Marna Miller - February 2011

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a federal/state program providing cash assistance to families with children. In Washington, the TANF program is administered by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). The 2007 Legislature directed the Institute to study the prevalence of depression among women receiving TANF and to evaluate the effectiveness of current screening methods used by the DSHS.

A random sample of 707 women receiving TANF in February 2008 was interviewed by telephone using a well-validated survey instrument to diagnose major depressive disorder (MDD). Compared with a national sample of depressed women with children, we found that women receiving TANF were more likely to be depressed and their depression was twice as likely to be categorized as severe. Depressed TANF clients were also significantly more likely to receive professional treatment for their condition.

Compared with non-depressed TANF clients, those with MDD were employed less and received TANF longer in the nine-month follow-up period. Depression was not associated with TANF sanction, either at the time of sampling or during the follow-up period.

DSHS has implemented screening procedures that identify a substantial portion of depressed TANF clients. To the extent the state wishes to increase treatment rates, DSHS could modify its Comprehensive Evaluation to include one of several brief, freely available mental health screening instruments.

Elizabeth Drake - January 2011

In this report, we examine recidivism rates for close to 70,000 adult offenders who released from prison in Washington State over a 17-year-period. Our analysis reveals quite notable and favorable recidivism trends.

Mason Burley - January 2011

In Washington State, specialized investigators, called Designated Mental Health Professionals (DMHPs), are responsible for determining if individuals can be committed for 72 hours under the state’s Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA). The criteria established under the ITA statute (RCW 71.05) allow individuals to be involuntary detained to a psychiatric facility if, as a result of a mental disorder, the individual is gravely disabled or presents a substantial risk of serious harm to him or herself or others.

A DMHP relies on both professional judgment and historical case records to determine the extent to which an individual may pose a risk. While protocols have been adopted for ITA investigations, at present, DMHPs do not use a standardized risk assessment instrument to determine the level of danger an individual may pose.

This report reviews both mental health and risk assessment instruments that potentially could be utilized in an ITA investigation. None of the risk instruments discussed here, however, have been validated for use within the general population. While we could not identify suitable instruments for ITA investigations within the research literature, other measures are discussed which may assist a DMHP in the investigation process. These options include expanded access to criminal records and centralized access to previous mental health investigation and commitment data.

Elizabeth Drake - December 2010

During the last 15 years, the Washington State Legislature has taken a number of steps to develop an “evidence-based” juvenile justice system. The central concept has been to identify and implement strategies shown—through rigorous research—to reduce crime cost-effectively. In 2009, the Legislature turned its attention to the mechanism through which Washington’s 33 juvenile courts receive state dollars. The Institute was directed to report on the administration of the new funding mechanism. We also summarize key policy reforms over the past 15 years that have established an emphasis on providing evidence-based programs in Washington’s juvenile justice system.

Jim Mayfield - November 2010

In 2009, the Legislature directed the Institute to study and make recommendations regarding disability benefits available to members of Washington State’s Public Employees’, Teachers’, and School Employees’ Retirement Systems (Plans 2/3).

This follow-up report summarizes the findings and recommendations of the 2009 Institute report and describes implementation efforts of the Health Care Authority regarding enhanced education, changes to Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB) long-term disability (LTD) products, and their investigation of new LTD products; describes statutory changes and fiscal impacts associated with providing enhanced disability benefits to Plans 2/3 members; and discusses policy advantages and disadvantages for insurance and pension options.

Steve Aos - October 2010

The 2009 Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy “to calculate the return on investment to taxpayers from evidence-based prevention and intervention programs and policies.” This report summarizes the Institute’s four-step research approach for this project and lists the topics being reviewed as well as Institute staff contacts for each area. Initial findings will be presented prior to the 2011 Legislative Session, with a full report due June 2011.

Mason Burley - October 2010

This report includes updated statistics on high school graduation and dropout rates for foster youth in Washington State. Since 2005, the graduation rate for all students in Washington State has ranged between 70 and 75 percent. For students in foster care, graduation rates vary between 32 and 44%. While these rates are significantly below other students, graduation numbers for foster youth have improved in each of the last three years. However, graduation levels for foster youth lag behind other disadvantaged groups, such as low-income, special education, and migrant students. In the 2008–09 school year, 12% of foster youth dropped out of high school, a rate more than twice as high as the statewide dropout rate (5%).

Steve Aos, Elizabeth Drake - August 2010

Can knowledge about “what works” to reduce crime be used to help states achieve a win-win outcome of lower crime and lower taxpayer spending?

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy has constructed an analytical tool for the Washington legislature to help identify evidence-based sentencing and programming policy options to reduce crime and taxpayer criminal justice costs. With additional financial assistance from the MacArthur Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts contracted with WSIPP to: (1) develop the tool, (2) apply it to a policy process currently underway in Washington State, and (3) help Pew make the tool available to other interested states.

This report describes the tool (as of August 2010) in detail and illustrates its use by applying it to two hypothetical sentencing policy options in Washington State. The tool assesses benefits, costs, and risks. Results from the two hypothetical examples point to possible win-win policy combinations.

Mason Burley, Jim Mayfield - August 2010

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy was directed by the 2001 Washington State Legislature to “conduct a longitudinal study of long-term [mental health] client outcomes to assess any changes in client status at two, five, and ten years.” This latest report discusses supported employment and housing outcomes for public mental health consumers in Washington State.

For this analysis, we selected all adults who received public mental health services in 2006. We then analyzed all service episodes for these individuals between 2002 and 2007. Based on these records, we examined how employment and housing outcomes related to treatment patterns. According to this analysis, and a review of national literature:

• Employment history, diagnosis, and functioning all predict likelihood of employment after treatment.
• Earnings levels for employed adults remain low; eligibility guidelines for benefit programs (such as SSI) may also constrain employment decisions.
• Supported employment and permanent supportive housing programs can improve outcomes for consumers, if implemented according to recommended guidelines.

Annie Pennucci - May 2010

General Assistance-Unemployable (GA-U) is a Washington State-funded program that provides cash grants and medical benefits to adults who have temporary incapacities that prevent them from working. The GA-U caseload has increased from about 10,000 individuals in 1998 to over 16,000 in 2009. As of April 2009, the caseload was forecast to continue growing to over 20,000 people by 2013. Since about 2003, the GA-U caseload has risen faster than the state population and appears to correlate with growth in the number of adults in poverty and without health insurance.

In 2010, the GA-U was renamed the “Disability Lifeline Program.” The Disability Lifeline Program is similar to GA-U in most eligibility rules and benefits, except that the Disability Lifeline Program has a time limit during which individuals can receive benefits (up to 24 months within a five-year period). In the 2010 legislation that created the Disability Lifeline Program, the Institute was directed to “analyze the experiences of persons who have been terminated from disability lifeline benefits” due to time limits or other reasons. The Institute will track the number of former benefit recipients who transitioned to SSI benefits or became employed, in addition to other outcomes. This report is due in December, 2012.