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This portfolio addresses innovative approaches for increasing economic self-sufficiency and reducing public assistance dependency, including rigorous evaluations of promising employment and training strategies. Studies address a variety of topics including alternative welfare-to-work strategies, career pathways and post-secondary training models, employment retention and advancement approaches, subsidized employment and job search strategies, and tests to understand the effects of employment coaching models. Many studies are designed and implemented in close collaboration with other offices within HHS as well as with other federal agencies such as the Department of Labor and the Social Security Administration.
Project Overview
Through this project, awarded to Mathematica Policy Research, ACF seeks to learn more about how states and communities coordinate early care and education, family economic security, and/or other health and human services to most efficiently and effectively serve the needs...
Linking administrative data sets to program evaluation records is a promising and potentially low-cost means of tracking long-term impacts of social interventions. For the purposes of this project...
From 1998 until 2017, ACF operated the Assets for Independence (AFI) program, a demonstration program that supported an assets-based approach for increasing the economic self-sufficiency of individuals and families with low-incomes through Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). In 2011...
Project Overview
The Behavioral Interventions Scholars (BIS) grant program supports dissertation research by advanced graduate students who are applying a behavioral science lens to specific research questions relevant to social services programs and policies and other issues facing low-income and vulnerable families in the United States. As part of OPRE’s Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency research portfolio...
The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project demonstrated that applying insights from behavioral science to challenges facing human services programs can improve program operations and outcomes at relatively low cost. The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency-Next Generation (BIAS-NG) project continues ACF’s exploration...
Many human services programs are designed such that individuals must make a series of decisions and take a number of active steps in order to realize a benefit. From deciding which programs to apply for, to completing forms, attending meetings, showing proof of eligibility, and arranging travel and child care, program designers often assume that individuals make decisions about how to proceed based on careful consideration of their options and best interests...
There is great interest in identifying effective strategies that build fathers’ capacity to support their children, both emotionally and financially. Since 2006, Congress has provided funds for discretionary grants to programs aimed at supporting fathers in three core areas....
The ACF Office of Family Assistance launched the ongoing Rapid Cycle Evaluation and Training Technical Assistance (RCE TTA) project to strengthen the evaluation capacity of human services agencies. This project aims to complement these efforts by providing research and evaluation TA to state, tribal, and local TANF programs currently or formerly engaged under RCE TTA.
The purpose of this project is to strengthen ACF’s understanding of effective interventions aimed at supporting low-income individuals to find jobs, advance in the labor market, and improve their economic security.
The project will build evidence in this area by...
The Career Pathways Intermediate Outcomes Study is rigorously evaluating the intermediate impact of career pathways programs first studied in the federally-sponsored Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Impact Study and Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) Study. The intermediate impact studies...
The Career Pathways Long-term Outcomes Study is rigorously evaluating the long-term impact of career pathways programs first studied in the federally-sponsored Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Impact Study and Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) Study. The studies will use administrative data and survey responses to examine long-term impacts on educational progress, labor market outcomes, and family well-bring approximately six years after enrollment into the study. Intermediate program impacts are being assessed at approximately three years after enrollment into the study through the Career Pathways Intermediate Outcomes (CPIO) Study.
Career pathways programs connect education, training, and related supports in a pathway that leads to employment in a specific sector or occupation or to further training. The approach is gaining attention as a promising strategy to improve...
The National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families leads and supports investigation of the needs of Hispanic populations served by ACF and of promising approaches to promote social and economic well-being among low-income Hispanic families. The Center’s research focuses on early care and education; poverty reduction and economic self-sufficiency; and fatherhood, family structure, and family dynamics. In addition to generating new research to inform ACF programs and policies to better serve Hispanic children and families, the Center aims to build research capacity by providing tools, resources, and support for the research community and emerging scholars.
ACF supports the development and operation of fully integrated systems to support person-centric service delivery. Integration implies alignment of legal, policy, program, and technology factors that impact our ability to share information. If we are successful as a community, interoperability will drive progress in...
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has awarded a contract to MEF Associates and its subcontractor, Child Trends, to conduct a study to better understand the range of child welfare services and benefits provided through the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) Program. The URM Program serves refugees and...
Project Overview
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) funds numerous data collection efforts through research studies on a wide-range...
This project provided recommendations for the design of an evaluation to assess the implementation, outcomes, systems change, and impacts of the second round of Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) awarded in September 2015 (referred to as HPOG 2.0)...
