Instructions: Answer the following questions pertaining to the case.(WELFARE REFORM IN WASHINGTON STATE)

What do you think are the most significant challenges Clare faces in addressing welfare reform?

What is your assessment of the most important stakeholders and what are their incentives to take action?

What criteria should Clare and other stakeholders use to make a policy decision?

Criteria selection should consider and reflect the broad nature of welfare reform. It may be helpful to utilize the strategic triangle as a means for defining specific objectives. Students should consider the capacity of Clare and her team to affect change, the nature of broad policy reform, and the diverse interests of the stakeholders involved.

What is the best policy alternative? How can this policy solution be implemented, i.e., what is an appropriate programmatic response?

What are the desired outcomes or elements of a stable solution? What are the most significant risks and problems that can interfere with meeting the identified objectives?

Propose and describe an evaluation that could effectively determine the success of any reform efforts and achieve the goals identified above.

The following questions might be used to prompt consideration of a research methodology that could help to answer the question above:

What is the main evaluation question you are exploring? What are the information needs of various stakeholders?

What are appropriate indicators of success?

What general quasi-experimental evaluation design should be used?

How might you create a project and a control or comparison group as part of your analysis?

At what time points are you measuring outcomes?

What is the “intervention” and how are you measuring it? Which data are available for analysis? Which data will need to be collected? How?

What other factors are you accounting for and how?

What other factors can you NOT account for? How does this affect your conclusions?