Welfare Policy Research Project

Request for Proposals 2002:

Effects of 5-Year Time Limits in California

General Instructions

The goal of this RFP is to generate precise data for purposes of informing state and county policies and practices regarding CalWORKs recipients who have exhausted their 60-month time limit, or who are at risk of exhausting their 60-month limit.  Research funds are only available for the study of the effects of time limits on recipients of cash assistance in California.

WPRP’s advisory board is interested in both the administration and effects of 60-month limits. The successful applicant will address both, and will pay particular attention to the effects of the 60-month limit on the children and families subject to such limits.

WPRP will entertain proposals for up to three years in duration, at up to $750,000 per year, for a total of $2.25 million over three years. WPRP will NOT be able to provide additional funds for this study beyond the maximum amount cited.

General requirements:

The target population of this RFP will be limited to current or former CalWORKs families in which the adult(s) exits (or has exited) CalWORKs due to the 60-month time limit, families that have reached the 60-month limit but in which the adult(s) continues receiving aid due to an extension, or families in which any adult is within 12 months of reaching the 60-month limit. Sub-group analyses shall include one- and two-parent cases and strive, whenever possible, to include findings by ethnicity.  [For definitions of terms, please see NOTES below.]

The successful applicant shall:

· attempt to isolate the effects of the 60-month time limit on the target population;

· consider using multiple research strategies and appropriate statistical techniques, including but not limited to: reviewing and analyzing state and county administrative data, case records, and other pertinent documents; linking various administrative data records; conducting a panel study to collect original survey data; conducting interviews with representative samples of the target population and other key informants (e.g., county caseworkers); and observing site operations;

· develop a sampling strategy to collect baseline information from a representative sample of the target population and to survey that cohort (and any succeeding cohorts) at least once more over the 24 month period following the imposition of the 60-month limit;

· specify the data sources to be used for each RFP question addressed;

· specify participating counties, including a mix of urban and rural counties that are representative of the State of California and at least one county with double-digit unemployment;

· supply letters of support from appropriate state and county agencies, elected officials, and/or official state or county associations; and

· consider recent findings from credible time limit and “welfare leaver” studies and indicate how these findings influence the research design being submitted

RFP Questions

NOTE: The terms “family” and “case” are used interchangeably to refer to the CalWORKs-assisted unit in the months before the adult reaches the 60-month limit, and to refer to the same individuals after the adult has exhausted the time limit. The term “household” refers to those individuals sharing a housing unit. The household and the family or case may be identical, but a household may also include (or come to include) individuals not part of the family or case.

NOTE: The term “extension” refers to granting adult recipients additional months of CalWORKs cash assistance beyond the 60-month limit, while the term “exemption” (or “clock stopper”) refers to months not counted toward an adult recipient’s 60-month limit.

NOTE: The phrase “within 12 months of reaching the 60-month time limit” refers to the subset of families in which the adult(s) has accumulated at least 48 months of CalWORKs cash aid.

NOTE: The phrase “exit due to the 60-month time limit” is used to describe the administrative impact of time limits on the families that encounter them.

1. What do recipients within 12 months of their 60-month time limit understand about the time limit?

• What do these recipients understand about the 60-month limit, and where did they obtain this information? Information should include, but need not be limited to:

- Do these recipients understand that these 60-month limits exist?

- Do they understand what happens when these time limits are imposed (i.e., that only the adult’s share of the grant is reduced)?

- What do these recipients understand about their own families’ time limit situations, including the time they have remaining and whether they believe their grants will be reduced; and any extensions and/or exemptions (“clock stoppers”) for which they might qualify?

- Do they understand that there are services for which time-limited adults and their families may continue to qualify?

2. How are recipients within 12 months of their 60-month time limit preparing for the time limit?

Information should include, but need not be limited to:

• Are unemployed recipients seeking traditional (and/or non-traditional) employment?
• Are recipients working part-time seeking to increase the amount of traditional (and/or non-traditional) employment they already have?
• Are working recipients seeking better-paid employment? If so, how (e.g., engaging in education, upgrading skills, job search, etc.)?
• Are recipients re-locating (to areas with lower living costs, areas with lower unemployment rates, other states)?
• Are recipients changing their living arrangements (e.g., moving in with relatives or friends)?
• Are recipients changing their household composition (e.g., getting married, relocating children outside the home)?
• Are recipients using other public or private programs or other support systems (e.g. SSI, churches, food banks, child support enforcement, intra-family support, etc.)?
• Are recipients cycling off cash assistance (now or in the past) in order to conserve or bank time on aid? Do cycling patterns change as they near the 60-month limit?

