Self-Sufficiency, Welfare & Employment View all reports on this topic
Topic Overview
This portfolio addresses innovative approaches for increasing economic self-sufficiency and reducing welfare dependency, including rigorous evaluations of promising employment strategies. Studies address a variety of topics including alternative welfare-to-work strategies, career ladders, employment retention and advancement, and strategies to promote work in rural areas. Many studies are designed and implemented in close collaboration with other offices within HHS as well as with other federal agencies such as the Department of Labor and the Social Security Administration.
Featured Resources on this Topic
Promising Occupations Achievable Through Short-term Education or Training for Low-Income Families
Published: March 31, 2016
Building Savings for Success: Early Impacts from the Assets for Independence Program Randomized Evaluation
Published: December 8, 2016
Projects on this Topic
A Descriptive Study of County versus State Administered Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Programs, 2012-2014
This project was awarded to the Urban Institute and will provide a descriptive study of the dynamics of county versus state administered TANF programs. It will involve gathering information from a sample of county and state administered TANF programs...
Advancing Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency Research Project (Follow-On) 2016 - 2018
The Advancing Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency Research follow-on contract provides timely and flexible research and evaluation support to ACF and its stakeholders and a flexible research and evaluation mechanism for responding to rapidly emerging policy priorities and research opportunities. In particular, the contractor...
Assets for Independence Program Experiment, 2011-2018
From 1998 until 2017, ACF operated the Assets for Independence (AFI) program, a demonstration program that supported an assets-based approach for increasing the economic self-sufficiency of individuals and families with low-incomes through Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). In 2011...
Behavioral Interventions Scholars, 2017 - 2019
The Behavioral Interventions Scholars (BIS) grant program supports dissertation research by advanced graduate students who are applying a behavioral science lens to specific research questions relevant to social services programs and policies and other issues facing low-income and vulnerable families in the United States. As part of OPRE’s Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency research portfolio...
Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) Capstone Project, 2015 - 2018
The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency Capstone project, led by MDRC, will produce a final synthesis report on the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project and conduct related dissemination activities. While several reports will be produced under the BIAS contract, including a report describing findings from the knowledge development phase and a site specific report for each of the eight sites where behavioral interventions are tested...
Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) Next Generation, 2015 - 2022
The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project demonstrated that applying behavioral insights to challenges facing human services programs can improve program operations and outcomes at relatively low cost. The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency-Next Generation (BIAS-NG) project continues ACF’s exploration...
Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) Research Portfolio
Many human services programs are designed such that individuals must make a series of decisions and take a number of active steps in order to realize a benefit. From deciding which programs to apply for, to completing forms, attending meetings, showing proof of eligibility, and arranging travel and child care, program designers often assume that individuals make decisions about how to proceed based on careful consideration of their options and what is best for them...
Building Bridges and Bonds (B3) Evaluation, 2014-2019
There is great interest in identifying effective strategies that build fathers’ capacity to support their children, both emotionally and financially. Since 2006, Congress has provided funds for discretionary grants to programs aimed at supporting fathers in three core areas....
Career Pathways Intermediate Outcomes (CPIO) Study, 2014-2019
The goal of the Career Pathways Intermediate Outcomes Study is to rigorously evaluate the intermediate impact of career pathways program models on the educational progress and self-sufficiency of individuals who participate in the programs. This project...
Career Pathways Research Portfolio
Career pathways programs connect education, training, and related supports in a pathway that leads to employment in a specific sector or occupation or to further training. The approach is gaining attention as a promising strategy to improve...
Center For Research on Hispanic Children & Families, 2013-2018
The National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families generates new research and translates research across three priority areas—poverty reduction and self-sufficiency, healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood, and early care and education—to build knowledge and inform ACF programs and policies to better serve Hispanic children and families. The Center has three primary goals: 1) advance a cutting-edge research agenda; 2) build research capacity; and 3) translate emerging research. Lina Guzman at Child Trends and Michael Lopez at Abt Associates lead the Center, in collaboration with university partners (University of Maryland-College Park; University of North Carolina at Greensboro; and New York University's Institute for Human Development and Social Change). In 2014, the Center launched a Fellowship program supporting emerging scholars studying issues relevant to low-income and vulnerable Hispanic children and families.
