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SSI Caretaker Cases, Child Support, and Economic Well-Being

Smith for their expert preparation of the data and Maria Cancian, Elizabeth Evanson, and Dawn Duren for their comments and assistance with this manuscript. Executive Summary The Caretaker Supplement (CTS) provides a cash benefit to parents who are receiving SSI payments and raising minor children in the State of Wisconsin. It is a relatively new program that was introduced in 1997 as part of a reorganization of the public income support systems for low-income families that resulted from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). As of January 2004, there were almost 6,000 SSI parents who received benefits for 12,300 children. Little is known about parents with disabilities who are raising minor children, about the role of CTS in their economic well-being, or about child support outcomes among these families. This report presents data from two studies of CTS recipients that used two different methodologies, quantitative and qualitative, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the program and its recipients. The first study was a quantitative analysis that used State administrative records and data from the Wisconsin Works (W-2) Child Support Demonstration Project (CSDE) to examine the economic status of mothers who ever received CTS benefits during the period from December 1997 to December 2003. The second study was a qualitative approach that used six focus groups of CTS recipients who were mothers to explore how they view the CTS program, how they make ends meet, and to what extent they utilize child support and other economic resources. In the analysis of administrative data, we examined the characteristics of mothers in the CTS program, the transition and income patterns of mothers who transitioned from W-2 to CTS, and the economic well-being of mothers receiving CTS compared to those receiving W-2. The average age of participants was 32, over half were African American, and 62 percent lived in Milwaukee County. When they made the transition to CTS, over half had never been married and on average they cared for three children in the household. Forty-two percent had a high school education or equivalent. Compared to W-2 participants, the CTS mothers were older and were caring for older children. Overall, the transition to CTS generally took place within a year after entry into SSI. Almost 60 percent of mothers received their first CTS payments within 6 months after the first SSI receipt (or after December 1997 if they had …