About MDRC
Manno works primarily as an implementation researcher for several of MDRC’s evaluations of policies and programs serving populations with barriers to employment, particularly “disconnected” young adults (those who are neither employed nor in school). She is responsible for developing and monitoring implementation research procedures and interview protocols, conducting site visits, and conducting analyses of implementation findings. Her current work includes evaluations of the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) Ohio Demonstration, which seeks to determine whether the City University of New York (CUNY) ASAP can be successfully replicated in Ohio, and Building Bridges and Bonds, a demonstration to test the effectiveness of strategies to support the parenting and coparenting skills and advance the employment of low-income fathers engaged in Responsible Fatherhood programs. She recently completed an implementation study of Project Rise, an educational and employment program for low-income, disconnected young people developed by New York City’s Center for Economic Opportunity. Manno has coauthored a number of reports and presented research results to policy analysts. She began her career as a researcher for the Urban Institute in Washington, DC. She holds a BA and an MS in sociology.
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MDRC Publications
BriefTwo-Year Findings from the ASAP Ohio Demonstration
December, 2018The highly successful Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), developed by the City University of New York, has been shown to nearly double graduation rates after three years. This brief presents results after two years from a replication of ASAP at three community colleges in Ohio.
Issue FocusThe Experience of a New Program for Young People Involved in the Juvenile Justice System
June, 2018STRIVE International engaged MDRC to help the organization improve a new program model aimed at increasing educational attainment and employment of young adults involved in the juvenile justice system. This Issue Focus describes the partnership and offers advice to organizations implementing new programs on how to build evidence of effectiveness.
Issue FocusJanuary, 2018Although decisions about whether to expand a program are generally made after it has been tested, the early stages of evidence-building can lay the groundwork for the scale-up process down the road. The Implementation Research Incubator outlines some of the relevant questions.
Issue FocusApril, 2017The integration of evidence-based treatment with usual-care practices can pose challenges for organizations that deliver many services. The Implementation Research Incubator reports on a study of the Children’s Institute, Inc., whose staff has worked to employ such treatment in its services for low-income children and families.
ReportApril, 2017Low-income fathers often face substantial barriers to maintaining stable employment and relationships with their children. This design report describes the B3 study, a rigorous evaluation of new program approaches to support low-income fathers in working toward economic stability and improved relationships with their children.
ReportAn Implementation Study of Children’s Institute, Inc.
August, 2016Children’s Institute, Inc., combines clinical mental health and other supportive services to meet the holistic needs of children affected by trauma. This report describes the implementation of the service model and includes an in-depth fidelity study of its Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy services.
ReportFindings from the Project Rise Implementation Evaluation
October, 2015Project Rise offers education, a paid internship, and case management to young adults who lack a high school credential and have been out of work and school for at least six months. Participants, who were attracted more by the educational instruction than by the internship, substantially engaged with the program.
ReportLessons from Two Decades of YouthBuild Programs
May, 2015Youth development is a cornerstone of the YouthBuild program, which provides job skills training, academic support, counseling, and leadership opportunities to low-income, out-of-school young adults. Participants attested to the transformation that can occur in an early 1990s study; a 2014 survey of program directors largely reaffirms this.
ReportFindings from the YouthBuild Evaluation Implementation Study
February, 2015YouthBuild is a federally and privately funded program providing construction and other training, educational services, counseling, and leadership development opportunities to low-income, out-of-school young adults ages 16 to 24. This first report from a Department of Labor-supported evaluation focuses on the implementation of YouthBuild in 75 sites across the nation.
ReportAugust, 2014This program aimed to improve health care quality and reduce Medicaid costs for high-needs Medicaid recipients in New York by helping them use appropriate care that would reduce hospital admissions and emergency department visits. The program did not appear to reduce Medicaid costs or care from hospitals and emergency departments.
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.
ReportManaging Health Care for Medicaid Recipients with Disabilities
May, 2013This program aimed to improve the quality of health care while reducing Medicaid costs by helping individuals use appropriate care that would reduce hospital admissions and emergency department visits. Like a similar pilot run by Colorado Access, which is described in a separate report, it had little effect on health care use.