Employment Sector Analysis for TANF Recipients and Other Low-Income Families, 2014-2015
The Employment Sector Analysis for TANF Recipients and Other Low-Income Families will synthesize existing literature and resources for identifying federal, state, and local labor market data in high-growth fields; and analyze labor market information...
Employment Strategies for Low-Income Adults Evidence Review, 2013-2018
The Employment Strategies for Low-Income Adults Evidence Review (ESER), launched in 2013 and conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, is a systematic review of the evaluation research on employment and training programs...
Evaluation and System Design for Career Pathways Programs: 2nd Generation of HPOG, 2014-2019
The purpose of this project is to provide recommendations for the design of an evaluation to assess the implementation, outcomes, systems change, and impacts of the second round of Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) awarded in September 2015...
Evaluation of Employment Coaching for TANF and Related Populations, 2016-2021
Launched in 2016, this project will evaluate three or more interventions that apply coaching practices to promote job entry and retention among TANF populations and other low-income individuals. Coaching-based interventions have been put forth as one way to give people the tools to overcome various barriers in order to build employment-related skills and to secure work. The hypothesis underlying these approaches is that participants’ challenges may be addressed through coaching by specially trained staff who...
Ex-Prisoner Reentry Strategies Study, 2011-2017
The Ex-Prisoner Reentry Strategies Study documented the implementation of six Responsible Fatherhood programs initially funded in 2011 under the Responsible Fatherhood grant program...
Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Consortium, 2013-2018
To fill gaps in family self-sufficiency and stability research and data activities and to complement its ongoing research, OPRE developed and launched a multi-faceted Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Consortium (The Consortium)...
Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Scholars Network, 2013-2018
In 2013, OPRE awarded grants to a network of university-based researchers to investigate critical issues in improving family self-sufficiency and stability. The Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Scholars Network supports...
Family Self-Sufficiency Data Center, 2013-2018
This cooperative agreement, awarded to the University of Chicago in 2013, supports the development, implementation, and ongoing operations of a Data Center to support family self-sufficiency research and activities. This center serves as a hub to support the development of state and institutional capacity for data collection...
Family Strengthening Scholars, 2014-2017
The Family Strengthening Scholars grant program is designed to build research capacity in the healthy marriage/responsible fatherhood field (HM/RF). These grants are to support dissertation research on HM/RF policy issues and are meant to build capacity in the research field to focus research on questions that have direct implications for HM/RF decision-making and program administration...
Fatherhood and Marriage Local Evaluation (FaMLE) and Cross-Site Project, 2013-2020
The purpose of the Fatherhood and Marriage Local Evaluation and Cross-Site Project is to support ACF’s third cohort (2015-2020) of Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grantees through:...
Goal-Oriented Adult Learning in Self-Sufficiency (GOALS), 2014-2018
The purpose of this project is to explore how emerging insights from psychology can strengthen programs aimed at helping families achieve self-sufficiency. In particular, the project will review the implications of existing research on psychological...
Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Evaluation Portfolio
The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG), administered by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was created to provide education and training to TANF recipients and other low-income individuals for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well...
Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Impact Study, 2011-2018
The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Impact Study is using an experimental design to examine the short-term impacts of HPOG 1.0 on participants’ educational and economic outcomes at 15 months after random assignment. The study includes 42 local HPOG programs implemented by 23 of the 32 HPOG 1.0 grantees...
Health Profession Opportunity Grants University Partnership 2.0 (HPOGUP 2.0) Research Grants, 2016 – 2020
In 2016, OPRE awarded a second round of Health Profession Opportunity Grants University Partnership Research Grants, referred to as HPOGUP 2.0. These grants augment OPRE’s multi-pronged evaluation strategy for HPOG by funding university research teams that partner with...
Hispanic Research Work Group, 2011-2014
ACF’s Hispanic Research Work Group brings together experts in a wide range of content areas relevant to ACF’s mission to assist ACF/OPRE in identifying research priorities concerning low-income, Hispanic families.
Homeless Families Research Briefs, 2014-2018
This contract will produce a series of research briefs on issues related to the well-being and economic self-sufficiency of families and children experiencing homelessness. The briefs will be based on data collected as part of the U.S. Department of...
Human Services Research Partnership: U.S. Virgin Islands, 2014-2018
The Human Services Research Partnership of the U.S. Virgin Islands (VI) will explore issues related to social service needs and public welfare systems in the territory. This cooperative agreement will support a partnership among researchers, local...
