About MDRC
Skemer’s research focuses on evaluations of criminal legal policies, systems, and reforms. She also studies new system approaches in child support enforcement. Currently, Skemer serves as a research and design lead for the Pretrial Justice Collaborative, a study of eight jurisdictions across the country aimed at building usable evidence on the most effective strategies for reducing pretrial detention, minimizing supervision conditions, and reducing racial and economic inequities while preserving court appearance rates. Additionally, Skemer directs the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration, a random assignment study testing the efficacy of incorporating procedural justice principles into child support practices to re-engage parents who have fallen behind in their child support payments, rather than relying on a court-led civil contempt process. PJAC also includes an equity study that will assess racial/ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic disparities at various decision points across the child support process, with an emphasis on use of punitive enforcement measures.
Skemer’s responsibilities include project direction and management; research design; impact analysis; interview and focus group facilitation; writing policy briefs, reports, and commentaries; presenting research findings; and developing new projects. Selected past projects include an evaluation of New York City’s Pretrial Supervised Release program, the Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration, the Evaluation of the PACE Center for Girls, and the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation. Skemer holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in sociology from the University of California-Irvine.
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MDRC Publications
ReportEffects of the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Demonstration
April, 2023The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) project integrated procedural justice (the idea of fairness in processes) into enforcement at six child support agencies. This report finds that the PJAC intervention did not meet its primary goals of improving payment compliance and regularity.
ReportJune, 2022The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) project integrated procedural justice (the idea of fairness in processes) into enforcement at six child support agencies. This report compares the service and enforcement experiences of parents randomly assigned to receive PJAC services with those of parents assigned to business as usual.
CommentaryMay, 2022Research suggests that pretrial policy reforms supporting arrested individuals’ release pending trial—unless evidence shows they will not return to court or they pose a threat to public safety—have positive results. This post discusses several policies that were established to prevent the overuse of pretrial detention.
CommentaryApril, 2022In this commentary originally published by The Crime Report, Melanie Skemer and Sarah Picard discuss how recent media coverage about the relationship between New York State’s bail reform and an uptick in crime has been misleading, particularly in using newly released data to conflate bail reform with a program called supervised release.
ReportLessons from an Implementation Study of the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Demonstration
March, 2022The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) project integrated procedural justice (the idea of fairness in processes) into enforcement at six child support agencies. This report presents the first systematic analysis of the implementation of the PJAC model.
BriefFebruary, 2021The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) project integrates procedural justice (the idea of fairness in processes) into enforcement at six child support agencies. This brief explains which parents these agencies refer to civil contempt for not paying child support, and describes the business-as-usual contempt proceedings.
ReportFindings from an Evaluation of New York City’s Supervised Release Program
September, 2020In 2016, New York City rolled out Supervised Release, which allowed judges to release defendants under supervision instead of setting bail. The findings in this report suggest that the program reduced the number of defendants detained in jail, while at the same time maintaining court appearance rates and public safety.
ReportSummary Report on the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation
December, 2018This report summarizes an evaluation of a program that helps young people with histories of foster care or juvenile justice custody become independent adults. The program improved earnings, housing stability and economic well-being, and some health and safety outcomes. It did not improve education, social support, or criminal involvement outcomes.
ReportFinal Impacts and Costs of New York City’s Young Adult Internship Program
August, 2018This report presents 30-month impacts from a random assignment evaluation of a program that subsidized employers to offer temporary paid jobs to young people who were disconnected from school and work in New York City. After 30 months, program enrollees and nonenrollees fared similarly, with the former slightly more likely to report employment.
BriefAn Alternative to Bail
April, 2017Defendants awaiting trial and unable to post bail are often detained in local jails unnecessarily, disrupting their lives and adding to costs for taxpayers. To address this situation, New York City has launched a program that gives judges the option to release some defendants to community-based supervision.
ReportImplementation and Early Impacts of the Young Adult Internship Program
April, 2017This report presents implementation and early impact results from a random assignment evaluation of the Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP), a subsidized employment program for young people in New York City who are disconnected from school and work. YAIP boosted earnings for participants, which suggests that they obtained better jobs.
ReportTwo-Year Impact Findings from the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation
November, 2016This study tested a program that offers individualized services to young people who are making the transition from foster care or juvenile justice custody to independent living. The program had modest, positive effects on earnings, housing stability, and economic well-being and improved some health and safety outcomes.
ReportThe Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration
November, 2016This demonstration is testing seven enhanced transitional jobs programs that offer temporary, subsidized jobs and comprehensive support to people recently released from prison and unemployed parents behind in child support payments.
ReportOne-Year Impact Findings from the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation
May, 2015This study evaluated a program, called YVLifeSet, that offers individualized services to young people who are making the transition from foster care or juvenile justice custody to independent adulthood. After one year, the program increased earnings, reduced homelessness and material hardship, and improved outcomes related to health and safety.
