IMPACTS OF A WORK-BASED POVERTY REDUCTION PROGRAM ON CHILDREN’S ACHIEVEMENT AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR: THE NEW HOPE PROJECT Aletha C. Huston, Greg J. Duncan, Carolyn Eldred, Thomas Weisner, Edward Lowe, Vonnie McLoyd, Danielle Crosby, Marika Ripke

NEW HOPE… was a demonstration experiment in Milwaukee, Wisconsin testing the effects of work supports for low-income families

New Hope Eligibility At the beginning of the study all participants: were at least 18 years old were residents of one of two target areas were able and willing to work full time had a household income below 150 percent of poverty Those who agreed to participate in the study were randomly assigned to either the program group or the control group.

The New Hope “Treatment” Work 30 hours per week and New Hope provides*: job access (a community service job if needed) a wage supplement health insurance child care subsidy Control (and experimental) group: remained eligible for all other programs in the community and state *Eligibility for New Hope benefits lasted for three years.

SAMPLE The Child and Family Study (CFS) included 745 adults with 1,140 children The random assignment process ensures that there were no systematic differences between study participants except program status at the time of enrollment in the study. The program effects or “impacts” are the mean difference between the New Hope program and the control group. We present effects of the New Hope program 5 years after random assignment

NEW HOPE CONCEPTUAL MODEL

RESULTS The Use of New Hope’s Benefits The majority of families in the program group used New Hope services at some point during the three-year eligibility period, although few families received benefits every month. The annual cost of providing these benefits was $5,300 per family. New Hope staff services provided positive support for participants.

RESULTS (CONTINUED) Effects on Employment and Income Increased employment and earnings. Increased stable employment and average wages. Had no effect on welfare receipt. Increased income and reduced poverty.

Effects on Families’ Well-Being New Hope had few effects on reports of material well-being. Yet the program did have some positive effects on parents’ psychological well- being and on their instrumental and coping skills.

Effects on Children’s Environments Few effects on parenting and parent-child relations. New Hope substantially increased children’s time in formal, center-based child care. New Hope increased older children’s participation in structured out-of-school activities.

Effects on Children’s Achievement and Behavior New Hope improved children’s performance in reading. New Hope improved positive social behavior, especially for boys. New Hope led to reduced behavior problems for boys and increases in teachers’ perceptions of girls’ behavior problems.

The New Hope Project Impacts on Children and Families Teachers’ Ratings of Academic Achievement, by Child’s Gender

The New Hope Project Impacts on Children and Families Teachers’ Ratings of Positive Social Behavior, by Child Gender

The New Hope Project Impacts on Children and Families Teachers’ Ratings of Problem Behavior, by Child Gender

CONCLUSIONS New Hope did help people increase work effort, wages (over time), and get out of poverty. But it did not do it at a level that was overwhelmingly convincing to policy makers. This was partly a function of some of New Hope’s components finding their way into mainstream policy prior to the end of the demonstration. (E.g. EIC) It should also be noted that the evaluation results weren’t available until 1999, after which all states had already designed and implemented their TANF programs, so the ability to get policy makers to pay attention to the underlying design assumptions and analysis was limited. Researchers and some key policy analysts were less interested in the economic outcomes than the child and family outcomes—in part because it is/was so unusual to find positive outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS (continued) Evaluation results added a fifth component of New Hope: the way that staff delivered the offer (services). Participants often referred to New Hope helping them learn about resources and how to find them.

CONCLUSIONS Providing a package of work supports to low-income parents can have long-term positive effects for children. These include: Wage supplements to escape poverty Child care subsidies Health care subsidies Respectful services

CONCLUSIONS (CONTINUED) Pathways by which program may have affected children Slightly improved family income Increases in structured, formal child care Increases in structured out-of-school activities Little evidence for changes in parent-child relationships

REPLICATION EFFORTS Policy Program Design Implementation TA Management Training Staff Development

LESSONS Policy is “replicated” within specific contexts of political agendas, time and place. Therefore need to be flexible and creative in replicating the essentials. Can have good policy with bad outcomes if implementation is poor. Success is more likely in creating replications of income transfers/work supports than in creating replications of programs based on “working” with participants. E.g. EIC vs. Job Coaching

LESSONS (continued) Program goals should link to policy and have realistic performance measures and then accountability that flows from them. Documentation Dilemma Need feedback loops that continually compare the intended/assumed outcomes with experience at the front lines (both participants and staff).

LESSONS (continued) Implementation lessons: One-time trainings not very effective. Need to work up and down the org chart— keep asking if people understand the policy intent, and how what they are doing mirrors that intent, or how it doesn’t. Need to identify line managers/supervisors who are committed to following up and following through on staff training.

LESSONS (continued) There is no substitute for the learning curve: one cannot talk someone through the skills needed to become an effective job coach. The best replication allows everyone maximum amount of information and regular opportunities to process what they are learning.