Berkeley Policy Associates was awarded a contract by the North Dakota Department of Human Services (DHS) to plan and conduct the evaluation of its welfare reform project, the Training, Education, Employment, and Management (TEEM) Project. The evaluation plan was included in North Dakota's application to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for full funding of the evaluation.

The evaluation design focused on the provision of early feedback on the implementation of TEEM and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) provisions in a select group of counties, in preparation for the expansion of TEEM statewide. A major component of the study was a detailed process study relying on extensive field data collection including interviews and focus groups with ND DHS staff, clients, and other key respondents. A total of seven counties were be visited as part of the evaluation, including metropolitan and rural counties, tribal and non-tribal counties, and counties located in different geographic regions of the state. Four of these counties implemented TEEM during an initial demonstration phase and BPA charted their early implementation experiences. During the statewide phase of program implementation BPA continued to visit the four demonstration counties and also visited three non-demonstration counties that are newly implementing TEEM.

BPA also conducted a quantitative study, using state administrative data to examine client participation and services received, and tracking clients' entry into employment and exit from TANF.