Outcomes

This figure illustrates the percent of families with cases to have exited in a quarter, who had earnings upon exit. An exit is defined as all individuals in the family not receiving assistance for 90 days after their case has been closed. This item is in development with eventual reporting of trends on reasons for program exits – including, but not limited to, exits due to income. At this point, CDSS is only able to provide data on CalWORKs exits with earnings, which is a correlative of “exits due to income.” However, there are instances in this data where a participant may exit with earnings but not exit because of earnings. In the future, CDSS plans to expand on this data set to include all exits, broken out by reasons for exits.

Earnings data for this figure are sourced from the Employment Development Department (EDD). Several employment sectors are not included in EDD: self-employed persons not electing disability insurance, federal employees, casual labor paid less than $50, working less than 24 days per quarter, employees of some non-profit organizations, students working for a school, college, or university, railroad employees, workers on small farms, etc. Additionally, wages earned in states outside of California are not reflected in EDD data.

Exits with earnings is a correlative predictor of the success of CalWORKs as a poverty interrupter and therefore is an important outcome metric of the program overall. It shows whether the program helps participants become financially independent through employment. Tracking exists with earnings helps partners understand how effective CalWORKs program is at moving families from public assistance to stable income. It also highlights gaps in job readiness, wages, or support services that may affect long-term self-sufficiency.

Exits with earnings was strongest prior to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), with a notable drop during the PHE. Rebounds of CalWORKs families exiting with earnings is steadily increasing, though not quite to the same level as before the PHE.

No significant policy changes in the most recent 12 months.

The Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) process is data-driven and informed by the California Outcomes and Accountability Review (Cal-OAR) Performance Measures. These measures capture both outcomes and process indicators and are used by counties to inform their Cal-County Self-Assessment (Cal-CSA), Cal-System Improvement Plan (Cal-SIP), and Progress Reports. These performance measures provide the data-driven support necessary for robust continuous quality improvement efforts. This table showcases the Cal-OAR performance measures that are available on the Public Dashboard, In Development or In Production but not yet available on the Public Cal-OAR Dashboard.

The Cal-OAR performance measures provide a structured framework to evaluate the effectiveness of the welfare-to-work program through, education, employment, and supportive services. County Human and Health Agencies (CHHA) conduct data analysis using the available measures to improve program effectiveness, outcome measurement, and it helps allocate resources and target services. The measures help CHHA’s with continuous improvement in service delivery and support the workforce development. Overall, the measures help ensure that services are meeting the needs of participants in promoting self-sufficiency and achieving long-term positive outcomes, such as employment and earnings, work participation, and family stability. By collecting and analyzing the data, the performance measures aim to improve the program design, accountability, and outcomes for low-income families in California.

No significant policy changes in the most recent 12 months.