The Tax Policy Center has graded the key tax provisions of the pending Senate stimulus bill (the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Plan of 2009"). Our grades, which rely on the bill's legislative language, focus on how well these measures would boost the economy in the short run. Accompanying write-ups describe current law, the proposed change, and the short- and long-term effects on the budget, the economy, fairness and tax complexity. We will update the report card as we learn more about the provisions and as the stimulus bill moves through Congress.

In 2003, the Texas Office of Attorney General fundamentally altered the process of establishing child support orders, going from a highly judicial process of establishing orders to a process that establishes most orders administratively. It also substantially improved the issuance of income withholding orders. This report describes the implementation of these reforms and measures their impact. It finds that, after the reforms were implemented, the amount of time it takes to establish child support orders and income withholding orders on newly opened cases declined significantly and the amount of arrears assessed on newly established orders declined significantly, suggesting a highly successful initiative.

Two former directors of the Congressional Budget Office now at the Urban Institute join scholars from other organizations in a memo advising President Obama on how to balance the nation’s short- and long-term economic needs. To reduce escalating future deficits without endangering near-term recovery, the authors’ recommendations include action to stem the growth of Social Security and Medicare.

The Tax Policy Center has graded the key tax provisions of the pending House stimulus bill (the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Plan of 2009"). Our grades, which rely on the bill's legislative language, focus on how well these measures would boost the economy in the short run. Accompanying write-ups describe current law, the proposed change, and the short- and long-term effects on the budget, the economy, fairness and tax complexity. We will update the report card as we learn more about the provisions and as the stimulus bill moves through Congress.

HealthConnect in Our Community is one component of a three-part initiative to address the health and related needs of children in Miami-Dade County. This report provides findings from five focus groups, two with community workers and three with parents. Both staff and parents are pleased with the program. They believe that the greatest strength of the program is its responsiveness to the cultural diversity represented in Miami-Dade County. The focus group participants also provided some areas for improvement, such as the need to raise the program's visibility in the community; improve targeting of services; and standardize data collection protocols.

In 2005 The Children's Trust of Miami-Dade County initiated HealthConnect in Our Community, designed to improve the health of children and adolescents in the county. The program uses community workers to reach out to underserved children and their families. The Urban Institute and three local consultants conducted a formative assessment the program's first year of operation. In a six-day site visit we interviewed 26 individuals, observed program operations in 19 separate locations, and conducted five focus groups, three with clients and two with program staff. This report summarizes the findings from the evaluation, and provides recommendations for improving the program.

The flow of ideas between the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) includes approaches to housing policy, as the public sectors in both countries have turned toward the private sector to help provide affordable housing and support redevelopment activities. The Urban Institute and the Institute for Community Cohesion developed an innovative program of work to compare approaches to community revitalization, community cohesion and sustainable neighborhoods in cities across both countries. Ultimately, the purpose of the project is to influence policy and practice agendas in the UK and US by highlighting effective strategies for revitalizing communities and building community cohesion. This report describes the project, discusses contextual differences between the two countries that affect subsidized housing, and highlights lessons drawn from the exchanges that took place during the spring and summer of 2008.

This research brief examines the relief and recovery services provided by faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) in the Gulf Coast region after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The study included a telephone survey of 202 FBCOs that provided services and in-depth case studies of eight organizations. The brief explores how FBCOs functioned during this time-i.e., what they did, who they served, and with whom they collaborated-and offers lessons learned for planning for future disasters. The brief summarizes the findings from the full report "The Role of Faith-Based and Community Organizations in Post-Hurricane Human Service Relief Efforts," available at http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=1001245.

The events surrounding hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 produced one of the largest disaster responses by nongovernmental, charitable organizations, including both faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs). This report is based on a telephone survey of 202 FBCOs that provided disaster-related human services and in-depth, field-based case studies of eight organizational responses after the hurricanes. The survey findings address what types of services were provided, to whom, and the collaborations used by FBCOs to deliver services. The case studies explore what motivated the response in 2005 and suggest how such efforts might connect with the larger disaster response and human service delivery systems to provide needed services in future disasters (For more information, contact Principal Investigators Carol J. De Vita and Fredrica D. Kramer).

What will work best to stimulate the nation out of recession? Look to the states, says Len Burman in a commentary for public radio's Marketplace program.