Question

How would you tackle the welfare problem? State the goals you would seek, and explain how the measures you propose would work to meet those goals.

Answer 1

Welfare in the United States has long been identified with the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program-the most visible source of public income support for poor children. Welfare reform, therefore, typically is defined as a significant modification of the scope, generosity, design, or administration of that program. Every president since Harry Truman has declared welfare reform a priority at some point in his administration. Yet, in its basic form, AFDC remains the same program that was created some sixty years ago as a minor provision in the Social Security Act. It is still a categorical welfare program: categorical in that benefits are tied to having responsibility for a dependent child; welfare in that benefits decline, or cease altogether, as one's economic position improves. No one likes the welfare system as it currently exists, least of all the people who are on it. The taxpayers, the social service employees themselves don't think much of it either. Most people on welfare are yearning for another alternative, aching for the chance to move from dependency to dignity. And we owe it to them to give them that change Undoubtedly, the president will seek to articulate and implement what he has called a "New Covenant." This new covenant probably will, among other things, include ways by which government can better assist working poor families with children, articulate a new social contract between government and welfare beneficiaries in which work substantially replaces income supports as the basis for helping those family heads whose attachment to the labor force is marginal, and establish a new working relationship between Washington and the states through which the design, implementation, and evaluation of this new vision will be realized.A growing business needs to be closely and carefully managed to ensure the success of new investment decisions and expansion plans. However, many owner-managers find that as their business grows they feel more remote from its operations.Putting performance measurement systems in place can be an important way of keeping track on the progress of your business. It gives you vital information about what's happening now and it also provides the starting point for a system of target-setting that will help you implement your strategies for growth.This guide sets out the business benefits of performance measurement and target-setting. It shows you how to choose which key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure and suggests examples in a number of key business areas. It also highlights the main points to bear in mind when setting targets for your business. Funders, policymakers, and program staff are likely to have different questions about your EE program. Policymakers and funders, for example, may be most concerned about the program’s long-term impacts on the community or environment, whereas program staff may be more interested in improving program delivery. Working with stakeholders to accommodate their concerns in your questions can improve buy-in and acceptance of evaluation findings down the road. Just keep in mind that no evaluation will succeed in being “all things to all people.” Some questions will have to be addressed in future evaluations. The following paragraphs offer advice for prioritizing questions according to your evaluation goals and available resources.As long as you take the right approach with the right frame of mind, you will see things through. It's only a matter of time. Even if you feel discouraged along the way or you hit a few road blocks, you'll learn how to push through. You'll learn how to navigate around the hurdles by implementing the right strategies to succeed in the long term rather than trying to make things happen quickly. The truth is, big goals take a long time to achieve. It doesn't happen overnight. And it often doesn't happen within the timeframe that we set. But it does happen as long as we don't relent to failure. No matter what you want out of life, you'll get there as long as you implement the right strategies at the right time, and stick it out long enough to see things through.