ReportFinal Report on the Colorado Access Coordinated Care Pilot Program
April, 2013This pilot program aimed to improve the quality of health care while reducing Medicaid costs by helping individuals use appropriate care that would reduce hospital admissions and emergency department visits. The program had little effect on health care use, but the report suggests several ways to improve its design.
ReportDecember, 2012The Youth Transition Demonstration, led by Mathematica Policy Research, MDRC, and TransCen, Inc., is developing and evaluating strategies to help youth with disabilities transition from school to work. The Broadened Horizons program had positive impacts on paid employment and income but no effect on school enrollment or high school completion.
ReportDecember, 2012The Youth Transition Demonstration, led by Mathematica Policy Research, MDRC, and TransCen, Inc., is developing and evaluating strategies to help youth with disabilities transition from school to work. While participants in the Career Transition Program were more likely to have used employment-promoting services than youth in a control group, there were no impacts on work, income, or school completion.
ReportDecember, 2012The Youth Transition Demonstration, led by Mathematica Policy Research, MDRC, and TransCen, Inc., is developing and evaluating strategies to help youth with disabilities transition from school to work. A program in West Virginia produced positive impacts on paid employment, earnings, and income but no effects on school enrollment or high school completion or on cessation of disability benefits.
ReportApril, 2011The Youth Transition Demonstration, led by Mathematica Policy Research, MDRC, and TransCen, Inc., is developing and evaluating strategies to help youth with disabilities transition from school to work. Participants in the CUNY project were more likely to have been employed for pay than youth in the control group. However, the project had no impacts on income, expectations, or a composite measure of school enrollment or high school completion.
ReportApril, 2011The Youth Transition Demonstration, led by Mathematica Policy Research, MDRC, and TransCen, Inc., is developing and evaluating strategies to help youth with disabilities transition from school to work. The implementation of the Colorado project deviated from the YTD model, and, while participants were more likely to have used employment services than youth in the control group, the program had no impacts on employment, income, or other measures.
ReportFebruary, 2011The Youth Transition Demonstration, led by Mathematica Policy Research, MDRC, and TransCen, Inc., is developing and evaluating strategies to help youth with disabilities transition from school to work. While participants in the Erie County, NY, site were more likely to participate in self-sufficiency services, the program has had no impact on employment or school completion in its first year.
ReportOne-Year Findings from the Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration
October, 2010The Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration is testing a program that provides temporary subsidized jobs, support services, and job placement help to former prisoners in four midwestern cities. This report describes how the demonstration was implemented and assesses how the transitional jobs programs affected employment and recidivism during the first year after people entered the project.
ReportMarch, 2010The Youth Transition Demonstration, led by Mathematica Policy Research, MDRC, and TransCen, Inc., is developing and evaluating promising strategies to help youth with disabilities become as economically self-sufficient as possible as they transition from school to work. This report offers six overall implementation lessons to help policymakers and administrators develop, fund, and provide interventions for youth with disabilities.
ReportDecember, 2008The transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities, particularly youth receiving disability program benefits, can be especially challenging. The Youth Transition Demonstration, led by Mathematica Policy Research, MDRC, and TransCen, Inc., is developing and evaluating six promising strategies to help youth with disabilities become as economically self-sufficient as possible as they transition from school to work.
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Other Publications
Kim, Sue E., Charles Michalopoulos, Richard M. Kwong, Anne Warren, and Michelle S. Manno. 2013. “Telephone Care Management's Effectiveness in Coordinating Care for Medicaid Beneficiaries in Managed Care: A Randomized Controlled Study.” Health Services Research 48, 5: 1,730-1,749.
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Projects
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Inadequate social, emotional, and campus support
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Insufficient college preparation and academic achievement
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Men of color bring a variety of strengths and assets to their college experience. However, research to date indicates that three primary hurdles inhibit college completion for many male students of color:
The Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP) project is a three-year nationwide program that provides education and employment services to young people ages 14-25 who are homeless or “systems-involved” — that is, young people who are aging out of the foster care system or who are otherwise involved in the child welfare, criminal justice, or...
