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[background group talking]
>> NAOMI GOLDSTEIN: Good morning. Good morning and welcome. Iím Naomi Goldstein. Iím the
Director of the ACF Office of Planning Research and Evaluation. And Iím pleased to welcome
you to the 16th Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference. In a few minutes Iíll
be pleased to introduce my boss, acting Assistant Secretary George Sheldon, but Iím going to
work up to it.
I want to share some thoughts first. Ah, I do have some slides. Here we are, can we go
to the next slide?
So I was recently asked to state my core values in a few words. It was an interesting exercise
and it didnít take long for me to come up with the first two: knowledge and compassion.
I was a little slower to come around to adding courage as a third one. I was pretty taken
with my own insightfulness, but it turns out Iím not very original. Apparently itís been
2500 years since Confucius said wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized
moral qualities. So letís stipulate that these are important values. And I want to
take a few minutes to reflect on what they have to do with our meeting.
First, letís consider ACFís Mission. With Georgeís leadership ACF has developed a strategic
plan that includes a statement of mission, as follows: To foster health and well-being
by providing federal leadership, partnership and resources for the compassionate and effective
delivery of human services. This statement covers two of the three values. Compassion
is stated explicitly. And I would argue that effective service delivery requires knowledge.
Sometimes people see evaluation as being in opposition to helping people. Numbers and
statistics can seem cold, while helping is warm. But evaluation is about learning to
help people better. If itís not effective itís not really compassionate. In our office
at Planning Research and Evaluation we share in the agencyís mission of fostering health
and well-being. And we have the special responsibility of generating knowledge about how to do it
better. Sometimes that means delivering findings that may be disappointing, unwelcome, or controversial.
That can take courage. Truthfully, I consider it a privilege to go to work every day to
further that ACF mission of helping, and the particular responsibility of learning how
to do it better. What we do, what all of us here do is important. It matters to people
who want to work toward making their families financially secure. And it matters that service
providers, policy makers and researchers work together to figure out how best to provide
that opportunity.
That brings me to my next topic and the next slide. Coffee. Weíre not serving any, [laugh]
HHS rules prohibit it. I know itís irritating although youíre probably used to it by now.
But Iíd like to put it in a broader context. Federal conferences have gotten a lot of extra
scrutiny lately. Mix together a few scandals with tight budgets and people ask a lot of
questions before approving a conference like this. That weíre able to be here at all shows
that George and others at HHS made a judgment that what weíre doing here is important.
And in an environment often characterized by what seems like rampant finger pointing
it took some courage to make that judgment. Thank you, George. Weíll get by without the
free coffee you can buy a cup at the hotel cafÈ upstairs.
I want to sincerely thank the OPRE staff and contractors who planned this conference. Mark
Fucello, the fearless Director of the Division of Economic Independence. Emily Schmitt and
Erica Zielewski, Clare DiSalvo, Hilary Forster, Sarah Sattelmeyer, Jason Despain, Katie Glenn,
Jessica Smith. As they do every year theyíve developed a stimulating thoughtful program
that reflects their broad and deep knowledge of family self sufficiency research. And theyíve
done it in a challenging context of diminished resources and shifting rules about whatís
allowable and how to get things done.
Thanks to our technical work group members for their good advice. We had a terrific meeting
with them yesterday. And a list of this distinguished group is in your program.
Finally we all appreciate our colleagues at ESI who handle the conference logistics with
grace and efficiency. Jennifer Pinder, Annie Oliver, and Michelle Rasper.
I am now pleased to introduce George Seldon, my boss and the acting Assistant Secretary
for the Administration for Children and Families. George previously served as the Secretary
of the Florida Department of Children and Families. Among other distinctions, he served
as Deputy Attorney General for Central Florida, and spent eight years in the Florida House
of Representatives. Having worked with George for a while now, I can say from experience
that he brings wisdom and compassion to his leadership. And heís not afraid to use them.
Thatís a Trifecta. George.
