II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 961 

To develop a database of projects that are proven or promising in terms 

of moving welfare recipients into work. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2017 

Mr. YOUNG introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To develop a database of projects that are proven or 

promising in terms of moving welfare recipients into work. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Using Evidence to 

5 Move Welfare Recipients into Work Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WHAT WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE. 

7 Section 413 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 613) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(k) DEVELOPMENT OF WHAT WORKS CLEARING2 HOUSE OF PROVEN AND PROMISING APPROACHES INTO

3 MOVE WELFARE RECIPIENTS TO WORK.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta5 tion with the Secretary of Labor, shall develop a 

6 database (which shall be referred to as the ‘What 

7 Works Clearinghouse of Proven and Promising 

8 Projects to Move Welfare Recipients into Work’) of 

9 the projects that used a proven approach or a prom10 ising approach in moving welfare recipients into 

11 work, based on independent, rigorous evaluations of 

12 the projects. The database shall include a separate 

13 listing of projects that used a developmental ap14 proach in delivering services and a further separate 

15 listing of the projects that used an approach in de16 livering services that was proven to be ineffective in 

17 achieving positive outcomes. The Secretary shall add 

18 to the What Works Clearinghouse of Proven and 

19 Promising Projects to Move Welfare Recipients into 

20 Work data about the projects that, based on an 

21 independent, well-conducted experimental evaluation 

22 of a program or project, using random assignment 

23 or other research methodologies that allow for the 

24 strongest possible causal inferences, have shown they 


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1 are proven, promising, developmental, or ineffective 

2 approaches. 

3 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVE4 NESS OF APPROACH.—The Secretary, in consultation 

5 with the Secretary of Labor and organizations with 

6 experience in evaluating research on the effective7 ness of various approaches in delivering services to 

8 move welfare recipients into work, shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) establish criteria for evidence of the 

10 effectiveness of the approaches used in the dem11 onstration projects; and 

12 ‘‘(B) ensure that the process for estab13 lishing the criteria— 

14 ‘‘(i) is transparent; 

15 ‘‘(ii) is consistent across agencies; 

16 ‘‘(iii) provides opportunity for public 

17 comment; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) takes into account efforts of 

19 Federal agencies to identify and publicize 

20 effective interventions, including efforts at 

21 the Department of Health and Human 

22 Services, the Department of Education, 

23 and the Department of Justice. 

24 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(A) APPROACH.—The term ‘approach’ 

2 means a process, product, strategy, or practice 

3 that is— 

4 ‘‘(i) research-based, based on the re5 sults of one or more empirical studies, and 

6 linked to program-determined outcomes; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) evaluated using rigorous research 

9 designs. 

10 ‘‘(B) PROVEN APPROACH.—The term 

11 ‘proven approach’ means an approach used in a 

12 demonstration project conducted under this sec13 tion that— 

14 ‘‘(i) meets the requirements of a 

15 promising approach; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) has demonstrated significant 

17 positive outcomes at more than 1 site in 

18 terms of increasing work and earnings of 

19 participants, reducing poverty and depend20 ence, or strengthening families. 

21 ‘‘(C) PROMISING APPROACH.—The term 

22 ‘promising approach’ means an approach used 

23 in a demonstration project conducted under this 

24 section— 


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1 ‘‘(i) that has been used in the project 

2 or elsewhere for at least 3 years; 

3 ‘‘(ii) that meets the requirements of 

4 subparagraph (D)(i); 

5 ‘‘(iii) that has been evaluated using 

6 well-designed and rigorous randomized 

7 controlled or quasi-experimental research 

8 designs; 

9 ‘‘(iv) that has demonstrated signifi10 cant positive outcomes at only 1 site in 

11 terms of increasing work and earnings of 

12 participants, reducing poverty and depend13 ence, or strengthening families; and 

14 ‘‘(v) under which the benefits of the 

15 positive outcomes have exceeded the costs 

16 of achieving the outcomes. 

17 ‘‘(D) DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH.—The 

18 term ‘developmental approach’ means an ap19 proach used in a demonstration project con20 ducted under this section that— 

21 ‘‘(i) is research-based, grounded in 

22 relevant empirically based knowledge, and 

23 linked to program-determined outcomes; 

24 ‘‘(ii) is evaluated using rigorous re25 search designs; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) has yet to demonstrate a signifi2 cant positive outcome in terms of increas3 ing work and earnings of participants in a 

4 cost-effective way. 

5 ‘‘(4) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made avail6 able to carry out section 403(b) for fiscal year 2018 

7 and each succeeding fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

8 reserve such funds as are necessary to carry out this 

9 subsection.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 The amendment made by this Act shall take effect 

12 on October 1, 2017. 

Æ 


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