Evaluation of the SB 1041 Reforms to California's CalWORKs Welfare-to-Work Program: Updated Findings Regarding Policy Implementation and Outcomes

Abstract

In June 2012, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Budget Act of 2012, which included a series of budget trailer bills, one of which-Senate Bill (SB) 1041-included significant reforms to California's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, known as CalWORKs (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids). The reforms, effective six months later (in January 2013), included changes to work requirements and the exemption for having a young child, with the goal of engaging CalWORKs welfare-to-work (WTW) clients in more-intensive work-related activities as early as possible. The reforms also provide enhanced supports to address barriers to work, offer more flexibility in work activity options, and increase incentives to work as WTW clients move toward self-sufficiency. To fully understand whether SB 1041 is achieving its objectives and whether there are any unintended consequences, the California legislature required an independent evaluation. Following a competitive bidding process, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) awarded the evaluation contract to the RAND Corporation, in partnership with the American Institutes for Research (AIR).As described in the evaluation background and study design report, the evaluation design includes five components:• The process study addresses questions related to SB 1041 implementation over time using data from interviews with state-level key informants, from annual interviews and focus groups in six focal counties (Alameda, Fresno, Los Angeles, Riverside, Sacramento, and Stanislaus), and from an annual All-County Survey (ACS) of welfare directors. • The county welfare operations impact study relies on the information gathered from the focal counties and the ACS, as well as administrative data from county welfare offices regarding program staffing, budgets, and other matters, to assess the impact of SB 1041 on multiple dimensions of county welfare office operations.• The CalWORKs WTW client status study employs CDSS welfare system administrative data to provide a series of annual snapshots of indicators for the population of CalWORKs WTW clients.• The CalWORKs WTW client tracking study likewise draws on the array of state-and county-level administrative databases to provide a series of annual summaries of the dynamics of the CalWORKs WTW caseload.• The CalWORKs WTW client impact study combines administrative data with the California Socioeconomic Survey (CalSES)-primary data collected over time for a sample of CalWORKs entrants-to investigate the impact of SB 1041 on a range of adult and child outcomes for current and former CalWORKs WTW clients. iv This second evaluation report extends the analyses in the initial evaluation report through updated findings, drawing on process study data collected in 2016, specifically the second wave of the ACS and qualitative data from interviews with county welfare office staff, focus groups with caseworkers, and interviews with CalWORKs WTW clients conducted in the six focal counties. Findings from t...