In 1995, the Texas Legislature enacted H. B. 1863, which formed the basis for Texas’ waiver from existing Federal laws governing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. The Texas waiver, officially known as the Achieving Change for Texans (ACT) demonstration, aimed to assist participants to achieve independence from welfare through an increased emphasis on employment, training, temporary assistance and support services. It included three primary components: time-limited benefits, a personal responsibility agreement and one-time payments in lieu of welfare payments. The evaluation of the ACT demonstration consisted of three approaches: a process evaluation, a random-assignment impact analysis, and follow-up interviews with persons who reached their time limits or who elected to receive one-time payments instead of cash welfare assistance. This report summarizes findings from all facets of the evaluation and draws conclusions and policy implications for welfare policy development in the post-waiver time period. (author abstract)

This presentation was given as part of the Eleventh Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference, which is sponsored through the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. Richard Fording, University of Kentucky, Sanford Schram, Bryn Mawr College, and Joe Soss, University of Wisconsin-Madison conducted this research to see how race influenced how a client was sanctioned in Florida. It was found that while TANF is a race-neutral policy, it can produce race-based disadvantage.

Three-city study from Johns Hopkins University examines who is affected by sanctions and case closings and why.

Since the welfare reform of 1996, sanctions have become an important policy for States moving families off welfare and into work. Largely understudied, this research provides information on the use of sanctions in Illinois, New Jersey, and South Carolina.

This report sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) uses survey and administrative data to examine the personal characteristics and situations, potential challenges for employment, compensating strengths and resources, and employment outcomes of TANF recipients in Illinois.

By researching sanction policies across four counties in California, this article found that, for the most part, county workers reach out to participants to prevent sanctioning. Specifically, one county has found success with contracting out to community-based organizations to address barriers to work with noncompliant participants. The study also found gaps in case worker and recipient knowledge of sanction policies.

This report from the Welfare Policy Research Project in California examines predicting factors to sanctioning of welfare recipients in 1999 and the affect of sanctioning on future outcomes. It was found that only a small proportion of recipients were sanctioned in a given month. Also, speaking a primary language other than English decreased the likelihood of being sanctioned and the number of months in sanction status. Additionally, having young children also decreased the likelihood of being sanctioned and the number of months in sanction status.

With the ten year anniversary of welfare reform and the Reauthorization of TANF in February 2006, this article outlines States' current regulations prior to implementing the changes under Reauthorization. Under the new regulations, most States will have to greatly increase the work participation among their caseloads to avoid financial penalties. Authors review the current plans of state TANF policies for the ways a family can get on welfare, stay on, and leave assistance.

From Mathematica Policy Research, this report outlines the implementation of the TANF in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and provides the different approaches across the States. Authors examine how the approaches have affected caseload declines, as well as the employment among their caseloads.