The objective of this review is to provide a framework to understand and document the full range of impacts from Social Cash Transfer (SCT) programs. These programs are part of a new policy agenda for the poor promoting a move from universal to targeted programs and from publicly funded service delivery to direct income support to poor households. These programs are currently operating in a large number of countries, many of them in Latin America. This new policy agenda is also remarkable in terms of the importance it places on conducting credible evaluations of the programs to support informed decision-making with regards to scale-up or continuation. Empirical evidence on the impacts on current poverty and long-term welfare are widely discussed. The emerging consensus is that these programs have proved effective (see for instance a review by Fiszbein and Schady 2009). A number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are now launching similar interventions. The framework is meant to help provide a basis for analyzing a number of these programs. Specifically, this report is intended to inform the design and data collection for evaluations conducted under the larger research programme “From protection to production: the role of social cash transfers in fostering broad-based economic development”, and which include, among others: the Orphan and Vulnerable Children Social Transfer in Kenya, the Social Cash Transfer in Malawi, and the Food Subsidy Program (Programa de Subsídios de Alimentos) in Mozambique.