I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2126 
To strengthen welfare research and evaluation, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 25, 2017 
Mr. BUCHANAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen welfare research and evaluation, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘What Works to Move 
Welfare Recipients into Jobs Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING WELFARE RESEARCH AND EVAL-
UATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF A WHAT 
WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE. 
Section 413 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
613) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 413. EVALUATION OF TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR 
NEEDY FAMILIES AND RELATED PROGRAMS. 
‘‘(a) EVALUATION OF THE IMPACTS OF TANF.—The 
Secretary shall conduct research on the effect of State pro-
grams funded under this part and any other State pro-
gram funded with qualified State expenditures (as defined 
in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) on employment, self-suffi-
ciency, child well-being, unmarried births, marriage, pov-
erty, economic mobility, and other factors as determined 
by the Secretary. 
‘‘(b) EVALUATION OF GRANTS TO IMPROVE CHILD 
WELL-BEING BY PROMOTING HEALTHY MARRIAGE AND 
RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD.—The Secretary shall con-
duct research to determine the effects of the grants made 
under section 403(a)(2) on child well-being, marriage, 
family stability, economic mobility, poverty, and other fac-
tors as determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec-
retary shall, in consultation with States receiving funds 
provided under this part, develop methods of dissemi-
nating information on any research, evaluation, or study 
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conducted under this section, including facilitating the 
sharing of information and best practices among States 
and localities. 
‘‘(d) STATE-INITIATED
EVALUATIONS.—A State 
shall be eligible to receive funding to evaluate the State 
program funded under this part or any other State pro-
gram funded with qualified State expenditures (as defined 
in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) if— 
‘‘(1) the State submits to the Secretary a de-
scription of the proposed evaluation; 
‘‘(2) the Secretary determines that the design 
and approach of the proposed evaluation is rigorous 
and is likely to yield information that is credible and 
will be useful to other States; and 
‘‘(3) unless waived by the Secretary, the State 
contributes to the cost of the evaluation, from non- 
Federal sources, an amount equal to at least 25 per-
cent of the cost of the proposed evaluation. 
‘‘(e) CENSUS BUREAU RESEARCH.— 
‘‘(1) The Bureau of the Census shall implement 
or enhance household surveys of program participa-
tion, in consultation with the Secretary and the Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics and make available to inter-
ested parties, to allow for the assessment of the out-
comes of continued welfare reform on the economic 
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and child well-being of low-income families with chil-
dren, including those who received assistance or 
services from a State program funded under this 
part or any other State program funded with quali-
fied State expenditures (as defined in section 
409(a)(7)(B)(i)). The content of the surveys should 
include such information as may be necessary to ex-
amine the issues of unmarried childbearing, mar-
riage, welfare dependency and compliance with work 
requirements, the beginning and ending of spells of 
assistance, work, earnings and employment stability, 
and the well-being of children. 
‘‘(2) To carry out the activities specified in 
paragraph (1), the Bureau of the Census, the Sec-
retary, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics shall con-
sider ways to improve the surveys and data derived 
from the surveys to— 
‘‘(A) address underreporting of the receipt 
of means-tested benefits and tax benefits for 
low-income individuals and families; 
‘‘(B) increase understanding of poverty 
spells and long-term poverty, including by facili-
tating the matching of information to better un-
derstand intergenerational poverty; 
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‘‘(C) generate a better geographical under-
standing of poverty such as through State- 
based estimates and measures of neighborhood 
poverty; 
‘‘(D) increase understanding of the effects 
of means-tested benefits and tax benefits on the 
earnings of low-income families; and 
‘‘(E) improve how poverty and economic 
well-being are measured, including through the 
use of consumption measures. 
‘‘(f) RESEARCH
AND
EVALUATION
CONDUCTED 
UNDER THIS SECTION.—Research and evaluation con-
ducted under this section designed to determine the effects 
of a program or policy (other than research conducted 
under subsection (e)) shall use experimental designs using 
random assignment or other reliable, evidence-based re-
search methodologies that allow for the strongest possible 
causal inferences when random assignment is not feasible. 
‘‘(g) DEVELOPMENT OF WHAT WORKS CLEARING-
HOUSE OF PROVEN AND PROMISING APPROACHES TO 
MOVE WELFARE RECIPIENTS INTO 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 
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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 with no or negative effects. 
The Secretary shall add to the What Works Clear-
inghouse of Proven and Promising Projects to Move 
Welfare Recipients into Work data about the 
projects that, based on an independent, well-con-
ducted 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 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 effec-
tiveness; and 
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‘‘(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: 
‘‘(A) APPROACH.—The term ‘approach’ 
means a process, product, strategy, or practice 
that is— 
‘‘(i) research-based, based on the re-
sults of one 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 that— 
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‘‘(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— 
‘‘(i) that meets the requirements of 
subparagraph (D)(i); 
‘‘(ii) that has been evaluated using 
well-designed and rigorous randomized 
controlled or quasi-experimental research 
designs; 
‘‘(iii) 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 
‘‘(iv) under which the benefits of the 
positive outcomes have exceeded the costs 
of achieving the outcomes. 
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‘‘(D) DEVELOPMENTAL
APPROACH.—The 
term ‘developmental approach’ means an ap-
proach 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 
‘‘(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.’’. 
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendment made by this Act shall take effect 
on October 1, 2017. 
Æ 
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