This brief examines changes in Florida's welfare-to-work, child care, and child welfare systems since 1997, presenting information from visits conducted in 1999 and 2000. It profiles Florida's population, economy, and politics, reviewing its income support and social services safety net. Three sections detail current policies and recent changes in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and employment and training, child care, and child welfare. Key changes in Florida's social service delivery system are highlighted, noting their implications for understanding the effects of devolution and welfare reform. In 1996, Florida introduced the Wages and Gain Economic Self-Sufficiency welfare reform program. Three interrelated trends in social services emerged in 1997 and have grown since then: movement toward giving public-private boards responsibility for overseeing and administering services, devolution of responsibilities from the state to the local level, and contracting out of services previously handled by state agencies. Florida has moved toward greater integration of its workforce development and TANF programs. A significant change in child welfare is the impending privatization of services. Few changes have occurred in child care subsidy following federal welfare reform. Florida's strict policies have resulted in a very sharp decline in its welfare caseload. (Contains 12 endnotes.) (SM)