Episode # 34: Don Winstead
Welcome to our latest edition of WonkCast: People Power Policy.
Have you ever wondered why states may balk at seemingly obvious opportunities to draw down federal funding?
When Congress is so divided and polarized that renaming a post office is no small feat, it can feel like passing legislation is the biggest step.
But in federal financing, what matters more than the size, scope, or ambition of legislative change is the gap between existing capacity and what’s possible under new authority.
As one of the leading national thinkers on child welfare financing policy, today’s guest spends a lot of time exploring that gap.
Don Winstead has over four decades of state and federal experience in health and human services policy, including as Deputy Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under George W. Bush.
We discussed why a minor administrative change can shift spending as much as a landmark law, where our models for how financing changes incentives are inaccurate, and what the Title IV-E waivers can teach us about future child welfare financing reforms.
If you want to understand what actually matters for determining whether a new policy changes practice and makes an impact, this conversation is for you.
