When TANF was reauthorized as a part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the base year by which caseload reduction credit is measured was moved from 1995 to 2005.  This had the effect of making it much more difficult for states to meet the 50 percent work participation rate that is required according to the TANF statute.  Given that caseloads can only fall so low before it can be said that a state is neglecting its duty to serve its impoverished population, ensuring that the 50 percent work participation rate is met in the future will require focusing greater attention on finding ways to encourage TANF recipients to complete their work participation services and/or activities.

 The problem of low work participation rates motivated this research. The main question of interest was the following:  Which TANF-related services, both countable and non-countable, are associated most strongly with meeting the federal work participation requirements?  The policy implication of this question is that if the relationships between services and participation can be determined, a better mix of services can be assembled that may improve the probability that TANF recipients actually meet the work participation requirements.

 The method used to address this research question was to apply a logistic regression model to the data arranged as panel data.  The data used was administrative data that combined TANF assessment data, labor exchange data, wage and employment data from the state Unemployment Insurance system, and data from other DWS programs.

 The analysis demonstrated that there are many different variables that are associated with meeting participation.  However, since the main issue of interest was whether some services were associated with a higher probability of meeting participation as compared to others, the results for the TANF-related services are the main findings.  It was found that job search, job readiness, unpaid internships, and the educational training services for either a bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree, or occupational training were strongly associated with successfully meeting participation.  In contrast, the services basic skills remediation, English as a Second Language, and the educational training services for either a high school diploma or a GED were found to have no statistically significant relationships to satisfying work participation.  These results suggest that there may be ways to find the best mix of services that are most effective in helping TANF recipients meet participation.

 The results of this research will be presented at the Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference in May 2013.