Andrea Hetling
Biographic Data
| ID | 96546 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Andrea Hetling |
| GIVEN NAMES | Andrea |
| FAMILY NAME | Hetling |
| SIGNATURE | HETLING A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7012-7336 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 49 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Easing administrative burden in the public safety net: Insights from a trauma-informed housing programme
For survivors of domestic violence, public safety net benefits, including housing, food, and cash assistance, are often critical resources in establishing independent, safe lives. Using a reflexive thematic analysis of qualitative data from a local housing programme collected from August 2023 to January 2024, this study explores the intersection of trauma-informed care (TIC) and administrative burden within public safety net programmes for surviv…
Can reducing learning costs improve public support for means‐tested benefit programs
This study investigates how efforts to reduce learning costs of means‐tested public benefit programs impact public support of these programs and perceived deservingness of program beneficiaries. Focusing on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the United States, a well‐known means‐tested public benefit program, we integrate research from educational psychology with policy feedback theory, predicting that the structure of inform…
Community Networks with a Family Focus: Success Factors in Implementing a Tanf Funded Housing Support Program
Although the US safety net includes housing supports, finding and securing affordable housing remains a challenge for many low-income families. As a block grant to states, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a potential mechanism for creating additional supports for housing, which some states such as New Jersey pursue. This qualitative study focuses on three New Jersey counties with positive track records of implementing those addit…
Using technology to reduce learning costs and improve program comprehension: Lessons from a survey experiment on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food assistance to those in need, and while the program reaches many who are eligible, program participation falls short of reaching all who are eligible. One factor contributing to this gap in participation is difficulty understanding program eligibility, a common challenge with means‐tested benefit programs. Governments have attempted to improve public understanding of these complex …
Section Overview: Governance and Management of Social Policy in Canada and the United States
Comparative social policy analysis enables an understanding of how context affects the implementation of public policy and its functioning in different social, economic, and political environments. The Canada-United States section of the handbook tackles how social policy governance and management is similar yet different in the two countries. (Mexico is covered in Section VI. Latin America.) This section overview provides an introduction to the …
Front-line Workers and the Creation of Administrative Data
Public agencies generate administrative data as part of their routine management of programs and services. The growth of big data analytics and open government has led to a great increase in the popularity of administrative data among policy researchers. Partnerships with public administrators are necessary and important in enabling researchers both to access and understand the data. Little consideration has been given, however, to front-line wor…
Securing the Safety Net: Lessons From Nonprofit Organizations on Tanf Access During Covid-19
The functioning of the U.S. social safety net as a support for low-income families depends on various means-tested programs and a system of both public agencies and nonprofit organizations. Using in-depth interviews ( n = 5) and a survey of nonprofit employees ( n = 73), we seek to understand the role of nonprofits in promoting equitable access to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Our findings reveal that public assistan…
A multi‐country systematic review of research on sanctions and equity in social welfare programs
Social welfare programs have increasingly implemented work requirements, with punitive measures such as sanctions to enforce compliance. Frontline workers, operating in public environments with limited resources, have discretion over when to issue sanctions and often use short cuts, sometimes guided by bias, to manage caseloads. This study conducts a multi‐country systematic literature review of research related to who gets sanctioned and why wit…
An Equity Analysis of Applying for Welfare: Tanf Application and Denial Reasons by Household and County Characteristics
The number of families receiving public cash assistance has decreased since welfare reform and the establishment of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in 1996, with only a few short-lived increases. The early decline was related to caseload exits; the recent decline is attributed to fewer eligible families participating. Using New Jersey TANF data from 2018, we conduct an equity analysis of TANF applications, denials, and the reasons …
Administering the U.S. Family Violence Option: The role of stigma in waiver recommendations
The Family Violence Option (FVO) was designed to help survivors of domestic violence (DV) more easily secure income support in the United States (U.S.), without placing them at risk of further abuse. The objective of this study is to determine whether the decision-making of advocates responsible for determining waiver recommendations under the FVO is influenced by the relationship status of DV survivors. Recursive partitioning was used to analyse…
Federal Welfare Time-Limit Extensions and Exemptions: Why Does Utilization Vary across States and over Time
