Conceptual framework for rural welfare to work strategies

In 1998, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) initiated a project on rural welfare to work strategies. Competitive grants were awarded to ten states to: increase knowledge about strategies currently used in rural areas, develop new strategies and approaches to be tested, and assist in designing appropriate research questions and methods to evaluate alternative strategies for welfare reform in low-income rural communities.

Matters that the states are addressing include: 1) Ways that the rural TANF population differs from the nonrural TANF population in terms of employability, access to affordable and quality child care, special circumstances, and service needs. 2) The best strategies, policies, and programs to overcome challenges that affect TANF participants and children in rural, low-income families. 3) The most effective approaches to implement and test programs that will produce useful information for rural welfare to work strategies. (author abstract)