VIP eligibility 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 a 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. In addition to VIP, participants were required to participate in VIEW. VIEW emphasized rapid reemployment, requiring individuals to sign an agreement of personal responsibility, begin job searching immediately, and obtain employment or participate in a community work experience program within 90 days of signing the agreement of personal responsibility. Finally, VIEW instituted a two-year time limit on cash assistance and tightened medical exemptions from AFDC/TANF work requirements. VIP with VIEW served AFDC/TANF recipients. VIP with VIEW was implemented in Lynchburg, Petersburg, and Prince William County in Virginia. This evaluation also studied the impacts of VIP Only (that is, VIP without VIEW).
VIP with VIEW changed the eligibility requirements for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and emphasized rapid reemployment, paternity establishment and economic self-sufficiency.