By David Bornstein

It was 50 years ago that President Lyndon B. Johnson started the “war on poverty,” railing against the “lack of jobs, bad housing [and] poor schools” that perpetuated an array of social crises, struggle and suffering amid a sea of plenty. Given the state of poverty today, it’s tempting to believe that the effort was a failure, and that perhaps we may never prevail against these ills. But in many ways, we have become far more thoughtful and systematic in our efforts to address social problems. It’s often hard to see these improvements. I spent time over the holidays checking up on organizations we’ve covered in Fixes over the past three years (far more relaxing than watching episodes of “Homeland”). I was struck by the steady progress most of them had made. And a few patterns jumped out. Here are three ways we may be getting smarter:

1. Getting real about what works and what does not

2. Paying for success (and prevention)

3. Getting change into the water supply

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