Texas

The Family Self-Sufficiency Program Evaluation

Nandita Verma, James A. Riccio, Donna Wharton-Fields, Betsy L. Tessler, Stephanie Rubino, David Navarro, Michelle Ware, Joshua Vermette

The Family Self-Sufficiency ( FSS ) program is the main federal program for increasing employment and earnings and reducing reliance on government subsidies among recipients of housing subsidies. Created in 1990, FSS is administered by state and local public housing agencies with funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ( HUD ). In 2014, HUD...

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Report

Final Implementation Findings from the Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation

August, 2012
Jennifer Miller Gaubert, Daniel Gubits, Desiree Principe Alderson, Virginia Knox

Eight programs, in various settings, successfully implemented a voluntary package of relationship skills services for low-income married couples with children, engaging a diverse group of couples who participated for eight months on average. A companion report finds that the programs produced a pattern of small, positive effects on couples’ relationships after 12 months.

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Strategies to Help Low-Wage Workers Advance

Implementation and Final Impacts of the Work Advancement and Support Center (WASC) Demonstration

September, 2012
Cynthia Miller, Mark van Dok, Betsy L. Tessler, Alexandra Pennington

WASC sought to increase the incomes of low-wage workers by stabilizing employment, improving skills, increasing earnings, and easing access to work supports. The program increased workers’ receipt of work supports. In the two sites that eased access to funds for training, WASC increased the receipt of certificates and licenses and increased earnings in the third year.

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Increasing Employment Stability and Earnings for Low-Wage Workers

Lessons from the Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) Project

April, 2012
Gayle Hamilton, Susan Scrivener

Many recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other low-income individuals find or keep jobs for a while, but far fewer remain steadily employed and advance in the labor market. This report describes results and draws lessons from rigorous evaluations of 12 programs seeking to improve employment retention and advancement among low-wage workers.

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Preparing High School Students for College

An Exploratory Study of College Readiness Partnership Programs in Texas

May, 2012
Elisabeth A. Barnett, William Corrin, Aki Nakanishi, Rachel Hare Bork, Claire Mitchell, Susan Sepanik

College readiness partnership programs bring together colleges and K-12 institutions to reduce the number of students who need remedial courses when they get to college. This report examines 37 partnerships in Texas to identify key characteristics of the programs, as well as benefits and challenges associated with their implementation and sustainability.

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Issue Focus

Sustaining Change in High School Reform

January, 2007

MDRC’s research on Career Academies, First Things First, Project GRAD, and Talent Development suggests that the twin pillars of high school reform are structural changes to improve personalization and instructional improvement.

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