PRE launched this project in 2016 to evaluate interventions that apply coaching practices to promote job entry and retention among TANF populations and other low-income individuals. Coaching-based interventions have been put forth as one way to give people the tools to overcome various barriers in order to build employment-related skills and to secure work. The hypothesis underlying these approaches is that participants’ challenges may be addressed through coaching by specially trained staff who...
Bayesian methods are emerging as the primary alternative to the conventional frequentist approach to statistical inference. Bayes' theorem is a model for learning from data. Using Bayes’ theorem, a researcher weights their prior beliefs about the size of an intervention’s effect by the data observed through...
The Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Scholars Network (the FSSRN) supports independent researchers working to enhance and improve family self-sufficiency research at the state and local levels. The FSSRN promotes productive partnerships between social science scholars (the grantee’s Principal Investigators, or PIs) and state or local human services agencies...
The Family Strengthening Scholars grant program is designed to build research capacity in the healthy marriage/responsible fatherhood field (HM/RF). These grants are to support dissertation research on HM/RF policy issues and are meant to build capacity in the research field to focus research on questions that have direct implications for HM/RF decision-making and program administration...
The purpose of the Fatherhood and Marriage Local Evaluation and Cross-Site Project is to support ACF’s third cohort (2015-2020) of Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grantees through:
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services promotes the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities. Many ACF programs interact with and serve fathers...
The purpose of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) is to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and are expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand.
In 2016, OPRE awarded a second round of Health Profession Opportunity Grants University Partnership Research Grants, referred to as HPOGUP 2.0. These grants augment OPRE’s multi-pronged evaluation strategy for HPOG by funding university research teams that partner with...
ACF’s Hispanic Research Work Group brings together experts in a wide range of content areas relevant to ACF’s mission to assist ACF/OPRE in identifying research priorities concerning low-income, Hispanic families.
The Home Visiting Career Trajectories project examines the state of home visiting careers to understand how people enter the field, the perceived and actual pathways for professional advancement and tenure, and reasons for field attrition. It aims to address the lack of data on the home visiting workforce that can inform how to best recruit and retain high quality staff.
This contract will produce a series of research briefs on issues related to the well-being and economic self-sufficiency of families and children experiencing homelessness. The briefs will be based on data collected as part of the U.S. Department of...
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is a key program for supporting self-sufficiency among low-income families...
Though significant evaluative work has been carried out to improve our understanding of how human services programs meet their goals of improving family economic self-sufficiency, financial security, and overall wellbeing, there are gaps in knowledge of how programs can best serve rural communities. Rural contexts present unique opportunities and challenges for administering human services programs, and the Administration for Children & Families (ACF) seeks to better understand these contexts through several programs
The Human Services Research Partnership of the U.S. Virgin Islands (VI) will explore issues related to social service needs and public welfare systems in the territory. This cooperative agreement will support a partnership among researchers, local...
In this project, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is exploring the application of human-centered design (HCD) across its service delivery programs at the federal, state, and local levels. To date, little is known regarding what HCD looks like in the context of human services, the requirements for implementation across a range of programs; the measurable outcomes and effectiveness of HCD approaches; the evaluability of HCD approaches; or the sustainability of HCD approaches.
This project explored the issues and options related to the development of an employment-related outcome performance measurement system for the TANF program, including potential target groups, performance measures, performance standards, data needs, and accountability approaches. The project...
The Building Evidence on Employment Strategies for Low-Income Families (BEES) Project evaluates employment strategies for highly vulnerable populations with complex barriers to obtaining and retaining employment. BEES is prioritizing state-initiated programs and those serving adults whose employment prospects have been affected by substance use disorders.
The Job Search Assistance (JSA) Strategies Evaluation features a multi-site, random assignment evaluation to measure the relative impact of specific job search services offered by TANF programs on short-term labor market outcomes such as earnings and time to employment. The evaluation, led by Abt Associates...
OPRE plays a central role in advancing understanding and disseminating knowledge about research and evaluation methods and tools that are, or could be, used to enhance knowledge about program and policy effectiveness. The purpose of the Methods Inquiries project is to organize...
In 2015, OPRE launched a comprehensive evaluation of the second round of grants awarded under the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program. The HPOG 2.0 National Evaluation will rigorously assess the HPOG programs administered by the non-tribal grantees awarded grants in 2015. The 27 non-tribal grantees operate 38 HPOG programs across 17 states...
