Study Details | Pathways to Work

3172.3172.04-Welfare Restructurin

Study quality: High

High

Reason for the rating: This study received a high study quality rating because it is a low-attrition randomized controlled trial with no known issues that suggest the findings cannot be attributed to the intervention.

Intervention: Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP) (as compared with WRP Incentives Only)

Population and employment barriers:

Cash assistance recipients, Parents

Services provided:

Training, Work and work-based learning (Subsidized employment, Work experience), Work readiness activities (Job development/job placement, Job search assistance)

Setting: Tested in multiple settings

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

From July 1994 to December 1996, evaluators randomly assigned applicants for welfare cash assistance in Vermont to one of three groups: the WRP group (60 percent), the WRP Incentives Only group (20 percent), or the Aid to Needy Families with Children (ANFC) group (20 percent). Those already receiving welfare payments during that period were also eligible for the program and were randomly assigned into one of the three conditions at their semiannual eligibility review. Nearly all households applying for or already receiving cash assistance were eligible for random assignment; staff eventually determined that some clients were exempt from the WRP work requirement. Some analyses were conducted using a full statewide sample, whereas others focused on individuals in 6 of Vermont's 12 districts (termed the research districts). This review only considers the comparison of the WRP group to the WRP Incentives Only group for two-parent households with an unemployed parent. Other reviews on this site examine the WRP Incentives Only group or the experiences of other types of households.

Time period of study:

Applicants were randomly assigned in July 1994 through December 1996 and were followed for six years after random assignment.

Primary outcome domains examined:

Increase short-term earnings, Increase long-term earnings, Increase very long-term earnings, Increase short-term employment, Increase long-term employment, Increase very long-term employment, Decrease short-term benefit receipt, Decrease long-term benefit receipt, Decrease very long-term benefit receipt

Other outcome domains examined:

Housing, Nutrition, Financial assets, Family formation, Child well-being

Study funded by:

The state of Vermont, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ford Foundation funded the evaluation of the program.

Results

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Outcome domain	Measure	Timing	Study quality by finding	Comparison group mean	Intervention group mean	Impact	Units	Sample size
Increase short-term earnings	Quarterly earnings	Quarter 6	High	3,162.00	3,119.00	-43.00	1996 dollars	1,322
Increase long-term earnings	Average quarterly earnings of both parents, follow-up period	Quarters 1–14	High	3,265.00	3,259.00	-6.00	1997 dollars	2,143
Increase long-term earnings	Average quarterly earnings of other parent, follow-up period	Quarters 1–14	High	1,005.00	1,014.00	9.00	1997 dollars	2,143
Increase long-term earnings	Average quarterly earnings of principal earner, follow-up period	Quarters 1–14	High	2,260.00	2,238.00	-22.00	1997 dollars	2,143
Increase very long-term earnings	Average quarterly earnings of both parents, follow-up period	Quarters 1–24	High	3,265.00	3,259.00	-6.00	1998 dollars	2,143
Increase very long-term earnings	Average quarterly earnings of other parent, follow-up period	Quarters 1–24	High	1,005.00	1,014.00	9.00	1998 dollars	2,143
Increase very long-term earnings	Average quarterly earnings of principal earner, follow-up period	Quarters 1–24	High	2,260.00	2,238.00	-22.00	1998 dollars	2,143
Increase short-term employment	Ever employed, quarterly	Quarter 6	High	70.90	73.00	2.10	percentage points	1,322
Increase long-term employment	Either parent employed, quarterly	Quarter 14	High	74.40	75.00	0.60	percentage points	2,143
Increase long-term employment	Other parent employed, quarterly	Quarter 14	High	47.70	48.60	0.90	percentage points	2,143
Increase long-term employment	Principal parent employed, quarterly	Quarter 14	High	59.80	59.30	-0.50	percentage points	2,143
Increase very long-term employment	Either parent employed, quarterly	Quarter 24	High	74.40	75.00	0.60	percentage points	2,143
Increase very long-term employment	Other parent employed, quarterly	Quarter 24	High	47.70	48.60	0.90	percentage points	2,143
Increase very long-term employment	Principal parent employed, quarterly	Quarter 24	High	59.80	59.30	-0.50	percentage points	2,143
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Amount of cash assistance, quarterly	Quarter 6	High	634.00	578.00	-56.00	1996 dollars	1,322
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Amount of Food Stamps/SNAP benefits, quarterly	Quarter 6	High	437.00	406.00	-31.00	1996 dollars	1,322
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Received cash assistance, quarterly	Quarter 6	High	42.40	42.90	0.50	percentage points	1,322
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Received Food Stamps/SNAP, quarterly	Quarter 6	High	63.10	60.50	-2.60	percentage points	1,322
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Average quarterly amount of cash assistance, follow-up period	Quarters 1–14	High	592.00	521.00	-71.00	1997 dollars	2,143
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Average quarterly amount of Food Stamps/SNAP benefits, follow-up period	Quarters 1–14	High	403.00	377.00	-26.00	1997 dollars	2,143
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Received cash assistance, follow-up period	Quarters 1–14	High	79.60	80.30	0.70	percentage points	2,143
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Received Food Stamps/SNAP, follow-up period	Quarters 1–14	High	90.20	91.00	0.80	percentage points	2,143
Decrease very long-term benefit receipt	Average quarterly amount of cash assistance payments, follow-up period	Quarters 1–24	High	592.00	521.00	-71.00	1998 dollars	2,143
Decrease very long-term benefit receipt	Average quarterly amount of Food Stamps/SNAP benefits, follow-up period	Quarters 1–24	High	403.00	377.00	-26.00	1998 dollars	2,143
Decrease very long-term benefit receipt	Received cash assistance, follow-up period	Quarters 1–24	High	79.60	80.30	0.70	percentage points	2,143
Decrease very long-term benefit receipt	Received Food Stamps/SNAP, follow-up period	Quarters 1–24	High	90.20	91.00	0.80	percentage points	2,143

