In response to the economic crisis of 1997—1998, the Indonesian Government introduced a series of poverty alleviation programs that together constituted the so-called Social Safety Net (JPS). But although the negative effects of the crisis on social welfare began to decline as the economy slowly recovered and macroeconomic stability was restored, the poor and vulnerable still very much needed assistance in the post-crisis period. Most of the components of the JPS programs were retained in the social protection programs that were adopted in and after 2000, although some underwent modifications in design. The JPS program itself was gradually phased out and by 2003 had ceased to exist in its original form.