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Faculty here will work with colleagues at 11 other UNC campuses to see how
N.C. counties have carried out welfare reform.
Their study hopes to understand how counties have met the challenges of
welfare reform. Previous research has evaluated the changes' impact on
recipients and on poverty reduction.
The project will describe how all 100 N.C. counties have implemented the
state's Work First Program. The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is funding the
effort with a $50,000 grant to the Odum Institute for Research in Social
Science.
"The whole area of assistance to families has undergone a major
reordering," said Deil S. Wright, alumni distinguished professor of political
science. "We are attempting to track county responses to our state's actions,
which offered counties much more autonomy, discretion and policy options about
welfare."
Wright and Philip Cooke, professor of social work, began designing and
working on the study two years ago. Team members will conduct and analyze
interviews with key people such as county managers, county board members and
social service directors.
The study could be important nationally because North Carolina is one of
10 states that rely on counties to deliver social service programs, Wright
said. In fact, North Carolina might have the most decentralized system in the
country for delivering social services.
"The federal government is trying to get states to take on more
responsibilities, and North Carolina ... is trying the same thing with its
counties," Cooke said. "Our work should enable us to tease out which counties
are responding in creative ways that might be useful to other counties here or
in other states."
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