RAND Statewide CalWORKS Evaluation: Implementing CalWORKs. The Problem of Noncompliance

In response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), California created the California Work and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program-a "work-first" program that provides support services to help recipients move from welfare to work (WTW) and toward self-sufficiency. To encourage prompt transitions to these goals, CalWORKs also imposes lifetime limits on receipt of cash assistance by adults. Finally, CalWORKs devolves much of the responsibility and authority for implementation to California's 58 counties, increasing their flexibility and financial accountability in designing welfare programs. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) contracted with RAND to independently evaluate the process (implementation) of CalWORKs and its impact (out- comes), at both the state and county levels. In conducting the second process analysis, which focused on CalWORKs' implementation through early December 1999, Jacob Klerman and his colleagues followed up on an issue that surfaced in the first year-the problem of noncompliance.