America’s social safety net is supposed to help families through difficult times, ultimately moving people toward work and independence. But navigating a maze of disconnected programs and agencies can make that goal harder to achieve. The good news is that there is a solution.

On this episode of Defending Ideas, host Nic Dunn talks with Daniel J. Erspamer, CEO of the Pelican Institute, about Louisiana’s effort to create a “One Door to Work” model. This initiative brings safety net and workforce programs together around a common goal: helping people get jobs and achieve financial independence.

They discuss what Louisiana has accomplished, what the state learned from Utah, the federal barriers that remain, and why giving states more flexibility could lead to better welfare reform across the country.

The conversation also explores why state-led experimentation has played such an important role in past welfare reforms and why a new generation of states could help reshape America’s safety net around upward mobility.