This brief is one of a series written to help inform public debate surrounding the 2002 reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The brief examines the level of depressive symptoms among samples of welfare recipients studied in five experimental evaluations of welfare-to-work programs. The brief notes evidence suggesting that a relatively high number of welfare recipients show symptoms of depression, that recipients who are depressed may have more difficulty getting and keeping a job, and that the children of mothers with symptoms of depression are likely to have more problems. Findings also show that when welfare recipients participate in a welfare-to-work program, these symptoms can be affected, sometimes negatively. (Contains 33 endnotes.) (EV)