Tuesday, May 27, 2008

4–7 p.m.

Registration and Information Desk Open

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

8 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Registration and Information Desk Open

8 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Floor Demonstration of Online Toolkit

• The Urban Partnerships Initiative
• Christina Techico, ICF International

9–9:15 a.m.

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Naomi Goldstein
Director, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE)
Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

9:15–10:45 a.m.

Plenary I: New Findings from ACF’s Employment Retention
and Advancement and Hard-to-Employ Evaluations

Promoting Stable Employment and Wage Progression: Findings from the Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) Project

Gayle Hamilton
Senior Fellow, MDRC

Alternative Approaches to Assisting Hard-to-Employ TANF Recipients: Early Findings from the Philadelphia Hard-to-Employ Demonstration

Dan Bloom
Director, Welfare and Barriers to Employment Policy Area, MDRC

Effectiveness of Telephone Care Management in Monitoring Medicaid Recipients with Depression: A Randomized Control Trial

Charles Michalopoulos
Senior Fellow, Welfare and Barriers to Employment Policy Area, MDRC

10:45–11 a.m.

Break

11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Breakout Sessions

Meeting Work Participation Rates under the Deficit Reduction Act

• Strategies for Designing New and Strengthening Existing Work Experience Programs for TANF Recipients
  • Michelle Derr, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
• Case Studies of States’ Experiences Meeting the Work Participation Rates
  • LaDonna Pavetti, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
• A Study of TANF Diversion Policies and Practices
  • Linda C. Rosenberg, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

Determinants of TANF Caseload and Client Activity

• Increasing Work Participation Rates: The Role of Policies
  • Caroline Danielson, Public Policy Institute of California
• Do Cash Diversion Programs Prevent Future Welfare Receipt?
  • Andrea Hetling, Rutgers University
• Sanctions: Multi-level Analysis of Benefit Reductions and Case Closures
  • Shannon Monnat, State University of New York - Albany

Child Care

• Effects of Child Care Subsidy Experiments in Illinois and Washington
  • Erika Lundquist, MDRC
• Effects of a Family Child Care Program in Massachusetts
  • Ann Collins, Abt Associates, Inc.
• Child Care and Development Fund Subsidies in Urban and Rural Counties
  • Kendall Swenson, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, HHS

Faith-Based and Community Organizations and the Safety Net

• Faith Based and Community-Based Service Organizations in Urban and Rural America
  • Scott Allard, Brown University
• The Safety Net as a Social Network
  • David Reingold, Indiana University
• Understanding the Roles of ‘Faith’ and Faith-Based Organizations in the Delivery of Drug Treatment Services
  • Thomas Gais, Rockefeller Institute

12:30–2 p.m.

Lunch (on your own)

2–3:30 p.m.

Breakout Sessions

Helping TANF Recipients with Disabilities Enter and Sustain Employment

• Forming Partnerships Between TANF and Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies
  • Emily Sama Martin, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
• Providing Work Opportunities for TANF Recipients with Disabilities
  • Jacqueline Kauff, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
• Providing Intensive Supports and Specialized Treatment for TANF Recipients Living with Disabilities
  • Michelle Derr, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

Sanctions and Welfare Reform: The Florida Project

• Sanctions as a Policy Tool in the Transformed System of Welfare-to-Work
  • Sanford Schram, Bryn Mawr College
• Evaluating Sanctions Outcomes: Subjective Caseworker Assessments and Objective Impacts
  • Richard Fording, University of Kentucky
• A Multi-Method Study of Race, Choice, and Discipline at the Frontlines of Welfare Reform
  • Linda Houser, Bryn Mawr College

Vulnerable Youth and Young Adults

• Coming of Age: Employment Outcomes for Youth Who Age Out of Foster Care
  • Jennifer Macomber, The Urban Institute
• The Mental Health of Vulnerable Youth and their Transition to Adulthood
  • Elizabeth Hair, Child Trends
• Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth
  • Mark Courtney, University of Washington

Data, Measurement, and Methods

• Understanding Under-Reporting of Program Participation in the CPS; Evidence from Medicaid
  • Jacob Klerman, Abt Associates, Inc.
• Known Bias: Is All Measurement Error the Same?
  • Lindsay Monte, Northwestern University
• Evaluating Abstinence Education: Methodology: Dosage Effects, and Causal Mediators
  • Stan Weed, Institute for Research and Evaluation

3:30–3:45 p.m.

