I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2967 
To develop a database of projects that are proven or promising in terms 
of moving welfare recipients into work. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 8, 2015 
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To develop a database of projects that are proven or 
promising in terms of moving welfare recipients into work. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Using Evidence to 
Move Welfare Recipients into Work Act’’. 
SEC. 2. WHAT WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE. 
Section 413 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
613) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(k) DEVELOPMENT OF WHAT WORKS CLEARING-
HOUSE OF PROVEN AND PROMISING APPROACHES INTO 
MOVE WELFARE RECIPIENTS TO WORK.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of Labor, shall develop a 
database (which shall be referred to as the ‘What 
Works Clearinghouse of Proven and Promising 
Projects to Move Welfare Recipients into Work’) of 
the projects that used a proven approach or a prom-
ising approach in moving welfare recipients into 
work, based on independent, rigorous evaluations of 
the projects. The database shall include a separate 
listing of projects that used a developmental ap-
proach in delivering services and a further separate 
listing of the projects that used an approach in de-
livering services that was proven to be ineffective in 
achieving positive outcomes. The Secretary shall add 
to the What Works Clearinghouse of Proven and 
Promising Projects to Move Welfare Recipients into 
Work data about the projects that, based on an 
independent, well-conducted experimental evaluation 
of a program or project, using random assignment 
or other research methodologies that allow for the 
strongest possible causal inferences, have shown they 
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are proven, promising, developmental, or ineffective 
approaches. 
‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVE-
NESS OF APPROACH.—The Secretary, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Labor and organizations with 
experience in evaluating research on the effective-
ness of various approaches in delivering services to 
move welfare recipients into work, shall— 
‘‘(A) establish criteria for evidence of the 
effectiveness of the approaches used in the dem-
onstration projects; and 
‘‘(B) ensure that the process for estab-
lishing the criteria— 
‘‘(i) is transparent; 
‘‘(ii) is consistent across agencies; 
‘‘(iii) provides opportunity for public 
comment; and 
‘‘(iv) takes into account efforts of 
Federal agencies to identify and publicize 
effective interventions, including efforts at 
the Department of Health and Human 
Services, the Department of Education, 
and the Department of Justice. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
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‘‘(A) APPROACH.—The term ‘approach’ 
means a process, product, strategy, or practice 
that is— 
‘‘(i) research-based, based on the re-
sults of 1 or more empirical studies, and 
linked to program-determined outcomes; 
and 
‘‘(ii) evaluated using rigorous research 
designs. 
‘‘(B) 
PROVEN
APPROACH.—The 
term 
‘proven approach’ means an approach used in a 
demonstration project conducted under this sec-
tion that— 
‘‘(i) meets the requirements of a 
promising approach; and 
‘‘(ii) has demonstrated significant 
positive outcomes at more than 1 site in 
terms of increasing work and earnings of 
participants, reducing poverty and depend-
ence, or strengthening families. 
‘‘(C) PROMISING
APPROACH.—The term 
‘promising approach’ means an approach used 
in a demonstration project conducted under this 
section— 
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‘‘(i) that has been used in the project 
or elsewhere for at least 3 years; 
‘‘(ii) that meets the requirements of 
subparagraph (D)(i); 
‘‘(iii) that has been evaluated using 
well-designed and rigorous randomized 
controlled or quasi-experimental research 
designs; 
‘‘(iv) that has demonstrated signifi-
cant positive outcomes at only 1 site in 
terms of increasing work and earnings of 
participants, reducing poverty and depend-
ence, or strengthening families; and 
‘‘(v) under which the benefits of the 
positive outcomes have exceeded the costs 
of achieving the outcomes. 
‘‘(D) DEVELOPMENTAL
APPROACH.—The 
term ‘developmental approach’ means an ap-
proach used in a demonstration project con-
ducted under this section that— 
‘‘(i) is research-based, grounded in 
relevant empirically based knowledge, and 
linked to program-determined outcomes; 
‘‘(ii) is evaluated using rigorous re-
search designs; and 
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‘‘(iii) has yet to demonstrate a signifi-
cant positive outcome in terms of increas-
ing work and earnings of participants in a 
cost-effective way. 
‘‘(4) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made avail-
able to carry out section 403(b) for fiscal year 2016 
and each succeeding fiscal year, the Secretary shall 
reserve such funds as are necessary to carry out this 
subsection.’’. 
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendment made by this Act shall take effect 
on October 1, 2015. 
Æ 
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