Ohio Learnfare Evaluation (Printer-Friendly Format)

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Ohio Learnfare Evaluation

General Information

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Evaluator(s)	Macro International, Inc.
Investigator(s)	JoAnn Kuchak (Macro International, Inc.)

Domain	Income Security/TANF Child/Family
Status	Completed (final report released)
Duration	Sep 1996 - Jun 1999
Type	Research and/or Program Evaluation
Program/Policy Description	In September 1995, Ohio implemented the Learnfare demonstration in Shelby and Allen counties where it operated until June 1998. The goal of the program is to improve school term attendance and to increase graduation rates and decrease welfare dependency. Each county requires that children in Learnfare attend school or risk having their assistance group (AG) lose cash benefits from Ohio Works First. If a child receiving benefits incurs more than two days of unexcused absence per month, the next month's cash assistance would be reduced by the amount the child would have normally received. The evaluation consists of three components: 1. Process study- described the ways the counties implemented Learnfare, how the program worked, and lessons learned. 2. Impact study - assessed the effectiveness of Learnfare in reducing excessive unexcused absences. 3. Cost study - examined the costs in relation to program benefits and outcomes
Notes	No notes reported.

Last Updated	03/19/04
Type of Summary	Unreviewed
Contact(s)	JoAnn Kuchak Macro International, Inc. 11785 Beltsville Drive (T) (301) 572-0200 (F) (301) 572-0999
Submitter(s)	Research Forum Staff (info@researchforum.org) National Center for Children In Poverty 215 West 125th St, 3rd Fl (T) (646)284-9600 (F) not reported

Populations Studied

Target Population	Recipients/participants/clients Children Adolescents
Subgroups Analyzed	None
Sample Size and Unit	Random assignment of: Allen county: n=2,140 Assistance groups, representing 3,466 students. (1,376 treatment group students and 695 control group students) Shelby county: n=571 Assistance groups, representing 895 students. (246 treatment group students and 162 control group students) These groups received assistance some time between Sept 95 and May 98.
Execution	No notes reported.

Sites Studied

Shelby and Allen counties, OH.

Program Components, Policies, and Activities Evaluated

Educational activities

Financial disincentives/Sanctions

Program requirements

Administration/Implementation

Variation in program components across sites?

Yes

Outcomes Assessed

Sanctions

Program implementation

Financial costs and benefits/cost-effectiveness

Education

Child Outcomes

Types of Studies

Type	Cost-Benefit Study

Type	Impact Study (Controlled Experiment)

Type	Implementation/Process Study

Data Sources

Source	Administrative data

Source	Field Research

Source	Program descriptions and documents

Source	Survey

Findings Available

Final Implementation Findings
Final Impact Findings
Final Cost-benefit Findings

Recommendations

Existing Publications

06/30/99	Ohio Learnfare Evaluation: Final report: Children of Opportunity: Learnfare	Macro
06/30/99	Ohio Learnfare Evaluation:OH Dept of Human Services Evaluation of Learnfare: Summary	Macro