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This report describes the first two years of implementation of the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and the changes it has brought for welfare agencies and welfare recipients. The legislation changed the primary focus of California's welfare programs from providing cash aid to moving recipients promptly into the labor market and shortly thereafter off welfare. That change was to be accomplished through implementation of what we call the CalWORKs WTW (welfare-to-work) model, according to which immediately following the approval of the aid application, nearly all recipients search for jobs in the context of Job Club. For those who do not find employment through job search, there follows an intensive assessment and a sequence of WTW activities to identify and overcome barriers to employment. Those activities could include supported work assignments; education and training; and treatment for mental health, substance abuse, and domestic abuse problems. Although welfare agencies are making changes in goals and programs in response to CalWORKs, the late passage of the CalWORKs legislation delayed its implementation and compressed the time available for planning. The slow pace of implementation should have been expected, given the magnitude of the changes, but many had hoped for and expected a pace more responsive to recipients, whose lifelong clocks for welfare receipt tick away as welfare agencies incorporate the changes necessary to implement the CalWORKs WTW model.

This report describes the first two years of implementation of the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and the changes it has brought for welfare agencies and welfare recipients. The legislation changed the primary focus of California's welfare programs from providing cash aid to moving recipients promptly into the labor market and shortly thereafter off welfare. That change was to be accomplished through implementation of what we call the CalWORKs WTW (welfare-to-work) model, according to which immediately following the approval of the aid application, nearly all recipients search for jobs in the context of Job Club. For those who do not find employment through job search, there follows an intensive assessment and a sequence of WTW activities to identify and overcome barriers to employment. Those activities could include supported work assignments; education and training; and treatment for mental health, substance abuse, and domestic abuse problems. Although welfare agencies are making changes in goals and programs in response to CalWORKs, the late passage of the CalWORKs legislation delayed its implementation and compressed the time available for planning. The slow pace of implementation should have been expected, given the magnitude of the changes, but many had hoped for and expected a pace more responsive to recipients, whose lifelong clocks for welfare receipt tick away as welfare agencies incorporate the changes necessary to implement the CalWORKs WTW model.

In response to the national welfare reform legislation of 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA), California passed its own welfare legislation on August 11, 1997. The legislation replaced the existing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Greater Avenues to Independence (GAIN) programs with the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) administers the CalWORKs program. Following an open and competitive bidding process, the CDSS awarded a contract to RAND to conduct a statewide evaluation of the CalWORKs program. This report serves as an appendix to the impact analysis report, Welfare Reform in California: Design of the Impact Analysis (MR-1266.0- CDSS; Jacob Alex Klerman, et al, 1999), and provides detailed information on the welfare caseloads in California as of September 1999.

In response to national welfare reform legislation--the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which was signed in August 1996--California passed legislation on August 11, 1997, that replaced the existing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Greater Avenues to Independence (GAIN) programs with the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Following an open and competitive bidding process, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), which administers CalWORKs, awarded a contract to RAND to conduct a statewide evaluation of the CaiWORKs program. That evaluation included both a process analysis examining how CalWORKs is being implemented and an impact analysis examining its costs and benefits. This report presents an overview of RAND's plan for conducting the impact analysis component of the CalWORKs evaluation as of September 1999. Another document, MR-1266.0/l-CDSS, Welfare Reform in California: Design of the Impact Analysis: Preliminary Investigations of Caseload Data, Steven Haider, Jacob Alex Klerman, Jan M. Hanley, Laurie McDonald, Elizabeth Roth, Liisa Hiatt, and Marika Suttorp, discusses preliminary results and planned future analyses of caseload data.

This report provides the results of the 1999 All-County Implementation Survey (ACIS) conducted as part of RAND's statewide evaluation of CalWORKs. It summarizes the responses of all 58 California counties to questions about their experiences to date with implementing CalWORKs. The contract between CDSS and RAND for the Statewide CalWORKs Evaluation requires an All-County Implementation Survey (ACIS) in the Fall of 1998, 1999, and 2000 and specifies a response rate of at least 80 percent. This second ACIS was developed in collaboration with CDSS and other state and county agencies and stakeholders. It was reviewed at the county welfare department (CWD) level by the six coordinators in the evaluation's focus counties. The 1999 questionnaire includes 22 questions, many of which were also included in the 1998 questionnaire. The final survey was mailed out September 29, 1999. By November 16, 1999, responses had been received from all 58 California counties. Overall, the responses to the 1999 ACIS indicate that California counties continue to explore a variety of approaches to CalWORKs program implementation. Their experiences continue to vary significantly throughout the state in terms of what works well and what remains a problem. There are few areas in which all counties agree on a single approach or innovative strategies, though almost all reported some successful strategies. The implementation challenges most frequently noted were use of post employment/job retention services, improving computer systems, and obtaining compliance with required CalWORKs activities. Coordinating the three stages of child care and monitoring and reporting on program performance were the most often cited implementation problems. Fifty-one counties reported that public transportation hinders CalWORKs implementation, and 45 of 58 agree that interagency relationships facilitate implementation.