Establishing public cash assistance as a time-limited benefit was a key and controversial feature of the 1996 welfare reform legislation. Many advocates and practitioners consider the formalization of program flexibility through time-limit exemptions and extensions to be critical in helping the most vulnerable families. Despite these options, including states’ ability to exempt up to 20 percent of their caseloads due to hardships without penalty …
Creating a Tool for Assessing Domestic Violence Risk and Impact Among Tanf Clients
The Family Violence Option (FVO), a provision of the 1996 welfare legislation, allows states to waive certain program requirements for domestic violence (DV) survivors in order to protect them from danger or penalties. The absence of a standardized method for assessing risk and impact has been an impediment to states' use of the FVO, particularly in the granting of waivers. The purpose of this study was to address this limitation by developing an…
Community in the Permanent Supportive Housing Model: Applications to Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
A key aspect of permanent supportive housing (PSH) is the community it forms, providing social supports and a sense of home for residents. Only recently, however, have evaluations of PSH examined community as an integral characteristic. For intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors, a new PSH target population, community and social connections are uniquely important. Using a case study of a PSH program for IPV survivors, we explored residents’ ex…
Long-Term Housing and Intimate Partner Violence: Journeys to Healing
For survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), safe, affordable, long-term housing is a critical aspect of establishing a life free from abuse. New permanent housing models for IPV survivors, which are emerging across the United States, are designed to meet the basic need of shelter and must at the same time be focused on meeting the needs of survivors of IPV. Using an in-depth qualitative case study of a new supportive housing program serving…
What Is Economic Self-Sufficiency? Validating a Measurement Scale for Policy, Practice, and Research
Economic self-sufficiency has emerged as a policy goal of antipoverty programs in many nations. Although the policy direction of these programs is clear, the definition and measurement of economic self-sufficiency is not. This study revisits a scale that was designed in 1993 and has experienced a growth in use after two decades of little attention. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and bivariate correlations, the scale’s validity…
The Relationship between State Welfare Rules and Economic Disconnection among Low-Income Single Mothers
The proportion of low-income single mothers who are disconnected, or not receiving public cash assistance or employment earnings, has increased since the 1996 US welfare reform legislation. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Welfare Rules Database, we use multilevel and multinomial logit models to examine the relationship between state welfare rules and the risk of disconnection. We find that women in states wi…
Financial Literacy and Economic Empowerment of Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: Examining the Differences Between Public Assistance Recipients and Nonrecipients
Financial literacy helps build economic empowerment and self-sufficiency among economically vulnerable groups. This article explores the effect of financial literacy on the economic empowerment of survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and investigates whether the relationship might differ for women receiving public assistance. Using survey data from 120 survivors of IPV, regression models examine the direct and interactive effects of finan…
Income Packaging Strategies of Economically Disconnected Women and the Implications for Social Policy and Practice
Income packaging, or piecing together cash and non-cash resources from a variety of sources, is a common financial survival strategy among low-income women. This strategy is particularly important for economically disconnected women, who lack both employment income and public cash assistance receipt. Using data from the confidential Census Bureau versions of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, this study compares the use of public and…
We Live in a Technological Era, Whether You Like It or Not”: Client Perspectives and Online Welfare Applications
A growing number of state welfare agencies are using the Internet to communicate with potential and current clients. Although public management benefits are clear, little is known about client perspectives. This mixed-methods research project examines the topics of application security, reliability, appropriateness, and ease of use, and personal experiences of potential users to understand opinions of online welfare applications. Focus group find…
Housing Assistance and Disconnection from Welfare and Work: Assessing the Impacts of Public Housing and Tenant-based Rental Subsidies
The well-being of families disconnected from welfare and work are of growing concern to policymakers. This article examines the relationship between economic disconnection and housing assistance, a critical source of support that subsidizes what is the largest fixed expense for most households. Results from multilevel logistic models show that the odds ofbeing disconnected are higher for public housing residents and lower for single mothers recei…
Children without parents in the Tanf caseload: Thinking beyond the child-only label
Welfare Caseworker Assessments and Domestic Violence Services: Findings From Administrative Data and Case Narratives
