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
Research Report Did Getting Tough on Crime Pay?
This report evaluates the effectiveness of sentencing reform implemented since the early 1980s. These reforms have been dominated by mandatory penalties for violent offenders, repeat offenders, and drug traffickers. The authors conclude that the beliefs on which public support for these reforms
Brief Questions for States As They Turn to Medicaid Managed Care
Forty-nine states now rely on some form of Medicaid managed care plan. This brief examines several critical questions states must answer as they design Medicaid managed care programs aimed at reducing costs and increasing access to care. Who should be required to enroll in managed care? What
Brief Viewing Nonprofits across the States
Researchers at the Urban Institute have compiled state-by-state profiles of nonprofit organizations based on information filed with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. These findings document the status of the nonprofit community in terms of its size, scope, and finances, and provide an empirical
Research Report How Much More Can They Work?
This report compares work history of welfare recipients to that of nonrecipients. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were used to construct complete employment and welfare histories for a cohort of women from the time they turn age 19 through the year in which they turn 27. A
Research Report Explaining the Recent Decline in Welfare Caseloads
This paper was written in response to a 1997 Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) report on sources of variation across states in use of Aid to Families with Dependent Children. The authors believed that the analysis presented in that report is flawed and were concerned about policy implications that
Research Report Medicaid Reform Debate in 1997, The
The five-year plan to balance the federal budget requires Medicaid savings of approximately $16 billion. The compromise between President Clinton and Congress generated savings from increased state flexibility and limitations on disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments rather than imposing
Brief Supplemental Security Income for Children with Disabilities
Welfare reform restricted SSI eligibility for children with disabilities. An estimated 22 percent of children are no longer eligible for SSI. While we do not know the impact of these cuts on the well-being of these children and their families, it is clear that total federal spending on low-income