A Brief History

Created in 1974 by the Ford Foundation and a group of federal agencies, MDRC builds and applies evidence about changes in policy and practice that can improve the well-being of people who are economically disadvantaged. In service of this goal, we work alongside our programmatic partners and the people they serve to identify and design more effective and equitable approaches. We work with them to strengthen the impact of those approaches.

Two-Generation Programs

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MDRC develops and studies strategies that intervene with both parents and children — conditional cash transfers, home visiting, and Head Start, for instance — to improve outcomes for whole families.

Child Care and Early Education

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MDRC examines the effects of early care and education on children and tests programs to enhance the quality of preschool settings through innovative strategies to promote low-income children’s social and emotional development and behavioral and academic readiness for school.

Family Relationships

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Children benefit from healthy family relationships. MDRC designs and studies programs that seek to improve parenting skills and capabilities, build healthier couple relationships and marriages, and promote responsible fatherhood.

Populations with Low Incomes

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Low-Income Populations

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Since its founding, MDRC has focused on improving opportunities for economic mobility and people who are unemployed or underemployed.

Focus Population: 

People in Low-Wage Jobs
People Receiving Public Assistance
People in Public Housing
People Who Are Unemployed or Underemployed
People Involved in the Criminal Justice System

Populations with Barriers to Employment

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Populations with Barriers to Employment

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Many people who want and need to work face major barriers to doing so, from a physical or mental disabilities to limited educational attainment to prior experience or involvement with the criminal legal system or law enforcement. MDRC designs and evaluates programs that provide support to people who face such obstacles and aim to create greater stability in people’s lives.

Focus Population: 

People Who Have Been Incarcerated
Veterans
People with Substance Use Disorders
People with Disabilities

Young Adults

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Young Adults

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Young adulthood involves a series of high-stakes transitions in education, work, and family arrangements. MDRC develops and evaluates programs to ease these transitions for young people and to support those facing challenges and setbacks in finding a path to a stable adult life.

Focus Population: 

College Students
Young People Who Leave High School Before Graduation
Young People in Foster Care
Young People with Disabilities
Young People Who Have Been in the Justice System

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