This occurred amid national reforms that simultaneously stimulated state and local policy changes and program experiments across America. Hoosier policy makers, institutional decision makers, and families wonder what will be the outcomes of these reforms. They want to know what works and what doesn't.
Welfare reform demands greater cross-sector understanding and cooperation.
Thus, the forums. The Partners envision an Indiana where leaders in economic development, workforce programs, and social services routinely work together by making institutional and community-wide policy and resource decisions within a network of mutual understanding and cooperation aimed at assisting Hoosiers at the lowest rungs of the income ladder to advance to their fullest potential. The Partners will convene state and local leaders in forums around the state to learn what impact policy reforms are having on people and communities, to formulate collaborative approaches to transition welfare recipients toward economic self-sufficiency, and to critique public policies in light of sound research and local practices.