2011 Small Grants Competition: Research Related to TANF Reauthorization
The focus of the NPC’s 2011 small grants competition was to examine the current needs of low-income families and their children, applying what has been learned in the 15 years following implementation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 to make TANF and related public assistance programs more responsive to the needs of these families and using research to document emerging issues that could affect reauthorization. Over the coming years Congress will consider TANF reauthorization, and it is important that we understand how the changing policy and changing economic contexts, especially after the severe recession that began in December 2007, have affected the work effort and economic well-being of low-income families with children.
The following grants were awarded.
Public Housing Assistance and Disconnection from Welfare and Work: Understanding the Relationship between Housing and TANF Receipt
Andrea Hetling, Rutgers University and Hilary Botein, City University of New York
Job Search and Transportation Costs for Workers in Washington, DC
William Jack and David Phillips, Georgetown University
Welfare Mothers' 'Reformed' Dreams of Higher Education During the Great Recession and Implications for TANF Reauthorization
Sheila Katz, Sonoma State University
Time Limits and the Economic Outcomes of Low-Income Mothers: A (re-)assessment
Jordan D. Matsudaira and Ross Milton, Cornell University
State Variation in TANF Benefits and the Development of Low-Income Children
Kelly M. Purtell, University of Texas at Austin
Funds for this competition are provided by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.