Variation in teenage mothers' experiences of child care and other components of welfare reform: Selection processes and developmental consequences

Developmental evaluations of the current wave of welfare reform programs pr esent challenges with regard to (1) assessing child outcomes; (2) accountin g for heterogeneity among low-income families in both baseline characterist ics and involvement in self-sufficiency activities and supports, and (3) de velopment of alternatives to experimental approaches to causal inference. T his study (N = 1,079) addresses these challenges by examining effects on 4- to 6-year-old children of different patterns of child care, self-sufficien cy activities, and other service utilization indicators among experimental- group mothers in a 16-site welfare reform program. Outcomes in areas of cog nitive ability and behavior problems were investigated. The study identifie d seven subgroups of participants engaging in different patterns of service utilization and activity involvement. A two-stage simultaneous equation me thodology was used to account for selection, and effects on child cognitive ability of participation in specific patterns of services and activities w ere found. For example, children of mothers characterized by high levels of involvement in center-based child care, education, and job training showed higher levels of cognitive ability than children of mothers in groups char acterized by high involvement in center-based care and education, or center -based care and job training. In addition, children of mothers in groups wi th high levels of involvement in any of these activities showed higher leve ls of cognitive ability than those with low levels of involvement. The bulk of selection effects occurred through site-level differences, rather than family-level socioeconomic status or maternal depression indicators. Implic ations for welfare reform program and policy concerns are discussed.