The Family Violence Option (FVO) protects welfare recipients who are domestic violence victims or survivors by providing service referrals and waivers from certain requirements. Implementation of the FVO has been difficult for welfare agencies and disclosures and service uptake have been low. Using administrative data and caseworker notes, this study compares demographic and case characteristics and abuse experiences among four analytic groups. A…
Domestic Violence, Poverty, and Social Services: Does Location Matter
Objective. This study investigates whether or not domestic violence agencies are located in areas of need. Recent research indicates that community economic disadvantage is a risk factor for intimate partner violence, but related questions regarding the geographic location of social service agencies have not been investigated. Methods. Using Connecticut as a case study, we analyze the relationship of agency location and police‐reported domestic v…
An Expression of Appreciation
Judging a Book by its Cover: Did Perceptions of the 1996 US Welfare Reforms Affect Public Support for Spending on the Poor
Research into public policy and public opinion demonstrates ample evidence that opinion affects policy, but relatively limited empirical findings regarding how policy might affect opinion: a process dubbed policy feedback. Much of the literature examines aggregate reactions to policy, while related public opinion research emphasises individual findings driven primarily by party affiliation or political ideology. This article takes the research on…
Symbolism Versus Policy Learning: Public Opinion of the 1996 U.S. Welfare Reforms
The logic of democracy rests on the assumption that policymakers respond to public preferences, which, in turn, respond to policy developments. We address the question of how policy might affect public opinion by analyzing public opinion before and after the 1996 U.S. Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. We hypothesized that changes made by the legislation would have improved opinions of welfare recipients. Using U.S. …
What Is Economic Self-Sufficiency? Validating a Measurement Scale for Policy, Practice, and Research
Economic self-sufficiency has emerged as a policy goal of antipoverty programs in many nations. Although the policy direction of these programs is clear, the definition and measurement of economic self-sufficiency is not. This study revisits a scale that was designed in 1993 and has experienced a growth in use after two decades of little attention. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and bivariate correlations, the scale’s validity…
The Relationship between State Welfare Rules and Economic Disconnection among Low-Income Single Mothers
The proportion of low-income single mothers who are disconnected, or not receiving public cash assistance or employment earnings, has increased since the 1996 US welfare reform legislation. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Welfare Rules Database, we use multilevel and multinomial logit models to examine the relationship between state welfare rules and the risk of disconnection. We find that women in states wi…
Examining the Impact of the Family Violence Option on Women's Efforts to Leave Welfare
Objective: The establishment of the Family Violence Option (FVO) in 1997 was met with some controversy, as critics believed waivers from time limit and work requirements would hinder women's ability to leave welfare and find employment. Method: Using administrative and interview data from Maryland, multivariate equations analyze if domestic violence disclosure, administrative documentation, or waiver use had a statistically significant affect on …
Domestic Violence, Poverty, and Social Services: Does Location Matter
Objective. This study investigates whether or not domestic violence agencies are located in areas of need. Recent research indicates that community economic disadvantage is a risk factor for intimate partner violence, but related questions regarding the geographic location of social service agencies have not been investigated. Methods. Using Connecticut as a case study, we analyze the relationship of agency location and police‐reported domestic v…
Can reducing learning costs improve public support for means‐tested benefit programs
This study investigates how efforts to reduce learning costs of means‐tested public benefit programs impact public support of these programs and perceived deservingness of program beneficiaries. Focusing on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the United States, a well‐known means‐tested public benefit program, we integrate research from educational psychology with policy feedback theory, predicting that the structure of inform…
Community in the Permanent Supportive Housing Model: Applications to Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
A key aspect of permanent supportive housing (PSH) is the community it forms, providing social supports and a sense of home for residents. Only recently, however, have evaluations of PSH examined community as an integral characteristic. For intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors, a new PSH target population, community and social connections are uniquely important. Using a case study of a PSH program for IPV survivors, we explored residents’ ex…
Long-Term Housing and Intimate Partner Violence: Journeys to Healing
For survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), safe, affordable, long-term housing is a critical aspect of establishing a life free from abuse. New permanent housing models for IPV survivors, which are emerging across the United States, are designed to meet the basic need of shelter and must at the same time be focused on meeting the needs of survivors of IPV. Using an in-depth qualitative case study of a new supportive housing program serving…
Financial Literacy and Economic Empowerment of Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: Examining the Differences Between Public Assistance Recipients and Nonrecipients
Financial literacy helps build economic empowerment and self-sufficiency among economically vulnerable groups. This article explores the effect of financial literacy on the economic empowerment of survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and investigates whether the relationship might differ for women receiving public assistance. Using survey data from 120 survivors of IPV, regression models examine the direct and interactive effects of finan…
We Live in a Technological Era, Whether You Like It or Not”: Client Perspectives and Online Welfare Applications
A growing number of state welfare agencies are using the Internet to communicate with potential and current clients. Although public management benefits are clear, little is known about client perspectives. This mixed-methods research project examines the topics of application security, reliability, appropriateness, and ease of use, and personal experiences of potential users to understand opinions of online welfare applications. Focus group find…
Welfare Caseworker Assessments and Domestic Violence Services: Findings From Administrative Data and Case Narratives
The Family Violence Option (FVO) protects welfare recipients who are domestic violence victims or survivors by providing service referrals and waivers from certain requirements. Implementation of the FVO has been difficult for welfare agencies and disclosures and service uptake have been low. Using administrative data and caseworker notes, this study compares demographic and case characteristics and abuse experiences among four analytic groups. A…
Judging a Book by its Cover: Did Perceptions of the 1996 US Welfare Reforms Affect Public Support for Spending on the Poor
Research into public policy and public opinion demonstrates ample evidence that opinion affects policy, but relatively limited empirical findings regarding how policy might affect opinion: a process dubbed policy feedback. Much of the literature examines aggregate reactions to policy, while related public opinion research emphasises individual findings driven primarily by party affiliation or political ideology. This article takes the research on…
Do Welfare Avoidance Grants Prevent Cash Assistance
Cash diversion strategies, a 1996 U.S. welfare reform innovation, are intended to alleviate short‐term crises and prevent the need for ongoing cash assistance among certain welfare applicants. Using administrative data, this work compares the welfare outcomes of Maryland Welfare Avoidance Grant recipients from October 1998 to September 2000 $$( n=1,992) $$ with those of a sample of welfare leavers $$( n=1,219) $$. It relies on event‐history analy…
Time's Up: Relative Disadvantages of Long-Term and Short-Term Urban Welfare Recipients
This study examines the intersection of two important welfare realities, the imposition of a lifetime limit on cash benefits and the concentration of cases in urban areas. Using survey data on a random sample of June 2002, single-parent TANF families in a large city (Baltimore), the characteristics and self-perceived barriers of long-term (60+ months) and short-term (< 12 months) recipients are compared. Although the demographics of the two group…
An Equity Analysis of Applying for Welfare: Tanf Application and Denial Reasons by Household and County Characteristics
The number of families receiving public cash assistance has decreased since welfare reform and the establishment of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in 1996, with only a few short-lived increases. The early decline was related to caseload exits; the recent decline is attributed to fewer eligible families participating. Using New Jersey TANF data from 2018, we conduct an equity analysis of TANF applications, denials, and the reasons …
Federal Welfare Time-Limit Extensions and Exemptions: Why Does Utilization Vary across States and over Time
Establishing public cash assistance as a time-limited benefit was a key and controversial feature of the 1996 welfare reform legislation. Many advocates and practitioners consider the formalization of program flexibility through time-limit exemptions and extensions to be critical in helping the most vulnerable families. Despite these options, including states’ ability to exempt up to 20 percent of their caseloads due to hardships without penalty …
Examining the Impact of the Family Violence Option on Women's Efforts to Leave Welfare
Objective: The establishment of the Family Violence Option (FVO) in 1997 was met with some controversy, as critics believed waivers from time limit and work requirements would hinder women's ability to leave welfare and find employment. Method: Using administrative and interview data from Maryland, multivariate equations analyze if domestic violence disclosure, administrative documentation, or waiver use had a statistically significant affect on …
Time's Up: Relative Disadvantages of Long-Term and Short-Term Urban Welfare Recipients
This study examines the intersection of two important welfare realities, the imposition of a lifetime limit on cash benefits and the concentration of cases in urban areas. Using survey data on a random sample of June 2002, single-parent TANF families in a large city (Baltimore), the characteristics and self-perceived barriers of long-term (60+ months) and short-term (< 12 months) recipients are compared. Although the demographics of the two group…
Do Welfare Avoidance Grants Prevent Cash Assistance
Cash diversion strategies, a 1996 U.S. welfare reform innovation, are intended to alleviate short‐term crises and prevent the need for ongoing cash assistance among certain welfare applicants. Using administrative data, this work compares the welfare outcomes of Maryland Welfare Avoidance Grant recipients from October 1998 to September 2000 $$( n=1,992) $$ with those of a sample of welfare leavers $$( n=1,219) $$. It relies on event‐history analy…
