VIP Only provisions included the following: (1) one-time payments to families with a temporary loss of income if they agreed to forgo AFDC/TANF receipt for 160 days; (2) a “family cap” that excluded children born more than 10 months after a family began to receive AFDC/TANF from the family’s benefit calculation; (3) an exemption for the accumulation of savings up to $5,000 to support education, entrepreneurship, or the purchase of a home; (4) the application of one-parent eligibility criteria in determining benefits for two-parent families; and (5) requirements for paternity establishment cooperation, child school attendance, and immunization, and a requirement that minor parents live with a parent or other eligible adult. AFDC and TANF recipients were subject to the VIP Only provisions as long as they received AFDC/TANF benefits. VIP Only was implemented in Portsmouth and Wise County in Virginia. This evaluation also studied the impacts of VIP combined with Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare.
VIP Only changed the eligibility requirements for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to encourage paternity establishment and economic self-sufficiency.