Study Details | Pathways to Work

1004-The Family Transitio

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: Family Transition Program

Population and employment barriers:

Parents (Single parents)

Services provided:

Case management, Education, Financial incentives, Health services, Sanctions, Supportive services, Training, Work and work-based learning (Unpaid work experience, Work experience)

Setting: Tested in multiple settings

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

People applying or recertifying for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) first went through an interview with FTP staff and completed some background surveys. Individuals were then randomly assigned to the FTP or AFDC conditions. People who met the following conditions were exempt from participating in the study: incapacitated or disabled adults; individuals younger than 18 years of age, attending school, or working 30 hours or more a week; adults caring full time for disabled dependents; parents with children 6 months or younger; recipients 62 years old or older; and caretaker relatives with needs not included in the grant. This study reports on the 2,176 single-parent AFDC applicants randomly assigned from May 1994 through December 1994.

Time period of study:

This study reported the results of a 15-month follow-up (for employment and earnings data, an 18-month follow-up (for AFDC and Food Stamps data), and a 60-month follow-up (for earnings, AFDC, and Food stamps data) for single parents randomly assigned to research groups from May 1994 through December 1994.

Primary outcome domains examined:

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

Other outcome domains examined:

Housing, Nutrition, Parenting and co-parenting, Family Formation, Couple relationships, Child well-being, Financial assets

Study funded by:

The Florida Department of Children and Families, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ford Foundation funded the evaluation.

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	Annual earnings	Year 1	High	2,519.00	2,758.00	239.00	1996 dollars	2,815
Increase long-term earnings	Annual earnings	Years 1–4	High	4,640.00	5,207.00	567.00	1996 dollars	2,815
Increase long-term earnings	Monthly earnings	Month 50	High	586.00	654.00	68.00	1996 dollars	1,729
Increase short-term employment	Ever employed, Quarter 6	Quarter 6	High	41.90	49.20	7.30	percentage points	2,815
Increase short-term employment	Number of quarters employed, Year 1	Year 1	High	1.60	1.70	0.10	quarters	2,815
Increase long-term employment	Ever employed, Quarter 18	Quarter 18	High	49.70	48.00	-1.70	percentage points	2,815
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Amount of AFDC/TANF benefits, annual	Year 1	High	1,990.00	1,981.00	-9.00	1996 dollars	2,815
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Amount of Food Stamps/SNAP benefits, annual	Year 1	High	2,292.00	2,129.00	-163.00	1996 dollars	2,815
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Received AFDC/TANF, annual	Year 1	High	81.10	81.90	0.80	percentage points	2,815
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Received Food Stamps/SNAP, annual	Year 1	High	88.60	89.00	0.40	percentage points	2,815
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Amount of AFDC/TANF benefits, annual	Year 4	High	549.00	272.00	-277.00	1996 dollars	2,815
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Amount of AFDC/TANF benefits, monthly	Month 50	High	52.00	20.00	-32.00	1996 dollars	1,729
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Amount of Food Stamps/SNAP benefits, annual	Year 4	High	1,122.00	1,084.00	-38.00	1996 dollars	2,815
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Amount of Food Stamps/SNAP benefits, monthly	Month 50	High	117.00	110.00	-7.00	1996 dollars	1,729
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Amount of SSI payments, monthly	Month 50	High	56.00	58.00	2.00	1996 dollars	1,729
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Received AFDC/TANF, annual	Year 4	High	31.50	19.90	-11.60	percentage points	2,815
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Received Food Stamps/SNAP, annual	Year 4	High	59.10	48.80	-10.30	percentage points	2,815

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

The study examined only single parents. Most people in the study were women (97 percent) with an average of two children, and the average age was 29 to 30 years. About 52 percent were Black and not Hispanic, and about 45 percent were White and not Hispanic. More than half (60 percent) had at least a GED, and almost 91 percent had worked at some point. The sample had slightly more applicants of AFDC (52 percent) than recipients (48 percent).

Age

Mean age

29 years

Sex

Female	97%
Male	3%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	52%
White	45%
Unknown, not reported, or other	2%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	1%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

Family status

Married	24%
Parents	100%
Single parents	100%

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were eligible for or receiving cash assistance

48%

Participant education

Had some postsecondary education	6%
Had a high school diploma or GED	61%
Did not have a high school diploma or GED	39%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

The Florida Department of Children and Families (formerly the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services)

Program history:

The program began operating in the same year the study began. It was the first program in the United States that cancelled welfare benefits for families that had reached a time limit.

Intervention services:

The FTP had four major components. First, most participants were limited to 24 months of cash assistance receipt in any 60-month period. (Some groups had a limit of 36 months in any 72-month period.) Second, participants had financial incentives to work. (For instance, the first $200 plus half of remaining earnings were disregarded from a family’s welfare grant calculation; families were allowed to accumulate more assets without losing their benefit eligibility; and transitional child care was available for two years after recipients left welfare.) Third, FTP offered enhanced services such as case management, enhanced employment and training services, adult education, unpaid work experience, social and health services, child care, and support services. Finally, FTP required parents to ensure that their school-age children attended school regularly, to talk with their children’s teachers each grading period, and to begin any necessary immunizations.

Mandatory services:

Although services were mandatory, relative to the comparison group, the intervention group had fewer exemptions from welfare-services participation mandates. In addition, participants were required to ensure that their school-age children attended school regularly, talk to their teachers each grading period, and begin any necessary immunizations or their grants would be reduced.

Comparison services:

The comparison group received traditional AFDC services and thus was subject to the AFDC rules that existed before FTP was implemented. The comparison group received fewer enriched employment and training services than the FTP group.

Service receipt duration:

Most recipients were limited to 24 months of AFDC receipt in any 60-month period after entering FTP. (Some disadvantaged recipients had a limit of 36 months of receipt in any 72-month period). Subsidized transitional child care was provided for two years after recipients left welfare for work.

Intervention funding:

Florida Department of Children and Families (formerly the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services)

Cost information:

The average cost of providing the intervention was $17,232 per participant. The average cost of providing comparison group services was $6,222 per person. The net intervention cost, or difference between the two, was $11,010 per person. This represents how much more it cost to provide intervention services compared to comparison services.

These figures are based on cost information reported by study authors. The Pathways Clearinghouse converted that information to a single amount expressed in 2018 dollars; for details, see the FAQ. This information is not an official price tag or guarantee.

Study publications

Bloom, Dan, James J. Kemple, and Robin Rogers-Dillon (1997). The Family Transition Program: Implementation and early impacts of Florida's initial time-limited welfare program, New York: MDRC. Available at https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED407606.

Bloom, Dan, James J. Kemple, Pamela Morris, Susan Scrivener, Nandita Verma, Richard Hendra, Diana Adams-Ciardullo, David Seith, and Johanna Walter (2000). Final report on Florida’s initial time-limited welfare program, New York: MDRC. Available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/resource/the-family-transition-program-final-report-on-floridas-initial-time.

Bloom, Dan, Mary Farrell, James J. Kemple, and Nandita Verma (1998). The Family Transition Program: Implementation and interim impacts of Florida's initial time-limited welfare program, New York: MDRC. Available at https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/full_560.pdf.

Bloom, Dan, Mary Farrell, James J. Kemple, and Nandita Verma (1999). The Family Transition Program: Implementation and three-year impacts of Florida's initial time-limited welfare program, New York: MDRC. Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED430105.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 Family Transition Program (FTP)