WSIPP - November 1992

This information on public assistance households is from the Family Income Study, a five-year longitudinal survey of persons receiving, or at risk of receiving, public assistance. The study was requested by the 1987 Legislature.

Carol Webster, Greg Weeks - February 1995

The Family Income Study's December 1994 issue brief, Climbing the Wage Ladder, found that women who had worked at least three months in any year during the five-year study period (1988-1992) climbed the wage ladder. This paper updates that analysis and reports the 1994 equivalent wages.

Scott Matson - December 1996

This issue brief explains the general requirements established by the federal government for registration of sex offenders released from incarceration. Also included are the results from a 1996 Institute survey listing the number of registered sex offenders by state.

Mason Burley, Robert Barnoski - April 1997

To establish an accurate measure of the costs of supervising offenders sentenced in juvenile court, the Institute conducted a survey of the 33 juvenile courts in Washington. The survey was designed in cooperation with the Washington Association of Juvenile Court Administrators. This report highlights the findings from this survey, including information on caseloads and average costs of detention facilities and community supervision programs in Washington State.

Mason Burley - November 2009

The report represents the latest analysis in an ongoing study to investigate educational outcomes for foster youth. While the Institute has conducted previous analyses on the educational attainment of foster youth, this is this first report to compare these outcomes using the standard, federal definitions of dropout and graduation rates. Based on this methodology, we found:

• Approximately 70 percent of high school students in Washington State graduate on time. About 30-40 percent of foster youth in placement for at least half of the school year graduate after four years in high school.

• The statewide annual dropout rate for high schoolers in Washington State ranges between 5 and 6 percent. Between 8 and 13 percent of foster youth with a long-term (full-year) placement drop out of high school.

• Foster youth with longer-term placements (360 days or more during the school year) have lower dropout rates and higher graduation rates compared with foster youth with short-term placements during high school.

Scott Matson - April 1998

This companion report compares the 1996 county rates for eight indicators of at-risk behaviors of youth in Washington. County rates for all available years may be viewed on the Institute's searchable database.

Robert Barnoski - June 2000

This briefing paper looks at intensive parole program youth and answers the following questions about unauthorized leaves: (1) How often do intensive parole youth go on unauthorized leave? and (2) How does intensive parole affect unauthorized leaves?

Mason Burley - September 2000

At the request of its Board of Directors, the Institute studied the impact of the truancy petition process in the Seattle School District. Revised truancy procedures in Washington State school districts took effect in 1995 as part of the “Becca Bill.” The truancy component of this bill requires school districts to file a petition in juvenile court when students accumulate excessive unexcused absences. This paper describes whether the truancy requirements work to keep truant youth (from the Seattle School District) enrolled in school.

Greg Weeks, Carol Webster - December 1994

There are two schools of thought about the requirements of a successful welfare-towork program: One believes women on welfare should be encouraged to work, even at low-paying jobs, because steady work experience is a rung on a “wage ladder” that leads to jobs at higher wages. The other believes women on welfare should be encouraged to enroll in education and training to improve their skills and only take jobs with higher wages, because low-paying jobs are a dead end.

Previously, the Family Income Study found that both education/training and work experience affect the possibility of a woman leaving and staying off welfare. In this paper, we address the effects of work experience. We examined the hourly wages of women in the AFDC sample, who worked at least three months in any year during the five-year study period (1988-1992), to see if it was possible to “climb a wage ladder.”

Mia Nafziger, Marna Miller - October 2013

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) was directed by the 2013 Legislature to prepare an inventory of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices for prevention and intervention services for adult behavioral health. This brief report presents our preliminary findings on collaborative primary care for depression and anxiety. Final results for collaborative care will be published in May 2014.