Moving people from welfare to work is an idea everybody can love: Living on the public dole was never meant as a permanent game plan, and most people on it are thrilled to work their way off.

Nobody would argue with the effort the state Department of Human Services puts into welfare reform, or with some of the encouraging success stories.

What we're missing is detailed information that tracks the impact of these efforts.

Indeed, some feedback suggests that progress is being made. For example: The total welfare caseload dropped by 7.4 percent last year, more than twice the national average, a statistic that's illuminated by the tally of 2,147 people leaving welfare because they've found their own means of support.

More than 400 employers are participating in the state's SEE Hawai'i Work program to keep that trend going.

All of that is good news, but it doesn't fully answer the question: Once Hawai'i people move off welfare, how are they doing?

The truth is, we really don't know.

That's why the department needs to devise a systematic way of tracking people who leave welfare — including those whose alloted five years on the program simply expire. Many may have found work or self-sufficiency without reporting it to the state. Some may be homeless.

Certainly, many have sunk below the social service radar.

Other states have conducted "leaver studies" that track former welfare recipients, using the information gleaned to tweak their welfare-to-work programs or add more services to bridge employment gaps.

To its credit, the department already is applying lessons learned elsewhere to Isle programs — adopting, for example, a program of cash bonuses to encourage people to stay employed and keep in touch with social workers.

And the department doesn't entirely have to reinvent the wheel: A national database that tracks new hires, for example, can provide some data.

However, Hawai'i needs its own, complete study on former welfare recipients; sketchy information won't do. Lawmakers should give the department the funds and support needed to connect the dots.