Young people with juvenile justice involvement face many challenges, which may include a lack of education and employment skills, antisocial attitudes and values, unstable housing, and much more. These challenges make it difficult for them to pursue educational pursuits or enter the workforce and become productive citizens. Too often, these challenges continue into...
Colleen Sommo, Michael J. Weiss, Michelle Ware, Melissa Boynton, Michelle S. Manno, Alyssa Ratledge, Camielle Headlam, Christine Johnston, Rebekah O'DonoghueWhile the U.S. has made strides in increasing college access among low-income students, college completion has remained low. Graduation rates are particularly stagnant among our nation’s community colleges, which enroll a large number of low-income and nontraditional college students. For example, only 20 percent of full-time, first-time...
Virginia Knox, Cindy Redcross, Dan Bloom, JoAnn Hsueh, Rekha Balu, Dina A. R. Israel, Erika Lundquist, Electra Small, Michelle S. Manno, Rebecca Behrmann, Samantha Wulfsohn, Ann Bickerton, Douglas Phillips, Patrizia Mancini, Emily Brennan, Charlotte O’HerronFathers play a unique role in their children’s lives and development, but some fathers face personal or societal barriers to positive involvement with their children — such as low levels of education, stigma from criminal records, declining wages for low-skilled men, or family instability. Responsible Fatherhood programs aim to improve the well-being of low-income...
Youth in the child welfare system tend to have been exposed to multiple traumatic events over time. Between one-half and three-fourths of these youth exhibit behavioral or social issues that are severe enough to warrant mental health treatment — a rate up to five times greater than mental health needs among their peers in the community who are not involved in the child...
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...
In April 2005, approximately 776,000 young people with disabilities between the ages of 14 and 25 were receiving federal Supplemental Security Income benefits. Individuals who began receiving these benefits before age 18 were expected to stay on the disability rolls for an average of 27 years. Programs that could help young people with disabilities make a successful...
The more than 600,000 people who are released from prison each year face a range of obstacles to successful reentry into the community. Perhaps not surprisingly, outcomes are often poor: Two-thirds of those who are released from prison are rearrested and half are reincarcerated within three years. States and localities throughout the nation are searching for...
Despite skyrocketing health care spending, many people in the United States do not receive the health care they need. In addition to the tens of millions of Americans who lack health insurance, those with insurance often get inadequate care because the fractured American health care system makes it difficult for individuals to make appropriate health care choices. Lack...
Colleen Sommo, Susan Scrivener, Michael J. Weiss, Michelle Ware, Michelle S. Manno, Alyssa Ratledge, Rebekah O'DonoghueNational attention is focused on increasing graduation rates at community colleges. Graduation rates are particularly low for students who come to campus underprepared for college-level work. Across the nation, between 60 and 70 percent of entering freshmen in community colleges enroll in developmental (or remedial) math, reading, or writing courses. Data show that...
Cynthia Miller, Dan Bloom, Dina A. R. Israel, Michelle S. Manno, John Martinez, Megan Millenky, Sharon Rowser, Louisa Treskon, Sally Dai, Danielle Cummings, Caroline MageMaking the successful transition to adulthood had become increasingly challenging for disadvantaged young people. Two changes in the labor market have contributed to this trend. First, the rise in demand for higher skilled workers, while increasing the payoff to college, has resulted in declining real wages for less-educated workers. On top of this, youth are finding...
Kate Gualtieri, Dan Bloom, Melissa Boynton, William Corrin, Fred Doolittle, John Martinez, Cindy Redcross, Louisa Treskon, Jean Grossman, Leigh Parise, Marie-Andrée Somers, Michelle S. Manno, Rebecca Unterman, Megan Millenky, Rashida Welbeck, Mary BambinoThe Social Innovation Fund (SIF), an initiative enacted under the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act, targets millions of dollars in public-private funds to expand effective solutions across three issue areas: economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth development and school support.
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...
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