Unlocking Opportunity – How Pelican Institute Brought “One Door” to Louisiana
The Vision – From Dependence to Dignity
In 2021, the Pelican Institute for Public Policy launched the Kevin Kane Center for Opportunity, honoring founder Kevin Kane’s lifelong work to break cycles of poverty and provide pathways to opportunity for all Louisianans.
As the Pelican team evaluated the barriers to opportunity, it became clear that programs intended to help low-income residents reach their economic potential had done just the opposite and instead trapped families in a cycle of poverty and dependency. Families experiencing financial stress faced the daunting task of navigating an inefficient, time-consuming, duplicative, and frustrating safety-net system.
The Pelican Team asked the question: What if we were able to create a path from dependence to self-sufficiency for Louisianans trapped in public safety net programs? Is there a state that has already broken down these barriers?
There was a better way, and it had been done before by the state of Utah. Utah is the only state with fully integrated federal and state funds for both human services and workforce services. During the 1990s, Utah merged human services with workforce services to create better coordination. Because of Utah’s cost allocation plan, caseworkers can focus on the needs of the individual or family before them, holistically respond to their immediate needs, and develop a long-term plan for self-sufficiency.
No meaningful public safety net reform (sometimes referred to as welfare reform) had been passed since the 1990s. Working through a web of federal and state programs would not be an easy task. Pelican joined forces with the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the Georgia’s Center for Opportunity to form the Alliance forOpportunity(“A4O”) with a mission to create an anti-poverty public policy agenda to unleash the talents of individuals and restore dignity and purpose to families in their time of need.
Gathering evidence and building the case for change
Louisiana has long been a state with one of the highest percentages of people living in poverty and one of the lowest labor participation rates. One in five individuals is on government assistance and trapped in a system where programs for basic services are spread out across multiple agencies and offices. Well-intentioned public servants who serve as caseworkers are often focused on compliance, not necessarily positive outcomes for beneficiaries—including making progress toward self-sufficiency. Very little of this work has been integrated with workforce programming, connecting people in poverty to available jobs paying a living wage. Instead, the system perpetuates more of the same.
When the Pelican Institute began working on safety net reform several years ago, along with Georgia Center for Opportunity and Texas Public Policy Foundation, Louisiana’s political landscape did not provide an opening for reform. We used that period to gather information and build a plan, prompting several independent performance audits of the state’s safety net and workforce development programs to build a case for change.
From 2022 to 2024, we worked with lawmakers to request information about how the following programs were being administered and the extent to which they were achieving positive outcomes:
- Senate Resolution 107 (2021) on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program; resulting audit report here
- House Resolution 184 (2022) on the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) program; resulting audit report here
- House Resolution 248 (2022) on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); resulting audit report here
- House Resolution 100 (2023) on the various assistance programs administered by state government to identify areas for improved coordination of efforts; resulting audit report here
The audits underscored systemic challenges in Louisiana’s safety net programs, including a lack of coordination, reliance on ineffective metrics, and a failure to connect individuals to self-sufficiency, trapping individuals in dependency rather than fostering long-term prosperity. Louisiana’s high poverty rate (nearly 20% in 2022) and significant reliance on safety net programs (17,670 users per 100,000 in 2019) highlighted the urgency of reform to integrate services to combat poverty more effectively. The Pelican Institute began to frame the One Door concept as a path to restore dignity, encourage family stability, and build thriving communities.
Revealing a broken system
In winter 2023, Governor-elect Jeff Landry’s transition teams were working hard to identify key policy levers and other opportunities to address Louisiana’s biggest challenges, including but not limited to persistent high poverty and low workforce participation. The Pelican Institute was able to highlight the recent audit reports on safety net and workforce programs, our Louisiana Comeback Agenda(with a chapter on “Jobs and Opportunity for All”) , and research and recommendations we had compiled on Utah’s bold reforms to more effectively combat poverty and support individuals toward work and independence.
