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Project Description

See project goals.

Project duration: Nov 1995 - Nov 1997

Sites studied include Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Baltimore, Maryland
Cleveland, Ohio
Boston, Massachusetts
New York, New York
Los Angeles, California

Sample Characteristics and Sites Studied

6 large cities

Recent Findings in Brief

05/01/98: Big Cities Confront the New Politics of Child and Family Policy: Big Cities in the Welfare Transition

Final descriptive/analytical findings:

• Big cities are at a serious disadvantage under federal welfare reform and the resulting new, unbalanced federalism.
• The study found that, of the six big cities surveyed, no two were alike in coping with the demands of the new federal policies and revised programs. In every case, the state defined a city’s mission and its taxing capacities. Some cities had an impact on state actions and implementation plans; others did not. Where city and county concerns were ignored by states, efforts at job creation, child care provision, and mobilization of community supports faced major blockage or resource lacks.
• Unless states deliberately act with the interests of big cities in mind and avoid passing on unfunded mandates, welfare reform will have reinforced a system that may breed further hopelessness. Although the federal legislation has been justified as providing a route for the welfare-poor to autonomy, the reality may be the reverse.

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