Issued March 25, 2022

Revised March 29, 2022 to specify US-based organizations only under eligibility.

Revised March 31, 2022 to clarify post-degree eligibility period.

Questions regarding this RFP should be submitted to [email protected] no later than April 8, 2022; each question/answer will be posted on this page as received.

The Urban Institute (Urban), in partnership with UC Berkeley Opportunity Lab, and funder Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) are developing a new research consortium with an aim to launch later in 2022. Under the pilot phase of the consortium,  Urban seeks to award up to 3 (three) $30,000 research grants to support early-career researchers in conducting timely research on expansions of the safety net in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that support family economic security and mobility that answers questions of relevance to the current policy debate. Policies of interest include the temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit and the multiple rounds of Economic Impact Payments and questions include but are not limited to:

• Child and family wellbeing: How did these policies affect children in families? How are families in diverse circumstances using the credit? How did the expanded credit affect the following:
  • Educational, health, and justice system involvement outcomes for children and youth
  • Parents’ decisions about living arrangements, caregiving, educational options, and school and community involvement
  • Families’ ability to meet basic needs and avoid crises such as eviction, job loss, and unmet medical needs
  • Measures of economic wellbeing such as debt, debt in collections, and savings
  • Incidence of child neglect and involvement in the child welfare system
  • Parent and child mental health
• Employment: How did these policies affect employment outcomes and the labor market, nationally and in diverse geographies? Does the provision of these pandemic assistance programs make it more likely that parents will leave or enter the workforce? Are there impacts on job quality? Do the expanded credit and other policies reduce obstacles to employment including lack of childcare, transportation, and unmet health needs? How does the credit affect employment and other outcomes for parents with mental health, substance abuse and/or co-occurring issues?
• Tax credit access and policy challenges: How successful were these policies in reaching all eligible families? Did the tax credit reach the most vulnerable families, non-filers, and how does tax credit access vary across race, ethnicity, and place in the U.S.? What outreach efforts had the most success in encouraging eligible families to apply for the credit, and where? Do advance CTC payments increase the incidence of erroneous payments? What policy design changes can address risks of overpayment, burdens on families, and better account for income volatility and complex family structures that do not align with current tax filing requirements? How can program administration be improved to ensure that the lowest income families have access to the full benefit when it is most useful?
• Places: How do these policies affect measures of community wellbeing? Does the enhanced credit improve the capacity of governmental and philanthropic place-based initiatives to promote inclusive economic development and other goals?

In approaching all of the above topics, research questions could seek to address: how do these outcomes differ by race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, immigration status, age, and whether families live in urban, rural, or suburban areas? How could complementary and alternative policies improve measures of family economic security and mobility?

Potential grantees interested in submitting a research proposal in response to this Request for Proposals (RFP) must prepare applications in accordance with the instructions contained herein. This RFP establishes minimum requirements an applicant must meet to be eligible for consideration, as well as information to be included in the proposal. This RFP does not obligate Urban to award an agreement, nor does it commit Urban to pay any costs incurred in preparing and submitting a proposal.

Eligibility

Grant awards will be made to university-based research institutes, schools, or centers, research organizations, and think tanks in the United States. Eligible primary investigators are early-career researchers who have received their degree within the past 8 years. Extensions against the 8-year post-degree period for parental leave or other major life events will be granted upon request. 

Awarded proposals will include up to $30,000 in funding and include participation in a mentorship program. Recipients will be paired with mutually agreeable mentors affiliated with the UC Berkeley Opportunity Lab and Urban Institute, depending on the research topic suggested, and will be encouraged to publish funded research with the support of mentors. Sponsored research under this opportunity will be promoted and disseminated by Urban as part of the pilot project.

We strongly encourage applications that include researchers from backgrounds that have been historically marginalized or underrepresented in research disciplines along dimensions of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, disability, and citizenship.

How to Apply

To be considered for an award, applicants should submit a proposal which includes the following materials to the Urban Institute by 12pm ET on April 11, 2022:

• Research question and approach (one page max) that clearly describes which of the above research topics the applicant would be addressing and a proposed research approach to address that topic, including data sources and methods, consistent with the project timeline. Applicants should include only one of the topic areas listed above but may choose among the questions associated with each. Institutions may submit more than one proposal, and individual researchers can be part of more than one proposal, but each individual proposal should address only one of the specified topics.
• Description of research team (two pages max) that lists the principal investigator and any other researchers who will be members of the core research team, and for each member highlight relevant qualifications and how professional experiences (including research and direct service work with communities of color and on poverty) and lived experiences (of poverty or socio-economic mobility) inform the proposed research design.
• Statement regarding mentorship goals (one paragraph) that describes specific areas in which the applicant would benefit from mentorship.
• Draft timeline that illustrates how research will be completed, including the delivery of an initial outline by June 6, 2022 and presentation of preliminary findings to the mentorship cohort by July 29, 2022.  
• CV or resume for principal investigator and any other members of the core research team.
• A simplified budget, which shows total personnel costs, subcontracts/consultants, other direct costs and indirect costs. Note that this project has the following indirect costs limits:  8% of the total direct costs for universities, and 12% for other applicants.

All materials should be sent as attachments in Word or pdf to Nikhita Airi ([email protected]). Finalists will be asked to submit additional budget information as necessary including a detailed budget narrative before final decisions are made.  Initial selection for the project will be announced by late April, with a formal grant agreement to follow as outlined below.

Urban intends to issue three (3) cost-reimbursement subgrants for up to $30,000 each for an anticipated total time period of performance of May 23, 2022–August 30, 2022. All work created and developed under each grant agreement will be owned by the participating organization,  however, all must agree to provide Urban and DDCF a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide royalty-free license to reproduce, publish, republish, summarize, excerpt or otherwise use, and license others to use the work. Each grantee will be expected to submit financial reports for costs incurred, and other conditions from the DDCF prime grant may also be included in the grant agreement.

About the Family Stability and Economic Mobility Research Consortium

The Family Stability and Economic Mobility Research Consortium is a pilot project hosted by the Urban Institute and UC Berkeley Opportunity Lab and supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

The Family Stability and Economic Mobility Research Consortium, once launched, aims to foster actionable research that answers questions of pressing interest to federal policymakers in both parties and other stakeholders engaged in debates on cash assistance and other policies that can promote family economic stability and mobility. In its pilot phase, the project is developing and implementing a research agenda informed by cross-sector convenings that include policymakers, advocates, funders, researchers, and community leaders with lived experience of poverty and economic insecurity.

Affiliated researchers will provide authoritative and timely analyses that can inform near-term debates and decisions while conducting longer-term studies that build a durable, policy-relevant evidence base, evaluate the effectiveness of the expanded Child Tax Credit and other policies in advancing racial equity and remedying structural barriers to stability and mobility.

By fostering collaboration among established and emerging scholars among disciplines, backgrounds, and perspectives, the consortium aims to support the development of the next generation of policy researchers focused on child well-being and family stability.