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.

"Throughout the engagement, Lewin consultants listened to us and delivered superb analyses and thoughtful guidance–not canned solutions."  NONPROFIT HEALTH SYSTEM