This research project, an intensive study in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio, assesses the well-being of low-income children and families in the post-welfare reform era. The project examines strategies families have used to respond to reform, in terms of employment, schooling or other forms of training, residential mobility, and fertility. This project focuses on how these strategies affect children's lives, emphasizing their health and development, as well as their need for, and use of, social services.

Authored by Deanna T. Schexnayder, Daniel Schroeder, Laura Lein, David Dominguez, Karen Douglas, and Freddie Richards. This research was conducted as part of the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources, The University of Texas at Austin. This report explores the characteristics of families who left or were diverted from TANF and addresses a number of measures including obtaining employment and participation in other government programs such as Medicaid and Food Stamps.

Authored by Robert G. Wood and Anu Rangarajan. Based on four rounds of annual follow-up surveys with an early group of New Jersey TANF recipients, this issue brief focuses on those who have left the welfare rolls and are not working. About one in four recipients in this group were in this status throughout much of the study's follow-up period. The researchers note that the group is diverse; some recipients have substantial alternative sources of financial support, such as Supplemental Security Income, unemployment insurance, or earnings from a spouse or partner. However, those who lack alternative supports (the "least stable" leavers -- representing about 1 in 10 of this early group) get by on very little income and are at high risk of extreme economic hardship. Although relatively few people spend extended periods in this status, a substantial number spend at least some time in it.

This is the fourth in a series of working papers designed to examine what has been learned since the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (effective through September 30, 2002). PRWORA ended Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the Federal entitlement to assistance for eligible needy families with children, and created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant.

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala announced that 28 states have been awarded high performance bonuses created to reward superior results in welfare reform. The $200 million in annual bonuses, established in the 1996 welfare reform law, was given to the states with the best achievement in moving parents on welfare into jobs and their success in staying employed and increasing their earnings.

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

This transcript from the Brookings Institution provides information from a Brookings briefing on the latest Census numbers on poverty and income. Experts on the panel included Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution; Larry Aber, Professor of Applied Psychology and Public Policy, New York University; Ron Mincy, Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice, Columbia University; Gary Burtless, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution; and Brigid Schulte, Staff Writer, The Washington Post.

This report from the Government Accountability Office seeks to measure the success of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in terms of helping low-income workers find jobs in a streamlined manner as well as engaging employers in the process. In 2005, GAO found that half of local employers knew about services provided at local one-stop centers. This report examines the extent to which employers utilize local one-stop centers and if these services are useful to employers.

This study, presented at NAWRS, reviews longitudinal data from Utah regarding job retention and earnings for prior TANF customers. Due to the major decline in TANF cases in 2003, Utah was interested in finding out about job retention and earnings among clients leaving the caseloads. Researchers found that after six quarters, approximately 66 percent of TANF leavers were still working, and on average, earnings showed a 35 percent increase since the first quarter of case closure.

This article provides a concise overview of Federal legislation involving IDA's (AFIA, TANF, privately funded) and discusses their interaction and impacts on TANF, Medicaid, SCHIP, Food Stamps, and SSI.