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Linking program implementation and effectiveness: Lessons from a pooled sample of welfare‐to‐work experiments
Author(s) -
Bloom Howard S.,
Hill Carolyn J.,
Riccio James A.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of policy analysis and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.898
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1520-6688
pISSN - 0276-8739
DOI - 10.1002/pam.10154
Subject(s) - earnings , sample (material) , welfare , multilevel model , work (physics) , computer science , scale (ratio) , survey data collection , business , economics , accounting , statistics , engineering , mechanical engineering , chemistry , physics , mathematics , chromatography , quantum mechanics , machine learning , market economy
This paper addresses the question: How does implementation influence the effectiveness of mandatory welfare‐to‐work programs?Data from three large‐scale, multi‐site random assignment experiments were pooled; quantitative measures of program implementationwere constructed; and multilevel statistical modeling was used to examine the relationship between program implementation and effects onshort‐term client earnings. Individual‐level data were analyzed for 69,399 sample members and group‐level implementation data wereanalyzed for 59 local programs. Findings indicate that, other things being equal, earnings effects are increased by: an emphasis on quick clientemployment, an emphasis on personalized client attention, staff caseloads that do not get too large, and limited use of basic education. Findings alsoshow that mandatory welfare‐to‐work programs can be effective for many types of people, and that focusing on clients who are especiallyjob‐ready (or not) does not have a consistent influence on a program's effectiveness. © 2003 by the Association for PublicPolicy Analysis and Management