Judging a Book by its Cover: Did Perceptions of the 1996 US Welfare Reforms Affect Public Support for Spending on the Poor
Research into public policy and public opinion demonstrates ample evidence that opinion affects policy, but relatively limited empirical findings regarding how policy might affect opinion: a process dubbed policy feedback. Much of the literature examines aggregate reactions to policy, while related public opinion research emphasises individual findings driven primarily by party affiliation or political ideology. This article takes the research on…
Symbolism Versus Policy Learning: Public Opinion of the 1996 U.S. Welfare Reforms
The logic of democracy rests on the assumption that policymakers respond to public preferences, which, in turn, respond to policy developments. We address the question of how policy might affect public opinion by analyzing public opinion before and after the 1996 U.S. Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. We hypothesized that changes made by the legislation would have improved opinions of welfare recipients. Using U.S. …
An Expression of Appreciation
Domestic Violence, Poverty, and Social Services: Does Location Matter
Objective. This study investigates whether or not domestic violence agencies are located in areas of need. Recent research indicates that community economic disadvantage is a risk factor for intimate partner violence, but related questions regarding the geographic location of social service agencies have not been investigated. Methods. Using Connecticut as a case study, we analyze the relationship of agency location and police‐reported domestic v…
Welfare Caseworker Assessments and Domestic Violence Services: Findings From Administrative Data and Case Narratives
The Family Violence Option (FVO) protects welfare recipients who are domestic violence victims or survivors by providing service referrals and waivers from certain requirements. Implementation of the FVO has been difficult for welfare agencies and disclosures and service uptake have been low. Using administrative data and caseworker notes, this study compares demographic and case characteristics and abuse experiences among four analytic groups. A…
Children without parents in the Tanf caseload: Thinking beyond the child-only label
Housing Assistance and Disconnection from Welfare and Work: Assessing the Impacts of Public Housing and Tenant-based Rental Subsidies
The well-being of families disconnected from welfare and work are of growing concern to policymakers. This article examines the relationship between economic disconnection and housing assistance, a critical source of support that subsidizes what is the largest fixed expense for most households. Results from multilevel logistic models show that the odds ofbeing disconnected are higher for public housing residents and lower for single mothers recei…
Financial Literacy and Economic Empowerment of Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: Examining the Differences Between Public Assistance Recipients and Nonrecipients
Financial literacy helps build economic empowerment and self-sufficiency among economically vulnerable groups. This article explores the effect of financial literacy on the economic empowerment of survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and investigates whether the relationship might differ for women receiving public assistance. Using survey data from 120 survivors of IPV, regression models examine the direct and interactive effects of finan…
Income Packaging Strategies of Economically Disconnected Women and the Implications for Social Policy and Practice
Income packaging, or piecing together cash and non-cash resources from a variety of sources, is a common financial survival strategy among low-income women. This strategy is particularly important for economically disconnected women, who lack both employment income and public cash assistance receipt. Using data from the confidential Census Bureau versions of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, this study compares the use of public and…
We Live in a Technological Era, Whether You Like It or Not”: Client Perspectives and Online Welfare Applications
A growing number of state welfare agencies are using the Internet to communicate with potential and current clients. Although public management benefits are clear, little is known about client perspectives. This mixed-methods research project examines the topics of application security, reliability, appropriateness, and ease of use, and personal experiences of potential users to understand opinions of online welfare applications. Focus group find…
What Is Economic Self-Sufficiency? Validating a Measurement Scale for Policy, Practice, and Research
Economic self-sufficiency has emerged as a policy goal of antipoverty programs in many nations. Although the policy direction of these programs is clear, the definition and measurement of economic self-sufficiency is not. This study revisits a scale that was designed in 1993 and has experienced a growth in use after two decades of little attention. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and bivariate correlations, the scale’s validity…
The Relationship between State Welfare Rules and Economic Disconnection among Low-Income Single Mothers
The proportion of low-income single mothers who are disconnected, or not receiving public cash assistance or employment earnings, has increased since the 1996 US welfare reform legislation. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Welfare Rules Database, we use multilevel and multinomial logit models to examine the relationship between state welfare rules and the risk of disconnection. We find that women in states wi…
