Small Towns and Welfare Reform: Iowa Case Studies of Families and Communities

Abstract

This paper examines rural-urban differences in the implementation of welfare reform policies using Iowa as a case study. Information waas gathered at the state, community, and family levels to study community-level implications of the policy mandate to move families off the welfare rolls and into the workforce. State and community interviews with key informants were conducted using The Urban Institute's Assessing the New Federalism state and community case study protocols. Seven communities/counties, including one metropolictan city, were selected to form a rural-urban continuum. Within those communities, five recipient families were selected for intensive interviews every six months over a three-year period. Differences between the metropolitan area and the rural communities were related to differences in population density. Although the problems appear to be universal, solutions may be different for urban and rural communities. The most important differences that manifested themselves along the rural-urban continuum were related to accessibility and distance to jobs and support services. Rural welfare-recipient families moving from welfare to work encountered fewer services locally. When services were available locally, access was less frequent. This pattern was particularly notable with respect to accessibility of jobs, job training, and education, health care, child care, and emergency services.