Program Barriers and Challenges to Self-Sufficiency: A Qualitative Analysis of Ohio Welfare-to-Work Program Manager Identity

Abstract

This research examines the ways in which Ohio Works First (OWF) program managers respond to the bureaucratic constraints of implementing welfare-to-work programs. Using qualitative data collected from telephone interviews with program managers in 69 of Ohio’s 88 counties, we build on prior research that examines caseworker identity and case management (Watkins-Hayes, 2009) by investigating how managers view the challenges and program barriers to self-sufficiency for cash assistance clients in Ohio. We find three distinct manager identities and responses to these challenges and barriers. First, following Watkins-Hayes (2009), we find ‘social work’ identified managers are more holistic in their approach and focused on structural barriers to self-sufficiency. A second type of manager – ‘efficiency engineers’ – are far more rules-minded and focused on clients’ individual barriers. Third, similar to existing research (Taylor and Seale, 2013), we find support for another category of managers – ‘conflicted’ – who discuss both structural and individual-level barriers to self-sufficiency.