The welfare state is larger than it has ever been in U.S. history. As Americans we spend nearly one trillion dollars a year on federal and state human services programs, yet despite public investment the poverty rate has risen to 15.1 percent. Public assistance is necessary to help those who are truly in need, however these programs are rarely called on to show effectiveness in creating true opportunities for individuals and families to escape dependence and pursue a life of success and prosperity.

At ALEC, our objective is to help states implement policy that will modernize human services programs so public investment in human services not only create opportunities for self sufficiency, but to use data metrics in state based programs to show which program operations are more effective in fighting poverty for at-risk populations.

Other common sense approaches to breaking the cycle of dependency is reducing regulatory barriers to communities and leveraging existing resources to coordinate services while also working to aggressively reduce fraud, waste and abuse.

It has been said that a society can be judged by the way it treats those least able to care for themselves. At ALEC, we work to foster a competitive yet compassionate society that leads each person to the dignity of work and culture of success and prosperity.