WPRI Report:
Ten
Years of Welfare Reform:
Five
Ways to Fix W-2
By David Dodenhoff
(Continued)
1. Carrie Antlfinger, "W-2 Reviews Mixed But Generally Good," Wisconsin State Journal, May 1, 2005, p. F1, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/nllsa
2. Steve Schultze, "Critics recommend overhaul of W-2," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 28, 2005; available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/qdrs9
3. State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, "Wisconsin Works (W-2) Background, Philosophy, and Goals," available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/lbwcr
4. Department of Workforce Development, Division of Workforce Solutions, Administrator's Memo Number 04-16, July 14, 2004, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/f3uym
5. Department of Workforce Development news release, "Wisconsin Works is Working," March 14, 2006, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/fes4a
6. In the welfare context, little research has been done on the association between job quality and the time allowed for job search. Such research has been done, however, in the area of unemployment benefits. While the results are not entirely consistent, a number of studies have shown that more generous unemployment benefits (which allow for a longer period of job search) result in the unemployed finding higher quality jobs. See, for example, Arlene Holen, "Effects of Unemployment Insurance Entitlement on Duration and Job Search Outcome," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 1977, Vol. 30 (4), 445-450; Daron Acemoglu and Robert Shimer, "Productivity Gains from Unemployment Insurance," European Economic Review, 2000, Vol. 44 (7) - June, 1995-1224; and Mario Centeno and Alvaro A. Novo, "The Impact of Unemployment Insurance on the Job Match Quality: A Quantile Regression Approach," Empirical Economics, 2006, Vol. 31 (4),November, 905-919. Allowing for a longer period of job search would, of course, result in higher initial program costs. Welfare recipients who find higher quality jobs, however, are more likely to stay employed and are less likely, therefore, to return to welfare. (See Heather Boushey, "Staying employed after welfare," Economic Policy Institute Briefing Paper #128, June 2002.) Any added costs of a longer job search period should, therefore, be more than offset by lower levels of welfare recidivism.
7. David Dodenhoff, Wisconsin Works: Only Work Should Pay, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Report, Volume 16, Number 7, October 2003, p. 8.
8. See: http://tinyurl.com/myzuk
9. See "Basic Education Activities" in Appendix B to the 2006-2009 W-2 agency contract, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/jveo3
10. David Dodenhoff, Road to Nowhere: Education and Training Under Wisconsin Works, Wisconsin Policy Institute Research Report, Volume 18, Number 3, April 2005, p. 2.
11. Dodenhoff, Only Work Should Pay, p. 3.
12. State of Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau, An Evaluation: Wisconsin Works (W-2) Program, Report 05-06, April 2005, p.28, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/hw89p
13. Ibid., p. 27
14. See Ibid., p. 21, and State of Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau, An Evaluation: Wisconsin Works (W-2) Program, Report 01-7, April 2001, p. 14, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/qf5uf
15. Source: Author's calculation based on published caseload data (see http://tinyurl.com/zr87b) and 2004/2005 final performance standards results, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/plgq3
16. Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, press release, September 20, 2002, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/s4ztc
17. Carol W. Medaris, "Education: The Missing Piece of the 'Welfare Reform' Puzzle," Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, October 13, 2001, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/m4nbv
18. Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, press release, April 26, 2005, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/qm83w
19. Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC), How Effective Are Different Welfare-to-Work Approaches? Five-Year Adult and Child Impacts for Eleven Programs, December 2001, p. 103, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/sxbnt
20. Ibid.
21. Dissent from this basic conclusion is based mostly on a single, limited, and not-yet-published study: V. Joseph Hotz, Guido W. Imbens, and Jacob A. Klerman, Evaluating the Differential Effects of Alternative Welfare-to-Work Training Components: A Re-Analysis of the California GAIN Program, January 2006, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/zb77g
22. Non Poppe, Julie Strawn, and Karina Martinson, Center for Law and Social Policy, Whose Job Is It? Creating Opportunities for Advancement, June 2003, p. 12, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/lfxsr
23. Lisa Plimpton and Demetra Smith Nightingale, "Welfare Employment Programs: Impacts and Cost-Effectiveness of Employment and Training Activities," Chapter 3 in Burt S. Barnow and Christopher T. King, editors, Improving the Odds: Increasing the Effectiveness of Publicly Funded Training (Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press, 2000), p. 66.
