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Summary

The Minnesota Tier 2 program was designed to increase workforce participation for long-term Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients who were still not working after participating in Tier 1, the existing welfare-to-work program.

Participation in Tier 2 was mandatory and could be enforced by sanctioning TANF benefits. Participants worked with Tier 2 case managers from local service providers, who had caseloads of 25 to 30 cases rather than the 75 to 100 cases of a typical Tier 1 case manager. Case managers performed detailed assessments of clients to identify the underlying challenges affecting them and their families and then referred clients to services that addressed those challenges. They also monitored participation, including through home visits.

Clients had access to education or job training programs, but were required to work 20 hours per week concurrently with participation in such programs. Clients searched for jobs for up to six weeks, and those still unemployed at the end of that period were placed in either unpaid employment or supported employment in which their paid employment was paired with job coaching or on-the-job training.

As with the Tier 1 program, participants could receive child care assistance, transportation assistance, and support in job retention and advancement. Case managers met with clients when they neared their cash assistance time limits to plan for and conduct a formal program exit. Participants received services until they secured employment and left TANF or reached the time limit on TANF benefits of 56 months.

Long-term TANF recipients were assigned to participate in Tier 2 if they had the following characteristics: had participated in Tier 1 services for 12 months, were currently unemployed and had not worked in the prior three months, were not participating in education or training, and were not currently being sanctioned. Tier 2 was implemented in Hennepin County, MN.

Populations and employment barriers: Cash assistance recipients, Long-term cash assistance recipients, Unemployed, Parents, Single parents

Effectiveness rating and effect by outcome domain

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Outcome domain Term Effectiveness rating Effect in 2018 dollars and percentages Effect in standard deviations Sample size
Increase earnings Short-term Little evidence to assess support unfavorable $-105 per year -0.005 1692
Long-term Little evidence to assess support favorable $418 per year 0.020 1691
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Increase employment Short-term Little evidence to assess support unfavorable 0% (in percentage points) -0.003 1692
Long-term Little evidence to assess support favorable 1% (in percentage points) 0.035 1691
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Decrease benefit receipt Short-term Not supported unfavorable $146 per year 0.053 1692
Long-term Little evidence to assess support unfavorable $39 per year 0.014 1691
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Increase education and training All measurement periods No evidence to assess support

Studies of this intervention

Study quality rating Study counts per rating
High High 1

Implementation details

Characteristics of research participants
Black or African American
68%
White, not Hispanic
16%
Asian
5%
American Indian or Alaska Native
7%
More than one race
1%
Unknown or not reported
7%
Hispanic or Latino of any race
2%

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