This paper reports on the successful policy reform efforts of a Maine coalition of activists and academic researchers. The Parent Survey Follow-Up of 1997 provided empirical research to the state welfare policy debate by documenting the life experiences of low-income families and their efforts to achieve economic self-sufficiency. The sample (n = 112) was drawn from a larger sample of respondents (n = 927) who had participated in a statewide random sample survey of AFDC recipients in 1994. This article presents both quantitative and qualitative data from the 1997 Parent Survey Follow-Up and discusses how these data were used to promote progressive state policy reform in the era since the passage of the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act.

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