Devolution and Welfare Reform: Re-evaluating "success"

The passage of welfare reform shifted significant authority for welfare provision from the federal govemment to state and local govemments. Proponents of devoludon point to drastic caseload declines as evidence that state-run programs are decreasing dependency among families. However, welfare roUs in many states have remained stagnant or decreased since the start of the recession in late 2007. …