Achieving Change for Texans Evaluation: Net Impacts Through 1999

Abstract

n 1995, the Texas Legislature enacted H. B. 1863, which formed the basis for Texas' waiver from existing Federal laws governing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. The Texas waiver, officially known as the Achieving Change for Texans (ACT) demonstration, aims to assist participants to achieve independence from welfare through an increased emphasis on employment, training, temporary assistance and support services. It includes four primary components: Time-Limited and Transitional Benefits (TL), Responsibilities, Employment and Resources (RER), Incentives to Achieve Independence (IAI), and TANF One Time Payments. The evaluation of the ACT demonstration consists of three approaches: a process evaluation, an impact analysis, and follow-up interviews with persons who reached their time limits or who elected to receive TANF One Time payments instead of entering TANF. This report includes net impacts of the ACT demonstration from its inception in June 1996 through December 1997, and describes early impacts of the time limits and RER experiments on welfare dynamics, client self-sufficiency, participation in workforce development programs, and use of subsidized child care services. ; Texas Health and Human Services Commission (formerly Texas Department of Human Services) ; Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources