Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy; Director, Poverty Solutions; Professor of Social Work
Luke Shaefer serves as the inaugural director of Poverty Solutions, an interdisciplinary, presidential initiative at U-M that seeks to partner communities and policymakers to find new ways to prevent and alleviate poverty.
The University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy is establishing the Kohn Social Policy Conference, a biennial convening designed to examine emerging social policy challenges and practical, evidence-informed solutions.
A new peer-reviewed study published in JAMA Pediatrics provides rigorous, population-level evidence that the Rx Kids program, the nation’s first community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program, is associated with substantial reductions i...
In January, Luke Shaefer was appointed chief executive of Health, Human Services & Poverty Solutions for the City of Detroit. His data-driven vision targets systemic change.
This year, State & Hill has unfolded a bit differently—literally and figuratively! While our fall issue adopted a compact, fold-out design to highlight impact, our spring magazine returns to our full format, offering the space to dive deeper into t...
After decades as a renowned poverty scholar at U-M and president of the Russell Sage Foundation, Sheldon Danziger, the Henry J. Meyer Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, began his ‘third act’ last fall, taking the helm as p...
Ford School professor Luke Shaefer has been named to the newly-formed role as Chief Executive of Health, Human Services & Poverty Solutions for City of Detroit.
Rx Kids, the nation’s first community-wide prenatal and infant cash program, has improved infant health, reduced evictions, and achieved a high return on investment. Now, with new state commitments, it will reach about one-third of all births statewi...
The Ford School's Luke Shaefer spoke with CBS Detroit on the federal government shutdown's impact on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). "There are senior citizens, millions of senior citizens, millions of families with kids who ar...
Millions of people will lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits Nov. 1, forcing them to make tough choices beyond putting food on their kitchen tables, according to a University of Michigan expert. SNAP is part of the overall fa...
As the Trump administration gets closer to cutting off SNAP food assistance, Ford School Professor Luke Shaefer has been commenting on the potential dire situation families will face around food security. "You have to think of food in the context of ...
“What’s important to understand about Rx Kids is that no one is told to seek more prenatal care — it’s not a requirement or condition,” said Luke Shaefer, program co-founder and director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan. “When peopl...
On a political spectrum that is becoming increasingly more divided, American Enterprise Institute president Robert Doar is optimistic that his center-right think tank is forging a path through the fray. “I think we're dividing into three countries: e...
Social welfare policy scholar Natasha Pilkauskas will join Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan as associate faculty director of faculty engagement, effective Oct. 1.
Two new studies reveal that Rx Kids—America’s first community-wide prenatal and infant cash program—is transforming health and economic outcomes for families. The findings, published in the American Journal of Public Health and released by SSRN, offe...
U.S. inflation-adjusted household income increased but poverty rates showed only modest changes last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported , offering a mixed snapshot of how American households fared as the economy returned to pre-coronavirus pandemi...
Dean Watkins-Hayes, at the Congressional Breakfast in DC, with Michigan in Washington undergraduates Ajay Morelli, Malinda Brunk, Rachel Ellisen, and Isaac Davis, and Riecker Fellow Hope Wang (MPP ’25).
The Detroit Free Press has recently highlighted Wayne County Executive Warren Evans' plans to combat child poverty through cash aid programs. Evans discussed his hope to bring Rx Kids, the anti-poverty program directed by the Ford School's Luke Shaef...
Luke Shaefer, Ford School professor and Director of Poverty Solutions talked with The Chronicle of Philanthropy about his work on Rx Kids as a guide for the NGO GiveDirectly. Working on Rx Kids he says was "a really humbling experience for me because...
Luke Shaefer, Ford School professor and directory of Poverty Solutions, talked about the community violence intervention program in Detroit called FORCE (Faithfully Organizing Resources for Community Empowerment) as well as others including ShotStopp...
Following huge success in its first year, the child healthcare support program Rx Kids is set to expand from Flint into Kalamazoo. Luke Shaefer, professor at the Ford School and the program's co-director stated, "We see families reporting that they c...
Rx Kids, the nation’s first-ever citywide cash prescription program for pregnant women and babies, today announced the program’s launch into communities in the Eastern Upper Peninsula (UP). The UP expansion of Rx Kids is made possible by an innovativ...
Rx Kids, co-directed by the Ford School's Luke Shaefer, celebrated it one-year anniversary at the end of January. The program has given access to $6M in cash support for over 1,300 Flint families with pregnant mothers and babies in their first years ...
Looking at programs from more than 140 countries, a University of Michigan-led study concludes that large-scale, government-funded child cash transfer programs improve child health outcomes.
Six years ago, Harold and Carol Kohn approached the Ford School with a vision. Their goal was to help build a vibrant research community dedicated to promoting social equity and inclusion. Today, the Kohn Collaborative for Social Policy is poised to ...
