Ohio Job and Family Services Legislative Outcome Study

OHIO

Ohio Job and Family Services Legislative Outcome Study
Date of Report:	August 2000 (no web address)
Methodology:	Phone surveys with 631 individuals who left cash assistance and remained off assistance for at least 12 months (60% response rate )
Study Timeframe:	Families who left cash assistance between October 1997 and March 1998. Interviews took place about 24 months after exit.
Investigator (Contact):	Macro International and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (Jacqui Romer Sensky, Secretary of ODJFS)
Study Objective:	Determine the employment outcomes and program use of families leaving cash assistance

Comparable State Findings:	Former Recipients
Percent employed at time of interview	67%
Mean hourly wage of those employed	$8.65
Percent receiving Food Stamps/Medicaid (for children) at time of interview	28%/49%
Percent who say life is "better" after welfare	76%
Percent receiving cash assistance after exit	10%

Employment & Income

61% of respondents reported leaving welfare because he/she obtained work/increased earnings.
Respondents reported substantial increases in wages and earnings. They reported wages of $6.92 per hour and monthly earnings of $1,179 in the first moth after exit and wages of $8.65 per hour (a 25% increase) and monthly earnings of $1,410 (a 20% increase) at the time of the survey.
Most employed respondents (58%) had been in the same job for more than one year.
Food service (19%), construction/repair (16%) and customer service (15%) were the most common jobs held by respondents.

Other Benefits (at time of interview)

79%of the currently employed respondents reported using the Earned Income Tax Credit.
57% of the adults and 83% of the children were covered by health insurance. Almost half (46%) of the insured adults received insurance from their employer and 34% had Medicaid coverage while 60% of the covered children had Medicaid and 38% were covered by parents' insurance.
Nearly half of the respondents reported using some type of child care (40%). Of those respondents, 53% used home-based care, 32% used center or school based care, and 16% reported utilizing some other care arrangement.
Only 23% of leavers knew about post-welfare assistance available for the costs of shelter, utilities, car repair, transportation and clothing. Only 26% (37 of the 631 families surveyed) of those who knew about it applied for help. All requests were approved.
The majority of respondents (75%) with children under age 12 reported no child care problems.
27% of employed and 29% of unemployed respondents reported receiving child support.
32% of those families where the adult had not worked since leaving OWF were receiving SSI.

Family Well-Being

72% reported their children's levies had improved since the family left welfare and 8% reported that their children were worse off.
Sanctions were responsible for 11% of families leaving cash assistance.
While the majority of leavers felt that it was unlikely that they would return to cash assistance, 13% reported it was likely. The two primary reasons were: lack of health insurance and health problems.