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- Berkeley Planning Associates
100%employee-owned
July 22, 1999
Mr. Dale Hall.
County Commissioner
Weld County Administration Building
P.O. Box 758
Greeley, Colorado 80632-0758
Dear Mr. Hall,
I would like to give you a brief update on the status of the field study component of our
evaluation of the Colorado Works Program, which is being overseen by the Office of the State
Auditor. As you know, your county is one of 15 Colorado counties in which we are conducting
annual site visits. In some counties we are currently arranging a second site visit, in others a
second visit has recently been completed, and in a few counties we have been able to schedule all
needed interviews fbr year one in a single visit.
The information we'collect from these visits will be incorporated in our annual evaluation
reports, the first of which will be released in December 1999. That report will contain analyses
of six issue areas related to Colorado Works:
• Employment and Self-Sufficiency,
• Impact on Children and Families,
• Employment Preparation Services,
• Child Care,
• Impact of Colorado Works on State and Local Programs, and
• Costs and Benefits of Colorado Works.
To address these issues, we will draw on information from the county site visits, as well as a
Colorado Works recipient survey, and statewide administrative data. The site visits to counties
will be particularly helpful to us in gaining an understanding of case assessment and management
practices and the types of services being provided to program recipients directly by the counties
and through cooperation with outside service providers. Because the state legislation enabling
the Colorado Works evaluation(SB 98-185) directed that the evaluation not address "any
individual county's implementation" of Colorado Works, our annual reports will not assess the
effectiveness of any particular county's program. However,the study will evaluate the
effectiveness ofparticular services offered by one or more counties in terms of their impact on a
variety of measured outcomes.
C1Mei A JAS, 991956
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440 Grand Avenue,Suite 500 • Oakland,California 94610-5085 • (510)465-7884 • TDD:465-4493 • Fax: 465-7'8'85
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During this startup phase of the evaluation we must ask very basic questions to ensure that we
have collected accurate baseline information about eac'h county's Colorado Was program. In
addition, we must collect detailed information about the types of servicesprgvid'ed by the county
depa.tkuent as well as by:ontsids setvice providers. We:have greatly appreciate the patience and
cooperation of your coantys staff during this phase-of the evaluation.
As you may know, we are working with a team of researchers from the University of Denver
Graduate School of Social Work who are conducting many of the county interviews. This
research team is being led by Dean Catherine Alter, along with Professors Judy Krysik and Jean
Demmler. There apparently has been confusion in some quarters regarding the participation of
University of Denver GSSW researchers in a recent survey of Colorado Works recipients
released by the All Families Deserve a Chance (AFDC) Coalition. None of oir rese'atch'ers has
ever had any relationship with the AFDC Coalition and none participated in the survey. This
would obviously be a clear conflict of interest which we would not permit.
Finally, I would like to call to your attention the Colorado Works Evaluation Interim Report on
Caseload Characteristics, Program Eligibility, and County Policies, which we completed in
March of this year. Copies of this report can be obtained by calling the Office of the Colorado
State Auditor,-(303) 866-2051.
Tease do-not.hesitate to call me.if you have further questions regarding either the•site visits-to
your county or the evaluation-in general. Thanks for your ongoing cooperation.
Sincere , /
Vincent M. Valvano
Project Director
cc: Cindi Stetson, Legislative Auditor,Office of the State Auditor
George Kurian,Office of Self Sufficiency, Colorado Depaxtent of Human Services
Dean Catherine Alter, Graduate School of Social Work,University of Denver
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