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Just Released: Evaluation of the Welfare to Work Voucher Program: Report to Congress

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The Welfare to Work Voucher (WtWV) program, enacted in
the HUD Appropriations Act for FY 1999, funded
approximately 50,000 housing choice vouchers for families
receiving or eligible to receive welfare, and for whom
the receipt of housing assistance was deemed critical for
obtaining or retaining employment.

This Congressionally mandated evaluation, commissioned by
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research, presents
interim impacts of the WtWV program on the quality of
neighborhoods, employment, earnings and continued
dependence of welfare families.

At six sites, 8,732 families were randomly assigned to
one of two groups: (1) the treatment group, who received
a WtW voucher immediately, or (2) the control group, who
did not receive a housing voucher for at least some time
thereafter.

The sites are Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia; Fresno and
Los Angeles, California; Houston, Texas; and Spokane,
Washington.

The analysis of the experiment to date indicates that
some participants in the WtWV program were more able to
move to better neighborhoods, but that participants
experienced statistically significant reductions in
employment and earnings. The results are inconsistent
with program expectations. Consistent with the finding of
negative program impacts for employment and earnings, the
authors found modest but statistically significant
increases in the use of TANF and Food Stamps.

A longer-term assessment will be conducted in the future,
as the typical length of stay in vouchers is three years.
The results of the longer-term assessment will be
compelling, the authors predict, as some positive effects
may be slow to emerge.

"Evaluation of the Welfare to Work Voucher Program:
Report to Congress" is available as a free download from
HUD USER at
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/pubasst/welfrwrk.html
or in printed form for a nominal charge by calling HUD
USER at 1-800-245-2691.
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