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

Why Focus on the “Hard-to-Employ”? For at least three decades, policymakers, researchers, and program operators have developed and studied strategies to help people who face serious obstacles to steady work. Despite the broad policy interest in serving the hard-to-employ, knowledge about effective program strategies is still relatively undeveloped. The Lasting Impact of the Minnesota Family Investment Program MDRC Experts Featured at Federal Welfare Research Conference, May 28-30 MDRC Receives Gates Foundation Grant for Antipoverty Projects Maclean’s Magazine Focuses on Opportunity NYC

Transitional Jobs for Ex-Prisoners Early Impacts from a Random Assignment Evaluation of the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) Prisoner Reentry Program After one year, CEO’s transitional jobs program generated a large but short-lived increase in employment for ex-prisoners. A subgroup of recently released prisoners showed positive effects on recidivism: They were less likely to have their parole revoked, to be convicted of a felony, and to be reincarcerated than the control group. The Employment Retention and Advancement Project Results from Two Education and Training Models for Employed Welfare Recipients in Riverside, California Four Strategies to Overcome Barriers to Employment An Introduction to the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project Experimentation and Social Welfare Policymaking in the United States