Research Background and Design  History of churning of welfare rolls in NYC  Poverty rates increasing, unemployment increasing, food stamp uptake increasing- --cash assistance decreasing  3,000 cases between 2004 and 2009 were analyzed, quantitative and qualitative data  in-depth analysis of 28 welfare histories, constructed from 259 cases ( )  8 audio fair hearing transcripts ( )  52 short interviews of pro se hearing appellants (2010) 1

Finding: Faulty practices & errors  Communication barriers  Clerical errors  Auto posting  Willful failure/good cause exemptions  Fair hearings—when challenged, administrative agency lose 86% of the time  Length of time to resolve problems 127 days for agency to comply 156 days if children on household budget  Aid-to-continue—many recipients do not have continuing aid 2

Finding: Confusion and complexity in public benefits  Increased work requirements  Determining work eligibility  Differing work programs and vendors  Multiple issues being challenged  Evidence packets unclear  Vulnerable populations  Homeless  Physical health issues  Mental health issues 3

Getting and then keeping benefits, a full time job  7-11 documents to apply  4 appointments required  Work requirements source of many problems Conclusion:  Errors  Procedures not followed  Complexity  Unnecessary requirements  Succession of hurdles, one barrier removed, another one waiting 4

Recommendations  Eliminate duplicative documents and appointments  External audit (City/State) of administrative errors  Review for accuracy—sanctioning, eligibility, work requirements, grant level  Establish standards for sanctioning and fair hearings  Revise fair hearing withdrawal codes  Simplify evidence packets  Recipient case records access  Expand outreach procedures  Increase training and education opportunities  Decrease supervised work requirement to 30 hours 5