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Policy Framework
With the passage of the landmark 1996 federal welfare reform legislation, initiative for shaping welfare policy shifted from Washington to the states. Few states had an earlier or more influential role in shaping the national welfare policy than Wisconsin. Its Wisconsin Works (W-2) program was not only one of the nation’s earliest comprehensive welfare reform initiatives but also revealed the challenges of implementing a complex new set of administrative procedures and legal protocols.
Seizing the valuable learning opportunity this pioneering approach presented, MDRC’s multidimensional study set out to document how W-2 was implemented in Milwaukee County, the state’s largest metropolitan area, as the project was moved toward its goals of reducing welfare dependency, increasing employment, and improving family well-being. As states seek innovative ways to design and administer more effective public assistance programs, they can benefit from the experiences and lessons of W-2 because of the changes in policy and practice that it introduced.
Agenda, Scope, and Goals
In a series of papers, MDRC specialists explored such issues as how W-2 administrators and program contractors managed the client intake and assessment process, how determinations were made regarding whether clients would be eligible to continue to receive program benefits when they reached time-limit milestones, and how program procedures consistent with due process standards evolved under the new system to resolve clients' challenges of agencies' decisions.
The following broad questions about program implementation and administration were explored:
- Have state, county, and agency staff developed the new administrative structure needed for W-2?
- Were the new service offerings in place, and what issues were encountered in implementing them?
- What methods were devised to ensure appropriate placement of clients in the job search, employment preparation, counseling, and other activities offered by W-2?
- How did the service providers who administered the program exercise the discretion permitted them under W-2 to determine extensions of program time limits?
- How did local W-2 agencies and the state resolve disputes with applicants and program participants over administrative decisions?
Design, Sites, and Data Sources
Project researchers reviewed administrative documents, analyzed automated records on program participation, conducted field research, observed delivery of program services, fielded surveys of community service job participants and supervisors, and linked these to other surveys of staff and program applicants being conducted in Milwaukee. They also consulted with various community representatives in Milwaukee and analyzed involvement in the program for a sample of participants.
Findings
Findings form MDRC’s Evaluation of the Wisconsin Works Project can be found in Community Service Jobs in Wisconsin Works: The Milwaukee County Experience.
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