This report presents findings from an intervention designed to increase the number of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients who “reengaged” in Los Angeles County’s welfare-to-work program.

Two behaviorally informed notices went out to different groups of participants:

• A notice highlighting the losses they might face by not attending the reengagement appointment; and
• A notice highlighting the benefits they might receive by attending.

A third control group did not receive either behaviorally informed notice.

Participants received the notice one week before their appointment. The test found that receiving a behaviorally informed notice increased the percentage of group members who engaged in the program within 30 days of their scheduled reengagement appointment, with the increase driven by the loss notice (author abstract).

The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project, sponsored by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and led by MDRC, is the first major opportunity to use a behavioral economics lens to examine programs that serve poor and vulnerable families in the United States. This report presents findings from four tests of behavioral interventions intended to increase the percentage of parents who made child support payments and the dollar amount of collections per parent in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Parents who owe child support and do not have their payments automatically deducted from their paychecks through income withholding typically need to actively initiate a new payment each month. The BIAS team examined the payment process in Cuyahoga County and diagnosed a number of behavioral factors potentially impeding collections. The team collaborated with the Cuyahoga Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) to design a number of behavioral interventions intended to increase collections and evaluate them using randomized controlled trials. (author introduction)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA), hosted the Gateway to Opportunity: Improving Parental Employment and Family Well-Being Outcomes national TANF convening on September 1 – September 3, 2015 at the Renaissance Washington D.C. Downtown Hotel. The convening brought together TANF program administrators and national experts to promote dialogue around topics such as job-driven and career pathways training, TANF-WIOA coordination, client assessment and case management strengthening, the role of executive skills in employment outcomes, and two-generation approaches to family economic security. Gateway to Opportunity: Improving Parental Employment and Family Well-Being Outcomes provided attendees with opportunities to engage with their peers and experts from the field, to discuss best practices and the latest research, to converse with federal commissioners and ACF staff, as well as to plan ways to improve TANF programming for low-income families in their communities.