Families

Focused on improving the circumstances of families with low incomes, MDRC develops and studies program that serve parents and children in a range of family configurations.

Issue Focus Population

Single-Parent Families Two-Parent Families Fathers Children 0-5 Parents Who Are Ordered to Pay Child Support

Highlights

Report

Learning from the Work Rewards Demonstration

Final Results from the Family Self-Sufficiency Study in New York City

FSS provides case management services and a long-term escrow-savings account to housing-assisted families; an enhanced version also offered short-term cash work incentives. Six-year results of the random assignment evaluation show few significant effects overall for either program. However, the enhanced program increased employment and earnings for participants not working at enrollment.

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Report

Nudging Change in Human Services

Final Report of the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) Project

The BIAS project tested behavioral interventions in child support, child care, and work support programs with nearly 100,000 low-income clients in eight human services agencies. Each site saw at least one significant, low-cost impact. The findings suggest that small environmental changes can enhance client-agency interactions and expanded behavioral strategies might help strengthen programs and policies.

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Brief

A Summary of Results from the MIHOPE and MIHOPE-Strong Start Studies of Evidence-Based Home Visiting

Home visiting provides information, resources, and support to expectant low-income parents and low-income families with young children. This brief summarizes reports from two national studies of early childhood home visiting.

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The Testing Identified Elements for Success in Fatherhood Programs (Fatherhood TIES) Focus Area: Two-Generation Programs Family Relationships Population: Families	MDRC’s Technical Assistance for Fatherhood Programs Focus Area: Child Support Two-Generation Programs Population: Families	Research-Practice Partnership with Acelero Learning, Inc. Focus Area: Preschool Child Care and Early Education Population: Families
Building and Sustaining the Early Care and Education Workforce (BASE) Focus Area: Preschool Child Care and Early Education Job Retention and Advancement Population: Children and Schools Populations with Low Incomes Families	Variations in Implementation of Quality Interventions (VIQI): Examining the Quality-Child Outcomes Relationship in Child Care and Early Education Focus Area: Preschool Child Care and Early Education Population: Children and Schools Families	Strengthening the Implementation of Responsible Fatherhood Programs (SIRF) Focus Area: Family Relationships Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Intervention: Relationship Education, Parenting Skills Programs, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Behavioral Interventions
Head Start Connects Focus Area: Preschool Child Care and Early Education Two-Generation Programs Work Support and Asset Building Population: Children and Schools Families Populations with Barriers to Employment Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Case Management	Get Ready Guilford Initiative Focus Area: Child Care and Early Education Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Children and Schools Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: School Readiness, Case Management, Coordinated Care/Care Management, Home Visiting Locations: North Carolina	Child First Focus Area: Health Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Home Visiting Locations: Connecticut, North Carolina
MDRC Center for Data Insights: Improving Programs and Systems with Actionable Data Science Population: Populations with Barriers to Employment Populations with Low Incomes Children and Schools Young Adults Families	Understanding Poverty: Childhood and Family Experiences Focus Area: Family Relationships Two-Generation Programs Welfare Reform Population: Populations with Low Incomes Families	Family Rewards 2.0 Focus Area: Financial Incentives Two-Generation Programs High School Elementary and Middle School Population: Populations with Low Incomes Children and Schools Families Intervention: Financial Incentives Locations: New York, Tennessee
The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation, Long-Term Follow-Up Focus Area: Health Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Home Visiting	Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Focus Area: Family Relationships Child Support Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Locations: Arizona, California, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia	Families Forward Demonstration Focus Area: Work Support and Asset Building Child Support Population: Populations with Low Incomes Families Intervention: Sectoral Training, Career & Technical Education, Counseling/Advising, Financial Incentives, Job Training, Employment Services Locations: Colorado, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington
Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency-Next Generation Focus Area: Child Care and Early Education Two-Generation Programs Welfare Reform Population: Populations with Barriers to Employment Families Populations with Low Incomes Children and Schools Intervention: Behavioral Interventions	The Kansas Child Support Savings Initiative Focus Area: Child Support Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Intervention: Asset Building, Behavioral Interventions Locations: Kansas	Behavioral Interventions for Child Support Services (BICS) Project Focus Area: Child Support Two-Generation Programs Family Relationships Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Behavioral Interventions Locations: California, Colorado, Dist. of Columbia, Georgia, Ohio, Texas, Vermont, Washington
MDRC Center for Applied Behavioral Science (CABS) Focus Area: Child Support Child Care and Early Education Two-Generation Programs Welfare Reform Work Support and Asset Building Population: Populations with Barriers to Employment Families Populations with Low Incomes Children and Schools	Building Bridges and Bonds (B3) Evaluation Focus Area: Two-Generation Programs Family Relationships Population: Families Intervention: Relationship Education, Parenting Skills Programs	NYC Change Capital Fund’s Economic Mobility Initiative Focus Area: Housing/Community Initiatives Population: Populations with Low Incomes Populations with Barriers to Employment Families Locations: New York
Making Pre-K Count Focus Area: Preschool Child Care and Early Education Population: Children and Schools Families Intervention: School Readiness, Professional Development/ Teacher Training, Classroom Services Locations: New York	The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE)-Strong Start Focus Area: Health Family Relationships Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Home Visiting Locations: California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin	Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE) Focus Area: Health Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Home Visiting
Opportunity NYC Demonstrations Focus Area: Financial Incentives Two-Generation Programs High School Elementary and Middle School Population: Populations with Low Incomes Children and Schools Families Intervention: Financial Incentives Locations: New York	Head Start CARES Project Focus Area: Preschool Child Care and Early Education Two-Generation Programs Population: Children and Schools Families Intervention: School Readiness, Professional Development/ Teacher Training, Classroom Services, Curricular/Instructional Reforms Locations: California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas	Design Options for Home Visiting Evaluation Focus Area: Health Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Home Visiting
Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency Project Focus Area: Child Support Child Care and Early Education Two-Generation Programs Welfare Reform Population: Populations with Barriers to Employment Families Populations with Low Incomes Children and Schools Intervention: Behavioral Interventions	Supporting Healthy Marriage Focus Area: Family Relationships Two-Generation Programs Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Relationship Education, Parenting Skills Programs, Counseling/Advising Locations: Florida, Kansas, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington

Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) Training and Technical Assistance Focus Area: Family Relationships Two-Generation Programs Population: Families	Nudges to Increase Customer Engagement (NICE) in Child Support Programs Focus Area: Child Support Two-Generation Programs Family Relationships Population: Families Populations with Low Incomes Intervention: Behavioral Interventions Locations: New York	Childhood Asthma Scan Focus Area: Health Population: Children and Schools Families Populations with Low Incomes
Evaluation of Child Care Subsidy Strategies Focus Area: Child Care and Early Education Population: Populations with Low Incomes Families Locations: Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington	Parents' Fair Share Focus Area: Family Relationships Child Support Population: Families Populations with Barriers to Employment Intervention: Parenting Skills Programs, Counseling/Advising, Job Training, Employment Services Locations: California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee	Building Strong Families Focus Area: Family Relationships Population: Families Intervention: Counseling/Advising, Relationship Education, Parenting Skills Programs Locations: Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas
The UK Employment Retention and Advancement Project Focus Area: Job Retention and Advancement Financial Incentives Population: Populations with Low Incomes Families Intervention: Employment Services, Financial Incentives, Job Training, Reemployment Programs, Welfare-to-Work Locations: United Kingdom

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Families

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