Long-Term Housing and Intimate Partner Violence: Journeys to Healing
For survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), safe, affordable, long-term housing is a critical aspect of establishing a life free from abuse. New permanent housing models for IPV survivors, which are emerging across the United States, are designed to meet the basic need of shelter and must at the same time be focused on meeting the needs of survivors of IPV. Using an in-depth qualitative case study of a new supportive housing program serving…
Community in the Permanent Supportive Housing Model: Applications to Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
A key aspect of permanent supportive housing (PSH) is the community it forms, providing social supports and a sense of home for residents. Only recently, however, have evaluations of PSH examined community as an integral characteristic. For intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors, a new PSH target population, community and social connections are uniquely important. Using a case study of a PSH program for IPV survivors, we explored residents’ ex…
Administering the U.S. Family Violence Option: The role of stigma in waiver recommendations
The Family Violence Option (FVO) was designed to help survivors of domestic violence (DV) more easily secure income support in the United States (U.S.), without placing them at risk of further abuse. The objective of this study is to determine whether the decision-making of advocates responsible for determining waiver recommendations under the FVO is influenced by the relationship status of DV survivors. Recursive partitioning was used to analyse…
Federal Welfare Time-Limit Extensions and Exemptions: Why Does Utilization Vary across States and over Time
Establishing public cash assistance as a time-limited benefit was a key and controversial feature of the 1996 welfare reform legislation. Many advocates and practitioners consider the formalization of program flexibility through time-limit exemptions and extensions to be critical in helping the most vulnerable families. Despite these options, including states’ ability to exempt up to 20 percent of their caseloads due to hardships without penalty …
Creating a Tool for Assessing Domestic Violence Risk and Impact Among Tanf Clients
The Family Violence Option (FVO), a provision of the 1996 welfare legislation, allows states to waive certain program requirements for domestic violence (DV) survivors in order to protect them from danger or penalties. The absence of a standardized method for assessing risk and impact has been an impediment to states' use of the FVO, particularly in the granting of waivers. The purpose of this study was to address this limitation by developing an…
An Equity Analysis of Applying for Welfare: Tanf Application and Denial Reasons by Household and County Characteristics
The number of families receiving public cash assistance has decreased since welfare reform and the establishment of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in 1996, with only a few short-lived increases. The early decline was related to caseload exits; the recent decline is attributed to fewer eligible families participating. Using New Jersey TANF data from 2018, we conduct an equity analysis of TANF applications, denials, and the reasons …
Securing the Safety Net: Lessons From Nonprofit Organizations on Tanf Access During Covid-19
The functioning of the U.S. social safety net as a support for low-income families depends on various means-tested programs and a system of both public agencies and nonprofit organizations. Using in-depth interviews ( n = 5) and a survey of nonprofit employees ( n = 73), we seek to understand the role of nonprofits in promoting equitable access to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Our findings reveal that public assistan…
A multi‐country systematic review of research on sanctions and equity in social welfare programs
Social welfare programs have increasingly implemented work requirements, with punitive measures such as sanctions to enforce compliance. Frontline workers, operating in public environments with limited resources, have discretion over when to issue sanctions and often use short cuts, sometimes guided by bias, to manage caseloads. This study conducts a multi‐country systematic literature review of research related to who gets sanctioned and why wit…
Section Overview: Governance and Management of Social Policy in Canada and the United States
Comparative social policy analysis enables an understanding of how context affects the implementation of public policy and its functioning in different social, economic, and political environments. The Canada-United States section of the handbook tackles how social policy governance and management is similar yet different in the two countries. (Mexico is covered in Section VI. Latin America.) This section overview provides an introduction to the …
Front-line Workers and the Creation of Administrative Data
Public agencies generate administrative data as part of their routine management of programs and services. The growth of big data analytics and open government has led to a great increase in the popularity of administrative data among policy researchers. Partnerships with public administrators are necessary and important in enabling researchers both to access and understand the data. Little consideration has been given, however, to front-line wor…
Political science (21 works) · Psychology (18 works) · Economics (16 works) · Business (15 works) · Welfare (15 works) · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics (12 works) · Medicine (12 works) · Homelessness and Social Issues (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Demographic economics (9 works)