Finally, a body of welfare reform research examines the implementation of  TANF at the state and local levels. The national data provide extensive information related to TANF’s goals of  providing assistance to needy families and ending dependency on  government benefits through job preparation, work, and marriage. State  and local data not only address the same goals as the national data but in  some cases also provide information related to the goals of preventing out- of-wedlock pregnancies and promoting family formation. National Data Address Two TANF Goals but Provide Limited Information on Out- of-Wedlock Pregnancy Prevention and Family Formation Strategies

National data provide detailed descriptive information related to two of  TANF’s goals, but limited information related to TANF’s goals of preventing  out-of-wedlock pregnancies and promoting family formation. HHS administrative  records and national surveys provide descriptive information about TANF  recipients’ participation in work activities, employment status, earnings,  and other family well-being measures. Waiver data come from evaluations that tested the effects of  programs implemented by states under waivers approved by HHS prior to  TANF. These data sets  represented 15 states. National data are collected from random samples that contain low-income  families and TANF recipients. Policymakers, federal and state  officials, and the welfare reform research community will need to seek  ways to balance the need for information about TANF’s effects with the  resource demands of rigorous studies. Scope and Type of Analyses for Which Waiver and Demonstration Data Can Be Used

	Jobs First: Implementation and Early Impacts of Connecticut’s Welfare Reform Initiative Administrative Survey

The Family Transition Program: Implementation and Three-Year Impact of Florida’s  Initial Time-Limited Welfare Program   Administrative  Survey Iowa’s Family Investment Program: Impacts During the First 3-½ Years of Welfare  Reform   Administrative Reforming Welfare and Rewarding Work: Final Report on the Minnesota Family  Investment Program   Administrative  Surveys (2)

Comments From the Department of Health and Human Services

GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments

	GAO Contacts

	Staff Acknowledgments

In addition to those named above, the following individuals made  important contributions to this report: Patrick DiBattista designed the data  collection instrument used to assess the 187 data sets reviewed, oversaw  data collection, and designed and conducted the analysis of the data's  strengths and weaknesses; Andrea Sykes played a major role in data  collection and developed the analysis of the data's availability to address  TANF's goals; Stephen Langley III also played a major role in data  collection, provided consultation on multivariate analysis issues, and  prepared the report's methodology appendix; James Wright provided  guidance on study design and measurement; and Gale Harris, Kathryn  Larin, and Heather McCallum provided consultation on TANF policy and  implementation issues.
What GAO Found

GAO commented on the federal government's ability to assess the goals of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program using national, state, and local data. These data address the goals to differing degrees. National data, which includes data collected in national surveys and information that all states report to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), include extensive information on TANF's two goals of providing assistance to needy families and ending dependency on government benefits but have limited information on promoting family formation. The data pertain to such issues as changes in TANF workloads, recipients' participation in work activities, employment status and earnings, and family well-being. Although there are national data on the incidence of out-of-wedlock births and marriage among TANF recipients and other low-income families, these data include only very recently available information on states' strategies to prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies or promote family formation. Studies of welfare reform at the state and local levels contain the same kind of information as national data, but they also include information about areas very recently covered by national data. Much of these data come from waiver evaluations--evaluations conducted in states that experimented with their welfare program, under a waiver from HHS, prior to TANF. The usefulness of existing data for assessing TANF's progress varies. In general, the need for information about TANF's progress will have to be balanced against the challenges of rigorous data collection from the low- income population.