Identifying Issues and Options to Understanding TANF-Compatible Outcome Measures for Employment Services (OUTCOMES), 2016 – 2018
This project will explore the issues and options related to the development of an employment-related outcome performance measurement system for the TANF program, including potential target groups, performance measures, performance standards, data needs, and accountability approaches. The project...
Integrated Approaches to Supporting Child Development and Improving Family Economic Security, 2015 - 2018
ACF launched the Integrated Approaches to Supporting Child Development and Improving Family Economic Security project in September 2015. The goal of the project is to improve understanding of approaches that intentionally combine intensive, high quality, adult-focused services with intensive, high-quality, child-focused programs. Conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, this project will provide options for evaluating these emerging models...
Job Search Assistance (JSA) Strategies Evaluation, 2013-2019
The Job Search Assistance (JSA) Strategies Evaluation features a multi-site, random assignment evaluation to measure the relative impact of specific job search services offered by TANF programs on short-term labor market outcomes such as earnings and time to employment. The evaluation, led by Abt Associates...
Methods Inquiries, 2013-2021
OPRE plays a central role in advancing understanding and disseminating knowledge about research and evaluation methods and tools that are, or could be, used to enhance knowledge about program and policy effectiveness. The purpose of the Methods Inquiries project is to organize...
National Evaluation of the 2nd Generation of Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 2.0 National Evaluation), 2015-2025
In 2015, OPRE launched a comprehensive evaluation of the second round of grants awarded under the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program. The HPOG 2.0 National Evaluation will rigorously assess the HPOG programs administered by the non-tribal grantees. The 27 non-tribal grantees operate 38 HPOG programs across 17 states...
National Implementation Evaluation of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants, 2012-2018
The National Implementation Evaluation of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) is assessing program implementation, systems change, and participant outcomes of the 27 non-tribal HPOG 1.0 programs (those awarded in 2010). The evaluation aims...
National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE), 2010-2015
The National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) documented the nation's utilization and availability of early care and education (including school-age care) in 2012...
Parents and Children Together (PACT) Evaluation, 2011-2018
To learn about the implementation and effects of Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) programs, ACF awarded a contract in 2011 to Mathematica Policy Research to conduct the Parents and Children Together (PACT) evaluation. The evaluation...
Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE), 2007-2018
In 2007, ACF initiated the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education project, a multi-site, random assignment evaluation of promising strategies for increasing employment and self-sufficiency among low-income families. During the project’s development, consensus emerged that the evaluation should...
Planning a Next Generation Evaluation Agenda for the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, 2011-2019
The John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) was created following the passage of the Foster Care Independence Act (FCIA) of 1999 (Public Law 106-169). The program provides assistance to help youth currently and formerly in foster care achieve self-sufficiency by providing grants to States and eligible Tribes that submit an approvable plan. Activities and programs allowable under the CFCIP include help with education, employment financial management, housing, emotional support and assured connections to caring adults for older youth in foster care. In addition, the FCIA required that funding be set aside for evaluations of promising independent living programs. In response to this statutory requirement, the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) conducted the Multi-Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs, a rigorous, random assignment evaluation of four programs funded under the CFIP. This study was completed in 2011.
Portfolios of Research in Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency
OPRE’s welfare and family self-sufficiency research includes experimental impact evaluations...
Secondary Data Analyses of Strengthening Families Datasets, 2014-2015
OPRE awarded eight cooperative agreements to fund research to conduct secondary data analysis of archived ACF data, specifically the Building Strong Families (BSF), Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM), and Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (CHMI)...
State TANF Policies: Welfare Rules Database Expansion, 2013-2021
For several years, ACF has provided resources to facilitate updating and expanding the State TANF Policies Database. The Urban Institute began developing the database in early 1997, as part of the Assessing New Federalism project...
Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED), 2010-2020
This project will evaluate subsidized and transitional employment approaches for critical low-income populations, potentially including welfare recipients and low-income non-custodial parents. The project will examine subsidized employment strategies designed to address two distinct goals...
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Two Parent Families Study 2014-2016
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Two Parent Families Study is a descriptive study that will collect information about two parent families who receive or are eligible to receive TANF. This study will document: 1) the characteristics of...