Short-term outcomes are those measured 18 months or fewer after participants are first offered services. Long-term outcomes are those measured between 18 months and 5 years after participants are first offered services. Very long-term outcomes are those measured 5 years or more after participants are first offered services.

Findings quality key:

High
Moderate

Study quality terms?

The findings quality describe our confidence that a given study’s finding is because of the intervention. We do not display findings that rate low.

Findings key:

A moderate-to-large favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large favorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that might be due to chance
A favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A favorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that might be due to chance
An unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
An unfavorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size or direction
A finding of no effect that might be due to chance

Favorable findings are impacts in a direction that is socially desirable. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a study finding is due to the intervention, rather than due to chance. Findings are described as moderate-to-large if the intervention produced a sufficiently large change in the outcome. An impact receives this designation if the standardized effect size is equal to or greater than 0.25 or equal to or less than -0.25.

Sample characteristics

For the six research districts only, 70 percent of the overall sample of families with two able-bodied parents was married and living with their spouse. About one quarter (28 percent) of the overall sample had no earnings for the 12 months before random assignment. More than half (58 percent) of the overall sample had a child younger than 3.

Family status

Parents

100%

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were unemployed	100%
Were eligible for or receiving cash assistance	100%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

Vermont state ANFC (state Aid to Families with Dependent Children agency)

Program history:

The program began under a waiver from federal welfare laws before passage of the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The Vermont state legislature approved the program in January 1994, and the program and the study began in July 1994.

Intervention services:

The WRP required that the primary earner in two-parent families with an unemployed parent immediately participate in Reach Up (Vermont's voluntary welfare-to-work program), and that the primary earner accept any employment offered. In Reach Up, a case manager assessed participants' work readiness, prepared an employment plan, and encouraged them to enroll in education or training. Parents were offered job search activities that included job search classes (one or two per week) and meetings with a case manager. After 15 months of receiving welfare payments, the principal earner had to have a full-time job; otherwise, the state placed that parent in subsidized, minimum-wage Community Service Employment. The individual could engage in education or training activities at any time by enrolling in the full Reach Up program. The program also included incentives to encourage and reward work, such as offering up to three years of Medicaid coverage and transitional child care assistance for parents who transitioned from welfare to work, and enhancing the amount of earnings disregarded when determining the welfare benefit level. If a parent did not adhere to the work requirement, the state used the parent’s cash assistance grant to pay the household’s bills and required the parent to attend three meetings per month at the welfare office. Parents had to meet these new requirements for the state to restore their cash assistance.

Mandatory services:

Participants were mandated to complete a work requirement. If they failed to comply, the state of Vermont would take control of their cash assistance, and participants would be required to attend three meetings per month. Participants would lose their benefits if they failed to attend the meetings.

Comparison services:

The comparison group, referred to as the WRP Incentives Only group, received the same financial incentives for work as the WRP group but did not face the work requirement.

Service receipt duration:

There was no limit on participants' receipt of cash assistance. Those in the WRP group were required to have a parent working after receiving cash assistance for 30 months. Those who did not meet the work requirement could still receive cash assistance, but the state took control of the grant to pay participants' bills.

Intervention funding:

Vermont Department of Social Welfare (later called the Department of Prevention, Assistance, Transition, and Health Access)

Study publications

Bloom, Dan, Charles Michalopoulos, Johanna Walter, and Patricia Auspos (1998). WRP: Implementation and early impacts of Vermont's Welfare Restructuring Project, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Hendra, Richard, and Charles Michalopoulos (1999). Forty-two-month impacts of Vermont's Welfare Restructuring Project, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Scrivener, Susan, Richard Hendra, Cindy Redcross, Dan Bloom, Charles Michalopoulos, and Johanna Walter (2002). WRP: Final report on Vermont's Welfare Restructuring Project, Waterbury, VT: Vermont Department of Prevention, Assistance, Transition, and Health Access. Available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/vt_report.pdf.

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

The Pathways Clearinghouse refers to interventions by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some intervention names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.

Study of Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP) (as compared with WRP Incentives Only)—Two-Parent Households with an Unemployed Parent