Organization:
 
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families
16 North Carroll Street Suite 420
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
(608) 284-0580
 
The Council is a statewide private, non-profit organization committed to building a strong, committed constituency for the health, safety, and happiness for all children in Wisconsin.
 
 Contact Persons:
 
Anne Arnesen, Director
Jill Jacklitz, Outreach Coordinator
 
 Project/Research Summary:
 
The purpose of the Council’s Welfare Watch Project is to monitor the impact of welfare changes on families in poverty, service providers, employers and communities. Monitoring efforts include employer and service provider focus groups, WIC Program interviews, a housing and homelessness project, and longitudinal in-depth interviews with families and teen parents involved in the welfare system.
 
 Process and Outcome Focus:
 
 
Target Group:
 
WIC Program interviews are conducted through respective service providers in a number of sites across the state. Employer and service provider focus groups are convened in counties across Wisconsin and vary in size. For the longitudinal study, approximately 30 families from Rock and Dane Counties (8 to 10 from each area) are participating in an 18-month study exploring how families fare under the new welfare programs.
 
 Measurements:
 
WIC Program interviews focus on the general impact of the new welfare system on WIC recipients. In 1996, a variety of service providers, shelters, food pantries, and human service agencies, were asked to assess the impact of Pay-For-Performance on their operations, use of services, caseload, work time, and possible barriers to services.
 
In collaboration with the Institute for Research on Poverty, employers working with W-2 agencies are being asked to discuss their decision to participate in the program to hire welfare recipients. Employers also discuss any work-force barriers, accommodations, and changes in workplace culture that occurred after hiring W-2 workers.
 
For the longitudinal study, families are interviewed every three to four months during the 18-month period. Since February 1997, the first interview gathered the family’s demographic information, employment and educational history of adults, its history on public assistance, income and expenses, and perceptions of welfare policy. Follow-up interviews will be done quarterly as counties transition to W-2. In these interviews, families will be asked questions in order to update information on their employment, childcare and housing arrangements, income and expenses, and perceptions and feelings about welfare changes. Similar interviews with teen parents and service providers will also be accomplished. No formal research reports are currently planned.
 
The Council is also conducting a short survey at homeless shelters across the state, looking at employment and public assistance involvement.
 
Advocacy materials based on the information gathered through these monitoring activities are also being created.
 
 Funding and Timeline:
 
All projects are fully funded. While each activity is on a different timeline, most projects began in the fall of 1996 and will be completed in November 1998. The Welfare Watch Project is supported by funds from the Joyce Foundation and the National Association of Child Advocates.
 
 Related Publications/Reports:
 
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families. W-2 Watch Reports. 1996-1997.
_______. Wisconsin Pubic Policy Papers.
_______. The Other Wisconsin: Voices of Wisconsin’s Low-Income Families.
 
 Additional Information:
 
 The Welfare Watch Project is supported by Funds from the Joyce Foundation and the National Association of Child Advocates.
 
With a state grant, the Council is also establishing a statewide W-2 Disability Hotline to assist participants. Data will be collected on the problems encountered by recipients in order to improve the program. United Cerebral Palsy will operate a similar hotline in Milwaukee County.