ANN ARBOR—Low-income mothers who have difficulty making a successful transition from welfare to work need special help from government agencies if they are to be reconnected to regular sources of financial support, a new study says.

The study, co-authored by University of Michigan researchers, found that about 9 percent of women who received welfare shortly after implementation of the 1996 federal welfare reform became chronically disconnected. They were without work and not getting welfare payments and did not live with another earner for more than two years of the 6