WELPAN
The Midwest Welfare Peer Assistance Network

The Midwest Welfare Peer Assistance Network (WELPAN) is a network of senior welfare officials from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin which since 1996 has been meeting regularly to share ideas and compare notes on what it takes to make welfare reform work. The meetings are coordinated by IRP and are funded by the Joyce Foundation.

WELPAN products that are currently available:

• Implementation of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005: Concerns about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Work Verification Plan Requirements, May 2007 (pdf 2 pp.)



• The Importance of Out-of-State New Hire and Wage Record Data in Assessing TANF Performance: A Consensus Statement, September 2005 (pdf 2 pp.)



• Reflecting on the Next Generation of Information Systems for TANF and Related Programs: A Consensus Statement, August 2005 (pdf 2 pp.)



• Developing a Workable Cross Systems Waiver Authority: Perspectives of the WELPAN Network, June 2002 (pdf 2 pp.)



• Recreating Social Assistance: Or, How to Use Waiver Authority to Eliminate Program Silos, May 2002 (pdf 3 pp.)
• Example #1: Functional Service Provision Interdepartmental Waiver Proposal, May 2002 (pdf 5 pp.)
• Example #2: Fragile Family Support Program Interdepartmental Waiver Proposal, May 2002 (pdf 2 pp.)
• Example #3: Child Support/Food Stamp Interdepartmental Waiver, May 2002 (pdf 2 pp.)
• Example #4: Strategic Partnership to Promote Self-Reliance: A Proposal for Approval of Multiple Systems Waivers to Enable More Effective Service Delivery for "Hardest-to-Serve" Populations, May 2002 (pdf 2 pp.)
• Suggested Principles to Guide Reauthorization, May 2002 (pdf 1 pp.)


• Eliminating the Silos: Or, It's Not Just Welfare Anymore, January 2002 (pdf 16 pp.)



• The New Face of Welfare: Perspectives of the WELPAN Network, October 2000 (pdf 7 pp.)
• Evolving Purposes, Emerging Institutional Cultures, October 2000 (pdf 6 pp.)
• What Does the Future Hold?, October 2000 (pdf 6 pp.)
• Making Change Happen, October 2000 (pdf 6 pp.)
• TANF Spending Patterns in the Midwest, January 2002 (pdf 6 pp.)



• Aligning TANF & Food Stamps: A Clash of Program Cultures, a WELPAN joint statement, September 1999 (pdf 7 pp.)



• Welfare Reform: How Will We Know if It Works?, January 1998.
  [Adobe Acrobat format (12 pp.)]

WELPAN-member State Government Sites