This report details a study that sought to answer whether welfare reform was meeting its goals of reducing mothers' dependency and boosting children's futures, and whether these reforms were having discernable effects on young children. During the second half of 1998, the study randomly selected 948 single mothers with young children from 5 cities: San Francisco or San Jose, California; Manchester or New Haven, Connecticut; and Tampa, Florida. Participating women in California and Florida had been enrolled for 6 months in new welfare programs. In Connecticut, experimental and control groups were compared 18 months after they had entered the new or old program. Findings from the first wave of data collection stem from interviews of the mothers; visits to their child care providers, both centers and individual caregivers; and assessments of children's early language and social development. Findings on how children are faring under welfare reform include the following: (1) young children are moving into low-quality child care settings as their mothers move from welfare to work; (2) child care subsidies reach unequal fractions of poor families and encourage the use of unlicensed care; and (3) young children's early learning and development is limited by uneven parenting practices and high rates of maternal depression. Findings on how mothers are faring under welfare reform include the following: (1) a sizable share of women are moving into jobs; (2) wages are low and household economies remain impoverished; and (3) levels of economic and social support gained by the women are uneven. Following an executive summary, contents of this report are: (1) "Project Aims," answering, "How are children and mothers faring under welfare reform?" (2) "Mothers' Attributes," answering, "Who are the women entering new welfare programs?" (3) "States and Neighborhoods," answering, "How do job markets, welfare rules, and child care contexts differ?" (4) "Homes and Parenting," answering, "How well do families function?" (5) "Family Economy," answering, "How do women get by economically?" (6) "Maternal and Child Health," answering, "What gaps exist in access to insurance and clinical services?" (7) "Welfare to Work," answering "How do women engage new welfare rules and jobs?" (8) "Child Care," answering, "Where do young children now spend their days?" and (9) "Early Learning," answering, "How well are children growing and developing?" Two articles are appended: (1) "Evaluating Connecticut Welfare Reform: MDRC and Yale-Berkeley Studies"; and (2) "Comparing GUP Children, Mothers, and Child Care Quality to National Norms." (EV)

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) fundamentally changed the American welfare system, replacing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. PRWORA deliberately and decisively shifted the authority to shape welfare programs from the federal government to the individual states. California's response to PRWORA was the California Work and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program-a work-first program that provides support services to help recipients move from welfare to work and toward self-sufficiency. To encourage prompt transitions to work and self-sufficiency, CalWORKs, like PRWORA, also imposes life-time limits on the receipt of aid by adults. Finally, CalWORKs devolves much of the responsibility and authority for implementation to California's 58 counties, increasing counties' flexibility and financial accountability in designing their welfare programs. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS)-the state agency responsible for welfare-contracted with RAND for an independent evaluation of CalWORKs to assess both the process and the impact of the legislation, at both the state and county levels.

This report examines how state welfare-to-work programs have affected young children since the 1996 welfare reform act, which moved millions of women into low-wage jobs. Researchers followed a sample of 948 mothers and young children for 2-4 years after the women entered new welfare programs in California, Connecticut, and Florida. After interviews with these mothers, assessments of their children's development, and visits to homes and child care settings, several findings emerged. Many women had moved into low-wage jobs. Though their total income had risen significantly, most still lived below the poverty line. Related measures of economic wellbeing showed little improvement. For example, almost one-fifth of mothers had recently cut the size of meals because they did not have enough money to buy more food. The magnitude of income gains was too weak to improve home environments or allow women to move to better neighborhoods. Mothers were spending less time with their children as they went out to work. They displayed twice the national rate of clinical depression. Many children had moved into new child care centers and preschools. Those who move to center-based programs displayed significantly stronger cognitive and school readiness skills than children who remained in home-based programs. Measures and national norms are appended. (Contains 150 endnotes.) (SM)

This report examines how state welfare-to-work programs have affected young children since the 1996 welfare reform act, which moved millions of women into low-wage jobs. Researchers followed a sample of 948 mothers and young children for 2-4 years after the women entered new welfare programs in California, Connecticut, and Florida. After interviews with these mothers, assessments of their children's development, and visits to homes and child care settings, several findings emerged. Many women had moved into low-wage jobs. Though their total income had risen significantly, most still lived below the poverty line. Related measures of economic wellbeing showed little improvement. For example, almost one-fifth of mothers had recently cut the size of meals because they did not have enough money to buy more food. The magnitude of income gains was too weak to improve home environments or allow women to move to better neighborhoods. Mothers were spending less time with their children as they went out to work. They displayed twice the national rate of clinical depression. Many children had moved into new child care centers and preschools. Those who move to center-based programs displayed significantly stronger cognitive and school readiness skills than children who remained in home-based programs. Measures and national norms are appended. (Contains 150 endnotes.) (SM)