Privatizing welfare services poses significant challenges to state and local agencies. This study of TANF case management privatization in six states looks at issues such as deciding the size and scope of contracts, selecting contractors, promoting competition, ensuring effective and fair...

The use of private organizations to perform social service functions has increased greatly in the past few years, although little is known about the privatization of welfare services. This report reviews the literature to set the stage for a study looking at the experiences of six agencies that...

Presents a conceptual framework for designing, implementing, and testing interventions for low-income unmarried parents interested in strengthening their relationships and possibly forming and sustaining healthy marriages. The interventions would address the needs and circumstances of these...

This report presents early findings from the evaluation of the ITA experiment, which aims to provide federal, state, and local policymakers with information on the effectiveness of, and trade-offs inherent in, three different approaches to managing customer choice in Workforce Investment Act...

This paper for the Hamilton Project argues that Congress should increase funding for the Workforce Investment Act Adult program.

A key goal of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) is to provide people with choices in the types of services they receive. This goal was addressed by requiring that vouchers or individual training accounts (ITAs) be used for WIA-funded training. Workforce agencies were given a great deal...

The Charitable Choice provisions of federal welfare reform law encourage states to involve community and faith-based organizations in providing welfare services to the needy. This study examined how state and local officials understand and apply these provisions. The authors note that the level...

Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP), funded by First 5 LA, sought to make voluntary, high-quality preschool available to every 4-year-old in Los Angeles County. To achieve high-quality preschools, LAUP provided a number of services, including coaching, to both the center-based and family...