Welfare reform supporters have been watching Wisconsin's efforts to trim its welfare rolls, since the state has a model program called "Wisconsin Works," or "W-2." The program imposes a five-year limit on any state aid and requires healthy people to work in exchange for any state benefits, including cash payments.

• A decade ago, when Gov. Tommy Thompson first began experimenting with reforms, the state had about 100,000 families on welfare.

• Since last fall, when the state began W-2, the number of families receiving cash payments has dropped from 23,000 to fewer than 15,000.

• Despite the plummeting case load, the state spent $645 million on the first year of W-2 -- up from $451 million during the last year of the old welfare system.

• Wisconsin now spends as much as $180 million a year on child care alone.

Experts say that the rising costs can be attributed to generous assistance in helping families adjust to work. There are subsidies for transportation and job training, as well as child care. Welfare caseworkers help with more complicated problems -- including drug addiction, domestic violence and lack of education.