The National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) documented the nation's utilization and availability of early care and education (including school-age care) in 2012...
To further build the evidence around effective strategies for helping low-income individuals find and sustain employment, OPRE contracted with Mathematica to conduct the Next Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies (NextGen) Project. This project will identify and test innovative, promising employment interventions designed to help individuals facing complex challenges secure a pathway toward economic independence. These challenges may be physical and mental health conditions, a criminal history, or limited work skills and experience. Additionally, the project is working closely with the Social Security Administration to incorporate a focus on employment-related early interventions for individuals with current or foreseeable disabilities who have limited work history and are potential applicants for Supplemental Security Income.
OPRE is responsible for advising the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of programs designed to better the employment-related outcomes of low-income individuals. To that end, the primary goal of this project...
OPRE has developed the Next Steps for Rigorous Research on Two-Generation Approaches (NS2G) project to continue building the evidence base for fully integrated, intentional two-generation program models with adequate intensity and quality of services for both parents and their children.
To learn about the implementation and effects of Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) programs, ACF awarded a contract in 2011 to Mathematica Policy Research to conduct the Parents and Children Together (PACT) evaluation. The evaluation...
The John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (Chafee program; formerly the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program) was created following the passage of the Foster Care Independence Act (FCIA) of 1999 (Public Law 106-169). The program provides assistance to help youth currently and formerly in foster care achieve self-sufficiency by providing grants to States and eligible Tribes that submit an approvable plan.
OPRE’s welfare and family self-sufficiency research includes experimental impact evaluations...
The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in collaboration with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded funding to the National Poverty...
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread problem in the United States and among the vulnerable populations served by Administration for Children and Families programs. However, little is known about IPV experienced and perpetrated by fathers served by the Office of Family Assistance’s Responsible Fatherhood (RF) grantees or about how RF programs address IPV in practice.
This project builds on the earlier OPRE Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Human Services (RED) project. RED helped build a base of knowledge to inform the Administration for Children and Families (ACF)’s identification and understanding of ethnic and racial differences across the service delivery system...
OPRE awarded eight cooperative agreements to fund research to conduct secondary data analysis of archived ACF data, specifically the Building Strong Families (BSF), Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM), and Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (CHMI)...
In 2013, OPRE commissioned four interrelated reports on self-regulation and toxic stress from a team at the Center for Child and Social Policy at Duke University. That team and other experts have since created multiple practice-oriented resources grounded in the initial reports. Together, these reports and resources comprise the ‘Self-Regulation and Toxic Stress Series.’
Research highlights self-regulation as a critical set of life skills linked to individual and collective success across the lifespan. Self-regulation is the act of managing thoughts and feelings to enable goal-directed actions like setting goals, delaying gratification, exerting willpower, exercising compassion, coping with intense emotions, and solving complex problems...
For several years, ACF has provided resources to facilitate updating and expanding the State TANF Policies Database. The Urban Institute began developing the database in early 1997, as part of the Assessing New Federalism project...
Project Overview
This project will identify promising and innovative employment and training programs for low-income individuals that include TANF recipients and produce case studies of the selected programs. The programs...
This project will evaluate subsidized and transitional employment approaches for critical low-income populations, potentially including welfare recipients and low-income non-custodial parents. The project will examine subsidized employment strategies designed to address two distinct goals...
The project will support innovation and improved effectiveness of state TANF programs by enhancing the use of data from TANF and related human services programs. This work may include encouraging and strengthening state integrated data systems (IDS), promoting proper payments...
To provide reliable, accessible information about what works to help people who are low income succeed in the labor market, OPRE launched the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse: The What Works Clearinghouse of Proven and Promising Approaches to Move Welfare Recipients to Work, a systematic evidence review and website.
The 2003 Reauthorization of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act called for a study of long-term outcomes for youth who are served through the Transitional Living Program (TLP). In response, OPRE and ACF’s Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) are sponsoring a study that will capture data from youth at program entry and up to 12 months...
In 2015, OPRE awarded a contract to Abt Associates, in partnership with MEF Policy Associates, Insight Policy Research, Urban Institute, and NORC at the University of Chicago, to conduct impact, outcome, and implementation studies of the second round of grants awarded under the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program. The five Tribal HPOG grantees are participating in a comprehensive implementation and outcome study led by NORC at the University of Chicago....
