Research by Author & Topic

Publications by Nancy M. Pindus on Poverty and Safety Net

This report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, reviews existing data sources and prior research on six programs operated by the Department that provide food assistance to American Indians living on or near reservations. The purpose of the review is to help identify future research needs and opportunities to exploit administrative data systems and recurring national surveys. The programs covered are the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), the Food Stamp Program (FSP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Research topics of continuing importance include the impacts of reservation food assistance on health and nutrition, the characteristics that make nutrition education effective on reservations, the dynamics of program participation, and the contribution of tribal administration to program coordination.

American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages have embraced the goals, objectives, and programs associated with welfare reform, but the lack of jobs threatens the success of tribal programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Welfare-to-Work (WtW). Recognizing the scope and importance of this problem, the federal government has promoted business and economic development (BD/ED) in Indian country. This report describes (1) examples of BD/ED activities and the federal programs and initiatives utilized by a convenience sample of eight tribes and two Alaska Native corporations; (2) the legal, historical, and cultural context of tribal BD/ED; and (3) the challenges tribes/Native corporations face in pursuing BD/ED, as well as the promising approaches they are developing to minimize or overcome them.

This is one of several reports based on the national evaluation of the Welfare-to-Work grants program. Congress established the Welfare-to-Work (WtW) grants program as part of the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997. The three billion dollar initiative was intended to support programs, especially in high-poverty communities, to assist the least employable, most disadvantaged welfare recipients make the transition from welfare to work. These funds were also available to help low-income noncustodial parents increase their earnings and better support their children. The purpose of this report is to document how grantees have adapted as they approach or reach the ends of their WtW grant periods and how other conditions in 2002 and 2003--particularly the slow economy and any state policies related to TANF or the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)--have affected their programs. The report discusses the legacy and lessons of WtW from the perspective of grantee agency administrators in the study sites.

This is one of several reports from the congressionally mandated national evaluation of the WtW grants program. The report presents findings from the process and implementation analysis component of the evaluation, and describes the service delivery operations of programs funded with WtW grants in eleven study sites. These findings are based on information collected through two rounds of site visits in 1999 and 2001, and management information system data maintained by the programs on participants and services. Topics covered include institutional arrangements, targeting and enrollment, service delivery models, and job placement.

Welfare reform became a major priority in New York City in the 1990s. Policies were work-centered throughout, but the focus and programs evolved over time. This report describes the work components of welfare as of late 2001, but does not analyze the quality of services provided or the effect on individuals or services. Various perspectives are incorporated, including HRA administrators, managers and staff, contractors, and community representatives.

The Health Passport Project (HPP) is an initiative sponsored by the Western Governors' Association (WGA) and conducted in Bismarck, North Dakota; Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Reno, Nevada. HPP is intended to demonstrate how a secure multipurpose electronic health and food benefits card can facilitate information-sharing and improve administrative efficiency among public and private health care providers, nutrition programs, and Head Start educators while placing individuals firmly in control of the information on the card. This evaluation of the HPP demonstration is intended to provide information that decisionmakers in the three participating states need before the states invest in statewide implementation, and to provide critical information to other states considering implementing HPP or related smart card technology.

The Health Passport Project (HPP) is an initiative sponsored by the Western Governors' Association (WGA) and conducted in Bismarck, North Dakota; Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Reno, Nevada. HPP is intended to demonstrate how a secure multipurpose electronic health and food benefits card can facilitate information-sharing and improve administrative efficiency among public and private health care providers, nutrition programs, and Head Start educators while placing individuals firmly in control of the information on the card. This evaluation of the HPP demonstration is intended to provide information that decisionmakers in the three participating states need before the states invest in statewide implementation, and to provide critical information to other states considering implementing HPP or related smart card technology.

New Jersey has streamlined many aspects of its social services and income support programs and successfully implemented Work First New Jersey (WFNJ), changing the emphasis of cash assistance from education and training to immediate employment and personal responsibility. The state continues to maintain a commitment to its low-income population through a relatively generous safety net for poor families including low-income singles and families without children. New Jersey continues to operate two separate child care systems for welfare and non-welfare families. New Jersey also retained the concept of transitional child care for families exiting welfare, and recently extended the transitional period from two to three years. While resources were unavailable in New Jersey to fund all non-welfare families who applied for child care in the years after welfare reform, in July of 1999 New Jersey transferred TANF funds to eliminate existing waiting lists for non-welfare families seeking child care subsidies.

In 1996 and 1997, the Urban Institute conducted case studies in 13 states that provided a baseline for understanding changes emerging from welfare reform. This set of state updates describes changes occurring between 1996-97 and 1999-2000 based on a second set of case studies completed in 1999 and 2000. Programs covered include income support through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, employment and training supports for low-income welfare and non-welfare families, child care, and child welfare. It also looks at interactions among these programs.

This paper presents the findings of our examination of education provided to clients about transitional benefits. Under Family Independence (FI), transitional benefits are available to customers for two years after leaving the program due to earnings or reaching their time limit. A customer whose case has not been closed due to earnings or the time limit, may inform her/his caseworker that she/he no longer wishes to participate in FI, an action known as voluntary withdrawal. Customers who leave the FI program voluntarily do not qualify for transitional benefits. DSS is concerned that customers who voluntarily withdraw from the FI program might not fully understand that they are forfeiting their opportunity to receive transitional benefits.