PROJECT SYNOPSIS

In August 1997, California’s legislation to implement federally mandated changes to the welfare system was signed into law. Article 9.7 of the legislation (AB 1542; Chapter 270, Statutes of 1997) directs the University of California (UC) to undertake a variety of specific tasks to monitor and evaluate the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility for Kids (CalWORKs) program and other relevant welfare policies and programs. The legislature authorized annual appropriations of $1 million per year beginning in FY 97-98 to support these efforts. Because of state budget cuts, in FY 02-03 and FY 03-04, WPRP, like other UC research programs, sustained two successive reductions in state revenues of 10% each, reducing the project’s annual appropriation to $810,000. In FY 04-05, in accord with the compact UC entered into with the Governor, research programs such as WPRP had their appropriations cut by an additional 5%, reducing WPRP’s annual appropriation to $770,000.

In 1998, the UC Office of the President’s Office of Research (OR) created the Welfare Policy Research Project (WPRP) and convened an advisory board comprised of 15 members: two co-chairs (former legislators, one Democrat and one Republican), four current state legislators (a Democrat and Republican from each chamber), four senior state agency officials, four county welfare directors, and a public-interest advocate.

In response to its legislated mandates, WPRP: (1) is operating a research grants program to support applied welfare-policy research sought by state and local officials; (2) has helped to establish the California Census Research Data Center, with secure operating facilities at UC Berkeley and UCLA; (3) has developed and is maintaining an internet-accessible welfare research database to provide timely information on welfare-related research being conducted in California; and (4) is sponsoring and organizing forums for policymakers on cutting-edge welfare-related research issues and findings. In addition, resources permitting, WPRP staff provide technical assistance to state and local officials seeking information on welfare-related questions.

Research Grants Program: AB 1542 instructs UC to sponsor a research grants program to respond to inquiries from state and local officials. WPRP advisory board members and their senior staff submit proposed research topics, select which ones to address, and craft specific research questions. The commissioned research is designed to augment, not duplicate, the state’s evaluation of CalWORKs and other state-initiated studies. Using a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process, WPRP solicits credible research proposals from qualified researchers. Independent peer review panels evaluate the proposals and make recommendations to WPRP’s advisory board.

California Census Research Data Center (CCRDC): AB 1542 directs UC to compete to establish U.S. Census Bureau secure data centers in California. That objective has been met. A joint UCLA-UC Berkeley proposal won a competition that involved other prestigious research institutions around the country and, in 1998, gained final approval from the federal government. In 1999, the California Census Research Data Centers began operating at both UC Berkeley and UCLA, fostering applied research on a wide range of economic, demographic, public policy, and basic research issues of significance to California and the nation. These are the only secure Census Data Centers operating west of the Mississippi. The CCRDC enables qualified west coast researchers to gain access to an extraordinary amount of valuable unpublished data. WPRP contributed $750,000 to help defray a significant portion of the CCRDC’s start-up costs. For more information, please visit CCRDC’s website (http://www.ccrdc.ucla.edu). 

California Welfare Research Database: WPRP has developed a database to track and profile the welfare-related evaluations and studies being conducted in California. This database is intended to inform policymakers at all levels of government, program administrators, researchers, practitioners, interest groups, foundation officials, advocates, the media, and the public-at-large. It includes studies sponsored and/or conducted by the federal government, the State of California, local governments, academic researchers in public and private institutions of higher learning, and independent national and California-based research organizations. Designed to be “user friendly,” the database is available at WPRP’s website (http://wprp.ucop.edu) and enables users to search its contents in a variety of ways, including keyword and powerful multi-parameter searches.

Policymaker Forums: WPRP organizes and hosts occasional forums for senior California policymakers on significant welfare-related issues. WPRP staff strive to locate excellent speakers who can make timely and relevant presentations that are grounded in credible research or substantive expertise. The forums are designed to be small, informal, non-partisan gatherings for interested California legislators, their key staff, and senior state agency and county officials. Experts share their latest research findings and/or practical programmatic experiences in brief presentations, and then join the policymakers for in-depth round-table discussions.

Data Access and Archiving: WPRP’s governing legislation asks UC to consider a number of data-related issues, including qualified researchers’ access to state and county data, and the cataloging, development, and maintenance of public-use data sets.

Outreach: WPRP disseminates policy briefs, working papers, and reports that result from the project’s research program. In addition to its policymaker forums, WPRP staff brief key audiences, the media, researchers, civic leaders, and others as appropriate.

Contact WPRP: If you are interested and/or engaged in welfare-related research and would like to be added to WPRP’s mailing list, please e-mail your contact information (name, title, affiliation, mailing address, telephone/fax numbers, and e-mail address) to Mark Sondag at wprp@ucop.edu. WPRP encourages those interested in welfare policy research to visit our web site (http://wprp.ucop.edu), and to contact WPRP staff with any questions or suggestions.