Abstract

Outcomes research in the 'shadow channels' of welfare reform

Andrew Mitchell

In recent years organisations such as the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) have played a vital role in shaping welfare reform debates in the US. Findings from numerous large-scale program evaluations have created a "knowledge base" that has helped transform the landscape of welfare provision, shifting contested notions such as the practices of work-first and compulsory participation, to deeply rooted and widely shared conventions.

Never far from the surface is the contention that this transformation is driven by evidence rather than ideology, that we now know 'what works'. However, the findings are frequently modest and inconclusive. Current policy wisdom, therefore, derives as much, if not more, from the narrowly constructed understanding of the 'problem' of welfare, and hence, an equally narrow and ideologically driven construction of the solutions, and what constitutes 'success'.

In contrast, in Ontario research into the outcomes of reform has been almost entirely lacking. In this void rhetoric around the problem of dependency and the skilful deployment of limited information on outcomes has helped shape public attitudes towards social assistance and public expectations of 'success' in welfare reform.

This session will explore how policy research operates as a 'shadow channel' in welfare reform in the U.S. and Ontario and the frequent disconnect between it and the policy message that emerges.

Bio

Andrew Mitchell is the research co-ordinator for the Social Assistance in the New Economy Project (SANE) at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) through its Initiative on the New Economy Program.

Prior to that he was a Program Director at the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto (now the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto) since 1990. He has conducted research on poverty, the declining economic status of younger families and income security programs such as social assistance. He served on the Low-income Relief Working Group of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission and has published commentaries on Ontario’s income tax reductions. Most recently he was the co-ordinator of the Workfare Watch Project, a joint project of the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto and the Ontario Social Safety Network.

Andrew's recent publications include "Discouraged, Diverted and Disentitled: Ontario Works New Service Delivery Model" (with Dean Herd), and Poverty Inequality and Social Inclusion (with Richard Shillington) for the Laidlaw Foundation.

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