Since its founding, MDRC’s work has focused on the critical challenges of identifying the most effective ways to improve labor market outcomes for individuals facing barriers to employment, and understanding how policies to promote work affect the well-being of vulnerable families.  more

A Safety Net Built Around Work — When There Is No Work In a commentary published in The Hill’s Congress Blog, MDRC President Gordon Berlin argues that we need to create a more flexible welfare program that continues to reward work when jobs are plentiful, provides support to poor families when jobs disappear, and begins to address the even more consequential problem of stagnant wages at the low end of the labor market. How Can We Help Ex-Prisoners Reenter the Labor Market? Charles Michalopoulos Named MDRC’s Chief Economist John Martinez Named Deputy Director of MDRC’s Health and Barriers to Employment Policy Area New Funders Support MDRC’s Pilot Program for Returning Veterans with Disabilities

More Than a Job Final Results from the Evaluation of the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) Transitional Jobs Program Ex-prisoners who had access to CEO’s transitional jobs program were less likely to be convicted of a crime and reincarcerated. The effects were particularly large for those ex-prisoners who enrolled in the program shortly after release. The recidivism reductions mean that the program is cost-effective — generating more in savings than it cost. Alternative Employment Strategies for Hard-to-Employ TANF Recipients Final Results from a Test of Transitional Jobs and Preemployment Services in Philadelphia Working toward Wellness Telephone Care Management for Medicaid Recipients with Depression, Thirty-Six Months After Random Assignment Subsidizing Employment Opportunities for Low-Income Families A Review of State Employment Programs Created Through the TANF Emergency Fund