This paper reports an experiment in over 3,000 Indonesian villages designed to test the role of performance incentives in improving the efficacy of aid programs. Villages in a randomly-chosen one-third of subdistricts received a block grant to improve 12 maternal and child health and education indicators, with the size of the subsequent year's…

Hearings were conducted in November of 1983 to ascertain the impact of specific governmental spending cuts on maternal and child health care. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Economic Goals and Intergovernmental Policy included (1) a summary of findings of a forthcoming report on the world economic crisis and children, which focused…

Making a case for the funding of programs for children involves (1) developing a thorough knowledge of the needs of the children addressed; (2) identifying the resources available to meet those needs as well as establishing the processes by which the resources are distributed and identifying the principle actors and institutions controlling those…

Chapter 2 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) of 1981 consolidated 28 separate federal education programs into a single block grant. This report evaluates the effectiveness of Chapter 2 as public policy, assessing whether it has led to improvement in education, whether the consolidated programs are more responsive to…

This statement presented as testimony before the U.S. Senate discusses the importance of preschool education for children of low-income families. The testimony focuses on the federal and state commitment to preschool programs, including funding and collaborative efforts, and what is known about the effectiveness of federal preschool programs.…

Policymakers must review the accomplishments of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), problems associated with suggestions for its reform, and incremental reforms to the program that are required and possible. Despite the fact that research generally attests to CETA's success, the system suffers from a poor public image.…

The following were examined: (1) the Department of Transportation's (DOT) efforts to evaluate the Job Access and Reverse Commute (Job Access) program; (2) transportation and related services provided by Job Access; (3) whether the program fosters collaboration between grantees and others in the design, financing, and delivery of those services;…