Sources and Verification of the Welfare Rules Database

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Sources and Verification

For 1996, the WRD is coded using

Caseworker manuals, when available
AFDC State Plans submitted by states to the federal government
Waiver terms and conditions
State telephone calls clarifying waivers' implementation dates

For 1997 and forward, the WRD is coded using

Caseworker manuals with policy updates and/or
TANF regulations

The information in the WRD represents our best understanding of the source documents. In some cases, the source documents did not seem to contain the information required for a particular WRD variable. If the missing information was critical for Urban Institute uses of the database, it was obtained by contacting the state. Otherwise, the variable is coded with a question mark (?).

Portions of the 1996-1998 information in the WRD have been verified against selected secondary sources, but have not been fully reviewed by state TANF staff, due to their historic nature.

If you believe information in the WRD is incorrect or if you have information that could fill in a missing variable, please contact us. We look forward to your input so that the WRD can be as complete and accurate as possible.