The dissemination and utilization of welfare-to-work experiments in state policymaking

This paper reports the results of a telephone survey of state-level officia ls as to the influence of evaluations of three state welfare innovations: C alifornia's GAIN, New York's CAP and Florida's Project Independence. The th ree experiments were known to those interviewed, yet they did Mot have dram atic, decisive effects on policymaking. However, GAIN and CAP appear to hav e influenced policymaking in less dramatic and move subtle respects. Much m ove important than empirical findings about the effects of rested programs was information about how these programs actually operated in the field alo ng with evidence that the policies tested in welfare-to-work experiments we ve logically consistent (that is, there was no obvious reason to think that they would be unsuccessful), could clear federal waivers, and would not en counter major political resistance. (C) 2000 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.