TANF: Evaluation Proposal The Role of the Evaluative Process in Public Administration

Within the private sector, evaluation has long been deemed a critical component of determining that resources are being used efficiently. Data such as customer buying patterns, quality of manufacturing, rates of errors, and feedback about customer satisfaction can all be used to determine that the organization is operating effectively and can improve services. The same is true of public administration. Resources are also limited and the public has a right to be assured that its tax dollars are being spent effectively. Beneficiaries of social welfare programs also have a right to participate in programs that address their genuine needs.

This is particularly true of programs such as the Work First Family Assistance (WFFA), better known as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). TANF provides assistance to needy families, usually single mothers with children, with the aim of transitioning participants off of public assistance and into meaningful work. It was controversial when it was first implemented, given that it limited the duration of benefits and linked the continuance of such benefits to participants pursuing work outside the home. Welfare is often viewed in a moral or punitive lens within the United States, and using statistical data to determine that a program is effective is essential, versus assuming that participants are in need of moral correction and structuring such a program solely through an ideological lens.

Evaluation can also help guide public policy by highlighting what is not working versus what is working. Simply assuming that working is better than not working is not necessarily the case if women are struggling to find adequate childcare and spending most of their salary and energy on transportation to get to low-paying, low-skilled work with few benefits. In fact, of TANF graduates, given...

If the stated goal is economic self-sufficiency, this is clearly not being achieved with the current structure of the TANF since the work the women are being transitioned into is not paying a living wage or allowing them to be self-supporting.
From a theoretical perspective, quantitative analysis can be used to determine that the goals of the program are not being met. Qualitative, phenomenological data such as the women's recounting of their lived experiences, however, can further contextualize this data. Qualitative research requires focusing in on a small population group while quantitative research can encompass larger numbers of participants but the questions which are asked are limited to those which can be analyzed statistically. Quite often, particularly in the case of instances such as the TANF, which have psychological and social dimensions to them, a mixed methods approach is most useful. Anecdotal evidence can be used to inform the statistical data.

Cost-Benefit Plan

The costs of programs such as the TANF must be evaluated not in isolation but also in relation to other forms of assistance which could potentially be offered to the participants. For example, programs which focus more on job training in more highly skilled occupations might be a better use of state and federal money. Comparing the current structure of the TANF to other work-to-welfare programs would be useful, in terms of the salaries of graduates on a long-term basis. Comparing and contrasting the characteristics of TANF participants with other recipients of aid in general is required to determine what issues they may have which impede their ability to…