On January 26, 2024, Governor Landry released his transition teams’ final reports. The team that had concentrated on workforce development stated: “Silos in government have led to inefficient workforce development. Louisiana’s workforce participation rates, coupled with being one of the poorest states in the nation, have left job creators and job seekers in a state of turmoil. The number of government entities and lack of clear direction in workforce development have led to a disjointed effort of multiple government silos rowing in different directions, leaving the public and businesses stuck with lackluster results.”
The Pelican Institute team continued working with Governor Landry, his cabinet, and newly elected state lawmakers as they began the new term to prioritize a more integrated safety net and workforce development system.
On March 7, 2024, the Pelican Institute published How Integration of Workforce andSocial Services Can Lift Louisiana’s People From Poverty to Opportunity, offering a roadmap for Louisiana to begin the important work of integrating programs and services that serve our state’s most vulnerable citizens and connecting them to work and self-sufficiency. On March 22, 2024, Governor Landry issued Executive Order 24-44 tocreate the Louisiana Workforce and Social Services Reform (LA WASS) Task Force. In it, he directed the task force, to “conduct research and collect data on state models for coordinating and fully integrating workforce, social services, education, child care, and health care programs and develop alternative approaches that Louisiana should consider to achieve improved outcomes.”
The task force, which included representatives from multiple state agencies, business leaders, non-profit organizations, and state lawmakers, met throughout the remainder of 2024, with the Pelican Institute team providing technical assistance and support.
Using that information, coupled with recommendations from his transition councils, Governor Jeff Landry issued Executive Order 24-44 on March 22, 2024 to create theLouisiana Workforce and Social Services Reform (LA WASS) Task Force. In it, he directed members, which included state agency heads, lawmakers, and business and non-profit representatives, to “conduct research and collect data on state models for coordinating and fully integrating workforce, social services, education, child care, and health care programs and develop alternative approaches that Louisiana should consider to achieve improved outcomes.”
The Task Force met throughout the remainder of 2024, with the Pelican Institute team providing technical assistance and support. Meetings included a review of the “OneDoor” model of integrating workforce and social services used in Utah to simplify and streamline the administration of large federal and state programs so that recipients can more easily access and utilize the resources they need to meet basic needs, enter the workforce, and achieve self-sufficiency.
The group met several times, heard from national experts, explored other state innovations, and charged working groups with studying various aspects of the work involved in managing large programs offered through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Workforce Opportunity and Innovation Act (WIOA), Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), and more. The Pelican Institute and the Alliance for Opportunity also arranged a site visit for several members of the task force to visit Utah, tour its Department of Workforce Services, and meet with administrators to learn how they are successfully integrating programs and services to streamline aid to those and need and achieve positive short- and long-term outcomes.
In its last meeting on January 28, 2025, the Task Force unanimously approved a report containing recommendations for Governor Landry and the Louisiana Legislature. The report articulated a bold, clear vision for modernization and transformation of the state’s safety net and workforce development systems to better serve the people of Louisiana and support a growing state economy. It addressed the collection, use, and integration of data; efficient service delivery; comprehensive approach to casework; performance-based metrics; and collaboration needed to ensure successful transition and implementation.
The Task Force’s report recommended replacing the current fragmented structure with the creation of a new centralized agency with a single point of entry for all workforce and social service programs—a true “one door” for those in need. The new agency, envisioned to encompass many of the current programs presently administered by the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC), the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), and possibly even more, would utilize an integrated customer relations (casework) management system to focus multiple programs from which participants are enrolled on the same positive outcomes, bridge the gap between employers and resources, and modernize data sharing and technology. DCFS would be left to focus critical attention on child welfare, a longstanding challenge for Louisiana.
The LA WASS final report led to legislation introduced in the 2025 Regular Session, approved by the Louisiana Legislature, and signed into law by Governor Landry this summer. Exciting work is now underway to transform Louisiana’s services to better meet residents’ needs and to set them and our state on a path to success.
