New Safety Net Directions

About this grant

This grant will provide funding to the Urban Institute to develop a framework and policy agenda to strengthen the nation’s safety net. The drawn-out reauthorization debate and repeated short-term extensions of the 1996 federal welfare reform law stalled the progress of research and innovation in the field. There is a need for better information about promising approaches to address the needs of the hardest-to-serve and new directions for supporting working families both on and outside welfare. Building on various ongoing projects and Mott-funded research completed in 2006, the Urban Institute will produce in-depth papers on specific program options, inform national discussion, and develop a policy agenda for policymakers and advocates that will help increase the success of the work, economic security, and child well-being of low-income working families.