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Subgroups
At five sites, including three cities and two counties in Virginia, all individuals with an active AFDC case in July 1995 were assigned to the intervention or comparison groups. In addition, individuals who applied for AFDC benefits between July 1995 and September 1996 were randomly assigned to intervention or comparison groups as they were approved for AFDC or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits. Random assignment continued until August 1997, but individuals assigned after September 1996 were not included in the study sample. Assignment was based on a digit of an individual's AFDC case number, which was determined to be as good as random. Eligibility reforms were implemented in July 1995, and VIEW was phased in between July 1995 and October 1997. This study review examines the impacts for the applicant group at the Petersburg site. Other reviews examine impacts for the recipient group and impacts at the other four sites.
Individuals were randomly assigned from July 1995 to September 1996. Results are available for the full sample of study participants for four quarters after random assignment. For the subsample of individuals who were required to participate in VIEW, results are available for nine quarters after random assignment.
ACF, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Virginia Department of Social Services
The sample included approved AFDC applicants, who began receiving AFDC benefits between July 1995 and September 1996. Individuals were, on average, between 27 and 28 years of age, and almost all (95 percent) were female. Most sample members were African American (90 percent), and 1 percent were Hispanic; the remainder identified as either White or of another racial or ethnic background. About two thirds of the sample (61 percent) had a high school diploma or GED, including 8 percent who also had at least some college education. The average AFDC case included 2.4 individuals, and 53 percent were required to participate in VIEW if assigned to the intervention group. About half of the sample (51 percent) was part of an AFDC case in which at least one individual had worked in the two quarters before random assignment.
Virginia state AFDC/TANF
The program did not exist before the study started. Petersburg, the site in this study, was one of five experimental sites in Virginia that tested the new eligibility requirements and VIEW against the previous AFDC requirements and services. However, eligibility reforms were implemented statewide in July 1995, and VIEW was phased in statewide during the intervention.
Individuals in the intervention group were subject to two components of VIP, a multifaceted effort to reform Virginia's welfare program. The first component, reforms to eligibility requirements for AFDC/TANF recipients, was designed to encourage responsible parenting and economic self-sufficiency. The eligibility reforms for individuals with children included one-time payments to families with a temporary loss of income if they agreed to forgo AFDC/TANF receipt for 160 days; limits to benefits for children born more than 10 months after a family began to receive AFDC/TANF benefits; an allowance for the accumulation of savings of up to $5,000 to support education, entrepreneurship, or the purchase of a home; the use of one-parent eligibility criteria in determining benefits for two-parent families; and requirements for paternity establishment cooperation, child school attendance and immunization, and housing for minor parents. The eligibility reforms were implemented in July 1995. The second component, VIEW, emphasized rapid reemployment and applied to parents of children age 18 months and older. VIEW required individuals to sign an agreement of personal responsibility, begin a job search immediately, and obtain employment or participate in a community work experience program within 90 days. Individuals could face sanctions for failing to participate in these activities. VIEW also enhanced the earnings disregard, which allowed families to continue to receive their full AFDC/TANF benefits at higher levels of earnings. In addition, VIEW provided a subsidized employment program, extended eligibility for transitional Medicaid and child care benefits to more families who closed their TANF cases, and provided supportive services to working clients who continued to receive AFDC/TANF. VIEW required local welfare agencies to focus more on job search assistance and less on education and training when providing services. Finally, VIEW instituted a two-year time limit on cash assistance and tightened medical exemptions for work participation. In Petersburg, VIEW was implemented in January 1997.
Individuals in the comparison condition were eligible for public assistance and business-as-usual services under Virginia's AFDC program, which included greater emphasis on education and training. From October 1997 to March 1998, comparison group members were transitioned to eligibility reforms and VIEW policies.
As part of VIP, individuals in the intervention group were sanctioned monthly, per child, if they did not provide proof of immunization (a sanction of $50 for the first child and $25 for each additional child) or if their school-aged child did not attend school (full sanction of the child's portion of the benefit). A mother's portion of the family's public assistance benefit was also fully sanctioned if she did not establish paternity within six months. Finally, minor parents were required to live with a parent or other adult to be eligible for AFDC/TANF. As part of VIEW, individuals in the intervention group were fully sanctioned (full sanction of total family benefit) if they did not begin work within 90 days of signing the agreement of personal responsibility.
Individuals in the intervention group were subject to eligibility reforms for 27 months and VIEW for 10 months.
AFDC/TANF
Petersburg, VA
The study also examines impacts on total income, which is the sum of earnings and benefits received.
See sample characteristics.