Maryland's Family Investment Program (FIP) is cohort-specific, investment-focused, and within broad state parameters, locally crafted. The approach was developed largely from state-level research showing that welfare recipients are a diverse group and that client characteristics and welfare receipt patterns vary across jurisdictions. Thus, under FIP, local agencies have the flexibility to develop FIP procedures that meet their specific needs. However, certain elements of FIP are standard statewide. For example, cash assistance grant levels are the same across the state. All local agencies must have client assessment procedures, enter into client-agency agreements, utilize welfare avoidance grants (WAGS) and meet program savings targets set through a formula developed by local and state staff.
The evaluation is designed to document how workers are making allocation decisions in a representative state's 24 jurisdictions, examine the relationship between allocations decisions and client and county-level TANF outcomes, and consider the role of county economic and agency characteristics in predicting client and county TANF outcomes.
