MacArthur’s policy-related grantmaking aims to improve and inform decision making at the federal, state and local levels through general operating support to a small portfolio of organizations across an array of issues and special fiscal, demographic and analytical projects with broad implications for domestic policy.
MacArthur is creating a new inter-disciplinary research network to help America prepare for the challenges and opportunities posed by our aging society. Read more
A committee of experts, supported by MacArthur and selected and staffed by the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Public Administration, will identify and assess a range of options for restoring America’s fiscal health. Read more
A $35 million policy research initiative seeks to strengthen the case for social policy making that is more firmly grounded in research and benefit-cost analysis. Read more
The Foundation’s Network on Building Resilient Regions seeks to expand the knowledge base about how regions shape the response to major national economic and demographic challenges. At the same time, the Network also aims to provide new evidence about how
regions can cultivate resilience in the face of economic and social challenges. Read more
MacArthur grantee the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy played a key role in advising the Office of Management and Budget about the rigorous standard of evidence used in an effectiveness evaluation that led to the scaling up of what had been a pilot program included in President Obama’s proposed 2010 budget. The Nurse Home Visitation Program will provide funds to states for home visits by trained nurses to first-time mothers and mothers-to-be. The Coalition conducted an independent assessment of several evaluations of the initiative over time certifying as to the high standards of these tests and the reliability of the results showing that the program has long-term effects, including substantial reductions in child abuse and neglect, pre-term births, and arrests for both parents and adolescents who participated in the initiative as children. The program will cost $87 million in 2010 and $8.6 billion over 10 years; estimates of its return-on-investment are between $3 and $6 per dollar invested. The Coalition is a grantee under the Foundation’s special policy project, The Power of Measuring Social Benefits, which seeks to strengthen evidence-based policymaking throughout government.
Sign
up 
Phone: (312) 726-8000