The Fatherhood Research and Practice Network, 2013-2018
The Fatherhood Research and Practice Network (FRPN) is a cooperative agreement awarded to Temple University with a subcontract to the Center for Policy Research in Denver, CO. The FRPN will pursue three goals:..
Toxic Stress and Self-Regulation Reports
OPRE has commissioned a series of four inter-related reports titled Self-Regulation and Toxic Stress from a team at the Center for Child and Social Policy at Duke University. The team is also preparing a brief focused on implications of these reports for adolescence and young adulthood. The first report, Foundations for Understanding Self-Regulation from an Applied Developmental Perspective provides a comprehensive framework for understanding...
Tribal Evaluation of the 2nd Generation of Health Profession Opportunity Grants (Tribal HPOG 2.0 Evaluation), 2015-2021
In 2015, OPRE awarded a contract to Abt Associates, in partnership with MEF Policy Associates, Insight Policy Research, Urban Institute, and NORC at the University of Chicago, to conduct impact, outcome, and implementation studies of the second round of grants awarded under the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program. The five Tribal HPOG grantees are participating in a comprehensive implementation and outcome study led by NORC at the University of Chicago....
Understanding Poverty (UP): Childhood and Family Experiences and TANF Office Culture, 2016 - 2019
The Understanding Poverty study, which is being conducted by MEF Associates in partnership with MDRC, will examine the organizational culture of TANF offices and the perspectives of families and children living in poverty.
Understanding the Intersection Between TANF and Refugee Cash Assistance Services, 2014-2018
In the fall of 2014, ACF launched a descriptive study to document the similarities and differences between Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance and the Refugee Cash Assistance program. ACF’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) administers...
ACF Youth Demonstration Development Project, 2009-2013
OPRE launched the Youth Demonstration Development Project (YDD) in 2009 to systematically review the current field of research on youth development and successful transition to adulthood. The primary objective of YDD, which is being conducted for OPRE...
Achieving Change for Texans, 1997-2002
Achieving Change for Texans: Statewide, the following were key program provisions: (1) time limit of 12 to 36 months for able-bodied adults, depending on work experience and education, with exemptions for severe local economic conditions and personal...
Advancing Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency Research, 2012-2016
The first component of the Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Consortium is the Advancing Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency Research project (also known as Project AWESOME). Led by Mathematica Policy Research, this contract provides research support and a flexible research and evaluation mechanism for responding to rapidly emerging policy priorities and research opportunities...
Approaching Time Limits, 2001-2002
The Approaching Time Limits study explored what States have done with clients as they approached or already reached Federal and/or State TANF time limits....
Assessing Enhanced Transitional Employment Programs (ETE), 2000-2001
The Assessing Enhanced Transitional Employment Programs (ETE) project identified and described operating employment-focused programs that helped individuals who faced significant employment challenges by providing transitional employment or work...
Assessing Medicaid and Food Stamps Access and Participation, 1998-2000
Assessing Medicaid and Food Stamps Access and Participation project, with the cooperation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation helped participating States create and analyze performance data on how their Medicaid, SCHIP, and Food stamps enrollment...
Assets for Independence (AFI), 1999-2008
This evaluation examines Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) under the largest federally funded IDA program: the Assets for Independence (AFI) program administered by ACF. IDAs are personal savings accounts targeted to low-income persons that...
Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS), 2010-2016
Many human services programs are designed such that individuals must make active decisions and go through a series of steps in order to benefit from them — from deciding which programs to apply for, to completing forms, attending meetings, showing proof of eligibility, and arranging travel and child care...
Child Outcomes Synthesis Project, 2000-2004
The Child Outcomes Synthesis Project was designed to synthesize the results from the Project on State-Level Child Outcomes, a series of demonstrations in five States that measured the impacts of welfare reform on the well-being of children...
Connecticut Welfare Reform Evaluation Project, 1997-2002
The Connecticut Welfare Reform Evaluation Project continued the originally planned evaluation of Reach for Jobs First, which was implemented in January 1996, as an amendment to an earlier welfare reform demonstration, and subsequently incorporated in...
Descriptive Study of Tribal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Programs, 2011-2013
This project provided a descriptive study on the implementation of Tribal TANF programs and document lessons learned. The study also documented, identified and recommended potential approaches for further study...
