The Impact of Welfare Reform: Balancing Safety Nets and Behavior Modification

Get a balanced, comprehensive analysis of the effects from 1996 welfare reform

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 was aimed at repairing the welfare system of the United States. The Impact of Welfare Reform: Balancing Safety Nets and Behavior Modification comprehensively examines how this bill transformed the system and affected not only clients but also the organizations that implemented the reform. This text moves beyond traditional analyses of welfare reform to reveal a full range of viewpoints and issues while avoiding mere political rhetoric. Leading authorities present knowledgeable perspectives on the clients and their problems, the implementing organizations, the struggles to comply with the requirements, and the issues that remain unresolved.

The Impact of Welfare Reform presents revealing interviews with clients, organizational employees, and caseworkers. In-depth discussion topics include the value of emotional well-being on job status, the effects that the new time limit requirements have on clients, ways to facilitate the welfare-to-work transition for women with mental health issues, changes in the work environment of service-providing organizations, and the client’s own experiences within and outside of the system. Qualitative and quantitative methods of study are used to effectively evaluate welfare reform while providing a direction for further research in the future. The text is extensively referenced and uses tables, charts, and figures to clearly illustrate data.

This book will bring you up to date on:

• the impact of alcohol, drugs, and psychological well-being on successfully finding employment
  
• the impact of welfare reform on children and adolescents
  
• innovations by state welfare offices
  
• community and alternative interventions that help those on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to comply with work requirements and time limits
  
• the perceptions of caseworkers who implement TANF and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)
  
  

The Impact of Welfare Reform is enlightening reading for social workers, educators, graduate students, and public policy professionals.

Christopher R. Larrison, Michael Sullivan