Evaluating the efficiency of private sector organizations in helping welfare beneficiaries find employment

This research examines the relative success of private, public, and nonprofit organizations in finding employment for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families beneficiaries in Florida. A variety of data are used to measure success in this endeavor. Type of organization used to assist in finding employment was entered into a regression model that controlled for demographic characteristics of the welfare population. Ordinary least squares regression, analysis of variance, difference of means, and descriptive statistics were employed to test the hypothesis that private service providers were more efficient and effective than were public or nonprofit organizations in finding employment for welfare beneficiaries. The analysis did not support the hypothesis.