Design Options of the Search for Employment (DOSE), 2011-2013
Nationally, job search activities are a significant area of program attention, including TANF and WIA. Yet, while job search activities are often included as an essential component of programs that have been the subject of OPRE-sponsored evaluations, they have not independently been the focus of rigorous examination...
Economic Analysis of the Prenatal and Early Childhood Nurse Home Visitation Program, 2000-2004
The Economic Analysis of the Prenatal and Early Childhood Nurse Home Visitation Program study examined cost savings to the government resulting from a prenatal and early childhood home visitation program that had been studied in a series of three...
Employment Retention and Advancement Project (ERA), 1998-2011
The Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) evaluation was a comprehensive effort to learn about effective strategies to promote employment retention and advancement among welfare recipients and low-wage workers. The project began in 1998, when HHS...
Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project, 2001-2012
The Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation project assessed the effectiveness of programs designed to enhance employment outcomes for current or former TANF recipients and other low-income parents who have demonstrated...
Evaluation of 2010 Summer Subsidized Employment Activities for Youth, 2010-2011
OPRE jointly sponsored with the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) a study of subsidized summer 2010 employment opportunities for low-income youth operated with the TANF Emergency Fund offered as part of the American...
Evaluation of Community Based Job Retention Programs, 1997-2000
The Evaluation of Community Based Job Retention Programs project included two phases. In Phase 1, the project provided a detailed implementation analysis and short-term outcome findings for participants receiving various mixes of job retention and...
Evaluation of Los Angeles County GAIN Program, 1997-2000
The Evaluation of Los Angeles Jobs-First GAIN project evaluated the results of changing Los Angeles' Greater Avenues to Independence (GAIN) program, a human resource focused welfare-to-work program into Los Angeles Jobs-First GAIN, a labor force...
Evaluation of Tribal Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG), 2010-2016
OPRE awarded a contract to NORC at the University of Chicago, in conjunction with Red Star Innovations and the National Indian Health Board, to design and conduct a comprehensive implementation and outcome evaluation of the five Tribal Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) programs awarded in 2010...
Feasibility Assessment of Studying the Consequences of Hurricane Katrina for ACF Service Populations, 2006-2008
Hurricane Katrina was perhaps the largest single natural disaster in America’s history. Millions of people were on the hurricane’s path. About half a million people in New Orleans were displaced by floods caused by Hurricane Katrina...
Florida Family Transition Program Evaluation (FTP), 1997-2000
Provisions of the Florida Family Transition Program (FTP) Evaluation demonstration included: (1) a time limit of 24 months on assistance in any 60-month period for most recipients, with a limit of 36 months of receipt out of any 72 months for certain...
Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Implementation, Systems and Outcome Project, 2010-2017
This project provided recommendations for the design of an evaluation to assess implementation, systems change, and outcomes of the 27 non-tribal Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) 1.0 programs (those awarded in 2010). Additionally...
Home Visiting: Approaches to Father Engagement and Fathers' Experiences, 2013-2015
The Home Visiting: Approaches to Father Engagement and Fathers' Experiences Study is a qualitative project that will collect information about innovative approaches used by existing home visiting programs to actively...
Identifying Promising Practices for Helping TANF Recipients with Disabilities Enter and Sustain Employment, 2006-2008
This project explored current strategies to facilitate employment of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) adult recipients living with mental, intellectual and physical disabilities. It examined innovative efforts to promote and support the...
Identifying Promising TANF Diversion Practices, 2006-2008
The purpose of this study was to examine state and local efforts to divert TANF applicants from applying for cash assistance. This examination involved gathering information from a range of sources such as state and local TANF offices and national...
Improving State Capacity to Address the Needs of Low Income Working Families, 2001-2004
The Improving State Capacity to Address the Needs of Low-Income Working Families project was jointly funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation and the Office of Family Assistance within ACF, and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and...
Indiana Welfare Reform Evaluation Project, 1997-2003
The Indiana Welfare Reform Evaluation Project implemented the following major policy provisions: a 24-month time limit for adults eligible for JOBS; a family benefit cap; child immunization and school attendance requirements; a higher resource limit...
Innovative Employment Strategies, 2005-2007
The Innovative Employment Strategies project gathered and synthesized information on cutting edge approaches and programs for assisting applicants and recipients to gain, retain and advance in employment. Considerable research has already focused...
