cover image: Reforming Welfare and Rewarding Work: Final Report on the Minnesota Family Investment Program. Volume 1: Effects on Adults [and] Volume 2: Effects on Children.

Reforming Welfare and Rewarding Work: Final Report on the Minnesota Family Investment Program. Volume 1: Effects on Adults [and] Volume 2: Effects on Children.

The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) began in 1994 as a major welfare initiative that differed from the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) by featuring the following elements: financial incentives to work; participation requirements for long-term welfare recipients; and simplification of welfare rules and procedures. In volume 1, MFIP's effects on adults were evaluated as part of a comprehensive evaluation during which the program's impacts on 14,639 randomly assigned participants and a subsample of 3,245 participants were examined through a review of baseline characteristics and administrative records data and a 36-month survey of the subsample. MFIP proved more effective than AFDC in terms of the employment and earnings gains achieved by one-parent and two-parent families. (One hundred thirteen tables/figures are included. The following items are among the items appended: an evaluation of STRIDE in Hennepin County; data on participants' knowledge of programs and perception of benefit time limits; an evaluation of the food stamps only group; discussions of data issues and a survey response analysis; data on quarterly impacts on employment, earnings, and welfare benefits; a discussion of the effects of participation on two-parent families; and estimated net gains and losses for members of the Child Outcomes Sample. The bibliography lists 76 references. In Volume 2, MFIP's impacts on children from 1,900 families participating in MFIP were examined through a review of baseline characteristics and administrative records data and a 36-month client survey. Compared with children in AFDC, children in MFIP exhibited fewer behavioral problems and did better in school. Mothers in MFIP were more likely to work and had higher incomes. Children in MFIP were more likely to be placed in child care and have continuous health insurance coverage. Mothers in MFIP were more likely to marry and less likely to experience domestic abuse. (Seventy-one tables/figures are included. The following items are appended: major differences in rules under the AFDC; a response analysis of MFIP's 36-month survey; details about the construction of child and family outcomes; MFIP's effects on children in all counties and rural counties; MFIP's effects on selected child outcomes for all children in the evaluation; and a summary of MFIP's impacts converted into size effects. The bibliography lists 105 references.) (MN)

Authors

Miller, Cynthia, Knox, Virginia, Gennetian, Lisa A., Dodoo, Martey, Hunter, Jo Anna, Redcross, Cindy

Authorizing Institution
Manpower Demonstration Research Corp., New York, NY.
Laws Policies and Programs
Aid to Families with Dependent Children
Location
Minnesota
Peer Reviewed
F
Publication Type
Reports - Evaluative
Published in
United States of America
Sponsor
['Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC.', 'Minnesota State Dept. of Human Services, St. Paul.', 'Ford Foundation, New York, NY.', 'Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.', 'Mott (C.S.) Foundation, Flint, MI.', 'Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD.', 'McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis, MN.', 'Northwest Area Foundation, St. Paul, MN.']

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