Evaluation of the Mat-Su Jobs Teen Parent Demonstration Project

Abstract

Alaska has seen a significant rise in AFDC enrollments since the late 1980's. While most states had some increase in participation, Alaska's 35.6% increase from 1989 to 1991 was eighth largest in the nation. This report was prepared by the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage, commissioned by the State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (HSS). It is a process evaluation of the Mat-Su School District Teen Parent Demonstration Project, (JOBS Demonstration Grant 92-5-TP-AK-022). The evaluation study is organized under two major sections. The first section describes the context and design of the Teen Parent Demonstration Project. We examined the stated goals of the program and interviewed key persons involved in the project to learn about their perceptions of the program's goals and processes. The second phase of the evaluation focused on the procedures and organizational arrangements created by the demonstration project to deliver services to the teen parents. Our main goal was to examine the processes, rather than the impacts of the demonstration project. In other words, this evaluation did not attempt to measure outcomes of the project, rather it monitored program activities in order to document client participation levels.