735
authority to receive a waiver of the requirement of
paragraph (1).
‘‘SEC. 413. RESEARCH, EVALUATIONS, AND NATIONAL STUD-
IES.
‘‘(a) RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall conduct re-
search on the benefits, effects, and costs of operating dif-
ferent State programs funded under this part, including
time limits relating to eligibility for assistance. The re-
search shall include studies on the effects of different pro-
grams and the operation of such programs on welfare de-
pendency, illegitimacy, teen pregnancy, employment rates,
child well-being, and any other area the Secretary deems
appropriate. The Secretary shall also conduct research on
the costs and benefits of State activities under section
409.
‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF INNOVA-
TIVE APPROACHES TO REDUCING WELFARE DEPEND-
ENCY AND INCREASING CHILD WELL-BEING.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may assist
States in developing, and shall evaluate, innovative
approaches for reducing welfare dependency and in-
creasing the well-being of minor children living at
home with respect to recipients of assistance under
programs funded under this part. The Secretary
may provide funds for training and technical assist-
736
ance to carry out the approaches developed pursuant
to this paragraph.
‘‘(2) EVALUATIONS.—In performing the evalua-
tions under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, to
the maximum extent feasible, use random assign-
ment as an evaluation methodology.
‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec-
retary shall develop innovative methods of disseminating
information on any research, evaluations, and studies con-
ducted under this section, including the facilitation of the
sharing of information and best practices among States
and localities through the use of computers and other
technologies.
‘‘(d) ANNUAL RANKING OF STATES AND REVIEW OF
MOST AND LEAST SUCCESSFUL WORK PROGRAMS.—
‘‘(1) ANNUAL RANKING OF STATES.—The Sec-
retary shall rank annually the States to which
grants are paid under section 403 in the order of
their success in placing recipients of assistance
under the State program funded under this part into
long-term private sector jobs, reducing the overall
welfare caseload, and, when a practicable method for
calculating this information becomes available, di-
verting individuals from formally applying to the
State program and receiving assistance. In ranking
737
States under this subsection, the Secretary shall
take into account the average number of minor chil-
dren living at home in families in the State that
have incomes below the poverty line and the amount
of funding provided each State for such families.
‘‘(2) ANNUAL
REVIEW
OF
MOST
AND
LEAST
SUCCESSFUL WORK PROGRAMS.—The Secretary shall
review the programs of the 3 States most recently
ranked highest under paragraph (1) and the 3
States most recently ranked lowest under paragraph
(1) that provide parents with work experience, as-
sistance in finding employment, and other work
preparation activities and support services to enable
the families of such parents to leave the program
and become self-sufficient.
‘‘(e) ANNUAL RANKING OF STATES AND REVIEW OF
ISSUES RELATING TO OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS.—
‘‘(1) ANNUAL RANKING OF STATES.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall
annually rank States to which grants are made
under section 403 based on the following rank-
ing factors:
‘‘(i) ABSOLUTE OUT-OF-WEDLOCK RA-
TIOS.—The ratio represented by—
738
‘‘(I) the total number of out-of-
wedlock births in families receiving as-
sistance under the State program
under this part in the State for the
most recent fiscal year for which in-
formation is available; over
‘‘(II) the total number of births
in families receiving assistance under
the State program under this part in
the State for such year.
‘‘(ii) NET CHANGES IN THE OUT-OF-
WEDLOCK RATIO.—The difference between
the ratio described in subparagraph (A)(i)
with respect to a State for the most recent
fiscal year for which such information is
available and the ratio with respect to the
State for the immediately preceding year.
‘‘(2) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Secretary shall re-
view the programs of the 5 States most recently
ranked highest under paragraph (1) and the 5
States most recently ranked the lowest under para-
graph (1).
‘‘(f) STATE-INITIATED EVALUATIONS.—A State shall
be eligible to receive funding to evaluate the State pro-
gram funded under this part if—
739
‘‘(1) the State submits a proposal to the Sec-
retary for the evaluation;
‘‘(2) the Secretary determines that the design
and approach of the evaluation is rigorous and is
likely to yield information that is credible and will
be useful to other States, and
‘‘(3) unless otherwise waived by the Secretary,
the State contributes to the cost of the evaluation,
from non-Federal sources, an amount equal to at
least 10 percent of the cost of the evaluation.
‘‘(g) REPORT
ON
CIRCUMSTANCES
OF CERTAIN
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 3 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Health and Human Services shall prepare and sub-
mit to the Committees on Ways and Means and on
Economic and Educational Opportunities of the
House of Representatives and to the Committees on
Finance and on Labor and Resources of the Senate
annual reports that examine in detail the matters
described in paragraph (2) with respect to each of
the following groups for the period after such enact-
ment:
‘‘(A) Individuals who were children in fam-
ilies that have become ineligible for assistance