The National Evaluation of the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program

Available Publications

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program it created, made moving people from welfare to work a primary goal of federal welfare policy. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 furthered this goal, authorizing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to award $3 billion in welfare-to-work grants to states and local communities to promote job opportunities and employment preparation for the hardest-to-employ recipients of TANF and for noncustodial parents of children on TANF. Grants were awarded directly by DOL on a competitive basis to local communities with innovative welfare-to-work approaches, and through states, on a formula basis, to the Private Industry Councils or equivalent bodies in all JTPA service delivery areas.

The law instructed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to evaluate the effectiveness of welfare-to-work (WtW) initiatives, including those undertaken by formula and competitive grantees and by American Indian and Alaska Native tribal organizations. DHHS, in conjunction with the Departments of Labor and Housing and Urban Development, designed an evaluation to address five key questions:

• What are the types and packages of services provided by WtW grantees? How do they compare to services already available under TANF or JTPA funding?
• What are the net impacts of various WtW program approaches on employment and on families’ well-being?
• What challenges are confronted as grantees implement and operate WtW programs?
• Do the benefits of WtW programs outweigh their costs?
• How well do Private Industry Councils and other non-TANF organizations--the primary vehicles for funding and operating WtW programs--meet the challenge of implementing WtW programs for the hardest-to-employ?

In August 1998, DHHS awarded a contract for the evaluation to Mathematica and its subcontractors, the Urban Institute and Support Services International, Inc.

Components of the Welfare-to-Work Evaluation

The evaluation plan included three main components:

• A Descriptive Assessment of All WtW Grantees. A mail survey of all formula and competitive grantees, in 1998 and 1999, provided an overview of program designs and activities, target populations, characteristics of participants, and, to the extent available, placement outcomes. Visits to several dozen grantees helped to develop a fuller understanding of program variations, and to select in-depth study sites. 
• In-Depth Process and Implementation Study. In 1999-2000, site visits were conducted in 12 grantee sites, selected because of their innovative approaches, settings, or target groups, or because they were typical of the most common WtW interventions. These visits included discussions with staff of WtW programs and related agencies, focus groups with participants, and program observation. The study identified implementation issues and challenges, and provided program details that explain how programs achieve desired impacts. In most of these sites, follow-up data was collected through surveys and administrative data, and used for analysis of participants’ activities in the programs and their employment outcomes. 
• Impact and Cost-Effectiveness Study. In several in-depth study sites, rigorous studies using random assignment designs were conducted to determine what difference WtW programs made in employment and family well-being outcomes. This component was conducted in only a subset of in-depth study sites because it was rare for grantees to identify more eligible candidates than they were able to serve, and such "excess demand" is a necessary precondition for the use of random assignment. Where the random assignment design was used, comparing outcomes for the two groups identified program impacts and helped identify successful program models. Comparisons were also made between the net benefits of these impacts and the additional costs of delivering program services.

In addition to these three components, a special process and implementation study focused on documenting tribal welfare and employment systems, the supportive services they provide, and how tribes integrate funds from various sources to move their members from welfare to work.

Available Publications

"The National Evaluation of the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program: Final Report," September 2004

"The Welfare-to-Work Grants Program: Enrollee Outcomes One Year After Program Entry. Report to Congress," February 2004

"Welfare-to-Work Grants Program: Adjusting to Changing Circumstances," November 2003.

"Giving Noncustodial Parents Options: Employment and Child Support Outcomes of the SHARE Program," October 2003.

"The National Evaluation of the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program: 24 Month Follow-Up Survey Instrument," October 2003

"Operating TANF: Opportunities and Challenges for Tribes and Tribal Consortia," August 2003

"The National Evaluation of the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program: 12 Month Follow-Up Survey Instrument," June 2003

“The Implementation of the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program,” August 2002

“Understanding the Costs of the DOL Welfare-to-Work Grants Program,” August 2002

“The Evaluation of the Tribal Welfare-to-Work Grants Program: Initial Implementation Findings,” November 2001

“Program Structure and Service Delivery in Eleven Welfare-to-Work Grant Programs,” January 2001

“Serving Noncustodial Parents: A Descriptive Study of Welfare-to-Work Programs,” December 2000

“Further Progress, Persistent Constraints: Findings from a Second Survey of the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program,” May 2000

“Early Implementation of the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program: Findings from Exploratory Site Visits and Review of Program Plans,” February 2000

“Early Implementation of the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program: Report to Congress,” March 1999

Call Publications at (609) 275-2350 for printed copies.

For Further Information

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