Strengthening Economic Mobility and Well-Being for Families

Overview

When families have the financial resources they need, their children are more likely to experience positive, healthy development.  

In seeking these outcomes, governments often try to reduce family poverty directly through cash benefits, or indirectly, through services like housing or food. The goal is to help families address immediate, concrete needs and then connect with opportunities and resources that can increase their economic well-being over time. 

However, governments often need help managing programs to be more effective and to reach the families who could benefit the most. Governments may also need help gathering or analyzing data and navigating new technologies to help with service improvement. 

The GPL works with jurisdictions to create or improve access to resources that address families’ immediate needs and help support their future goals. Such systems-level changes include: 

• Improving outreach to connect more families to economic resources like TANF, tax credits, or emergency rental assistance. 
• Tailoring outreach and engagement strategies to better meet the needs of high-priority populations such as new parents or child welfare-involved families. 
• Using data on key metrics to spot opportunities for improvement in real time and monitor the impact of new strategies on improving outcomes. 
• Streamlining back-end processes to reduce barriers that families face in accessing key supports like housing subsidies, rental assistance, or food assistance like SNAP. 
• Increasing availability and quality of key services for families, such as child care, workforce training, or housing. 
• Working with jurisdictions to test technology solutions to reduce administrative burdens associated with managing key programs like unemployment insurance or child care.