The results of a year-long Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) study showed that 35 percent of families who left cash assistance experienced a subsequent return to the program, most within six months.

The study also showed the biggest problems facing families leaving the state’s cash assistance program are related to overdue bills and not having enough food for their family. In addition, information gleaned for the study from SRS administrative data showed that families leaving the Temporary Assistance for Families (TAF) program participate at a fairly low rate in other government support programs such as Food Stamps, child care, and Medicaid. Separate studies, however, show that clients are being informed by SRS of their eligibility for the other programs.

These findings and others in the study have resulted in several new SRS policies aimed at connecting families to support services once they leave the cash assistance program. SRS will also intensify its efforts to work with other agencies to provide people on cash assistance and those who have left the program with the skills training they need to obtain and retain employment.

Since federal welfare reform began in October 1996, the number of families receiving cash assistance has dropped almost 50 percent. The number of families on cash assistance in October 1996 was 22,791, and in January, 2000, the caseload was 12,152 families. Families generally are limited to 60 months on cash assistance under federal rules.

SRS Secretary Janet Schalansky said many of those remaining on cash assistance since the caseload drop began have multiple barriers that prevent them from getting or keeping a job. And those who leave the program have similar problems.

"The study findings suggest that families involved with the cash assistance program are subject to multiple social, emotional, intellectual, and other barriers to successful, long term employment," said Schalansky. "These vulnerable clients are often unsuccessful in retaining employment or advancing in their jobs enough to rise out of poverty."

Secretary Schalansky indicated that the agency will begin augmenting the "work

first" philosophy used over the last five years with additional focus on job retention skills and training to promote job advancement. The agency will also work more with those who leave cash assistance by providing on the job coaching and mentoring and by providing more assistance in accessing programs such as Food Stamps that will help after clients leave cash assistance, she said.

"Such significant change will require program redesign to maintain contact with families after they leave cash assistance to provide services which promote job retention and long term career advancement," said Deputy Secretary Candy Shively, who leads the SRS Integrated Service Delivery division.

The SRS study involved a random sample of 809 closed TAF cases, about 5 percent of the overall TAF case closures over a 12 month period between December 1997 and November 1998. At intervals of three, six, and 12 months after case closure, a percentage of the families in the random sample were interviewed and asked about their circumstances since leaving cash assistance.

Other administrative data, including household composition, age, race, education level, and involvement with foster care, was also collected in the study. Reasons the families left cash assistance included sanctions for failing the work requirement (24 percent), not returning the monthly report form -- often because of employment (18 percent), excess earnings (16 percent), no eligible child in the home (7 percent), and sanctions for failing child support enforcement requirements (7 percent). The study was done by Quality Assurance staff within the SRS Economic and Employment Support Program.

Concerning employment, slightly more than 40 percent of the heads of households surveyed indicated they were employed, with most in sales/clerical or service occupations. About 56 percent of those working families were making $7 per hour or less one year after their case closed. Those who were unemployed most frequently mentioned health, transportation, and child care problems as barriers to employment.

The study showed that the percentage of families in the study who said they were doing better financially since their TAF case closed was higher than the percentage who said they were doing worse.

Deputy Secretary Shively said SRS will be working in partnership with the Kansas Department of Human Resources to increase the amount of skills-based training for clients, even after they have left cash assistance. Human Resources was allotted a $3 million Welfare to Work grant to help public assistance recipients move from welfare to work, and some of that funding can be used for skills-based training, transportation, and child care.

"We need to strengthen that partnership to help people retain and advance in jobs," she said. "And we need to be a more proactive ourselves with skills training to get clients into a higher level of employment."

Shively also pointed out that the just-completed study is a first step in helping the agency understand the needs of clients leaving public assistance. She said the agency will be issuing a request for bids for a more in-depth study next fiscal year.

Deputy Secretary Shively also pointed out that the findings in the Kansas study are consistent with what other states have been finding through similar studies.

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001