24. Rebecca M. Blank and Ron Haskins, editors, The New World of Welfare (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2001), p. 227.
25. Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, W-2 Contract Appendix B: Performance Standards for the 2004-2005 W-2 and Related Programs Contract, p.3, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/2ujggl
26. Source: Department of Workforce Development performance standard results, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/plgq3
27. Ibid.
28. For more detailed discussion of these training options, see Dodenhoff, Road to Nowhere, pp. 19-21.
29. Dodenhoff, Road to Nowhere, pp. 6, 7; and MDRC, Improving Basic Skills, pp. 6, 26.
30. MDRC, Improving Basic Skills, Table 3.4, pp. 86-88.
31. See Ibid., p. 7.
32. Dodenhoff, Only Work Should Pay, p. 3.
33. United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Family Assistance, "Work Participation Rates," Table 6C, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/gp4su. Community service and work experience activities are presented separately in the text, reflecting their presentation in Table 6C.
34. Department of Health and Human Services, "Work Participation Rates," Table 7B, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/gp4su. Community service and work experience activities are presented separately in the text, reflecting their presentation in Table 7B.
35. State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Wisconsin Works Manual, Chapter 7, Employment Ladder Placements, Section 7.5.2, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/z2kq5.
36. Source: Author's calculations from Department of Workforce Development caseload data available at: http://tinyurl.com/zr87b.
37. Legislative Audit Bureau, Wisconsin Works (W-2) Program, April 2005, p. 21.
38. Maximus is one of the agencies responsible for administering W-2 in Milwaukee.
39. Jason DeParle, American Dream (New York: Viking, 2004), p. 247.
40. Ibid., p. 248.
41. Ibid.
42. Legislative Audit Bureau, Wisconsin Works (W-2) Program, April 2005, p. 73.
43. Ibid., p. 79.
44. Ibid., p. 87.
45. State of Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau, An Audit: State of Wisconsin 2004-05, Report 06-4, March 2006, p. 51, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/f4x5f.
46. State of Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau, Sanctioning of Wisconsin Works (W-2) Participants, December 10, 2002, p. 13, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/fnk3a.
47. United States Government Accountability Office, Welfare Reform: HHS Should Exercise Oversight to Help Ensure TANF Work Participation is Measured Consistently across States, August 2005, pp. 15, 16, and Table 7 (p.31), available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/k9wy9.
48. United States Department of Health and Human Services, "Reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program; Interim Final Rule," Federal Register, Volume 71, Number 125, June 29, 2006, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/gu58c.
49. David Dodenhoff, Privatization Works, The Hudson Institute, 2002, p. 5, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/ja2pf.
50. The discussion of Maximus and Employment Solutions in this section is based on Dodenhoff, Privatization Works, 2002, pp. 20-31.
51. Amy Rinard, "Doyle orders state investigation of George dealings," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 21, 2003, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/go9d9.
52. Steven Walters, "Agency linked to George favored to own prison," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 4, 2003, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/l3bkg.
53. Steve Schultze, "W-2 firm under close watch," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 6, 2004, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/ej5cl.
54. Gina Barton and Georgia Pabst, "Social agency chief indicted," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 16, 2004, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/k7sa6.
55. Steve Schultze, "State tells W-2 agency to improve," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 22, 2004, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/lkeqm.
56. Steve Schultze, "State warns W-2 agency," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 22, 2004, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/nu495.
57. State of Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau, Administration of the Wisconsin Works Programs by Opportunities Industrialization Center of Greater Milwaukee, Inc., November 9, 2004, see especially pp. 19, 24, 25, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/ofc2z.
58. State of Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau, Letter Report: Financial Management of Selected W-2 Agencies, July 2005, Appendix 1, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/zwc72.
59. Steve Schultze, "Ex-clients kept getting OIC payments, audit finds," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 2, 2005, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/k5j2p.
60. Source: Author's calculations from published right-of-first-selection contract materials, available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/2svumn and http://tinyurl.com/3d6trq.
61. Source: Author's calculation from State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, "Preliminary Final Contract Performance Standard Results 2004-2005," available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/plgq3.
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