The purpose of this project is to provide guidance and support to Tribal TANF Child Welfare Coordination Grantees that promotes excellence in performance measurement, continuous quality improvement, and grantee-led collaborations between child welfare and TANF agencies in their tribal communities. The project is intended to (1) provide guidance to grantees in revising project logic models to align project activities with intended outcomes; (2) provide support for grantees’ identification and collection of performance measures to track project activities and outcomes; (3) provide support to grantees in using data for quality assurance and continuous quality improvement; (4) provide programmatic guidance on ways to strengthen Tribal TANF and Child Welfare coordination in order to strengthen outcomes specified by grantees in their applications; and (5) document these activities and lessons learned. This project will provide universal guidance and peer learning opportunities, as well as grantee specific guidance on a variety of topics which may include identification of measurable goals and objectives, data systems and data privacy, data analysis and interpretation, continuous quality improvement, and dissemination of program successes.
The Understanding Poverty study, which is being conducted by MEF Associates in partnership with MDRC, will examine the organizational culture of TANF offices and the perspectives of families and children living in poverty.
The Understanding the Value of Centralized Services (VOCS) project will explore whether and how centralized community resource centers, which allow individuals and families to apply for federal, state, and local social services in a single location, can reduce burden and ensure the cost-effective allocation of federal resources.
OPRE launched the Youth Demonstration Development Project (YDD) in 2009 to systematically review the current field of research on youth development and successful transition to adulthood. The primary objective of YDD, which is being conducted for OPRE...
This project provided a descriptive study of the dynamics of county versus state administered TANF programs. The project gathered detailed information from a sample of county and state administered TANF programs identified as having promising TANF-WIA coordination practices...
Achieving Change for Texans: Statewide, the following were key program provisions: (1) time limit of 12 to 36 months for able-bodied adults, depending on work experience and education, with exemptions for severe local economic conditions and personal...
The Advancing Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency Research follow-on contract provided timely and flexible research and evaluation support to ACF and its stakeholders and a flexible research and evaluation mechanism for responding to rapidly emerging policy priorities and research opportunities. In particular, the contractor...
The first component of the Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Consortium is the Advancing Welfare and Family Self-Sufficiency Research project (also known as Project AWESOME). Led by Mathematica Policy Research, this contract provides research support and a flexible research and evaluation mechanism for responding to rapidly emerging policy priorities and research opportunities...
The Approaching Time Limits study explored what States have done with clients as they approached or already reached Federal and/or State TANF time limits....
The Assessing Enhanced Transitional Employment Programs (ETE) project identified and described operating employment-focused programs that helped individuals who faced significant employment challenges by providing transitional employment or work...
Assessing Medicaid and Food Stamps Access and Participation project, with the cooperation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation helped participating States create and analyze performance data on how their Medicaid, SCHIP, and Food stamps enrollment...
This evaluation examines Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) under the largest federally funded IDA program: the Assets for Independence (AFI) program administered by ACF. IDAs are personal savings accounts targeted to low-income persons that...
The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency Capstone project, led by MDRC, synthesized the work of the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project and conducted dissemination activities to ensure the results from BIAS were shared with a broad audience of research, policy, and practice stakeholders. BIAS Capstone furthered the dissemination work conducted for BIAS through a range of diverse activities and products...
Many human services programs are designed such that individuals must make active decisions and go through a series of steps in order to benefit from them — from deciding which programs to apply for, to completing forms, attending meetings, showing proof of eligibility, and arranging travel and child care...
This project worked closely with the Office of Community Services (OCS) to assist in building capacity among the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) network - including state and local agencies - for evaluating the CSBG model and approach. The CSBG’s mission is to provide assistance to states and local communities, working through a network of Community Action Agencies (CAA) and other neighborhood-based organizations...
The Child Outcomes Synthesis Project was designed to synthesize the results from the Project on State-Level Child Outcomes, a series of demonstrations in five States that measured the impacts of welfare reform on the well-being of children...
The Connecticut Welfare Reform Evaluation Project continued the originally planned evaluation of Reach for Jobs First, which was implemented in January 1996, as an amendment to an earlier welfare reform demonstration, and subsequently incorporated in...
This project provided a descriptive study on the implementation of Tribal TANF programs and document lessons learned. The study also documented, identified and recommended potential approaches for further study...
Nationally, job search activities are a significant area of program attention, including TANF and WIA. Yet, while job search activities are often included as an essential component of programs that have been the subject of OPRE-sponsored evaluations, they have not independently been the focus of rigorous examination...