Break

3:45–5:15 p.m.

Plenary II: New York City’s New Anti-Poverty Agenda

Increasing Opportunity and Reducing Poverty in New York City

Kristin Morse
Director of Evaluation, Center for Economic Opportunity, Mayor’s Office, City of New York

Veronica White
Executive Director, Center for Economic Opportunity, Mayor’s Office, City of New York

Evaluation of Center for Economic Opportunity’s Initiatives to Reduce Poverty in New York City

Debra Rog
Associate Director, Westat
Vice President, The Rockville Institute

Testing a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program for New York City

James Riccio
Director, Low-Wage Workers and Communities Policy, MDRC

Discussant
Howard Rolston, Abt Associates, Inc.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

8 a.m.–5 p.m.

Registration and Information Desk Open

8 a.m.–5 p.m.

Floor Demonstration of Online Tools

• The Welfare Rules Database and The Marriage Calculator
• Gretchen Rowe, The Urban Institute
• Mary Murphy, The Urban Institute

9–10:30 a.m.

Plenary III: Engaging Non-Custodial Parents

• Effective Work Mandates for Low-Income Non-Custodial Parents: Applying the Lessons of Welfare Reform
  • Kammi Siemens, Non-Custodial Parent Choices Project Program Coordinator, Texas Office of the Attorney General
  • Nicole Verver, Director of Policy, Texas Workforce Commission
  • Dan Schroeder, Research Associate, Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources, University of Texas
• Discussant
  • Lawrence Mead, Professor, Department of Politics, New York University

10:30–10:45 a.m.

Break

10:45 a.m. –12:15 p.m.

Breakout Sessions

Disability, Mental Health, and TANF

• Hidden Wounds: Using In-Depth Assessments of Disabled Long-Term TANF Recipients to Inform Policy and Programs
  • Rachel Kirzner, Philadelphia Health Management Corporation
  • Joel Tumberello, Philadelphia Health Management Corporation

• The Mental Health Benefits of Work: Do They Apply to Women on Welfare?
  • Denise Zabkiewicz, Alcohol Research Group
• An Analysis of Barriers to Employment and Job Search Among TANF Recipients: A Case Study
  • Elisha Smith, Princeton University

Employment in the Low-Wage Labor Market

• Understanding the Demand-Side of the Low-Wage Labor Market
  • Greg Acs, The Urban Institute
• Lost Jobs and Health Insurance: The Impact of Employment Volatility on Health Insurance Coverage
  • Fredrik Andersson, Cornell University and U.S. Census Bureau
• Do High Effective Marginal Tax Rates Punish Low-Income Workers?
  • Jennifer Romich, University of Washington

Child Support and Child Welfare

• Potential Impact of Increased Child Support Distribution to Current and former Welfare Families
  • Laura Wheaton, The Urban Institute
• The Impact of PRWORA’s Automated Information Systems on Child Support Policy Outcomes
  • Jeongsoo Kim, University of California-Berkeley
• More About the Dads: Exploring Associations Between Nonresident Father Involvement and Child Welfare Case Outcomes
  • Karin Malm, Child Trends, Inc.

Changes in the Food Stamp Program

• Modernizing Human Service Programs: The Food Stamp Program in Florida
• Christine Kissmer, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA
• Modernization of Public Assistance in Florida: A Case Study
  • Scott Cody, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
  • Emily Sama Martin, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

• Food Stamp Use by Legal Immigrants: Before and After the 2003 Restorations
  • Randall Capps, The Urban Institute
  • Everett Henderson, The Urban Institute
  • Kenneth Finegold, The Urban Institute

12:15–1:45 p.m.

Lunch (on your own)

1:45–3:15 p.m.

