income Families
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Interim Implementation Findings
- CCCAP funding is expected to decline significantly in the coming year.
- Counties have begun to implement a number of strategies to address CCCAP funding cutbacks.
Interim Descriptive/Analytical Findings
- Only one-quarter of all employed Colorado Works leavers transition to subsidized child care after exiting.
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11/01/03:
Colorado Works Evaluation: Fifth Annual Report
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Final Implementation Findings:
- Between July 1997 and June 2003 the Colorado Works Basic Cash Assistance (BCA) caseload decreased by about 46 percent, from 27,898 to 15,159.
- Total Colorado Works Program spending declined during State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2003 for the first time since the start of the program.
- Overall, less than 1 percent (on average, 74 cases) of the average monthly adult headed caseload of 9,051 in SFY 2003 received cash assistance due to an extension to the 60-month time limit.
- Re-entry rates among Colorado Works leavers have been increasing for several years.
- The recent economic slowdown appears to have had a significant impact on the employment rate of recent Colorado Works leavers.
Final Descriptive/Analytical Findings
- Colorado Works participants often have difficulty achieving self-sufficiency due to substance abuse problems or mental illness.
- The counties have undertaken a variety of endeavors to assist Colorado Works participants with mental illness or substance abuse problems.
- The Colorado Department of Human Services met the legislative mandate to designate a nationally recognized screening instrument to identify substance abuse and mental illness among Colorado Works participants and to provide training to county staff on the use of this screening.
- Cost data on providing mental health and substance abuse screening, referral, and assessment are very limited, precluding a thorough analysis of the cost effectiveness of these services.
- Rates of both tax filing and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) participation have improved compared with the 1999 rates reported in BPA’s Second Annual Report.
- The issue of transportation as a barrier to self-sufficiency has not changed since BPA first discussed the problem in the 2000 Second Annual Report.
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