The impact of long term unemployment on the lives of unemployed Americans and their families is about as negative as anything economists study. It is clear that something terrible happens to individuals as they stay unemployed longer, but that this negative effect is not responsive to normal policy interventions. Accordingly, it is imperative that we think outside the box and explore policies that reconnect individuals to the workforce. As our knowledge of what works is so spotty, this is an area that is crying out for policy experiments that can be rigorously evaluated. A list of policy ideas that may be helpful in this space would include