Breakout Sessions

Performance-Based Contracting and Caseload Dynamics

• Performance-Based Contracting in Tennessee: An Examination of Employment Outcomes by Contractor Zone
  • Donald Bruce, University of Tennessee
• Evaluating the Performance of Performance Contracting in a TANF Program: A Difference-in-Difference Approach
  • Youseok Choi, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Modeling the TANF Caseload in Colorado
  • Mike Mueller, The Lewin Group
  • Burt Barnow, Johns Hopkins University

Career Advancement in the Low-Wage Labor Market

• Temporary Help Agencies and the Advancement Prospects of Low Earners
  • Fredrik Andersson, Cornell University and U.S. Census Bureau
  • Julia Lane, National Science Foundation
• Building Front-Line Staff Capacity to Deliver Advancement-Focused Employment Services
  • Caroline Schultz, MDRC

Caseworkers and Clients under TANF

• Forging Caseworkers: How Welfare Caseworkers Develop Their Workplace Identities and Views of the Poor
  • Zachary Oberfield, University of Wisconsin
• Organization and Exclusion: An Inquiry into Bureaucratic Proceduralism
  • Evelyn Brodkin, University of Chicago
• Understanding Public Assistance Experiences after Welfare Reform: Evidence from Qualitative Data
  • Kristin Seefeldt, University of Michigan

Influencing the Next Generation of Employment and Self-Sufficiency Demonstration Projects: A Roundtable Discussion

• David Fein, Abt Associates, Inc.
• Howard Rolston, Abt Associates, Inc.
• Brendan Kelly, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, ACF

3:15–3:30 p.m.

Break

3:30–5 p.m.

Plenary IV: Strengthening University-State Program and Research
Partnerships

The Benefits and Costs of a Promising Home Visitation Program for Hard-to-Employ TANF Recipients

Andrew Burwick
Researcher, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

Experimental TANF Initiatives in Ohio: A Bottom-Up Approach

Anand Desai
Professor, John Glenn School of Public Affairs, Ohio State University

Making Administrative Data Available for Research: Best Practices from Tennessee

Donald Bruce
Research Associate, Center for Business and Economic Research and
Professor, Department of Economics, University of Tennessee

Kerry Mullins
Director, Tennessee Department of Human Services

Friday, May 30, 2008

8 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Registration and Information Desk Open

9–10:30 a.m.

Breakout Sessions

Healthy Marriage

• Ethnographic and Survey Studies of Determinants of Healthy Marriage
  • Andy Cherlin, Johns Hopkins University
  • Linda Burton, Duke University
• Applications of Healthy Marriage and Healthy Relationship Lessons: A Longitudinal Qualitative Assessment
  • Wendy Manning, Bowling Green State University

Asset-Building Opportunities

• Effects of IDAs on Low-Income Asset-Building: Estimates from the Assets for Independence Act
  • Gregory Mills, Abt Associates, Inc.
• Fostering Low-Income Homeownership: A Longitudinal Randomized Experiment on IDAs
  • Michal Grinstein-Weiss, University of North Carolina
• Do Welfare and IDA Program Rules Affect Asset Holdings?
  • Signe-Mary McKernan, The Urban Institute

TANF’s Intersection with other Assistance Programs

• Unemployment Insurance as a Safety Net for Former TANF Recipients
  • Christopher O’Leary, Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
• The Long-Term Effects of Housing Assistance on Welfare Receipt
  • C. Scott Holupka, Johns Hopkins University
• The Role of Supplemental Security Income in the Lives of Former Welfare Recipients
  • Lucie Schmidt, Williams College

Examining Hurricane Katrina and Human Services Needs

• Welfare and Human Services Programs’ Response to Hurricanes Point the Way for Future Improvements
  • Laura Heald, Government Accountability Office
• Feasibility Assessment of Studying the Consequences of Hurricane Katrina for ACF
  • Fredrica Kramer, The Urban Institute
  • Kenneth Finegold, The Urban Institute

10:30–10:45 a.m.

Break

10:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

Plenary V: New Directions in Assets Research and Policy

Michael Sherraden
Youngdahl Professor of Social Development and Director, Center for Social Development, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University

12:15–12:30 p.m.

Closing Remarks

Kerry Mullins
President, National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics

12:30 p.m.

Conference Adjourns