Download Project Documents

• Stakeholder Recommendations
• Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Motion Approving Project
• Minutes of Board Action on Economic Roundtable Research
• Research Issues Suggested by Los Angeles Officials
• Research Proposal to LA County Department of Public Social Services
• LA County MOU for Economic Roundtable Research
• Economic Roundtable Policy on Protection of Human Subjects
• Economic Roundtable Confidential Data Policy
• Request for Approval from Economic Roundtable Institutional Review Board
• MOU with California Employment Development Department
• Economic Roundtable Institutional Review Board Approval of Project
• Request to California Department of Social Services for Data
• Research Protocol Submitted to California Health and Human Services Agency Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects

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Overview

Welfare as we knew it has ended but the transition of impoverished parents into the labor force is still a work in progress. It is our assessment that change in welfare policies will emerge out of necessity, growth in institutional capacity, and consensus among stakeholders.

The purpose of the Economic Roundtable's new Family-Centered Welfare Research Project is to support operational progress in improving outcomes for children and families in poverty.

Process

To understand the types of information needed by stakeholders the Economic Roundtable sent inquiries to individuals throughout the U.S. who had recently downloaded a Roundtable report on welfare reform, asking them what kind of information would be helpful for them. In addition, interviews were conducted with Los Angeles County elected officials and department heads to determine the information they need for assessing welfare policies.

One hundred twelve individuals outside and 8 individuals within Los Angeles County government responded with recommendations about research topics, and these recommendations have been used to develop the framework for the Economic Roundtable's new research into welfare reform.

Substance

The purpose of this project is to illuminate the impacts of welfare reform on the wellbeing of children and families, and to engage community and official stakeholders in assessing this information and considering policies that will improve the wellbeing of children and families. Key tasks include:

1. Create a database integrating client information from ten public agencies for all past and present public assistance recipients in Los Angeles County, showing their characteristics, needs, services, earnings, and health and wellbeing outcomes.
2. Create a comprehensive economic planning database of monthly employment and quarterly payroll for each employer in LA County from 1996 through 2008.
3. Conduct surveys of high risk and special needs populations.
4. Produce a series of reports throughout the project on:
1. Health and wellbeing
2. Work outcomes
3. Vulnerable families and caseload trends
4. Institutional impacts welfare policies
5. Best practices
6. Job creation strategies
5. Conduct ongoing policy briefings and forums with public decision makers, community stakeholders, and the public.

Research Partner

Los Angeles County Chief Administrative Office, Service Integration Branch: Integrate multi-agency data and de-identify records to protect human subjects

• The California Partnership
• Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
• Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County
• SCOPE
• Western Center on Law and Poverty

• Child Welfare Dynamic Report System A California Department of Social Services / University of California at Berkeley collaboration funded by CDSS and the Stuart Foundation
• CWS/CMS Reports Presentations A collection of UCB Powerpoint presentations using CWS/CMS data

Feedback

This research project is being organized to in response to the information needs of stakeholders in welfare reform. Suggestions regarding the research plan are requested and encouraged.

Please send suggestions to:

Daniel Flaming, President
Economic Roundtable
economicrt@earthlink.net