Iowa Welfare Reform Evaluation, 1997-2001
Iowa Welfare Reform Evaluation complemented a separately funded evaluation completed on Iowa's Family Investment Program (FIP). The evaluation consisted of two studies–a study of repeat limited benefit plan (LBP) assignments and a study of...
Local Implementation of TANF: A Description of Current Practices / Later Changes Following the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, 2005-2006
This project examined how the local management of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs has evolved and adapted practices in the years following the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of...
Meta-Analysis of Welfare-to-Work Programs, 2002-2005
This study, the Meta-Analysis of Welfare-to-Work Programs, analyzed the results of welfare-to-work demonstrations carried out since 1982. The purpose was to determine how impacts in those demonstrations are related to a wide range of variables...
Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), 1997-2000
The following were the key features of the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP): 1) requiring long-term public assistance recipients to participate in intensive employment/training services, including mandatory case management; 2) making work pay...
National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS), 1989-2002
The National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS) project evaluated alternative welfare-to-work strategies in seven sites (Riverside, CA; Atlanta, GA; Grand Rapids, MI; Detroit, MI; Columbus, OH; Oklahoma City, OK, and vicinity; and...
New Jersey Substance Abuse Research Demonstration, 1998-2001
New Jersey Substance Abuse Research Demonstration provided information about the effectiveness of a type of evaluation several states have experimented with to move substance abusing welfare clients toward self-sufficiency. The intervention New Jersey...
New Visions Self-Sufficiency and Lifelong Learning Project, 1999-2006
The New Visions Self-Sufficiency and Lifelong Learning Project is a joint venture of the Riverside Community College (RCC) in California and the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services. The purpose of the demonstration is to improve the...
OPRE Research Dissemination Project, 2010-2012
This contract aims to develop an evidence-informed research dissemination strategy for OPRE to improve the communication and usefulness of research and evaluation findings to targeted audiences...
Post-Employment Service Demonstration and Evaluation, 1994-1999
The Post-Employment Services Demonstration and Evaluation project was designed to test whether the provision of additional services, including extended case management and temporary financial supports, promote job retention and advancement or, when...
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Human Services, 2015 - 2017
This project investigated how existing work on racial and ethnic disparities could inform more accurate identification and interpretation of ethnic and racial differences in programs administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Through this work, this project...
Research Development Project on Human Service Needs of LGBT Populations, 2012-2015
OPRE, supported by a contract with Mathematica and the Williams Institute, in coordination with the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), conducted extensive work to identify knowledge gaps and propose research recommendations related to the human service needs of low-income and at-risk lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations...
Research Synthesis of the Effects of TANF, 2000-2002
The Research Synthesis of the Effects of TANF project synthesized the most current research information available on the effect of TANF on income, earnings, receipt of government benefits, and family formation and structure, for individuals and...
Rural Welfare to Work Strategies Demonstration Evaluation Project, 2000-2008
This multi-year national evaluation project, Rural Welfare-To-Work Strategies Demonstration, was designed to learn how best to help TANF and other low-income rural families move from welfare to work. The evaluation increased information on rural...
Sanction Policies, 2005-2007
The purpose of this study was to understand how sanctions have been implemented in recent years in a select group of sites. It also explored developing more rigorous research on the use of sanctions to achieve higher work participation rates...
Study of Coordination of Tribal TANF and Child Welfare Services Grants, 2011-2016
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) is undertaking a descriptive study to document the approaches and strategies utilized by tribal organizations awarded cooperative agreements under the Coordination of Tribal TANF and Child Welfare...
Study of Screening and Assessment in TANF/Welfare to Work, 1999-2002
The Study of Screening and Assessment in TANF/Welfare to Work (WtW) project highlighted and discussed critical issues in the development and use of screening and assessment tools designed to identify TANF and/or WtW recipients who experience barriers...
TANF and CCDF Research Synthesis, 2009-2012
The purpose of the TANF and CCDF Research Synthesis Project was to inform research planning and support evidence-based decision making related to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) programs...
TANF Caseload Composition and Leavers, 2005-2007
This study, TANF Caseload Composition and Leavers Synthesis Report, summarized current knowledge on two questions concerning the TANF caseload and those leaving TANF (i.e. leavers): 1) How do the characteristics of the TANF caseload compare with the...
TANF Separate State Programs, Time Limits, and Participation Requirements, 2005-2008
The introduction of Federal time limits on the receipt of cash assistance under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program was a central and major part of welfare reform. The purpose of this study was to conduct a follow-up to an...
