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Evaluators randomly assigned a total of 8,322 single-parent Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients who were required to enroll in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program in Riverside, CA, into the Labor Force Attachment (LFA) program, the Human Capital Development (HCD) program, or the comparison group. Random assignment occurred between June 1991 and June 1993. State law limiting eligibility for the HCD services resulted in two separate random assignment processes. Recipients without a high school diploma or GED, with reading or mathematics skills below a basic threshold, or requiring English-as-a-second-language instruction were randomly assigned to the HCD, LFA, or comparison groups. Recipients who did not meet any of these criteria at the time of random assignment were assigned to either the LFA or comparison group but not to the HCD group. AFDC recipients were exempt if they had children younger than age 3, were employed 30 hours or more per week, were medically unable to work, or were in the last trimester of pregnancy. The random assignment occurred following a JOBS orientation (which not all JOBS-mandatory individuals attended, despite facing sanctions for failing to appear). Voluntary JOBS participants were not randomly assigned and were excluded from the analysis. The study included a two-year follow-up survey, which followed individuals who were randomly assigned to the LFA, the HCD, or comparison conditions between March 1992 and December 1992. The evaluators also administered a five-year follow-up survey to people who were randomly assigned between September 1991 and May 1993. This review focuses on the LFA versus HCD groups, with the LFA sample restricted to those who could have been assigned to the HCD group. Other reviews on this site compare these two conditions to the comparison group.
Evaluators randomly assigned people into groups for the study between June 1991 and June 1993. The study reports impacts up to five years after random assignment.
The National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS) was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation), and by the U.S. Department of Education.
The study examined single parents who were Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients. Among the 8,322 study participants (3,384 in the Labor Force Attachment [LFA] program, 1,596 in the Human Capital Development [HCD] program, and 3,342 in the comparison group), nearly 90 percent were female and were an average age of 32 years old. About half of the participants were White, and more than 30 percent were Hispanic. At the time the study began, nearly 33 percent were never married, and the average number of children was two per family. About 41 percent of parents had some earnings in the past 12 months, and about 11 percent of parents were employed at random assignment. Nearly 56 percent of parents had received a high school diploma or general education diploma (GED), and about 20 percent of parents were enrolled in education or training in the past 12 months. Only 1 percent were not receiving AFDC benefits at random assignment.
California Department of Social Services, state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program administrator.
The JOBS program through which the LFA and HCD programs were administered was created through the 1988 Family Support Act legislation.
The LFA program focused on rapid job placement. Staff encouraged clients to move quickly into work without being selective about which job to take. Staff could impose financial sanctions (by reducing welfare grant amounts) if clients did not participate in required activities. In Riverside, the LFA program staff first assigned clients to a job club that JOBS staff operated in a JOBS center. After one week of participating in job club, clients began applying to jobs for at least two weeks. Clients had to make 25 to 35 employer contacts per week. Job developers who worked closely with employers helped identify employment opportunities. People who completed the job club and job search process were assigned to a different (unspecified) program activity. Case managers were accountable for the employment and education outcomes of their clients and therefore encouraged success, emphasized program participation, and sanctioned nonparticipating clients. The program also offered support with child care and transportation costs.
The HCD program focused on providing education and training to support future employment. Staff stressed that clients should spend time receiving education or in training to prepare them for good jobs. Staff could impose financial sanctions (by reducing welfare grant amounts) if clients did not participate in required activities. In Riverside, when clients eligible for the HCD did not have a high school diploma or GED, case managers rarely assigned clients to vocational training. Instead, clients usually attended basic education classes in the public school system and had to make progress toward their goals (such as by increasing their literacy level). Case managers were accountable for the employment and education outcomes of their clients and therefore encouraged success, emphasized program participation, and sanctioned nonparticipating clients. The program also offered support with child care and transportation costs.
Individuals in the LFA and HCD programs were required to receive services in order to remain eligible for public assistance.
For the LFA group, job clubs lasted for about one month, and clients who completed job club but remained unemployed could receive multiple rounds of short-term education or vocational training for nine months.
NEWWS programs were funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Family Support Act.
The study took place in Riverside, CA. In 1990, the Riverside population was approaching 1.2 million, after four years of population growth of more than 35 percent. The unemployment rate was 9.6 percent in 1990 and increased to 11.7 percent by 1992. Before the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS) evaluation, Riverside implemented a program called Greater Avenues to Independence, which emphasized job placement and sanctioned the public benefits of people who did not comply with work requirements.
Child well-being