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Can Welfare Case Management Increase Employment? Evidence from a Pilot Program Evaluation
Author(s) -
Peck Laura R.,
Scott Ronald J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
policy studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1541-0072
pISSN - 0190-292X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-0072.2005.00131.x
Subject(s) - welfare , case management , business , set (abstract data type) , welfare reform , population , public economics , actuarial science , labour economics , economics , medicine , process management , computer science , environmental health , market economy , programming language
Welfare reform has increased the importance of employment over simple eligibility determination. Research has focused on strategies for enhancing employment among welfare recipients, and this article adds to the literature by examining specifically the effects of using an assessment tool to assist case managers in targeting services to a heterogeneous client population. Analysis indicates that clients of case managers who used the screener, compared with a set of clients of case managers who did not use it, received more services and had higher program participation rates but experienced no improvement in short‐term employment outcomes. This suggests that the instrument as a tool in case management is effective at identifying client needs, which is the first step to achieving more favorable employment‐related outcomes in the long run.