Sanctions in CalWORKs: A Comparative Study

This four-county study conducted in Alameda, Fresno, Kern, and San Diego addressed questions regarding the nature, frequency, and duration of sanctions, how counties implemented sanction policies, and how sanctions affected the households on which they were imposed. The study used state and county administrative data from 1999-2002, a survey conducted in the four counties in 1999, and site visits conducted in 2002.

The process study examined how the four focus counties implemented sanctions under CalWORKs, including how the counties conveyed sanction policies to recipients, how well recipients understood sanctions, recipients’ experiences with sanction and compliance processes, and how counties attempted to prevent or “cure” sanctions.

The administrative data analyses examined sanction rates, described and compared the characteristics of sanctioned and non-sanctioned households, modeled the probability that adults in households with certain characteristics living in these four counties were sanctioned over the course of 12 months, and examined how sanctions affected recipients’ employment, earnings, and reliance on welfare.

Paul Ong, Principal Investigator

Professor and Director, Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies

University of California, Los Angeles