The Economic Analysis of the Prenatal and Early Childhood Nurse Home Visitation Program study examined cost savings to the government resulting from a prenatal and early childhood home visitation program that had been studied in a series of three...
The Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) evaluation was a comprehensive effort to learn about effective strategies to promote employment retention and advancement among welfare recipients and low-wage workers. The project began in 1998, when HHS...
The Employment Sector Analysis for TANF Recipients and Other Low-Income Families project synthesized existing literature and resources for identifying federal, state, and local labor market data in high-growth fields; and analyzed labor market information...
The Employment Strategies for Low-Income Adults Evidence Review (ESER) was a systematic review of the evaluation research (as it existed between 1990 and 2014) on employment and training programs for low-income adults. ESER produced a searchable, public database and a series of briefs synthesizing the results of the review and highlighting promising strategies identified by the review...
The purpose of the Enhanced Employment Services for Victims of Trafficking Demonstration grant program is to examine the feasibility and benefits of providing enhanced employment services to pre-certified, foreign trafficking victims and other foreign...
The Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation project assessed the effectiveness of programs designed to enhance employment outcomes for current or former TANF recipients and other low-income parents who have demonstrated...
OPRE jointly sponsored with the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) a study of subsidized summer 2010 employment opportunities for low-income youth operated with the TANF Emergency Fund offered as part of the American...
The Evaluation of Community Based Job Retention Programs project included two phases. In Phase 1, the project provided a detailed implementation analysis and short-term outcome findings for participants receiving various mixes of job retention and...
The Evaluation of Los Angeles Jobs-First GAIN project evaluated the results of changing Los Angeles' Greater Avenues to Independence (GAIN) program, a human resource focused welfare-to-work program into Los Angeles Jobs-First GAIN, a labor force...
OPRE awarded a contract to NORC at the University of Chicago, in conjunction with Red Star Innovations and the National Indian Health Board, to design and conduct a comprehensive implementation and outcome evaluation of the five Tribal Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) programs awarded in 2010...
The Ex-Prisoner Reentry Strategies Study (or “Father Reentry Study”) was an implementation study of six Responsible Fatherhood programs initially funded in 2011 under the Responsible Fatherhood grant program. The grantees administered their programs to incarcerated, soon-to-be released, and recently released fathers both in correctional institutions and in the community...
To fill gaps in family self-sufficiency and stability research and data activities and to complement its ongoing research, OPRE developed and launched a multi-faceted Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Consortium (The Consortium)...
In 2013, OPRE awarded grants to a network of university-based researchers to investigate critical issues in improving family self-sufficiency and stability. The Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Scholars Network supported...
This cooperative agreement, awarded to Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago in 2013, supported the development, implementation, and ongoing operations of technical assistance to support family self-sufficiency research and administrative data analysis...
Hurricane Katrina was perhaps the largest single natural disaster in America’s history. Millions of people were on the hurricane’s path. About half a million people in New Orleans were displaced by floods caused by Hurricane Katrina...
This project is designed to help States improve the effectiveness of their TANF programs and to bolster their ability to conduct program evaluation and research. To achieve this goal, ACF will provide selected states with technical assistance and...
Provisions of the Florida Family Transition Program (FTP) Evaluation demonstration included: (1) a time limit of 24 months on assistance in any 60-month period for most recipients, with a limit of 36 months of receipt out of any 72 months for certain...
The purpose of this project was to explore how emerging insights from psychology can strengthen programs aimed at helping families achieve self-sufficiency. In particular, the project reviewed the implications of existing research on psychological...
The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Impact Study used an experimental design to examine the short-term impacts of HPOG 1.0 on participants’ educational and economic outcomes at 15 months after random assignment. The study includes 42 local HPOG programs implemented by 23 of the 32 HPOG 1.0 grantees...
This project provided recommendations for the design of an evaluation to assess implementation, systems change, and outcomes of the 27 non-tribal Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) 1.0 programs (those awarded in 2010). Additionally...
The Home Visiting: Approaches to Father Engagement and Fathers' Experiences Study is a qualitative project that will collect information about innovative approaches used by existing home visiting programs to actively...
The Research Partnerships are intended to improve understanding of the most promising human services approaches to improve the quality of life in the region, with particular focus on topics related to the Head Start and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs...
