MDRC was created in 1974 by the Ford Foundation and a group of federal agencies. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization dedicated to learning what works to improve programs and policies that affect the poor. MDRC works as an intermediary, bringing together public and private funders to test new policy-relevant ideas with the goal of improving the lives of low-income individuals, families and children. Dan Bloom, director of health and barriers to employment policy area for MDRC, serves as the chair of the FRPN economic security workgroup.