Elements of state and local management systems and policies (such as program/policy features) are studied in relation to their effects on front-line management, culture and practices.

Elements of front-line management include local adaptation of state policies; specialization of job roles; human resources practices; discretion, decentralization, and formalization; fair and equitable treatment; management practices; MIS (client services, status, and outcomes; and interagency information sharing).

Elements of front-line practices include observable characteristics of service delivery, day-to-day activities of front-line workers, informal rules for prioritizing clients, information provided to clients, intake and assessment procedures, service mix, and customer orientation of the office.

Elements of front-line cultures include beliefs and attitudes about the program missions and goals, program effectiveness, worker roles, client obligations and opportunities, and hard-to-serve clients.

To determine how state and local management systems influence local welfare service practices and culture.

To determine whether some management systems are more effective than others in influencing front-line caseworkers to implement welfare programs in a manner consistent with the goals and policies established by the states.

To determine how performance-based management systems affect welfare service delivery, and how these systems differ from management systems relying solely on rules and regulations.

To determine how the type of organization (i.e. public, non-profit, or for-profit) affects the delivery of welfare programs and services.

To determine the advantages and disadvantages of contracting with private organizations or transferring program responsibility to public agencies with traditional missions other than cash assistance.

States have dramatically changed their policies and practices for handling welfare applications. Many welfare offices have adopted "work first" policies that require recipients to engage in job search or other work-related activities while they apply for cash assistance, and some offices have initiated policies that try to divert applicants from monthly cash assistance. However, fewer offices have created effective mechanisms for informing diverted applicants and recipients leaving welfare about the availability of food stamps, Medicaid, and other benefits. Welfare offices in many states have been haphazard in linking clients to pregnancy prevention and other family formation services, particularly where state policy gives them little or no support. In addition, they have only recently made job retention and advancement a high priority. Improving the performance of welfare offices would be facilitated by removing conflicting requirements across programs as well as by improving the training of workers and coordination across human services agencies.