Employees Amidst Welfare Reform

SUMMARY

The impact of welfare reform on organizational functioning at the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) is measured between 1999 and 2000 using a longitudinal survey method, a large sample of employees, and multiple regression analysis. During this one year period the agency experienced a change in leadership as well as had to contend with the evolving requirements associated with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). The findings indicate that a trusted leadership and an organizational climate that is receptive to and fosters effective communication can improve the chances of successfully implementing large-scale organizational change like that created by the PRWORA.

Key Words:

• Welfare reform
• organizational change
• leadership
• communication