United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1997-10-20 monographic deposited born digital 40 p. GA 1.13:HEHS-98-6 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-6 P0b002ee180376450 f:he98006 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-6 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-6 HEHS-98-6 Privatization Cost control Federal/state relations State-administered programs Children Welfare benefits Public assistance programs Child support payments Service contracts Contract monitoring Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program Child Care and Development Block Grant AFDC Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program HHS Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program JOBS Program Letter Report HEHS Even though governments have for decades privatized a broad range of government social services, interest in privatization has been renewed because of its potential as a means of coping with limited public resources. Moreover, recent changes in federal welfare legislation have focused on privatizing, or contracting out, social services in particular. Four social programs affected by this legislation--child care, child welfare, child support enforcement, and new block grants to assist needy families--constitute a large share of the nation's welfare system. Debate has focused on whether privatization improves services and boosts efficiency and on what the appropriate role of the federal government should be. Yet little is known about the extent and the policy implications of privatizing these social services. This report addresses the following three questions: (1) What is the recent history of efforts by state and local governments to privatize federally funded social services? (2) What are the key issues surrounding privatization of state and local social services? (3) What are the federal policy implications of privatizing state and local social services? GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Child Support Enforcement Privatization: Challenges in Ensuring Accountability for Program Results, by Mark V. Nadel, Associate Director for Income Security Issues, before the Subcommittee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations, House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. GAO/T-HEHS-98-22. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-6/html/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-6.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-6/pdf/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-6.pdf GAO/HEHS-98-6 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-6 Letter Report GAO/HEHS-98-6; Social Service Privatization: Expansion Poses Challenges in Ensuring Accountability for Program Results; Privatization Cost control Federal/state relations State-administered programs Children Welfare benefits Public assistance programs Child support payments Service contracts Contract monitoring Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program Child Care and Development Block Grant AFDC Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program HHS Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program JOBS Program