DOI: 10.3886/icpsr04207
title: California Work Pays Demonstration Project: County Welfare Administrative Data, 1992-1998, Public Use Version 4.1
title: Archival Version

description: The California Work Pays Demonstration Project (CWPDP) was
 intended to assess the effects of recent changes in Aid to Families
 With Dependent Children (AFDC) provisions. The project documents the
 dynamics of family poverty and welfare use in California. Part 1,
 Overview Data: Cases contains one record for each CWPDP case sampled
 between October 1992 and March 1997. For each case, seven data
 presence indicator variables identify the presence of data in each of
 the data file types. Four observation variables identify the number of
 case-months records observed in the Four County Cases file, the number
 of person records observed in the Four County Persons and Assistance
 History Persons files, and the first month during which AFDC
 participation is observed in the Assistance History Persons file.
 Fifteen survey detail variables identify survey participation,
 interview completion, respondent's person number and date of birth,
 and the survey record number. Parts 2-5, Four County Data: Cases,
 contain case-month records for all control and experimental cases
 selected to be a part of the study between October 1992 and March 1997
 for any month (beginning with the month selected) during which an
 assistance unit received AFDC of food stamps. Each case-month record
 contains county administrative data for eligible family size and type,
 income, and cash and food stamp assistance amounts. These files are
 identical to the Four County Data: Cases files in County Welfare
 Administrative Data Version 4. Parts 6-9, Four County Data: Persons,
 contain records for each person observed associated with any control
 or experimental case selected to be part of the study between October
 1992 and March 1997. Records include nonconfidential demographic
 information and monthly values for aid type and eligibility. These
 files are identical to the Four County Data: Persons files in County
 Welfare Administrative Data Version 4. Parts 10-13, Assistance History
 Data: Aggregate, contain case-month records that summarize information
 for the months of January 1987 through December 1996 about the public
 assistance program participation and eligibility of persons associated
 with sampled cases. This dataset was constructed from the Assistance
 History Data: Persons datasets (Parts 14-17) that contain persons
 associated with the study units. Parts 14-17, Assistance History Data:
 Persons, contain the Medi-Cal and program participation history of
 each person associated with the assistance units for cases selected
 between October 1992 and March 1997. This dataset does not include
 information about persons who left the assistance unit before the
 month sampled. Each record includes program participation information
 for each month from January 1987 through December 1996, a total of 120
 months, as well as demographic information. Parts 18-21, Medi-Cal
 Payments Data: Cases, contain one record for each case selected to be
 part of the CWPDP sample between December 1992 and March 1997. This
 dataset contains the Medi-Cal payments made for each case in the study
 for the month of December 1992 and quarterly from 1993 through the
 fourth quarter of 1997. University of California Data Archive and
 Technical Assistance receives this data from California Department of
 Social Services-Research Branch (CDSS-RB) by quarter (not month),
 aggregated to case number. Therefore, the data in these files are
 aggregated payments information for all assistance units with the same
 case number, whether or not that assistance unit is part of the CWPDP
 sample. These files are identical to the Medi-Cal Payments Data: Cases
files in County Welfare Administrative Data Version 3.
description: For original sample cases, the weight was based on the
 sampling interval. The weight variable for additional sample cases was
 modified to account for undersampling of new sample cases due to the
 delayed entry of cases into the Medi-Cal Eligibility Data System (and,
 therefore, into the sampling pool). In Version 4, two weights were
 included for each case: the Sampling Interval Weight and the County
 Caseload Weight. The Sampling Interval Weight is the original weight
 implied by the sampling method. The County Caseload Weight is the
 weight needed to expand the original sample to the December 1992
 caseload (for county-aid code cells) and to expand the additional
 samples to the number of new approvals (for county-aid code cells)
 during the sample month. Using state administrative data, County
 Caseload Weights were calculated by the principal investigator staff
 to reflect the number of AFDC cases a sample case represents.
 Expanding the original sample cases by using the County Caseload
 Weights, more accurately reflects the caseloads of the counties during
 December 1992. Similarly, expanding the additional sample cases by
 using the County Caseload Weights, more accurately reflects the number
 of new cases in the counties during the month selected for sample.
 After December 1992, it is not possible to weight up samples to
 determine county caseloads since certain types of cases were excluded
 from sampling. Additional sample cases can only be expanded to the
number of cases new to welfare during the study period.
description: Cases were sampled from the administrative welfare records
 sent by each county to University of California Data Archive and
Technical Assistance.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Overview Data: Cases
DS2: Four County Data: Cases (Alameda County)
DS3: Four County Data: Cases (Los Angeles County)
DS4: Four County Data: Cases (San Bernardino County)
DS5: Four County Data: Cases (San Joaquin County)
DS6: Four County Data: Persons (Alameda County)
DS7: Four County Data: Persons (Los Angeles County)
DS8: Four County Data: Persons (San Bernardino County)
DS9: Four County Data: Persons (San Joaquin County)
DS10: Assistance History Data: Aggregate (Alameda County)
DS11: Assistance History Data: Aggregate (Los Angeles County)
DS12: Assistance History Data: Aggregate (San Bernardino County)
DS13: Assistance History Data: Aggregate (San Joaquin County)
DS14: Assistance History Data: Persons (Alameda County)
DS15: Assistance History Data: Persons (Los Angeles County)
DS16: Assistance History Data: Persons (San Bernardino County)
DS17: Assistance History Data: Persons (San Joaquin County)
DS18: Medi-Cal Payments Data: Cases (Alameda County)
DS19: Medi-Cal Payments Data: Cases (Los Angeles County)
DS20: Medi-Cal Payments Data: Cases (San Bernardino County)
DS21: Medi-Cal Payments Data: Cases (San Joaquin County)
description: Administrative welfare records from Alameda, San
 Joaquin, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles Counties between 1992
and 1998. Smallest Geographic Unit: county
description: (1) Administrative data, such as the files represented
 here, must be viewed in light of the original reasons for which the
 data were collected, as well as the original data systems used to
 collect and store the data. These data were collected for the purpose
 of administering a state assistance program. Without some
 understanding of the context of Welfare programs in California, users
 of these data may have difficulty conducting contextually meaningful
 analysis. Because of the interrelated nature of the files represented
 here, users are strongly advised to examine carefully the entire set
 of available files before beginning analysis. (2) The principal
 investigator delivered this data with the following note about the
 current version: This Version 4.1 of the County Welfare Administrative
 Data replaces all previous versions. The files in Version 4.1 correct
 a coding error in both the Version 4 Assistance History Data:
 Aggregate files and the Version 4 Assistance History Data: Persons
 files. Variables in the Overview Data: Cases files that relate to
 these two sets of data were also changed to reflect the corrections
 made to the Assistance History Data files. Also note that the files in
 Version 4 cover a longer data period than in Version 3. Four County
 Data files now contain 12 additional months of data through September
 1998. Assistance History Data files contain two additional years of
data.