§ 1134 - Program evaluation - Vermont Statutes

§ 1134. Program evaluation

(a) On or before January 31 of each year, the commissioner shall design and implement procedures to evaluate, measure and report to the governor and the general assembly the department's progress in implementing Reach First, Reach Up, and Reach Ahead and achieving the goals of the programs provided for in sections 1002, 1102, and 1202 of this title. The report shall include:

(1) The types of barriers facing Reach Up families seeking economic self-sufficiency, the number of families with each type of barrier, the frequency of occurrence of each type of barrier, and how support services and incentives assist in overcoming barriers.

(2) Documentation of participant outcomes, including specific information relating to the number of persons employed, by occupation, industry and wage; the types of subsidized and unsubsidized jobs secured by participants; any available information about outcomes for children who have participated in the programs, including objective indicators of improved conditions; the number of participating families involved in training programs; and whether the support services and incentives assist in keeping families employed.

(3) Data about the food stamp participation of households who have left the programs during the last fiscal year, including the number of households, adults and children participating in the food stamp program three months after leaving the applicable program, broken down by reason for termination or leaving, and the department's plan to identify and assist eligible households to apply for food stamps.

(4) Data about the enrollment of individuals who have left the programs during the last fiscal year in a health care assistance program, including the number of adults and children enrolled in a health care assistance program three months after leaving the applicable program, broken down by reason for termination or leaving, and the department's plan to identify and assist eligible households to apply for health care assistance.

(5) A summary of all interim and final reports submitted by independent evaluation contractors to the agency or the department relating to the programs.

(6) A description of the work participation rates, including the method of calculating the caseload reduction credit, for the most recent federal fiscal year.

(7) A description of the current basic needs budget and housing allowance, the current maximum grant amounts, and the basic needs budget and housing allowance adjusted to reflect an annual cost-of-living increase.

(8) A summary of the analysis done under subsection (b) of this section.

(b) On or before January 15, 2010 for the analysis of Reach First and on or before January 15, 2012 for the analysis of all programs, the department shall analyze the effectiveness of the programs and shall consider the following indicators:

(1) For Reach First, the types of crises presented by applicants; the type and duration of case management necessary to respond to a crisis; and the impact of the services on the family, including the actual and perceived outcomes and material indicators of stability.

(2) For Reach Up, the type and duration of case management provided; and the impact of the services on the family; the family's achievement of the goals in the family development plan; the types of employment engaged in by families; the duration of employment; and actual and perceived outcomes and material indicators of stability and well-being.

(3) For Reach Ahead, the types of employment engaged in by families; the duration of employment; the type and duration of services necessary to maintain employment; the duration of time the family received food assistance and services in the program; and the impact of the services on the family, including the actual and perceived well-being of the family and material indicators of well-being.

(4) Whether the programs are effectively integrated and transitions between programs are simple, and the number of families who choose not to participate, and why.

(c) Beginning on or before January 15, 2008, and annually thereafter, the commissioner shall report to the house committees on human services and appropriations and senate committees on health and welfare and appropriations on families' long-term receipt of financial assistance authorized by this chapter. Such reports shall include:

(1) the number of families receiving financial assistance in the most recent federal fiscal year that included an adult family member who has received TANF-funded financial assistance, as an adult, 60 or more months in his or her lifetime;

(2) the average proportion of the monthly TANF-funded caseload during the same fiscal year that such families represent;

(3) when such proportion exceeds 20 percent, the sufficiency of general funds appropriated to support financial assistance authorized by this chapter to fund financial assistance for those families in excess of 20 percent while, at the same time, providing financial assistance and services, supported solely by general funds, to other families as authorized by this chapter; and

(4) when appropriated general funds are insufficient to fund financial assistance for all such families, the modifications in policy, appropriated general funds, or combination thereof that the commissioner recommends to support families receiving financial assistance under this chapter in their achievement of self-sufficiency and to protect the children in these families. (Added 1999, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2001; amended 2003, No. 19, § 22, eff. May 6, 2003; 2005, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 5, 2006; 2005, No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 84; 2007, No. 30, § 17, eff. May 17, 2007.)