The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 was passed on August 22, 1996. The Act "changed the nation's welfare system into one that requires work in exchange for time-limited assistance."

Since its establishment in 1996, Connecticut's Job First Welfare Reform Program has been under rigorous evaluation. As a result, under a contract with the Connecticut Department of Social Services, Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) decided to study the effects of the Job First Program. During the study, nearly 5,000 single-parent welfare applicants and recipients in Manchester and...