Project Zero is a part of the Department of Human Services' continuing welfare reform initiative, To Strengthen Michigan Families (TSMF), which assists recipients making the transition from dependency to self-sufficiency.
Project Zero is an extension of TSMF, a 1992 waiver-based welfare reform program in Michigan built on the principles of personal responsibility, making work pay and involving communities.
Project Zero began in 1996 as a small research project in six areas of the state designed to identify certain personal and demographic information, recipient strengths and barriers to employment – real and perceived – of Family Independence Program (FIP, formerly AFDC) recipients. The project was expanded in 1997, 1998, 1999 and became statewide in 102 discrete sites on October 1, 2000.
Project Zero’s approach to welfare reform is to identify barriers to employment that are unique to recipients without earned income. State agencies and community organizations develop and implement programs and services aimed at decreasing
the number of recipients without earned income. The services provided through Project Zero are locally designed and driven.
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Project Zero is a part of the Department of Human Services' continuing welfare reform initiative, To Strengthen Michigan Families (TSMF), which assists recipients making the transition from dependency to self-sufficiency.
