The California Budget Act of 2012, through a trailer bill known as Senate Bill (SB) 1041, contained significant reforms to the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. CalWORKs is California's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, a central component of the safety net that provides cash aid for…

Wisconsin's influential Learnfare initiative is a conditional cash "penalty" program that sanctions a family's welfare grant when covered teens fail to meet school attendance targets. In the presence of reference-dependent preferences, Learnfare provides uniquely powerful financial incentives for student performance. However, a 10-county…

Only in the last few years have researchers begun to pay close attention to the child-only cases that fall under the provision of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. Few attempts have been made to talk directly to kinship caregivers to understand their day-to-day lives. This triangulated study utilizes multiple strategies to…