3. What are the demographic characteristics of families at the point they hit the 60-month time limit? How do the characteristics of these families compare to the balance of the target population, and to the general caseload (exclusive of the target population)? How do these vary by county?

Information should include, but need not be limited to:

· case type (one-parent, two-parent),

· family size,

· age, gender, and race/ethnicity of family head,

· primary language spoken in home,

· employment status,

· court order for child support and amount received,

· educational attainment of family head,  and to the extent possible:

· country of origin and citizenship status,

· physical health,

· mental health,

· learning disabilities,

· substance abuse, and

· domestic violence.

4. How are families in which the adult has exhausted the 60-month time limit affected? How do family effects vary by county?

• How does labor force behavior change after exhausting the 60-month limit?

- Do unemployed adults obtain employment? Of those who obtain employment, how many are working up to 20 hours per week, between 21 and 34 hours per week, and 35 or more house per week?

- Do working adults increase their employment (e.g., hours of work)?

- Do working adults seek better-paid work? If yes, how (e.g., engaging in training, job search)?

- Do unemployed adults remain purposefully unemployed? If so, does the adult find the child-only benefit (along with other sources of income) sufficient to meet the family’s needs?

• How does total household income (both cash and in-kind) change after exhausting the 60-month limit? What are the sources of all cash and in-kind income? Information should include, but need not be limited to:

- earnings from all sources,

- non-wage income from all sources (e.g., alimony, interest income),

- child support enforcement,

- intra-family transfers (e.g., including in-kind housing support),

- other public or private income maintenance programs (including both means- and non means-tested benefits), and

- other public or private support services and subsidies (including Food Stamps, child care, transportation, housing, and EITC).

• How does the status of children and adults in families change after exhausting the 60-month limit? The study should strive to collect, but need not be limited to, the following information:

- household composition (e.g., marriage, child-bearing),

- living arrangements (e.g., quality of housing, doubling-up, becoming homeless),

- ability to pay utility bills,

- incidence of food insecurity,

- children’s living arrangements (e.g., children moving out of home),

- children’s academic performance,

- adults’ and children’s involvement with the child welfare system,

- adults’ and children’s physical and mental health,

- adults’ and/or children’s incidence of substance abuse,

- adults’ and/or children’s involvement with the criminal justice system, and

- incidence of domestic violence (perpetrated on a family member from within or without the household).

• What income supports and services do families that exhaust the 60-month limit use? Are there services that these families are eligible for, but not using? If so, why? Information should include, but need not be limited to:

- child care subsidies,

- child support enforcement,

- domestic violence counseling,

- EITC,

- health care and mental health services,

- housing assistance,

- job search, adult education and training, employment retention and advancement services (funded through the Department of Social Services and/or Department of Labor/Workforce Investment Boards),

- nutrition assistance,

- substance abuse treatment,

- transportation assistance,

- Unemployment Insurance, and

- other services provided through community-based organizations.

• Are adults and/or children in families that exhaust the 60-month limit enrolled in Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, or private health insurance programs (including dental and vision programs)? Are there health insurance programs that family members are eligible for, but not using? If so, why?

5. How are counties preparing for the 60-month time limit?

• How are counties determining the number of months used and the number of months remaining for recipients on aid prior to the imposition of the 60-month limit?  How do tracking methods vary by county?
• Are counties able to use the Welfare Data Tracking Implementation Project (WDTIP) database effectively to track recipients’ time limit clocks, as well as extensions or exemptions received, across counties?
• What are counties doing to prepare all recipients for the 60-month limit? How does this vary by county?

- How are counties informing adults about the 60-month limit? Are they providing language-appropriate information? How often do they provide information?

- How do they provide the information (e.g., orientation sessions, follow-up meetings with caseworkers, by letter, etc.)?

- How specific is the information provided (e.g., the number of months remaining, possible exemptions, how extensions might apply, etc.)?

• Are counties encouraging recipients to cycle off cash assistance in order to conserve or bank their time on aid? Are they helping recipients obtain services intended to assist them in conserving their months on aid (e.g., child support enforcement, EITC, etc.)?
• Are counties helping recipients within 12 months of their 60-month time limit and recipients who have reached the 60-month time limit obtain income supports and welfare-to-work services that are not time-limited? How does this vary by county? What are the sources of these services, and how are they funded? Information should include, but need not be limited to:

1. child care subsidies,

2. child support enforcement,

3. domestic violence counseling,

4. EITC,

5. health care and mental health services,

6. housing assistance,

7. job search, adult education and training, employment retention and advancement services (funded through the Department of Social Services and/or Department of Labor/Workforce Investment Boards),

8. nutrition assistance,

9. substance abuse treatment,

10. transportation assistance,

11. Unemployment Insurance, and

12. other services provided through community-based organizations.

