Two weeks from today, American Welfare: Reclaiming the Dream for All of U.S. will be out in the world.
As the publication date approaches, I keep returning to a simple truth that runs through every chapter of this book: systems do not change on their own. People change them. And because people built our systems, we have the power and the responsibility to redesign them.
When I began writing, I thought I was documenting a policy story. What I ended up writing is also a story about culture: how our inherited ideas about poverty, deservingness, and “the American Dream” became embedded in public systems, shaping what help looks like, how it feels to seek support, and who gets treated as worthy of care.
But the book also tells a quieter, more hopeful story: across the country, leaders and communities are already redesigning human services as the infrastructure of well-being, building clearer pathways, more connected supports, and stronger front doors rooted in trust and belonging. They are replacing confusion with clarity, power held at a distance with power shared, and judgment with a more honest understanding of how real lives work.
At its core, American Welfare is an invitation to reclaim the word “welfare” in its original sense—how people are faring—and to treat well-being as a measure of democratic health. Not as a side issue. Not as charity. Not as a label. As the scaffolding that makes freedom and opportunity real.
Over the next two weeks, I’ll share a few short reflections on what surprised me while writing, what I learned from the leaders and communities featured in the book, and what I hope we can build next together.
If you’re interested in the future of human services, systems change, or what it takes to build communities where everyone can thrive, I’d love for you to check it out.
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Human services are the infrastructure of democracy.
