California

Report

Five-Year Findings from the Family Self-Sufficiency Evaluation

May, 2023
Stephen Freedman, Nandita Verma, Betsy L. Tessler, Barbara Fink

The federal Family Self-Sufficiency program is a voluntary case-management and asset-building intervention that provides incentives to work for Housing Choice Voucher recipients. This report examines program implementation, participants’ engagement in the services, and impacts on labor force participation and government benefits receipt five years following random assignment.

Report
May, 2023

The Jobs Plus demonstration aimed to increase economic empowerment and mobility for public housing residents through on-site employment services, rent-based work incentives, and supportive work activities. Sites that fully implemented the model saw long-term positive employment and earnings effects, but negative effects were observed in sites that did not. 

Report
May, 2023

In 2014, HUD scaled up Jobs Plus, a rigorously tested and promising model offering rent incentives and on-site work supports to public housing residents. The first three cohorts show no evidence of higher employment or earnings during the early years, potentially due to lower participation levels and implementation challenges.

Brief

How Agencies in the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Demonstration Continued Their Work After Research Ended

April, 2023

The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt project integrated procedural justice (the idea of fairness in processes) into enforcement at six child support agencies. After the study ended, the agencies could determine how they wished to continue to use procedural justice principles. This brief describes how they did so.

Report

Effects of the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Demonstration

April, 2023

The 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.

Toolkit

Putting Evidence to Work for Student Support

March, 2023

The Tools for Postsecondary Schools interactive toolkit is designed to help staff members and administrators at two- and four-year colleges use evidence-based practices to support students. It draws on over 20 years of MDRC research and technical assistance and can help practitioners at any stage in the program-development process.

Brief

Findings from the Pretrial Justice Collaborative

January, 2023
Erin Jacobs Valentine, Sarah Picard

In place of bail, many jurisdictions are instead releasing people awaiting trial with varying levels of supervision in an effort to ensure that they appear in court and avoid new arrests. This brief compares the relative effectiveness of different intensities of pretrial supervision.

Brief

Exploring the Experiences of Students Ages 25 and Older

December, 2022
Marjorie Dorimé-Williams, Vivianna Plancarte

The SUCCESS project aims to improve college completion rates for traditionally underserved students at community and broad-access colleges. This brief highlights the experiences of students 25 years or older in four SUCCESS colleges. The findings suggest how programmatic and institutional structures may promote or hamper student success for this population.

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