>> GEORGE SHELDON: Naomi, thank you. I appreciate those gracious comments. I ah, actually if
you looked at my bio you would come to the conclusion that I probably canít hold a job
down for very long. But it is good to be with you. I also want, and Iím so glad that Naomi
thanked the staff of OPRE. Ah, because um. You know and as I look through the Administration
for Children and Families with the array of responsibilities that we have the reality
is, as Assistant Secretary, I donít implement. Ah. It is the dedicated staff of that agency
that works hard every day. And when Naomi talks about knowledge, and compassion, and
courage ah, I think the OPRE staff specifically, but I think the staff of ACF ah, really has
that kind of knowledge and compassion, they care about individuals.
I also want to thank Mark Greenberg who is our Deputy Assistant for policy. Ah. I learned
a long time ago that the key to these kind of positions is always surround yourself with
people brighter than you are. And ah. There are those who say that I have, that I donít
have any trouble doing that, but. But Mark really brings that ah, Mark is one of the
most knowledgeable people in the area of, of poverty where weíre heading in this country.
Ah.
The other person I really would like to recognize is Don Winstead who was my Deputy Secretary
in Florida and ah, really made us look good. Ah. I, Iím pleased that Naomi talks about
the, her values. Knowledge, compassion, and courage. Actually Don and I had in Florida
an implementation strategy which we called our two-cent solution um, common sense and
a sense of urgency. Generally two operating values that governmentsí not very good at
on an ongoing basis.
Over the next several days ah, you, you will be looking at this field of welfare, research
and evaluation. And there are those probably in the, in the broader community who would
said those are not very sexy topics. But I can assure you that there are few as vital
as this goal in really improving the lives of people that we deal with every day.
President Obama talks about his ladders ah, of opportunity. And thatís what we provide
to individual and families on the programmatic side. But those ladders I think all of us
know, must be sturdy, they must withstand scrutiny, and the must most importantly achieve
that stated purpose to provide an important pathway to the middle class and to economic
self sufficiency. Metaphorically I really like the concept of ladders. Itís visual,
itís dynamic, and itís aspirational. And while we look at each of those rungs we begin
to understand that providing people with useful and truly uplifting tools. Tools that they
need to plan, design, to implement and really we have to do the evaluation of those programs
on an ongoing basis. And all of that requires a great deal of research and evaluation. The
twin pillars of policy and program improvement.
Iím constantly amazed at the commitment and the passion that researchers have for their
jobs. And that each of you really bring to your job. Whether itís in a laboratory setting
or clinical setting, a research library, or an office. Research and evaluation can be
tedious, but there are a few break-throughs. There are a few of those ah-ha moments that,
that eureka moment. It takes dedication, it takes discipline to compile and that, and
really deal with the mountains of data that we get. Um. Your presence here today is really
a tell-tale sign that youíre both dedicated and disciplined. Many of you are already widely
published and recognized experts in your field. And many more of you will be soon.
I really want to take a, an additional personal moment to ah, recognize one of I think this
countryís researchers, Naomi Goldstein. It was with a great deal of pleasure recently
um, that during a senior staff meeting I was able to provide ah, to present to Naomi the
2012 Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Service.
[applause]
President Obama does not make those decisions lightly because it is to recognize the best
among us. And I think Naomi really brings that to the table. Naomi is a really remarkable
woman. Sheís been recognized for her leadership, for her commitment to our mission, for her
dedication to professionalism. You know sometimes sheíll provide research to me and Iíll say
well this isnít really what I wanted. Ah. But her response is, but itís the truth.
And I think that is an important thing that she talks about in terms of courage. Specifically,
she was selected for ensuring that the work that OPRE does would be rigorous, relevant,
rewarding, and the last one I like, not wrapped in red tape. Focusing on these four goals,
which she calls the four Rís. She has compiled a record of exceptional accomplishments. Her
tenure at ACF she has been continuously raising the level of excellence and rigor in the work
that she oversees. Sheís increased policy relevance to improve collaboration with ACF
programs and with our partners. Sheís fostered staff creativity and continuous learning.