This project explored current strategies to facilitate employment of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) adult recipients living with mental, intellectual and physical disabilities. It examined innovative efforts to promote and support the...
The purpose of this study was to examine state and local efforts to divert TANF applicants from applying for cash assistance. This examination involved gathering information from a range of sources such as state and local TANF offices and national...
Improving Implementation Research Methods for Behavioral and Social Science, 2010 ACF, along with other federal partners (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Centers for Disease Control's Division of Violence Prevention...
The Improving State Capacity to Address the Needs of Low-Income Working Families project was jointly funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation and the Office of Family Assistance within ACF, and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and...
The Indiana Welfare Reform Evaluation Project implemented the following major policy provisions: a 24-month time limit for adults eligible for JOBS; a family benefit cap; child immunization and school attendance requirements; a higher resource limit...
The Innovative Employment Strategies project gathered and synthesized information on cutting edge approaches and programs for assisting applicants and recipients to gain, retain and advance in employment. Considerable research has already focused...
ACF launched the Integrated Approaches to Supporting Child Development and Improving Family Economic Security project in September 2015. The goal of the project is to improve understanding of approaches that intentionally combine intensive, high quality, adult-focused services with intensive, high-quality, child-focused programs. Conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, this project will provide options for evaluating these emerging models...
Subgroup analysis, broadly, aims to measure change within and between groups...
Iowa Welfare Reform Evaluation complemented a separately funded evaluation completed on Iowa's Family Investment Program (FIP). The evaluation consisted of two studies–a study of repeat limited benefit plan (LBP) assignments and a study of...
This project examined how the local management of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs has evolved and adapted practices in the years following the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of...
This study, the Meta-Analysis of Welfare-to-Work Programs, analyzed the results of welfare-to-work demonstrations carried out since 1982. The purpose was to determine how impacts in those demonstrations are related to a wide range of variables...
The following were the key features of the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP): 1) requiring long-term public assistance recipients to participate in intensive employment/training services, including mandatory case management; 2) making work pay...
The National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS) project evaluated alternative welfare-to-work strategies in seven sites (Riverside, CA; Atlanta, GA; Grand Rapids, MI; Detroit, MI; Columbus, OH; Oklahoma City, OK, and vicinity; and...
The National Implementation Evaluation of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) included the 27 non-tribal HPOG 1.0 programs (those awarded in 2010) and had three major components — a Descriptive Implementation Study, a Systems Change Analysis, and an Outcome Study.
New Jersey Substance Abuse Research Demonstration provided information about the effectiveness of a type of evaluation several states have experimented with to move substance abusing welfare clients toward self-sufficiency. The intervention New Jersey...
The New Visions Self-Sufficiency and Lifelong Learning Project is a joint venture of the Riverside Community College (RCC) in California and the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services. The purpose of the demonstration is to improve the...
This contract aims to develop an evidence-informed research dissemination strategy for OPRE to improve the communication and usefulness of research and evaluation findings to targeted audiences...
In 2007, ACF initiated the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) evaluation, a multi-site, random assignment evaluation of promising strategies for increasing employment and self-sufficiency among low-income families. During the project’s development, consensus emerged that the evaluation should...
The Post-Employment Services Demonstration and Evaluation project was designed to test whether the provision of additional services, including extended case management and temporary financial supports, promote job retention and advancement or, when...
This project investigated how existing work on racial and ethnic disparities could inform more accurate identification and interpretation of ethnic and racial differences in programs administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Through this work, this project...
OPRE, supported by a contract with Mathematica and the Williams Institute, in coordination with the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), conducted extensive work to identify knowledge gaps and propose research recommendations related to the human service needs of low-income and at-risk lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations...
The Research Synthesis of the Effects of TANF project synthesized the most current research information available on the effect of TANF on income, earnings, receipt of government benefits, and family formation and structure, for individuals and...
This multi-year national evaluation project, Rural Welfare-To-Work Strategies Demonstration, was designed to learn how best to help TANF and other low-income rural families move from welfare to work. The evaluation increased information on rural...
The purpose of this study was to understand how sanctions have been implemented in recent years in a select group of sites. It also explored developing more rigorous research on the use of sanctions to achieve higher work participation rates...
The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation awarded a grant to ICF International to fund the launch and maintenance of the Self-Sufficiency Research Clearinghouse (SSRC) as a strategic part of OPRE's goal – to build and disseminate knowledge about effective approaches to helping low-income children and families...