ReportImplementation Findings from the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation
March, 2014This highly structured program offers clinically focused case management, support, and counseling to youth who are leaving state custody or are otherwise unprepared for independent adult living. It emphasizes treatment planning, ongoing client assessment, and evidence-informed practices. Early findings indicate that it has been implemented well and participation is high.
ReportLessons from an In-Depth Data Analysis
December, 2013Both Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) may serve low-income individuals with disabilities. This brief uses MDRC’s analysis of merged national-level TANF and SSI data — two rich data sources that have never before been linked — to better understand the extent of the two programs’ overlap.
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Other Publications
Courtney, Mark E., Erin J. Valentine, and Melanie Skemer. 2019. “Experimental Evaluation of Transitional Living Services for System-Involved Youth: Implications for Policy and Practice.” Children and Youth Services Review 96: 396-408.
Baer, Justin, and Melanie Skemer. 2009. Review of State Motorcycle Safety Program Technical Assessments. DOT HS 811–082. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
Baldi, Stéphane, Ying Jin, Melanie Skemer, Patricia J. Green, and Deborah Herget. 2007. Highlights From PISA 2006: Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science and Mathematics Literacy in an International Context. NCES 2008–016. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
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Projects
In recent years, policymakers and other leaders have established new systems intended to divert people experiencing mental health crises away from the criminal legal system before an arrest occurs. While there is some research supporting the effectiveness of police-mental health collaboration models, the evidence is mixed and very little is known about long-term...
Bret Barden, Melanie Skemer, Chloe Anderson Golub, Brit Henderson, Lily Freedman, Emily Brennan, Sarah Picard, Rae Walker
Jurisdictions across the United States are taking steps to reduce the number of people who are detained in jail unnecessarily while awaiting trial. These reforms include the use of risk-assessment tools to inform release decisions and...
Sarah Picard, Melanie Skemer, Bret Barden, Chloe Anderson Golub, Brit Henderson, Lily Freedman, Rae Walker, Michelle S. Manno, Raul Armenta, Emily Brennan, Kyla WassermanMDRC’s Center for Criminal Justice Research is dedicated to developing, evaluating, and disseminating actionable models for justice reform that improve efficacy, mitigate harm, and center those directly impacted by the criminal legal system.
We are committed to advancing evidence-based, equitable, and accessible solutions, sharing...
Melanie Skemer, Dan Bloom, Dina A. R. Israel, Louisa Treskon, Douglas Phillips, Rebecca Behrmann, Caroline Mage, Jennifer (Jenny) Hausler, Yana Kusayeva, Cassandra T-Pederson, Jayce Helpley
The Office of Child Support Enforcement launched the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration to test the efficacy of incorporating procedural justice principles into child support practices...MDRC launched a study of New York City’s Supervised Release (SR) program shortly after its citywide rollout in 2016, assessing its effectiveness as it existed before New York State’s bail reform legislation went into effect in 2020. SR offered judges across the five boroughs of New York City...
Megan Millenky, Jean Grossman, Louisa Treskon, Melanie Skemer, Sally Dai, Lily Freedman, Caroline MageYoung girls and women make up an increasing share of the youth in the juvenile justice system, despite a national decline in the overall rate of juvenile incarceration in this country. In 2011, girls made up nearly 30 percent of all juvenile arrests, up from 20 percent in 1980. However, girls account for a very small share of the juvenile arrests for violent crimes and...
While welfare agencies and the federal disability system have common goals of supporting people with disabilities and helping them become more independent, the two systems often have diverging interests as well. Differing missions, programmatic and financial challenges, definitions of disability, and rules and incentives related to work make it challenging for the...
Some adults have great difficulty finding and holding jobs even when overall economic conditions are good. These individuals typically have low levels of formal education and skills and other characteristics, such as criminal records, that place them at the back of the queue for job openings. Many programs have been developed to assist these job seekers, but few have...
Most of the children who are placed in out-of-home care through the child welfare system exit to a “permanent” placement with a family member, or they are adopted or placed with a legal guardian. However, more than 20,000 young people each year “age out” of care, usually when they reach age 18. Most of these young people entered foster care in their teens after having...
Dan Bloom, Richard Hendra, Melanie Skemer, David Navarro, Sally Dai, Bret Barden, Kyla Wasserman, Jillian Verrillo, Chloe Anderson GolubOver the past 80 years, a variety of subsidized employment strategies have been used for two main purposes: (1) to provide work-based income support for people who are not able to find regular, unsubsidized jobs; and (2) to improve the employability of disadvantaged groups. Programs with the first goal have typically emerged during periods of sustained high...