And sheís increased efficiency through stream line procedures and systems. And as a result
her office is widely recognized as a leader in forging sound evidence to bare on our decision
making. Thatís no small accomplishment. Naomi, thank you. {Thank you.}
I, I want to take a moment to really, to talk about some of the work that OPRE has, has
done um, here and, and overseas. And what weíve learned over the years. Through rigorous
evaluation of a demonstration project in Nebraska several years ago we learned how a family
self improvement services delivered by home visitors, could improve the earnings of very
disadvantaged individuals who had low attachment to the labor force.
I remember going to a program in um, San Francisco in the Bay Area called Kitchens of Champions.
It was a training program for people with, to give them really the culinary skills so
that they could work in good restaurants. Ah. Several individuals there spoke about
their story. There was a young woman named Casey who used to eat at a Food Bank when
she was a kid. And ah. She used to come for meals every so often. And she saw those people
in white coats and asked about the program. She started taking classes. She ended up going
to college and getting her bachelorís in food technology. Five other students got up
and told their stories. One young woman who was the mother of five who wanted to set a
different example for her kids. Two men had just served time in prison and wanted to stay
straight. One man worked in construction for years but all the construction work had dried
up. The chef who was running the program used to be a teacher in a local high school. Thatís
what this is really all about. Itís about changing peopleís lives. Itís about determining
those programs that work and those programs that donít work, and seeing how we move forward.
In the years following implementation of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program,
we devoted a lot of study to understanding better how people really retain and advance
employment. Two programs studied targeted employed individuals, employed TANF recipients
in Chicago ah, and steered them to, into openings in higher paying jobs. Another employed TANF
levers ah, in Riverside, California that had offered a range of programs. Positive economic
impacts of both programs were driven in part by increases in the proportion of people who
obtained a new job. This suggests the advantage of employment retention over specific job
retention which has become an important distinction between how we create and meaningfully, create
meaningful opportunities to TANF recipients. We will continue to study the barriers of,
of individuals to substantial, through their substantial employment difficulties. For instance,
through a rigorous evaluation of the transitional jobs program in New York City for men who
were leaving prison. We learned that it is possible to significantly reduce recidivism
among individuals who began the job program shortly after release from prison. And that
group was really the group we, that it was designed to serve. That group was less likely
to be arrested after the program, less likely to be convicted of a new crime, less like
to be re-incarcerated compared to the control group. The take away from that careful and
rigorous study leads to a critical and detailed knowledge that cannot be otherwise learned.
And so it is day after day, year after year that we peel back the layers at, one at a
time, and we learn more about how best to ensure meaningful programming.
Research in the social service programming is a hard slog. And believe me I think that,
and I think all of you would agree, I would prefer that one day one of you emerge from
your study one morning and proclaim that youíve discovered the solution to how we eradicate
poverty. A dream. That you found the answer to any of the intractable issues that we grapple
with every day. You toil in what you do knowing that that kind of discovery is highly unlikely.
But yet you realize that your work is critical to what we do in trying improving our society
as a whole. Your work drives you and informs quite literally everything that we do at the
Administration for Children and Families in dealing with struggling families.
So as we proceed in this and as you as researchers and evaluations go forward and evaluating
programs I think itís fundamentally important to retain your optimism. That each little
piece of research, each evaluation performed can have the opportunity one day to change
somebodyís life. To one day make a difference in, in closing down a program that doesnít
work and putting that into a program that we have the credible evidence that does work.
It was once said that optimism is essential to achievement. And it is also, Naomi I would
point out, the foundation of courage and of true progress. So as we move forward, as you
move forward in developing the kind of sound research and evaluation we have to continually
keep our eye on the gold and that is making a meaningful difference in individual peopleís
lives. Thank you very much. And I wish you well for
a good conference.
[applause]
>> NAOMI GOLDSTEIN: Thank you, George. Thank you so much for getting us off to it, an optimistic
start. Um. I ah.
