The Pace of CalWORKS Implementation

In response to national welfare reform legislation--the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA), which was signed in August 1996 and went into effect in January 1997--California passed legislation that replaced the existing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Greater Avenues to Independence (GAIN) with the California Work Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Following an open and competitive bidding process, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), which administers CalWORKs, awarded a contract to evaluate the CalWORKs program to RAND. This testimony--presented at a hearing of the California State Senate Committee on Health and Human Services meeting in Montebello, California, on December 8, 1999--discusses some preliminary results from the evaluation on the pace of implementation of CalWORKs in the counties and the implications of that pace of implementation for past and future spending and referrals. Although this testimony is based on a variety of sources, including research conducted at RAND, the opinions and conclusions expressed are those of the author and should not be interpreted as representing those of either RAND or those of any of the agencies or others sponsoring the research, including CDSS. The second process analysis report, to be released in late February 2000, will present final results and additional detail.