J-PAL North America, a research center in the MIT Department of Economics, has announced the latest round of its State and Local Innovation Initiative’s Innovation Competition, which supports state and local governments in using rigorous evaluation to answer critical questions about what works in reducing poverty. For the past year, state and local governments across the United States have faced tremendous challenges, including a pandemic that has resulted in incalculable losses for millions of Americans, unprecedented natural disasters brought on by climate change, and ongoing displays of police violence and systemic…