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Acknowledgements
Many people have contributed to the Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies Demonstration Evaluation and the preparation of this report. The authors are especially grateful for the time and insights of staff from the state departments of human services and the demonstration programs in each of the evaluation sites. The evaluation would not be possible without their ongoing cooperation, and this report benefited from their thoughtful responses to the many questions we posed in site visit interviews.
In particular, we would like to thank David Gruenenfelder, Marilyn Okon, Jane Radliff, Alan Summers, Paul Howell, and Patricia Berndt from the Illinois Department of Human Services; Marv Kanne, Marian Angelo, Trish Bergman, and Dennis Ellis from the Nebraska Health and Human Services System; and Sherri Carroll, Kerry Mullens, Penny Smith, and Susan Cowden from the Tennessee Department of Human Services. We also extend our appreciation to the many regional administrators, local office managers and supervisors, and caseworkers who took time out of their schedules to meet with us.
Leaders and staff members of the three demonstration programs made significant contributions to this research. We would like express special appreciation to Tim Bellamey and Kim Guetersloh from Shawnee Community College and Illinois Future Steps, Beth Birnstihl, Marilyn Fox, and Carol Thayer from the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension and Building Nebraska Families, and Charles Ellis and Charlene Shelton from the Tennessee Resource Conservation and Development Council and Tennessee First Wheels. We learned a great deal about the operation of the demonstration programs and strategies for delivering services in rural areas from Future Steps career specialists, Building Nebraska Families educators, and First Wheels program managers.
We wish to acknowledge the program clients who participated in focus groups during our site visits. The experiences and opinions they shared enhanced our understanding of the demonstration programs and the rural context considerably.
In addition, would like to thank Michael Dubinsky, Karl Koerper, Naomi Goldstein, and Howard Rolston, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, for continued support of the evaluation and helpful feedback on an earlier draft of the report.
Many staff at Mathematica Policy Research played important roles in the preparation of this report. Michael Ponza provided invaluable guidance as project director, and Alan Hershey offered expert advice on the report’s structure and content. Shawn Marsh and Jason Markesich coordinated the recruitment of focus group participants and conducted the focus groups with sensitivity and skill. Angela Richardson and Jennifer Faerber adeptly programmed our analysis of management information system data. Patricia Ciaccio and Laura Berenson carefully edited the report, and Jill Miller provided excellent formatting and production support.
The authors sincerely appreciate these many contributions and accept sole responsibility for any errors or omissions in the report.
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