The Colorado Department of Human Services (DHS) has contracted with The Lewin Group and its partners, the University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center, the Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Policy Studies, and Capital Research Corporation, to perform an in-depth study of Colorado's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program called Colorado Works.
Study Objectives
The study will provide administrators with information about program strategies and approaches counties might find useful for improving program implementation, performance, and outcomes. Beginning in January 2005, the study has been designed in active consultation with DHS and an Advisory Committee that includes representatives of the counties and Colorado's advocacy community. The study is exploring:
- Characteristics of Colorado Works participants receiving cash assistance and other services, and how the characteristics vary by region and county.
- Types of work activities in which clients participate.
- Types of supportive and transitional services clients receive (e.g., child care, transitional Medicaid).
- Employment, earnings, and welfare outcomes of current and former Colorado Works participants.
- Colorado Works participants' interaction with other key programs (e.g., Medicaid, Food Stamps, Child Support Enforcement) and how such interaction relates to outcomes.
- Promising strategies and approaches in counties' Colorado Works programs.
The study relies on data from a variety of sources including state administrative data, a survey of county Colorado Works programs, field-based site visits, and client focus groups. Results from the county survey detail the large amount of variation and innovation in county Colorado Works programs.
Topics for Special Analysis
In the first year of the evaluation, the research team examined four areas of special interest to DHS and the Advisory Committee and produced four special reports. Each of the topics were examined during in-depth site visits to 18 counties and supplemented with the 2005 survey of county administrators conducted and state level analyses of program data from the Legacy System. The four topics included the following:
June 2006 Evaluation Report
The June 2006 Annual Evaluation Report summarizes findings from the first year evaluation activities, including a summary of Colorado Works policies, the variation in the demographic and economic characteristics of Colorado's 64 counties, and a summary of the findings from the special topic reports. In addition, it includes new information about the characteristics of the families served by Colorado Works, the benefits and services received, trends in the caseload, and the work activities that recipients participate in while enrolled in Colorado Works.
Future Work
The next year of the Colorado Works evaluation will explore several new topics of interest to the state and Advisory Committee, as well as conduct new analysis from a longitudinal database currently being constructed for this study. The work to be performed in SFY 2007 will include the following:
- Longitudinal Study. The next phase of the study follows Colorado Works clients over time and tracks their characteristics, services (including services provided by partner agencies), and welfare and employment outcomes.
- Fiscal Study. The study will analyze county variations in the distribution of Colorado Works spending. It will also analyze the uses of TANF funds.
- Work Participation Study. This study will encompass several separate topics. It will analyze the work participation rates by county, characterize who is not participating and the reasons for non-participation, review the literature on effective strategies, and describe what selected counties are doing to achieve high rates. It will also document the use of diversion assistance, and the employment and welfare outcomes following diversion, and examine how sanction policies have been implemented, the extent to which sanctions are used, and the outcomes following sanctions. Finally, the study will use focus groups to learn which Colorado Works policies and services were helpful and not helpful to current and former recipients as they sought to achieve self-sufficiency.
- Employer Study. This study will gather systematic information from selected employers in Colorado to examine their involvement with Colorado Works and reasons they hired welfare recipients.
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