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) is undertaking a descriptive study to document the approaches and strategies utilized by tribal organizations awarded cooperative agreements under the Coordination of Tribal TANF and Child Welfare...
The Study of Screening and Assessment in TANF/Welfare to Work (WtW) project highlighted and discussed critical issues in the development and use of screening and assessment tools designed to identify TANF and/or WtW recipients who experience barriers...
The purpose of the TANF and CCDF Research Synthesis Project was to inform research planning and support evidence-based decision making related to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) programs...
This study, TANF Caseload Composition and Leavers Synthesis Report, summarized current knowledge on two questions concerning the TANF caseload and those leaving TANF (i.e. leavers): 1) How do the characteristics of the TANF caseload compare with the...
The introduction of Federal time limits on the receipt of cash assistance under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program was a central and major part of welfare reform. The purpose of this study was to conduct a follow-up to an...
Numerous studies have identified substantial overlap in families and individuals served by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. Over the past decade, as the TANF program has developed...
The Teenage Parent Demonstration and Evaluation project was designed to test the effectiveness of a mandatory program for first-time teen parents entering the welfare rolls. The program included requirements to attend school or an alternative education...
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Two Parent Families Study is a descriptive study that will collect information about two parent families who receive or are eligible to receive TANF. This study will document: 1) the characteristics of...
Effect sizes are increasingly applied to describe the magnitude of findings about program effectiveness across a range of policy contexts. Though more researchers are recognizing the importance of including effect sizes in manuscripts, at times these...
The Effects of Welfare Reform on Special Populations project provided information regarding the extent to which program policy and implementation at different levels influenced the access to, and use of, government assistance programs by immigrant...
The Fatherhood Research and Practice Network (FRPN) was a cooperative agreement awarded to Temple University with a subcontract to the Center for Policy Research in Denver, CO. The FRPN pursued three main goals:
The key provisions of Iowa Family Investment Program (FIP) were: (1) recipients were required to help develop a social contract, the Family Investment Agreement (FIA), which established activities and a time frame for achieving self-sufficiency...
The Underreporting of Welfare Utilization in Current Population Survey Data Evidence for Matched California Administrative Data (CPS) study examined the incidence of under- and over-reporting of welfare participation in the Current Population Survey...
This grant to Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago is jointly administered by OPRE and ASPE. Its purpose is to document differences in state policies that affect child-only TANF cases, describe characteristics and dynamics of such cases, and...
The Understanding the Demand Side of the TANF Labor Market project developed, conducted, and analyzed a national survey of employers, in order to gain a better understanding of the policies, practices, and opportunities in the entry-level, low-skill...
Since the creation of TANF in 1996, there has been concern about TANF recipients who leave TANF without finding work, as well as low-income individuals who may be eligible for TANF but are neither receiving TANF nor working. Low-income individuals and...
In the fall of 2014, ACF launched a descriptive study to document the similarities and differences between Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance and the Refugee Cash Assistance program. ACF’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) administers...
This project documented the types of services or activities funded by states with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and state Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE) program funds categorized in Federal reporting as “Other” and...
The purpose of this project is to implement an exploratory research study to better understand the challenges and context for family self-sufficiency of low-income Alaska Natives and American Indians living in urban areas and their interactions with...
In 2011, OPRE awarded five University Partnership Research Grants for the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program to support research and evaluation studies focused on questions relevant to HPOG program goals and objectives. Applicants were required to demonstrate a partnership with one or more of the HPOG programs funded in 2010 as an integral part of the research plan development and execution...
Vermont Welfare Restructuring Project's time limit triggered a work requirement rather than the termination of cash assistance. The following were key provisions of the program: (1) the scope of mandatory participation in work or work activities...
The What Works Best for Whom: Effects of Welfare Reform Policies on Subgroups of Current and Former Welfare Recipients project investigated the effects of recent welfare policies on various subgroups of welfare recipients. It added to earlier work on...
This was a two-part project dealing with Work Participation and TANF/WIA Coordination. The Claims Resolution Act of 2010 extended the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program and contains a section on reports required from the states...
“Family-friendly” or “work-life” polices have become increasingly prevalent in the United States, but few longitudinal studies using experimental design have been implemented to test such policies. Moreover, knowledge about work-life policies aimed at low-wage workers is scant. To address this gap, OPRE supported a study by the Work, Family and Health Network (WFHN) of the National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD).
WFHN implemented a workplace...