Description

Reform of welfare is one of the nation's most contentious issues, with debate often driven more by politics than by facts or careful analysis. Evaluating Welfare Reform in an Era of Transition identifies key policy questions for measuring whether our changing social welfare programs are working. It also reviews the available studies and research and recommends the most effective ways to address those key 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. After scrutinizing the available research, the National Research Council identifies and describes 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.

Reviews

"This book provides a good deal of relevant information which can inform discussions currently taking place on the future of welfare. ...an important book. Evaluating Welfare Reform in an Era of Transition is a rich trove of information presented in a sensible, logical way that encapsulates many research topics undertaken to date on these issues. The book, with its thorough analysis of the PRWORA legislation, is a useful tool for academics teaching social policy. Students, too, will find the book useful... Policy makers and welfare administrators should also find the text informative. ... Finally, researchers themselves will benefit from reading this text, gaining insight into the direction that future research needs to take to address many important questions regarding welfare."
-- Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, December 2002

"...a useful and authoritative reference for researchers and policy makers interested in evaluation of welfare reform. ...it lays solid foundation for what will eventually be a large and, if this book has any influence, coherent body of welfare reform evaluation research. One hopes that the recommendations of the panel for a major new effort to coordinate and collect data for evaluating welfare reform will be taken seriously."
-- Journal of Economic Literature, March 2002

Authoring Organizations

• Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (CBASSE)
• Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE)
• More Titles from CBASSE
• More Titles from DBASSE

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