I do like to talk about the four Rís um, that our work should be rigorous, rewarding,
relevant and not wrapped up in red tape. And more recently um, weíve started to think
about a fourth R which I call reach, which is about the dissemination and communication
of our activities. And before we turn to our first plenary session I want to say a word
about that.
Weíve invested some time and thought toward improving how we communicate our work. We
contracted with a firm called PSI to help us with this. And Mary Myrick of PSI will
be speaking about this work at a session on Friday morning. Colleen Byas, over here, has
joined OPRE as a Dissemination Specialist and sheíll be at the conference over the
next few days eager to talk with you about what kind of materials and communication methods
work best for you. This conference is one important avenue for communication. The Self-Sufficiency
Research Clearing House is another. We have a provided a grant to our colleagues at ICF
International to develop the Clearing House as a library of information on Self Sufficiency
Research and a means to promote sharing of knowledge among a broad range of stake holders.
You can test drive the Clearing House at a kiosk near the Regency Ballroom, itís just
out there to the left. Ah. Weíve also upgraded our electronic newsletter. You can sign up
for our newsletter at the registration desk at a booth with information about the Office
of Planning Research and Evaluation. And of course you can sign up and learn about what
we do at our website.
Weíre also moving into social media as you can see on the slide. There our Welfare Research
and Evaluation conferences on Twitter and LinkedIn. And as of yesterday, the Office
of Planning Research and Evaluation is on Twitter and Face book and will soon be on
LinkedIn too. You can join the virtual conversation by Tweeting with the #WREC2013. Ah. As a reminder,
if you want others to see your tweets and re-tweet them you have to take your settings
off private. You can also start a virtual roundtable discussion by joining our LinkedIn
group. Weíre live streaming all the sessions that are taking place in this room. Ah. And
welcome to all of you who are participating virtually. You can submit questions by tweeting
with the #WREClive by emailing to the ah, email address wreclivestream@gmail.com or
by using the Submit a Question function on the live stream site.
I want to circle back for a minute to the value of courage. It takes a little bit of
courage for a federal agency to move into social media. Social media are social and
that means giving up some control over communication as thereís ah, inherently give and take.
So I hope that the conference will spark some lively dialogue on these social media platforms.
And I hope youíll keep the dialogue courteous and respectful, donít make us regret sticking
our neck out.
We also encourage real live, in person interactions and there are some specific sessions designed
for that. On Wednesday afternoon in, in this ballroom thereíll be an Emerging Scholars
poster session. Posters will be displayed ah, throughout the conference starting this
afternoon um, and on Wednesday afternoon the scholars themselves will be on hand to answer
questions. On Thursday afternoon weíll have facilitated roundtables and your program book
has specific information about the roundtable topics and locations. And on Wednesday, thatís
today, at 5:15 at the Marquee Bar in the hotel ah, we are sponsoring an informal social gathering
jack, that basically just means that a bunch of us will be there and you can buy a drink
for yourself. Um. [laugh] But we look forward to it. Um. And then um, before I invite our,
our panel up I want to um, just ask you to take a few minutes to introduce yourself to
someone that you donít already know and ask them about where theyíre from and what they
do. Ah. Weíve done this in the past and it um, surprises me how enthusiastically you
all embrace it. So, um, go for it. Iíll give you three or four minutes. And Iíll call
you back when itís time to move on. [audience chatter]
Okay letís reconvene. Let me ask you to wrap up your conversations and take your seats.
I would like now to invite our panelists for our first plenary to come up to the podium.
This group will tell you about how they are implementing innovations to the TANF program
in their states and localities. Donna Povetti from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
will lead this discussion. With Deborah Carroll, Linda Martin, and Deborah Schlick. Please
join me in welcoming them. Are they all here? Did they leave. Okay. [panelists moving around]
Apparently a couple of them stepped out. And we are a little ahead of schedule. So you
can talk some more. [ 00.28.59-00.29 ]
JOB TITLE: GVI GVI TAPE # WREC-MAY 29 FIRST SESSION / PAGE 1 OF 6
INTERVIEWEE: ANNE MILLIN