Public Assistance caseload information is now only a few clicks away. 

It is now easier to make data-driven decisions and dispel damaging myths.  The Research Unit is here for you - to dig through the mounds of available data, track facts and figures, guide you through the perilous waters of anecdotal information, and discover the treasure of hidden truths.  

Do you want to make a change, but are concerned about the impact it might have on clients, offices, communities, staff, or workloads?  Well, it is now easier than ever to get supporting information using the new DPA Research mailbox!  To request information, simply type “HSS-DPAResearch” in the “To:” box of your email message or click on the Research Unit email link in the DPAweb Quick E-mails list. 

The Research Unit mailbox is our latest advance in providing useful Public Assistance program information.  Every month, the Research Unit compiles a series of reports and posts them on the DPAweb’s Reports website.  Clicking on “Reports” in the upper right hand side of the DPAweb homepage takes you to a site full of informative reports that include current and historical data for each DPA office.  If you cannot find the information you need there, email us.  The unit has the ability extract a broad range of program details from our monthly downloads from EIS.  So, we’ll likely be able to help.

The theme of this eNewsletter is seasonal employment, so we thought we would demonstrate a few of our capabilities.  For instance, although Alaska has a seasonal economy, and that seasonality is reflected in the size of the monthly Food Stamp caseload, the percent of Food Stamp households with earnings does not fluctuate much and appears to be in a steady decline.  Since January 2002, the highest it has been is 31% the lowest it was 27%.   

Perhaps you are thinking that employment in your region is different.  The Research Unit can assist you.  For instance, Central and Coastal regions have a lot of households with earned income; Northern and Southeast, not so much.   

Perhaps you are speculating that the total number of households with earnings does not show the impact to a region’s caseload.  The Research Unit can better portray regional impact of employment by displaying the percent of households with earnings.  When viewed this way, employment consistently impacts the Coastal Region’s caseload to a greater degree. 

Perhaps you are wondering how the spike in seasonal employment affects regions.  The Research Unit can measure the percent increase from low to high months in each seasonal cycle.  Below we show the percent increase in the number of households with earnings during the upward shift of the employment cycle.  We found that the low month in the Food Stamp caseload employment cycle is usually around November and the high month is around May.  As you can see, seasonal increases usually impact the Coastal Region more than other regions.     

What are you thinking now?  The Research Unit has access to a lot of information and can help you apply it to your issues.  Each month, we receive client-level information for TA, FS, APA, ME, Senior Benefits and Child Care.  We have also cultivated other data sources that can be used in conjunction with any or all program data to produce individualized analyses. 

Remember, the Research Unit is here to serve you and eager to do it.