The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) is holding its 26th Annual Research Conference, “Creating and Using Evidence in Public Policy Analysis and Management,” in Atlanta, Georgia, October 28-30, 2004. A number of MDRC researchers are presenting papers and moderating panels (all participants listed below are from MDRC, unless otherwise noted):

Panel: Employment Retention and Advancement: New Findings from Experiments

• The Achieve Program: A Unique Model for Promoting Retention at the Workplace by Gayle Hamilton and Vanessa Martin
• What Works in Promoting Stable Employment and Wage Progression by Dan Bloom, Richard Hendra, and Barbara Goldman

Panel: Making Work Pay for Low-Wage Workers

• The Effects on Employment and Income of Financial Work Incentives for Low-Income Adults: Recent Results from Several Random Assignment Studies by Charles Michalopoulos

Panel: The Effects of a Work Initiative in Public Housing: Final Results from the National Jobs-Plus Demonstration

• From Concept to Reality: Operating a Saturation Employment Initiative in Public Housing by James Riccio
• The Impacts of Jobs-Plus on Public Housing Residents’ Employment, Earnings, and Welfare Receipt by Howard Bloom
• Employment, Personal Well-Being, and Community Change by Nandita Verma

Panel: What’s Housing Assistance Got to Do With It? Effects on Work, Welfare, and Children's Well-Being

• The Effects of Welfare-to-Work Programs on Economic Self-Sufficiency Outcomes of Assisted and Unassisted Households: Evidence from Two Random Assignment Experiments by James Riccio and Nandita Verma

Panel: Welfare Implementation and Variation in Outcomes

• Welfare Reform in Miami-Dade and Los Angeles Counties by Thomas Brock, David Seith, Alex Stepick (Florida International University), Isaac Kwakye (Social Research and Demonstration Corporation), Judy C. Polyne, Denise Polit (Humanalysis, Inc.), Laura Nelson (California State University Hayward)

Panel: Strategies to Encourage Work Among Current and Would-Be TANF Recipients, Barbara Goldman, Chair

Panel: The Characteristics and Behavior of Current TANF Caseloads

• A Profile of Families Cycling On and Off Welfare by Stephen Freedman and Lashawn Richburg-Hayes

Panel: What Do We Know About TANF Time Limits?

• Working Against the Clock: The Implementation of Welfare Time Limits in California by Hans Bos (Berkeley Policy Associates), Sarah Crow (Berkeley Policy Associates), Jaquelyn Anderson, Deana Tanguay (Berkeley Policy Associates), Yasuyo Abe (Berkeley Policy Associates)

Panel: Maternal Depression: The Missing Links Between Poverty, Welfare Reform, Low-Wage Work, and Children’s Development

• Maternal Depression and Children’s Development in the Context of Welfare Reform Policies: Leveraging Experimental Data by Pamela Morris

Panel: Building Evidence to Improve Community College Education: Opportunities and Challenges, Lashawn Richburg-Hayes, Chair

• Building Pathways to Higher Education and Economic Opportunity: The Opening Doors Demonstration by Thomas Brock and Susan Scrivener

Panel: Wedding Day Blues: Examining Marriage Disincentives in Assistance Programs for Low-Income Couples

• Policy Changes to Reduce Marriage Penalties by Barbara Goldman, Robert G. Wood (Mathematica), and Sheena McConnell (Mathematica)

Panel: Challenges in Evaluating Programs to Support Healthy Marriages

• Research Designs for Evaluating Marriage Programs by Virginia Knox, Charles Michalopoulos, David Fein (Abt Associates), and Larry Orr (Abt Associates)

Panel: Fathers’ Multiple Roles: Implications for Families and Children

• The Long-Term Effects of the Minnesota Family Investment Program on Families and Children by Lisa Gennetian

Panel: Child Support and Family Impacts

• Study of Child Support and TANF Interaction by Cynthia Miller and Mary E. Farrell (The Lewin Group)

Panel: Determinants and Consequences of Child Care and Early Childhood Education Policies, Charles Michalopoulos, Discussant

Special Conference Workshop: Designing and Analyzing Group-Randomized Studies, Howard Bloom and Stephen W. Raudenbush (University of Michigan)

For more information about APPAM and the research conference in Atlanta, visit: www.appam.org.