Participation in Tier 2 was mandatory and could be enforced by sanctioning TANF benefits. Participants worked with Tier 2 case managers from local service providers, who had caseloads of 25 to 30 cases rather than the 75 to 100 cases of a typical Tier 1 case manager. Case managers performed detailed assessments of clients to identify the underlying challenges affecting them and their families and then referred clients to services that addressed those challenges. They also monitored participation, including through home visits.
Clients had access to education or job training programs, but were required to work 20 hours per week concurrently with participation in such programs. Clients searched for jobs for up to six weeks, and those still unemployed at the end of that period were placed in either unpaid employment or supported employment in which their paid employment was paired with job coaching or on-the-job training.
As with the Tier 1 program, participants could receive child care assistance, transportation assistance, and support in job retention and advancement. Case managers met with clients when they neared their cash assistance time limits to plan for and conduct a formal program exit. Participants received services until they secured employment and left TANF or reached the time limit on TANF benefits of 56 months.
Long-term TANF recipients were assigned to participate in Tier 2 if they had the following characteristics: had participated in Tier 1 services for 12 months, were currently unemployed and had not worked in the prior three months, were not participating in education or training, and were not currently being sanctioned. Tier 2 was implemented in Hennepin County, MN.
- The average effect seen for outcomes related to employment is comparable to no change in percent employed in the short term and to an increase of 2 percent in the long term.
- The average effect seen for outcomes related to earnings is comparable to no change in annual earnings in the short term and cannot be calculated for long-term earnings.
- The average effect seen for outcomes related to benefit receipt is comparable to an increase in annual income from government programs other than Social Security of $160 in the short term.
Pathways estimated these effects for the population of low-income adults in 2018 and all dollar values are presented in 2018 dollars.
The Minnesota Tier 2 program was designed to increase workforce participation for long-term Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients who were still not working after participating in Tier 1, the existing welfare-to-work program.