Evaluating Welfare Reform in an Era of Transition

Reform of welfare is one of the nation's most contentious issues, with debate often driven more by politics than by facts and careful analysis. Evaluating Welfare Reform in an Era of Transition identifies the key policy questions for measuring whether our changing social welfare programs are working, reviews the available studies and research, and recommends the most effective ways to answer those questions. This book discusses the development of welfare policy, including the landmark 1996 federal law that devolved most of the responsibility for welfare policies and their implementation to the states. A thorough analysis of the available research leads to the identification of gaps in what is currently known about the effects of welfare reform. Evaluating Welfare Reform in an Era of Transition specifies what-and why-we need to know about the response of individual states to the federal overhaul of welfare and the effects of the many changes in the nation's welfare laws, policies, and practices. With a clear approach to a variety of issues, Evaluating Welfare Reform in an Era of Transition will be important to policy makers, welfare administrators, researchers, journalists, and advocates on all sides of the issue. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1. Introduction 2. Welfare Reform Monitoring and Evaluation: The Current Landscape 3. Research Questions and Populations of Interest 4. Evaluation Methods and Issues 5. Data Needs and Issues 6. Administrative Issues for Maintaining the Data Infrastructure References Appendix A: Major Current Welfare-Related Research Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Appendix B: Summary of Current Welfare Reform Projects Appendix C: The Statistical Power of National Data to Evaluate Welfare Reform Appendix D: Summaries of National-Level Survey Data Sets Relevant to Welfare Monitoring and Evaluation Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff Index