Accomplishing that would go a long way toward getting the costs of welfare under control. Social services programs, including Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, are a primary driver of expanding state budgets. Welfare accounts for 45 percent of states' direct general expenditures, the largest share of direct state spending.
In addition to the costs, the U.S. safety net system has grown increasingly complex. What started as just a handful of initiatives has evolved into a system of more than 80 programs, each with different goals, eligibility requirements and rules — a maze that is incredibly difficult for a policy wonk to navigate, let alone a recipient.
Costs and complexity are one thing if the system is truly helping people. But welfare does not well serve the low-income and marginalized communities it’s intended to help. While the safety net supports individuals so they can survive on a basic level, it does not move them out of poverty so they can flourish, thrive and reach their true potential. States should consider how to design their safety net systems so that they actually help Americans become permanently self-sufficient — and gain hope and dignity along the way.
One solution is integrating social safety net programs with workforce support programs, which help connect people to job opportunities through trainings and skill development. In nearly all states, these two systems are not connected or working together. Someone who turns to welfare for help must therefore navigate multiple, disconnected welfare and workforce programs that leave them with no clear path out of the safety net and into work.
This integration approach, also called the “One Door Model,” helps recipients more easily transition to stable employment and financial independence. Importantly, it also simplifies an overly complex and burdensome system, so that it’s more intuitive and easier to navigate. Utah adopted this model in the 1990s and has vastly improved the welfare system for its residents. The state has consistently low unemployment and poverty rates. It also boasts the nation’s lowest rates of residents on food stamps and Medicaid.
By realigning the system so it better connects people to work, this reform gets welfare back to its original design — temporarily helping people who are struggling while giving them the pathways they need to move out of poverty and thrive on their own.
Other states should follow Utah’s lead. However, to fully implement the One Door Model, they need federal approval. Congress has opportunities this year to prioritize work-first reforms to welfare, including One Door, especially as it considers reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which funds workforce development programs.
But states don’t need to wait for the federal government to begin working on such reforms. In 2024, Louisiana took the first step to streamline human services with work support. Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order that established a task force to begin the process of implementing a One Door initiative. This task force conducted audits and research on integrating the state’s workforce, social services, education, child-care and health-care programs. It also offered recommendations to improve and simplify services and programs. The Pelican State is expected to adopt some of the task force’s recommendations this year.
Louisiana’s neighbor to the north is not far behind. Arkansas lawmakers are advancing a bill to study the state’s workforce and social services systems and identify opportunities for reform.
State policymakers around the country should take note of these innovative reforms and act accordingly, for a simple reason: The One Door Model is the foundation of a more effective and less expensive safety net system.
But more importantly, it helps struggling Americans on public assistance, who benefit from an improved and simplified system that meets their short-term needs while also providing them with a clearer path to work and long-term self-sufficiency.
Randy Hicks is president and CEO and Eric Cochling is chief program officer and general counsel of the Georgia Center for Opportunity.
Governing’s opinion columns reflect the views of their authors and not necessarily those of Governing’s editors or management.
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