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From July 1996 to June 1997, applicants of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and recipients who had scheduled recertification interviews were randomly selected to participate in the Ramsey County variation of MFIP (MFIP-R). The remaining cases were subject to the rules of AFDC. Staff did not keep a list of participants assigned to the comparison group. The comparison group was identified retrospectively from the set of people who were scheduled to have a recertification interview from July 1996 to June 1997 and who who were not assigned to MFIP-R. In some cases, people who were assigned to the MFIP-R condition but who did not show up for their recertification interview were mistakenly assigned to the AFDC group. This review focuses on two-parent families. A review elsewhere on this site focuses on single-parent families.
Random assignment occurred from July 1996 and June 1997, and participants were followed until January 1998. Outcomes are available for one year following random assignment for the early cohort.
The study was conducted through a contract with Minnesota's Department of Human Services with support from the Ford Foundation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, and the Northwest Area Foundation.
Ramsey County AFDC
The Ramsey County variation of MFIP was developed after the start of the broader MFIP evaluation (described in other studies from this evaluation). MFIP-R combines the financial incentives of MFIP with a work-first orientation.
MFIP-R combined the financial incentives of the MFIP with a work-first orientation. The financial incentives included more generous earnings disregard, direct payment of child care expenses to the child care provider (rather than as a reimbursement to participants), and combined cash assistance and food stamp payments. Participants receiving welfare for a year or more and who did not qualify for good cause exemptions were required to participate in a job search workshop and seven weeks of supervised job search activities. Job search workshops included guidance on the job search process, career exploration, resumes, interviews, and workplace challenges. During job search weeks, participants were supposed to spend 20 hours per week (if their youngest child was younger than six years) or 30 hours per week searching for jobs. Participants with part-time employment for fewer than 20 or 30 hours per week were required to engage in job search activities to bring their total to 20 or 30 hours per week. Failure to complete these activities could result in sanctions. MFIP-R participants were not subject to new AFDC rules established during the evaluation.
Minnesota’s standard welfare program for two-parent families was AFDC-Unemployed Parent (AFDC-UP). AFDC did not offer the financial incentives MFIP offered. For example, benefits were reduced by almost one dollar for every dollar AFDC clients earned. A portion of a client’s earnings was disregarded when calculating the amount of a household’s AFDC grant, but the disregarded amount decreased over time. AFDC clients could receive assistance with child care costs in the form of reimbursements for incurred expenses. To qualify for AFDC-UP, two-parent families had to have one parent who was incapacitated, unable to work, or working fewer than 100 hours per month. The primary wage earner was required to participate in four weeks of job search as soon as benefits began and faced sanctions for failure to complete the course. Those who did not secure employment were assigned a Community Work Experience Program for 16 hours per week. Participants also faced new AFDC rules that took effect in the second half of 1997 and included a five-year life-time welfare limit, a higher earnings disregard, and other changes.
People who failed to comply with mandatory requirements could lose 10 percent of their welfare grants.
The MFIP-R program operated from July 1996 to June 1998.
The study took place in Ramsey County, MN. At the time of the evaluation, the unemployment rate was 2.6 percent, and there was a shortage of entry-level employees. In July 1997, the state announced new welfare rules that were introduced in all counties, including Ramsey County, by the end of the calendar year.