About MDRC
Since joining MDRC in 2008, Bernardi has worked on site development, research operations, and implementation data collection and analysis. She currently manages site operations for Paycheck Plus, which simulates an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit for single workers without dependent children. Bernardi also plays a vital role as a primary site liaison for Improving Contraceptive Options Now (ICON), a demonstration project evaluating what works in the effort to expand contraceptive choices for low-income women. She is responsible for developing partnerships with providers, designing participant engagement strategies, and providing technical assistance. Previously, she contributed to the implementation evaluation of Project Rise, an internship program for “disconnected” young adults that required participants to attend high school equivalency classes. Bernardi holds a BA in community health and sociology from Brown University and a master’s degree in public administration, specializing in health policy analysis, from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
-
MDRC Publications
BriefYear 1 of Paycheck Plus
December, 2015The Paycheck Plus demonstration is testing the effects of a more generous Earned Income Tax Credit-like earnings supplement for low-income single adults in New York City. This brief describes the implementation of the program during the first year and supplement receipt rates during the 2015 tax season.
-
Other Publications
-
Projects
HomePath is a program that combines a Housing First approach with shared medical appointments for chronically homeless individuals with substance use disorder. The goals of HomePath are to increase housing stability, improve treatment outcomes, and reduce returns to shelter, emergency room, and justice systems for this population.
Housing First is a person-...
Sharon Rowser, Kate Gualtieri, Helen Lee, Lyndsay McDonough, Alexandra Bernardi, Anne Warren, Mary Bambino, Caroline MageCurrently, almost half of the 6.7 million pregnancies in the United States each year are unintended — a rate higher than that of many other industrialized countries. These unintended pregnancies are roughly evenly divided between women who did not use contraception at all and those who did, but ineffectively. Higher proportions of unintended pregnancies are found among...
Cynthia Miller, Dan Bloom, Gilda Azurdia, Caroline Schultz, Nikki Ortolani, Edith Yang, Alexandra BernardiThe New York City Center for Economic Opportunity has selected MDRC and its partners to implement and evaluate a pilot program to simulate an expanded EITC in New York City for low-income single workers without dependent children, with the goal of increasing employment and earnings and reducing poverty.
In the United States, over six million young people are “disconnected” — neither in school nor working. Over a million of these disconnected young adults are between the ages of 18 and 24 years but lack either a high school diploma or equivalency certificate. These young adults’ limited education and work experience severely reduce their prospects for becoming...