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WVU TANF Reports

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WVWORKS 2004: Information and Perspectives Provided by WV WORKS Recipients Nearing Their 60-Month Eligibility Limitation

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Executive Summary

This is the fourth in a continuing series of reports concerning the lives and perspectives of West Virginians who have been, or currently are, enrolled in WV WORKS. Each of these research projects was funded by West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and conducted by West Virginia University’s Interdisciplinary Research Task Force on Welfare Reform.

The Task Force’s first report, “WV WORKS Case Closure Study,” examined the lives and perspectives of West Virginians who left WV WORKS in 1999. The report was presented to DHHR and the state legislature in 1999 and can be accessed on-line at: http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/ipa/par/Report17_1.pdf.

The Task Force’s second report, “WV WORKS 2000: The Recipients’ Perspective” examined the lives and perspectives of WV WORKS recipients who were receiving benefits in 2000. The report was presented to DHHR and can be accessed on-line at: http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/ipa/par/Report18_3.pdf.

The Task Force’s third report, “WV WORKS 2003" examined the lives and perspectives of WV WORKS recipients who had exhausted their 60 months of program eligibility. The report was presented to DHHR and the state legislature in 2004 and can be accessed on-line at
http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/ipa/par/Report21_2.pdf. (Also available on this page)

This report examines responses to a comprehensive, mailed survey of current WV WORKS recipients who have used between 25 and 60 months of program eligibility. The ten-page, 85 question survey was constructed with input from DHHR, welfare advocacy groups, and others with expertise in social-welfare policy. The survey was mailed in July 2004 to 3,297 WV WORKS recipients who had used between 25 and 60 months of program eligibility. In order to compare the experiences of recipients according to the length of time they have been on WV WORKS, surveys were mailed by three subgroups: (1) individuals who have used between 25 and 36 months of their TANF eligibility, (2) individuals who have used between 37 and 48 months of their TANF eligibility, and (3) individuals who have used between 49 and 60 months of their TANF eligibility. Forty-eight surveys were returned as undeliverable, creating a population size of 3,249. Forty-two percent (1,373) of the mailed surveys were completed and returned.

The survey’s results provide information concerning the respondent’s:

Survey Findings

Among the survey’s more notable findings drawn from specific questions are:

Analysis of the three subgroups - those who have used between 25 to 36 months of their eligibility, those who have used 37 to 48 months of their eligibility, and those who have used 49 to 60 months of their eligibility - indicated the following significant differences. Those who have participated in WV WORKS for 49 to 60 months were more likely to have a negative view of their personal and financial future. Those in this same group were also more likely to lack a working telephone or a driver’s license; to report times when they did not have enough money to pay the heating bill, to take their children to the doctor or dentist, or to pay for their children’s school supplies or their participation in after-school activities. These individuals are also more likely to find it difficult to find or keep a job due to a lack of available jobs where they live, lack of transportation, lack of a driver’s license, and experiencing mental health problems and disabilities. This same group also appears to have greater activity with the case management process. For example, they are more likely to have been in job training, in ABE classes, receive clothing vouchers and emergency aid, be asked to seek work, know how much time they have left to receive benefits under the time limits provision of WV WORKS, seek help for children experiencing drug or alcohol issues, and experience a change of case managers. However, those in the 25 to 36 months cohort were more likely to rate their case manager as poor when compared to the other subgroups.

WVWORKS 2003: Perspectives of Former Recipients Who Have Exhausted Their 60-Months of Program Eligibility

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Executive Summary

This is the third in a continuing series of reports concerning the lives and perspectives of West Virginians who have been, or currently are, enrolled in WV WORKS. Each of these research projects were funded by West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and conducted by West Virginia University’s Interdisciplinary Research Task Force on Welfare Reform.

The Task Force’s first report, “WV WORKS Case Closure Study,” examined the lives and perspectives of West Virginians who left WV WORKS in 1999. The report was presented to DHHR and the state legislature in 1999 and can be accessed on-line at: http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/ipa/par/Report17_1.pdf.

The Task Force’s second report, “WV WORKS 2000: The Recipients’ Perspective” examined the lives and perspectives of WV WORKS recipients who were receiving benefits in 2000. The report was presented to DHHR and the state legislature in 2000 and can be accessed on-line at: http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/ipa/par/Report18_3.pdf.

This report examines responses to a comprehensive, mailed survey of former WV WORKS recipients who had exhausted their 60-months of program eligibility. The ten-page, 85 question survey was constructed with input from DHHR, welfare advocacy groups, and others with expertise in social-welfare policy. The survey was mailed in July 2003 to 448 WV WORKS recipients who had exhausted their 60-months of program eligibility (about thirty others had also exhausted their 60-months of program eligibility, but they either had not left a forwarding address or could not be reached for some other reason). Sixty-two percent of the mailed surveys (276) were completed and returned.

The survey’s results provide information concerning the respondent’s:

It is important to note that DHHR developed and implemented several new programs and made modifications to several of its procedures since the respondents to this survey were on WV WORKS. For example, DHHR has modified its appeals process for WV WORKS recipients interested in requesting an extension to the 60-months of program eligibility time limit, created a new emotional health screening process and a new learning needs screening process, and implemented a new pre-employment vision and dental care program. Further information concerning DHHR’s programs and procedures is available on their web site: http://www.wvdhhr.org/bcf/.

