The Minnesota Integrated Services Project

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Abstract

The Minnesota Integrated Services Projects focus on improving the delivery of employment, health, and social services to families who receive cash assistance and have serious or multiple barriers to employment. Operating in eight sites, the project seeks to provide comprehensive assessments of participants' barriers, improve access to more complete services that address multiple needs, and coordinate services provided by multiple service systems. This is the final report in an evaluation of the project and describes the changes in the economic outcomes and family-related outcomes of ISP participants over a two-year period, provides estimates of the relationship between ISP participation and participants’ employment and MFIP outcomes, and provides conclusions and policy recommendations.

Introduction

The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996 set the course for a work-oriented welfare system by establishing the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, requiring many welfare recipients to enter the labor market and imposing a lifetime limit on cash assistance of 60 months. In the wake of these reforms, policymakers and program operators have a renewed interest in what kinds of services and supports are best able to help long-term welfare recipients find and keep jobs. Despite advances in the development of programs that help recipients find jobs, a significant portion of the welfare caseload remains on the rolls for long periods either not working or working sporadically. Many of those who remain on welfare have multiple barriers to employment that make it difficult to successfully move from welfare to work. Because of its wide-ranging needs, this population is often involved in multiple but uncoordinated service delivery systems.

In 2005, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) initiated a new effort that seeks to address the needs of long-term cash assistance recipients in the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), many of whom are in danger of reaching their time limit on cash assistance benefits. To this end, DHS provided grants to eight sites to address the multiple needs of longterm MFIP recipients. Reflecting its focus on bringing together multiple service systems to address the needs of this population, the project is known as the Minnesota Integrated Services Project (ISP). ISP aims to improve both economic and family-related outcomes for this population by increasing access to more comprehensive services that address multiple needs, coordinating services provided by multiple service systems, and focusing on the needs of both adults and children in the household.

This paper is the final report in an ongoing evaluation of the Minnesota ISP funded by the McKnight Foundation and DHS, focusing on the changes in employment, earnings, and MFIP receipt of ISP participants in each site over a two-year follow-up period. This chapter of the report provides an overview of the ISP and sites and projects included in the initiative. Chapter II provides a description of each of the ISP programs including key partners, target group, demographic and barrier-related characteristics of ISP participants, services provided, and overall implementation experiences. Chapter III discusses changes in employment, earnings, MFIP receipt and family-related outcomes for ISP participants. Chapter IV summarizes key findings for each ISP site. Chapter V provides a conclusion and recommendations for moving forward.

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