Ending the Safety Net as We Know It? Assessing the New Federal Block Grant Proposals

Overview
The 1996 welfare law transformed a safety net for all eligible families into a block grant for states. Now, the Bush Administration wants to apply this model to other major anti-poverty programs. While the plan takes the form of individual legislative pieces, together they have major implications for the federal role in addressing the needs of low-income Americans. The speakers at this forum discussed what this shift in social policy could mean for states and localities and ultimately for low-income families.

The forum was co-sponsored by the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy and the Community Service Society of New York.