TANF/SSI Disability Transition Project, 2008-2013
Numerous studies have identified substantial overlap in families and individuals served by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. Over the past decade, as the TANF program has developed...
Teenage Parent Demonstration, 1987-1998
The Teenage Parent Demonstration and Evaluation project was designed to test the effectiveness of a mandatory program for first-time teen parents entering the welfare rolls. The program included requirements to attend school or an alternative education...
The Application of Effect Sizes in Research on Children and Families: Understanding Impacts on Academic, Emotional Behavioral and Economic Outcomes
Effect sizes are increasingly applied to describe the magnitude of findings about program effectiveness across a range of policy contexts. Though more researchers are recognizing the importance of including effect sizes in manuscripts, at times these...
The Effects of Welfare Reform on Special Populations, 2000-2003
The Effects of Welfare Reform on Special Populations project provided information regarding the extent to which program policy and implementation at different levels influenced the access to, and use of, government assistance programs by immigrant...
The Iowa Family Investment Program (FIP), 1997-2000
The key provisions of Iowa Family Investment Program (FIP) were: (1) recipients were required to help develop a social contract, the Family Investment Agreement (FIA), which established activities and a time frame for achieving self-sufficiency...
The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation
Good program evaluations assess program performance, measure impacts on families and communities, and document our success. With this information, programs are better able to direct limited resources to where they are most needed and most effective in...
Underreporting of Welfare Utilization in Current Population Survey Data Evidence for Matched California Administrative Data (CPS), 2001-2004
The Underreporting of Welfare Utilization in Current Population Survey Data Evidence for Matched California Administrative Data (CPS) study examined the incidence of under- and over-reporting of welfare participation in the Current Population Survey...
Understanding the Demand Side of the TANF Labor Market, 2005-2008
The Understanding the Demand Side of the TANF Labor Market project developed, conducted, and analyzed a national survey of employers, in order to gain a better understanding of the policies, practices, and opportunities in the entry-level, low-skill...
Understanding the Dynamics of Disconnection from Employment and Assistance, 2011-2014
Since the creation of TANF in 1996, there has been concern about TANF recipients who leave TANF without finding work, as well as low-income individuals who may be eligible for TANF but are neither receiving TANF nor working. Low-income individuals and...
Understanding Two Categories in TANF Spending: "Other" and "Authorized Under Prior Law", 2007-2009
This project documented the types of services or activities funded by states with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and state Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE) program funds categorized in Federal reporting as “Other” and...
Understanding Urban Indians' Interactions with ACF Programs and Services, 2011-2014
The purpose of this project is to implement an exploratory research study to better understand the challenges and context for family self-sufficiency of low-income Alaska Natives and American Indians living in urban areas and their interactions with...
University Partnership Research Grants for the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program, 2011-2016
In 2011, OPRE awarded five University Partnership Research Grants for the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program to support research and evaluation studies focused on questions relevant to HPOG program goals and objectives. Applicants were required to demonstrate a partnership with one or more of the HPOG programs funded in 2010 as an integral part of the research plan development and execution...
Vermont Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP), 1997-2002
Vermont Welfare Restructuring Project's time limit triggered a work requirement rather than the termination of cash assistance. The following were key provisions of the program: (1) the scope of mandatory participation in work or work activities...
What Works Best for Whom: Effects of Welfare Reform Policies on Subgroups of Current and Former Welfare Recipients, 2000-2004
The What Works Best for Whom: Effects of Welfare Reform Policies on Subgroups of Current and Former Welfare Recipients project investigated the effects of recent welfare policies on various subgroups of welfare recipients. It added to earlier work on...
Work Participation and TANF/WIA Coordination Project, 2011-2014
This was a two-part project dealing with Work Participation and TANF/WIA Coordination. The Claims Resolution Act of 2010 extended the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program and contains a section on reports required from the states...
Work, Family, and Health Network (WFHN), 2009-2015
“Family-friendly” or “work-life” polices have become increasingly prevalent in the United States, but few longitudinal studies using experimental design have been implemented to test such policies. Moreover, knowledge about work-life policies aimed at low-wage workers is scant. To address this gap, OPRE supported a study by the Work, Family and Health Network (WFHN) of the National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD).
WFHN implemented a workplace...
