March 26, 2008

Child and Family Policy Institute of California’s New Report on California’s Child-Only TANF Cases

Findings unveil complex challenges and call for improved welfare policies for California’s poorest and most vulnerable families

(San Francisco) - Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - Today, the Child and Family Policy Institute of California and The San Francisco Foundation host a convening of over 130 policy makers and advocates to review and discuss important findings in a recently completed study of conditions among extremely vulnerable families in CalWORKs child-only welfare cases. Study findings suggest that there are numerous obstacles or “barriers” that hinder parents from finding and maintaining employment. These employment barriers range from health problems, to lack of transportation, to lack of skills and work experience; and almost all of these families face multiple barriers.  Together, these challenges present almost insurmountable odds for certain families to enter the workforce.

The study was funded and supported by five California counties: Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Stanislaus Counties.  A related policy brief is being released tomorrow by the Child and Family Policy Institute of California, with funds provided by the Zellerbach Family Foundation.  Policy-makers, administrators, advocates, researchers, and representatives of philanthropy are participating in today's briefing at San Francisco's City Hall on "Barriers on the Path from Welfare to Work: Health, Economic, Housing, and Service Challenges Facing California’s Poorest Families.”

In 1996, the federal government replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program in order to “end the dependence of needy families on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work and marriage.”  California implemented TANF in 1997 and adopted a policy to continue providing ongoing aid to children when parents lose aid because they have exceeded the five-year life time limit for aid or have been sanctioned for not complying with work requirements.

Since that time the composition of the California welfare population has changed radically.  While at its onset the vast majority of CalWORKs cases included an aided adult, over half of CalWORKs cases now receive aid just for the children living in poverty. The policy brief addresses timed-out and sanctioned cases, about one-third of California’s child-only cases.  Timed-out cases include parents who have reached the five-year, lifetime limit on receipt of aid. Sanctioned parents are denied assistance for themselves because of non-compliance with CalWORKs program and work requirements.  Other child-only cases include citizen children whose immigrant parents are not qualified for aid, children whose parents receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, and children residing with non-parental caregivers.

To date, little research has been done on these “child-only” cases, but concerns have been raised about the well-being of both parents/caregivers and children in these households. The Child-only Study was initiated to promote sound CalWORKs policy and program, and to inform policy-makers and CalWORKs program administrators about these low-income California families.

The study examined 14 barriers, some short-term and some longer-term.  Almost all of the families in the study faced several barriers, with lack of work experience in the last three years being central to whether the parent had employment.  Current employment appears to be especially sensitive to health and interpersonal issues, as well as childcare problems and housing instability.  Barriers associated with lack of employment in the longer-term (12 months) cover a broader terrain, including educational attainment and physical health problems.  Given what is known from previous studies on aided adult cases, it is likely that the focus for policy and practice should be on the past year barriers to work, supplemented by a focus on overcoming transportation barriers.

Mike Herald, of the Western Center on Law and Poverty, stated that “With this study, policy-makers and advocates have the opportunity to consider how best to provide services and supports to these most vulnerable families.”

Frank Mecca, the Executive Director of the County Welfare Directors Association, indicated that “the timing of this report could not be more important for the debate that is currently occurring in the legislature regarding how to maintain benefits for our society’s poorest and most needy families.”

Richard Speiglman, one of the study’s authors, can speak to the research design and findings.  Stuart Oppenheim the Executive Director of the Child and Family Policy Institute and Carol Lamont, Program Officer for Community Development at The San Francisco Foundation and the moderator of today’s meeting, are available to discuss why this report is so important to the missions of their organizations.

The full report, including an executive summary, and a previous report on the characteristics of the families in Child Only cases are available at www.cfpic.org.

The Child and Family Policy Institute of California is a private non-profit organization founded in 1994 to advance the development of sound public policy and promote program excellence in county Human Services Agencies through research, education, training and technical assistance.

The San Francisco Foundation mobilizes resources and acts as a catalyst for change to build strong communities, foster civic leadership, and promote philanthropy.