Urban across the Country

Urban’s researchers partner with state and local leaders to provide the evidence, tools, and support they need to improve lives and strengthen communities. This work includes strategic advising to translate research into action, program evaluations to measure effectiveness, and research and data analysis to inform decisionmaking. Our experts develop custom data tools and modeling to support equitable resource allocation and lead community-engaged research and convenings to ensure policies reflect local priorities.

Use this page to explore Urban’s work. Search by region to see examples of our research, and filter by evidence and products to narrow results by topic or type of work.

Dive deeper into your state and community with our data tools. View highlighted tools below, select “Data tools” under “Filter by Product Types,” or head directly to our data tools page.

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State and community data tools
Explore our work by state
Brief Build a Realistic System That Encourages Fathers
[Los Angeles Times] The recent news that the Los Angeles district attorney's Bureau of Family Support faces a $50-million lawsuit because an employee heaped insults on a parent has raised red flags about child support collections. Given the disincentives built into the system, it is not surprising
Brief The Coming Collapse of the US Economy
An examination of long-term budget projections reveals that they should not be taken literally, but they do serve several important purposes. They suggest the existence of huge threats to our future well-being, even though those threats may play out differently than the projections suggest. They
Research Report Block Granting Welfare: Fiscal Impact on the States
This paper estimates the fiscal impact on states had PRWORA been in effect from FYI 1987 FYI 1993 in order to predict future fiscal impact. The Contingency Fund receives special consideration. Among the conclusions: Some states are required to spend far more under TANF than they would under AFDC
Brief Where Are They Now? What States' Studies of People Who Left Welfare Tell Us
The policy brief summarizes new data on employment rates, characteristics of employment, and other indicators of well-being for former welfare recipients from 11 state studies. The studies were conducted in Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio (Cuyahoga County), South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas
Research Report Medicaid Managed Care Payment Methods and Capitation Rates
The first nationwide comparison of how much states are paying for Medicaid managed care shows more than a two-fold variation in the rates set by 36 states. Of the 36 states responding to the survey, the highest managed care capitation rates occur in Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New