About MDRC
Obara is a research associate in MDRC’s Youth Development, Criminal Justice, and Employment policy area. She is a data and impacts lead for evaluations in the Los Angeles County Reentry Integrated Services Project and in the Building Evidence on Employment Strategies for Low-Income Families Project. Obara holds a doctorate in public policy from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy at the University of Washington. Before her doctoral studies, she worked at MEF Associates.
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MDRC Publications
ReportUsing Behavioral Insights to Increase Incarcerated Parents’ Requests for Child Support Modifications
October, 2016A behavioral intervention provided incarcerated noncustodial parents in Washington with materials about their eligibility for a child support order modification and how to request one. It increased the number of parents requesting a modification by 32 percentage points and the number of parents receiving a modification by 16 percentage points.
ReportUsing Behavioral Economics to Engage TANF Recipients
March, 2016A low-cost, low-effort behavioral intervention in Los Angeles County modestly increased the percentage of TANF recipients who reengaged in the county’s welfare-to-work program within 30 days of their scheduled appointment. The test is part of the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency project, sponsored by the federal Administration for Children and Families.
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Other Publications
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Projects
Bret Barden, Ann Bickerton, Osvaldo Avila, Sharon Rowser, Viktoriya Syrov, Marie-Andrée Somers, Emmi ObaraEvery year, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services’ Office of Diversion and Reentry ( ODR ) provides reentry services for thousands of people involved in the justice system. These services cover a wide variety of needs, ranging from employment services and skills training for individuals on adult felony probation to connections to community organizations...
Megan Millenky, Dan Bloom, Susan Scrivener, Charles Michalopoulos, Dina A. R. Israel, Johanna Walter, Peter Baird, Lauren Cates, Sally Dai, Caroline Mage, Emily Marano, Viktoriya Syrov, Emmi ObaraMany Americans struggle in the labor market even when overall economic conditions are good. Unemployment is persistently high for some demographic groups and in certain geographic areas, and a large proportion of working-age adults — about one in five in 2017 — tend to be out of the labor force. In addition, in recent decades broad economic trends have...