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http://www.researchforum.org/project_general_181.html |
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Lessons from Project Match's Longitudinal Tracking Data
General Information
View a brief abstract of this project.
| Evaluator(s) |
Erikson Institute |
| Investigator(s) |
Toby Herr
(Erikson Institute)
Suzanne Wagner (Erikson Institute) |
| Domain |
Income Security/TANF |
| Status | Completed (final report released) |
| Type |
Research and/or Program Evaluation |
| Program/Policy Description |
Project Match is a voluntary community-based welfare-to-work program that has served public aid recipients in Chicago since 1984. Recognizing that it can take years for many welfare recipients to become steady workers and that a first job is only the beginning of the process, the program makes a long-term commitment to participants: they have access to a range of services — including job retention, reemployment, and advancement assistance — for as long as they need them. Project Match also collected detailed data each month on the status of participants, to guide staff in planning for individuals and to use as a measure of program accountability and for research. Combine these monthly data for five years or more and it becomes clear that we have a strong longitudinal data set for answering questions related to the time limit. Monthly data on individuals include: 1) types of activities in which they are involved; 2) specific information about those activities; and 3) status changes. The tracking system is programmed to accept data for several activities each month; this is important when people are working two jobs or combining work and school. This study draws on Project Match’s longitudinal database to generate information relevant to the reasonableness of a five year time limit on welfare. |
| Notes | No notes reported. |
| Last Updated | 08/11/99 |
| Type of Summary | Unreviewed |
| Contact(s) |
Toby Herr (not reported)
Erikson Institute 420 North Wabash Avenue (T) (312) 755-2250 ext 2296 (F) (312) 755-2255 |
| 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 |
| Subgroups Analyzed |
None |
| Sample Size and Unit | 307 Project Match participants for whom there are at least 36 consecutive months of tracking system data (the average length of tracking system data for this sample is 68 months) sampled from 854 participants who enrolled in Project Match between September 1994 and February 1996. |
Sites Studied
Chicago, IllinoisProgram Components, Policies, and Activities Evaluated
Employment activities
Time limits
Post-Program activities
| Variation in program components across sites? | No |
Outcomes Assessed
Employment
Benefit termination
Types of Studies
| Type | Descriptive/Analytical Study |
Data Sources
| Source | Administrative data |
Findings Available
Final Descriptive/Analytical FindingsRecommendations
Existing Publications
| 06/01/98 | Lessons from Project Match's Longitudinal Tracking Data: Five Years of Welfare: Too Long? Too Short? | Erikson |
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