Sweeping changes in welfare programs since 1996 have transformed the way America cares for its poor. Today, for every dollar spent on cash welfare payments, some twenty dollars are spent on service programs targeted at the working poor - job training, adult education, child care, emergency assistance, mental health care, and other social services. This important book examines our current system and the crucial role that geography plays in the system's ability to offer help.Drawing on unique survey data from almost 1,500 faith-based and secular service organizations in three cities, Scott Allard examines which agencies are most accessible to poor populations and looks at the profound impact of unstable funding on these agencies' assistance programs. Allard argues that the new system has become less equitable and reliable, and he concludes with practical policy recommendations that address some of the more pressing issues in improving the safety net.

Scott W. Allard is Mary Tefft and John Hazen White Sr. Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Brown University.

"Some imagine that our programs to help the poor are too generous. Scott Allard not only punctures this myth, but does so in a remarkably constructive way that should influence public policy for years to come. Because we don't pay enough attention to the geography of poverty, he argues, our programs may actually exacerbate existing inequalities. He makes a compelling case that we need to pay more attention to how local communities provide (or fail to provide) social services. And he offers highly practical ideas about the role of faith-based institutions that could take us beyond the dead-end ideological debate over how our religious institutions can help lift up the poor. Out of Reach makes an enormous contribution to a debate that needs to be shaken up."-E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Why Americans Hate Politics and Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right -- E. J. Dionne Jr.