October 2009
Colorado Department of Human Services
Lewin Contact: Sam Elkin
This annual report presents the findings from the Colorado Works Evaluation from activities conducted during State Fiscal Year 2009. In 2005, the Colorado Department of Human Services 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 the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. This report examines caseload trends, work participation, employment outcomes of program participants and leavers, and service delivery variation across Colorado counties. It reviews TANF trends and outcomes in light of the recession.
Client Area: State and Local Governments
Expertise Area: Income Security
July 2009
Colorado Department of Human Services
This report explores why former welfare recipients in Colorado left the Colorado Works program and how they fare after exiting. It is part of a multi-year, in-depth study The Lewin Group conducted for the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS). The analysis in this report relies primarily on data from a survey of 494 individuals who had been on single-parent Colorado Works cases and left the program during the first three months of 2007. Survey Research Management conducted the survey for Lewin. The survey occurred in August through November of 2008, which was between 17 and 23 months after the individuals surveyed had left Colorado Works. The paper covers characteristics of this sample of welfare leavers; their reasons for leaving the program; the extent to which they have returned to TANF in Colorado or elsewhere; employment outcomes of the group; characteristics of the jobs held by those who are working; sources of income, including earnings of spouses, partners, or other household members, and benefits from other government programs; and indicators of well being, such as food security, mental health, and health insurance coverage. The paper gives particular attention to the outcomes of Colorado Works leavers who were neither working nor receiving TANF benefits at the time of the survey.
Client Area: State and Local Governments
Expertise Area: Income Security
July 2009
Colorado Department of Human Services
Colorado counties have used the TANF block grant in a number of ways to reach a population beyond those served by basic cash assistance This issue brief outlines ways in which counties may use their TANF funds to assist needy families in their communities and highlights promising practices and strategies from across the state.
The brief is a part of a five-year evaluation of Colorado Works, the state's TANF program, that The Lewin Group and its partners, University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center, The Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Policy Studies, and Capital Research Corporation, are conducting for the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Client Area: State and Local Governments
Expertise Area: Income Security
April 2009
Colorado Department of Human Services
This issue brief provides analysis of employment and earnings outcomes of individuals who received welfare in Colorado since 2005, based on wage records from Colorado’s Unemployment Insurance Program. The brief is a part of a five-year evaluation of Colorado Works, the state's TANF program, that The Lewin Group and its partners, University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center, The Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Policy Studies, and Capital Research Corporation, are conducting for the Colorado Department of Human Services. The brief shows that between 2005 and 2008, about a third of Colorado Works participants worked while on welfare, and had relatively low earnings during that period. Those who left welfare worked at higher rates, but the consistency of their employment varied. Earnings increased overall in the two years following exit, though remained low. About 10 percent earned $20,000 or more in the first and second years after leaving Colorado Works. Among certain subgroups, including those with fewer months of welfare and those with older children, larger shares of individuals earned $20,000 or more.
Client Area: State and Local Governments
Expertise Area: Income Security
March 2009
Colorado's TANF program's caseload has fallen sharply since federal welfare reform legislation was enacted in 1996 that gave states considerable authority in setting welfare policy. While employment gains among low-income families contributed to the decline, many families in Colorado are leaving TANF without employment. This issue brief is a part of a five-year evaluation of Colorado Works, the state's TANF program, that The Lewin Group and its partners, University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center, The Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Policy Studies, and Capital Research Corporation, are conducting for the Colorado Department of Human Services. The brief defines a sample of welfare recipients in Colorado who left welfare but were not working in 2008 as "disconnected" and provides an in-depth analysis using survey and Unemployment Insurance data. It examines the characteristics and outcomes of the disconnected adults, including why they left TANF, how they differ from other TANF leavers, their sources of income, their employment history, and their overall well-being.
Expertise Area: Income Security
December 2008
Colorado Department of Human Services
This report summarizes the findings from the past year’s work on the Colorado Works Program Evaluation. It presents and updates analysis of longitudinal data on TANF caseload trends, work activity participation rates, and employment and earnings outcomes of welfare participants; presents findings on county policies, strategies, and activities from a survey of county TANF directors; and analyzes client interactions with other social service agencies including the Child Support Enforcement Division and Child Welfare.
Client Area: State and Local Governments
Expertise Area: Income Security
December 2008
Colorado Department of Human Services
This report summarizes statistical models The Lewin Group developed to explain the determinants of caseload trends in the Colorado Works program from July 1998 through December 2007. Using regression analysis, equations were developed to estimate the size of the Colorado Works monthly caseload based on the Colorado economy, Colorado Works program characteristics, and other factors. Separate models of caseload size were developed for one-parent families, two-parent families, and child-only cases. In addition, models were also developed of monthly entries and exits for one-parent cases, and county-level models of the one-parent caseload for the five largest counties. Models were estimated using data from July 1999 through December 2007. Among the findings: Unemployment rate is the key factor affecting the size of the one-parent and two-parent caseloads. The caseload in a month is affected by the unemployment rate up to 24 months earlier. Several Colorado Works and federal policy variables also had a statistically significant effect on the size of the caseload.
Client Area: State and Local Governments
Expertise Area: Income Security
April 2008
DHHS, Administration for Children and Families
One of the most controversial features of the 1990s welfare reforms was the imposition of time limits on benefit receipt. The law prohibits states from using federal TANF funds to assist most families for more than 60 months. Under contract to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Lewin and MDRC conducted a comprehensive review of what has been learned about time limits. The review, which updates a 2002 study, includes analysis of administrative data reported by states to ACF, visits to several states, and a literature review. Key findings include the following: time-limit policies vary dramatically from state to state; nationally, at least a quarter million TANF cases have been closed due to reaching a time limit since 1996, although about one-third of these closures have occurred in New York, which continues to provide assistance through a state and locally funded program; and many of the families whose TANF cases were closed due to time limits are struggling financially and report being worse off than they were while on welfare.
Client Area: Federal Government
Expertise Area: Income Security
April 2008
Colorado Department of Human Services
The enactment of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) provided states with considerable flexibility to design their own welfare programs. The result was an increase in the variation between states’ welfare programs. In an effort to understand how Colorado’s TANF program compares to other programs across the country, the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) commissioned The Lewin Group and its partners—the University of Colorado’s Health Sciences Center (UCHSC), the Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Policy Studies (JHU), and Capital Research Corporation (CRC)—to perform an in-depth study of Colorado’s TANF program (Colorado Works) on a variety of different dimensions. This report examines how Colorado compares with other states on dimensions such as caseload changes, program expenditures, eligibility requirements and benefits, work requirements, financial incentives to work, sanctions, work participation rates, employment outcomes, and diversion policies.
Client Area: State and Local Governments
Expertise Area: Employment, Training, and Workforce Development, Income Security
March 2008
DHHS, Administration for Children and Families
This study follows up on a study conducted by the Lewin Group and its subcontractor, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, which assessed and reported on recent adaptations made by local offices in managing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. The assessment sought to clarify recent changes implemented by local program managers in five study sites to improve performance, several years after the initial wave of change brought about by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). This study revisited the original five study sites to determine the nature of changes brought about by the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, which reauthorized the TANF program.
Client Area: Federal Government
Expertise Area: Income Security
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