The Evaluation of Welfare Reform in Iowa

Publication Date: June 11, 2002
Current as of:

Introduction

In advance of implementing new welfare policies, Iowa changed the name of the program that provides cash assistance to low-income families with dependent children from "Aid to Families with Dependent Children" (AFDC) to the "Family Investment Program" (FIP) on July 1, 1993. Three months later, on October 1, 1993, acting under waivers of certain federal regulations, Iowa replaced the policies that had formerly governed the provision of assistance to low-income families with a set of welfare reform policies. Relative to AFDC policies, Iowa's welfare reform policies place less emphasis on maintaining the incomes of client families and more emphasis on increasing their participation in employment or in employment-oriented training activities. To reinforce these incentives, Iowa implemented complementary reforms to the Food Stamp Program. Iowa's reforms anticipated the fundamental shift in federal welfare policy away from long-term income maintenance and toward temporary assistance mandated by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

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