Survey Findings

Among the survey’s more notable findings drawn from specific questions are:

  1. Only about one-quarter of the respondents (26.9 percent) were employed. The median wage of working respondents was $5.84 an hour. Their median monthly income was $612. The median monthly household income of all respondents was $510;
  2. More than half of the working respondents (54 percent) were employed on a part-time basis (defined as less than thirty hours a week), 41.3 percent were employed on a full-time basis (defined as 30 to 40 hours a week), and 4.8 percent were working more than 40 hours a week.
  3. Nearly all of the respondents (81.9 percent) reported that they had a total annual household income of $10,000 or less in 2002, and nearly all of the respondents (85.4 percent) reported that they will have a total annual household income of $10,000 or less in 2003;
  4. Most of the respondents (58.9 percent) reported that they were either worse off or much worse off financially since leaving WV WORKS. Also, most of the respondents reported (60.6 percent) that the amount of stress in their lives was now either worse or much worse since leaving WV WORKS.
  5. Many of the respondents reported that they had experienced times when they did not have enough money to pay the electric, gas, or water bill (65.6 percent), to pay for telephone service (54.6 percent), to pay for heat (50.8 percent), to get glasses (48.5 percent), or to buy food (42 percent) since leaving WV WORKS. The percentage of respondents who had experienced times when they did not have enough money to purchase these and other items was higher, sometimes dramatically, than when they were on WV WORKS.
  6. Many of the respondents indicated that they had their telephone disconnected (48.2 percent), ran out of food (46.9 percent), had their electric, gas or water shut off (41.1 percent), moved (31.3 percent), were visited by Child Protective Services (21 percent) and/or were evicted from their home (20.5 percent), since leaving WV WORKS. The percentage of respondents who experienced these hardships was higher, sometimes dramatically, than when they were on WV WORKS.
  7. More than half of the respondents reported that since leaving WV WORKS they had experienced times when they did not have enough money to buy their children’s school supplies (60.3 percent), let their children participate in after school activities (59.1 percent), buy their children the clothes they need (57.8 percent), buy their children a birthday gift (56.1 percent), or buy their children a holiday/Christmas Gift (58.2 percent). Also, the average number of items they reported not having enough money to purchase for their children increased from 3.04 while on WV WORKS to 5.27 since leaving the program.
  8. The respondents were relatively pessimistic concerning their own personal and financial futures, but were relatively optimistic concerning their children’s future.
  9. Nearly all of the respondents (93 percent) were enrolled in Medicaid when they completed the survey, 92.3 percent received Food Stamps, 75 percent received a school clothing voucher, 50.7 percent received Low Income Energy Assistance, 22.4 percent received DHHR emergency assistance, 16.9 percent received transportation assistance, and 5.1 percent had children enrolled in CHIP.
  10. Respondents reported the use of slightly more programs/services while on WV WORKS than since leaving WV WORKS (average of 4.1 programs/services versus 4.01 program/services). The four most frequently used programs/services (Medicaid, Food Stamps, school clothing vouchers, and free or reduced price school meals) were the same while on WV WORKS and since leaving WV WORKS, but the percentage of respondents utilizing each of these programs was somewhat higher when they were on WV WORKS.
  11. Few of the respondents (7.4 percent of the respondents, 9.4 percent of the respondent’s households) reported that they had received income from the federal earned income tax credit;
  12. About one-third of the respondents had not completed high school or received a GED (32.9 percent); and almost four out of every ten respondents (39.4 percent) did not have a working telephone in their home;
  13. About one-fifth of the respondents (21.3 percent) reported that they experienced a time, either with a past or a current partner, when that partner made them feel unsafe. The incidence of having a partner that made them feel unsafe increased somewhat
    after leaving WV WORKS.
  14. The most frequently cited barriers to finding a job were: the lack of nice clothes (38.6 percent), have a mental problem (depression, anxiety, etc.) (35.4 percent), finding transportation (32.7 percent), have a physical disability (32.7 percent), don’t have a drivers’ license (28.7 percent) and bad teeth (22.4 percent).
  15. Most respondents who were receiving DHHR services were either satisfied or very satisfied with how the local DHHR office looks (82.7 percent), the hours their local DHHR office is open (80.7 percent), where the local DHHR office is located (78.7 percent), the way they were treated at the local DHHR office (64 percent), the help they received getting other benefits (63.3 percent), the way they were treated by their caseworker (63.2 percent), and with the help they received dealing with family problems (59.1 percent). A majority of respondents were also satisfied or very satisfied with how long they had to wait to see their caseworker (50.2 percent). Most of the respondents (55.1 percent) were either not sure, dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied with how quickly their caseworker returned their telephone calls.
  16. About half of the respondents (49.6 percent) had participated in either a job training or education program during the past five years. Respondents who had participated in a job training program had a mixed assessment of the training programs’ helpfulness in getting them a job. Only about one-quarter of these respondents (27.5 percent) reported that the training program(s) helped them get a job. But, about one-third of the respondents (32.2 percent) reported that the program(s) would have been helpful if there were jobs available.
  17. About one-quarter of the respondents (28.3 percent) reported that they had child care needs while they were working, in school, or in another job preparation activity and more than half of them (55.1 percent) indicated that it was either very hard (31 percent) or hard (24.1 percent) to find child care for their children while they were working, in school, or in another job preparation activity;
  18. More than three-quarters of the respondents (79.1 percent) indicated that their children’s school attendance had not changed since leaving WV WORKS, 8.2 percent reported that their children’s school attendance had improved, and 12.7 percent reported that their children’s school attendance had become worse.
  19. More than three-quarters of the respondents (75.2 percent) reported that their children’s school grades had not changed since leaving WV WORKS, 7 percent reported that their children’s school grades had improved, and 17.8 percent reported that their children’s school grades had become worse.
  20. The most frequently mentioned written responses to “Is there anything that the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services can do, or do differently, that would help you?” were: grant more extensions (18.5 percent), nothing (16.1 percent), provide post-60 month transitional benefits/services (11.3 percent), and be more respectful/understanding (10.4 percent).
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