North Carolina attempted to reform its welfare system to remove disincentives to work and encourage intact families and savings. Issues raised were funding incentives dramatically increase short-term program spending; amount and kinds of jobs available for welfare recipients are uncertain; and limits on long-term support beg the question of what…

This paper describes the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program, an employment and savings incentive program for low-income families that have Section 8 vouchers or live in public housing. It consists of both case management services to help participants pursue employment and other goals and escrow accounts into which the public housing agency…

This article describes how microsimulation analysis was used to help design a social experiment in two Canadian provinces. The microsimulation was used to choose among alternative program models, to refine the selected model, and to project costs for the Canadian government's program of financial incentives for leaving welfare. (SLD)

In 1996, only 30% of poor children who lived apart from their fathers received financial support. That year, welfare reform addressed this hard fact, stepping up efforts to collect child support. However, increased child support alone will not be enough. Further support, economic incentives, and revised child support policies are needed to enable…

This report recommends that the Social Security Act Title XIX be amended to include a 24-month extension of Medicaid to families who become ineligible for cash assistance under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. This amendment accompanies the Family Welfare Reform Act of 1987 (H.R. 1720), which is proposed to replace the…

This guide is designed to help U.S. businesses successfully hire and retain individuals moving from welfare to work. Section 1 discusses the different circumstances created by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and how those changes affect business. Section 2 reviews bottom-line benefits realized by…

An evaluation was conducted of Vermont's Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP), one of the earliest statewide welfare reform programs designed to increase work and reduce reliance on welfare. To assess the difference WRP made, parents applying for or receiving cash assistance in Vermont from July 1994 to December 1996 were assigned randomly to one…

Work requirements in welfare reform proposed by the George W. Bush administration would impose much tougher work requirements on welfare recipients. Seventy percent of all adults would be required to work 40 hours per week, versus the 50 percent who are required to work 30 hours per week currently. In addition, states would be given little leeway…

This guide explains how to design and implement financial work supports in order to improve family and child well-being. The information provided draws heavily from the study of these three programs that increased employment and earnings while improving employment stability, boosting income, and reducing poverty: Minnesota Family Investment…

This document contains 16 issues of the first 5 years of a newsletter encouraging collaborative research and informed policy on welfare reform and focusing on the use of an on-line database of child welfare research projects, as well as research and policy issues related to implementation studies, indicators of well-being, and administrative data.…

Meeting highlights and a background briefing report are provided from a policy seminar, one in a series of monthly staff seminars titled "Family Centered Social Policy: The Emerging Agenda." The highlights summarize remarks by three panelists. Alan Hershey describes the Teenage Parent Demonstration in New Jersey and Illinois and…

Two hearings held a month apart examine major issues concerning Medicaid benefits in family welfare and nursing home reform. The first set of hearings discusses the proposed Family Welfare Reform Act of 1987 (H.R. 1720), which is intended to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program of the Social Security Act Title IV.…

The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) began in 1994 as a major welfare initiative that differed from the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) by featuring the following elements: financial incentives to work; participation requirements for long-term welfare recipients; and simplification of welfare rules and procedures. In…