A Cuyahoga County, Ohio, study focused on two cohorts: pre-Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) leavers who left in the third quarter of 1996 and post-TANF leavers who left in the third quarter of 1998. Outcomes were examined for about 6,151 adult welfare leavers. Findings indicated the rate of leaving welfare increased between 1996-98; background characteristics of pre- and post-TANF leavers differed slightly; women who exited cash assistance in 1998 were more likely to find work, but employment tended to be unstable for a significant proportion; 1996 and 1998 leavers generally had low earnings and little earnings growth in their first year off cash assistance; women with less than stable work history were more likely to report barriers to work; close to a third of the sample reported receiving help for paying child care costs since they left welfare; most recipients who left welfare did not return within one year of exit; welfare recidivism rates remained unchanged between 1996-98; those least likely to sustain steady employment were more likely to return to welfare; between 1996-98, rates of post-exit participation in Food Stamp and Medicaid programs increased; about 57 percent of families leaving cash assistance lived in households with incomes below the poverty threshold; and post-exit material hardship varied by respondents' work status in the follow-up period. (Appendixes contain a survey response analysis and 21 references.) (YLB)