• Are counties converting families within 12 months of their 60-month limit to disability programs (e.g., Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income) or to child-only CalWORKs cases at increased rates? How does this vary by county?

6. How does imposing the 60-month time limit affect the CalWORKs caseload?

• By month, what is the number/percentage of families in which adults exhaust their 60-month limit between January and December 2003? How does this percentage evolve over time? How does this vary by county?
• Of time-limited adults, how many are employed when they exit CalWORKs, but have child-only cases remaining on aid?  How many time-limited adults are employed and exit CalWORKs with their entire families and remain entirely off cash aid for at least 12 months?
• Of time-limited adults, how many are unemployed when they exit CalWORKs, but have child-only cases remaining on aid? How many time-limited adults are unemployed and exit CalWORKs with their entire families and remain entirely off cash aid for at least 12 months?
• Do time-limited families in which the children remain on aid differ significantly from time-limited families in which the entire family exits CalWORKs? Key comparisons should include, but need not be limited to:  income, marriage rates, ethnicity, citizenship status, principal language, changes in household composition, and relocating (e.g., from higher- to lower-cost areas).

- If increased income is the reason an entire family exits, what are the sources and relative shares of income (e.g., adult’s earnings, earnings subsidies such as EITC, child support, other household income, other non time-limited benefits)? How do these sources of income differ for families in which the adult exits, but children remain on aid?

7. How are counties implementing the 60-month time limit?

• Extensions – How do counties determine which CalWORKs adults receive extensions beyond their 60-month limits?

- Do counties vary in the way they grant these extensions?

- How long do extensions typically last?

- Does the duration of the extensions vary by case type (one- or two-parent) or family characteristics? (See Question 3 for a list of characteristics.)

- By county, what are the demographic characteristics of the adults and their families granted extensions beyond the 60-month limit?

- Do intra-county practices vary over time? If so, how?

• Exemptions – How do counties determine which CalWORKs adults receive exemptions (“clock stoppers”)?

- Do counties vary in the way they grant these exemptions?

- How long do exemptions typically last?

- Does the duration of the exemptions vary by case type (one- or two-parent) or family characteristics? (See Question 3 for a list of characteristics.)

-  By county, what are the demographic characteristics of the adults and their families granted exemptions?

- Do intra-county practices vary over time? If so, how?

Overview of BPA’s Time-Limit Reports and Data Sources

Report	Research Questions Addressed	Data Sources Used
		Recipient Survey	All-County Implemen-tation Survey	Admin. Data Analysis	County Field Research/ Staff Survey
I	1. What do recipients within 12 months of their 60-month time limit understand about the time limit?				√
	2. How are recipients within 12 months of their 60-month time limit preparing for the time limit?				√
	5. How are counties preparing for the 60-month time limit?		√		√
	7. How are counties implementing the 60-month time limit?		√		√
II	1. Update: What do recipients within 12 months of their 60-month time limit understand about the time limit?	√
	2. Update: How are recipients within 12 months of their 60-month time limit preparing for the time limit?	√
	3. What are the demographic characteristics of families at the point they hit the 60-month time limit? How do the characteristics of these families compare to the balance of the target population, and to the general caseload? How do these vary by county?	√		√
	6. How does imposing the 60-month time limit affect the CalWORKs caseload?	√		√
III	1. Update: What do recipients within 12 months of their 60-month time limit understand about the time limit?	√			√
	2. Update: How are recipients within 12 months of their 60-month time limit preparing for the time limit?	√			√
	3. Update: What are the demographic characteristics of families at the point they hit the 60-month time limit? How do the characteristics of these families compare to the balance of the target population, and to the general caseload? How do these vary by county?	√		√
	4. How are families in which the adult has exhausted the 60-month time limit affected? How do family effects vary by county?	√		√	√
	6. Update: How does imposing the 60-month time limit affect the CalWORKs caseload?	√	√	√
	7. Update: How are counties implementing the 60-month time limit?		√		√
	8. Does the 60-month time limit affect child welfare (child abuse and foster care placement rates)?	√		√	√