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	Welfare Reform: States' Early Experiences with Benefit Termination

General Information

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Evaluator(s)	US Government Accountability Office, Health, Education, and Human Services Division
Investigator(s)	Margie Shields (US Government Accountability Office, Health, Education, and Human Services Division) Gale Harris (US Government Accountability Office)
Sponsor(s)	US Senate Finance Committee
Funder(s)	US Government
Subcontractor(s)	Not applicable

Domain	Income Security/TANF
Status	Completed (final report released)
Duration	Apr 1996 - Apr 1997
Type	Research and/or Program Evaluation
Goal	To review states’ early experiences with benefit termination provisions under waivers to provide information useful to other states as they implement the new law. Specifically, the project describes: 1)those families whose benefits have been terminated under waivers; 2) federal or state benefits that are available and are being received after termination; and 3) states’ experiences in implementing these provisions.
Program/Policy Description	To encourage welfare recipients to fulfill their obligations, the new federal law include provisions allowing states to terminate benefits to a family for failure to comply with work and other requirements. After no more than 24 months of receiving benefits, parents and caretakers must work for a minimum of 20 hours a week. States are allowed to deny benefits for reasons including failure to pay child support or establish paternity. States may also use their discretion in establishing criteria for exempting families from there requirements. Federal law also states that families may not receive benefits for longer than 5 cumulative years.
Notes	Data on nationwide terminations are limited to those state implementing waivers prior to passage of federal reform in August 1996.

Last Updated	03/24/98
Type of Summary	Reviewed
External Reviewer(s)	Mark Nadel (US Government Accountability Office)
Contact(s)	David Bixler (not reported) US Government Accountability Office 441 G Street NW (T) (202)-512-7201 (F) not reported Margie Shields (not reported) US Government Accountability Office, Health, Education, and Human Services Division 441 G Street NW (T) (415)-904-2228 (F) not reported
Publications Department	GAO Publications (info@gao.gov) US Government Accountability Office P.O. Box 37050 (T) (202) 512-6000 (F) (202) 512-6061

Populations Studied

Target Population

Former recipients ("leavers")

Subgroups Analyzed

Caseworkers/managers/administrators

Sample Size and Unit

2103 welfare recipient cases that have been terminated.

936 cases in Massachusetts terminated for failure to meet work, school attendance, or teen living arrangement requirements as of the end of June 1996.

408 cases in Iowa terminated for failure to meet Iowa’s Limited Benefit Plan’s Program requirements as of June 1996.

759 cases in Wisconsin terminated for failure to enroll in JOBS program or failure to meet work requirements for 3 consecutive months as of May 1996.

Sites Studied

Iowa
Massachusetts
Wisconsin

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