This MDRC policy brief identifies the positive earnings and employment outcomes of three programs designed to support upward mobility in youth: YouthBuild, Year Up, and New York City’s Young Adult Internship Program. In particular, a key finding from evaluating these programs is that a systems approach is needed to help young people navigate these programs and address their tailored needs.

Prepared by the Police Executive Research Forum, this report looks at the opioid epidemic from the perspective of police, sheriffs, and health agencies and how these agencies can step up their response to the crisis. City law enforcement officials detail specific actions that police chiefs and sheriffs across the country can take. The report looks at the role of the police in getting addicted people into treatment; identifies how to teach communities about addiction risks; and looks at a New York City data-driven collaborative model that brings together multiple agencies to look at specific opioid crisis issues and determine resolution for those issues with the ultimate goal of reducing drug overdoses.

In high-demand sectors, employers often have difficulty finding applicants with the right skills, and job seekers need training to qualify for those positions. WorkAdvance is a workforce development model that treats both employers and jobseekers as customers in these high demand sectors. This MDRC brief draws on an evaluation of four WorkAdvance programs to analyze whether they impact the long-term upward economic mobility of participants. The programs were Per Scholas and St. Nicks Alliance in New York, Madison Strategies Group in Oklahoma, and Towards Employment in Ohio. The researchers analyzed economic impacts through three years of follow-up, and they found that some sector programs had positive effects that lasted beyond two years. In some cases the economic impacts strengthened after two years, especially for long-term unemployed participants who were reentering the labor market.

While youth involved in Child Welfare or Runaway and Homeless Youth systems are at high risk of being trafficked, there has been no consensus screening tool available for providers to use to identify victims of human trafficking. This Urban Institute report describes the pretesting of a Human Trafficking Screening Tool (HTST) for 617 youth involved in the child welfare or runaway and homeless youth systems in New York, Texas, and Wisconsin. The HTST took about two minutes to administer, and the researchers found that it covered key dimensions of youth’s trafficking experiences, could be used in both child welfare and runaway and homeless youth settings, and correctly predicted trafficking victimization. The researchers conclude that the HTST is an effective, accessible tool for youth ages 12-24, but they recommend additional testing for youth under age 18 in child welfare settings.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) helps increase the benefits of work for low-income individuals, but workers without children can only receive a maximum of $500 a year. This MDRC report includes interim findings from the Paycheck Plus Demonstration in New York City, which tested the idea of expanding the EITC to working single adults without dependent children. The project recruited over 6,000 adults in New York City, and half were randomly selected to receive a Paycheck Plus bonus if they went through the process of applying for it. Interim results showed that individuals who received bonuses had higher income, increased employment, increased payment of child support, and increased tax filing.

While students attending alternative schools are often at higher risk for teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, there has not been much research conducted on teen pregnancy prevention programs implemented at alternative schools. This Mathematica report, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Family & Youth Services Bureau aims to fill that research gap. Mathematica conducted a rigorous evaluation of the Teen Choice prevention curriculum in alternative schools in the New York City area. This report covers the implementation of that curriculum. The programs suffered from low attendance rates, but the students who did attend were engaged and willing to participate in group discussions. Program staff liked the flexibility of the Teen Choice curriculum and the mutual aid approach that encourages facilitators to build trust with participants.

Justice-involved individuals have a high prevalence of mental health, substance use, and chronic health conditions. Connecting those individuals to health services during reentry could help improve their health and lower their risk of recidivism. This Urban Institute brief highlights how New York and Rhode Island have used Medicaid Health Homes to ensure that returning citizens have access to health care as they transition back into the community. Lessons learned from both states include the need for pre-release discharge planning so participants are immediately connected to health services upon release, and the value of having a liaison bridge the gap between the justice and health systems. Both states also needed creativity and commitment at the state level to fund the health home model, as well as formal structures for communication and collaboration across systems.

The Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund released the results of an evaluation of a three-year investment in free, one-on-one financial counseling to residents in five cities. This project was based on a model that originated in New York City, in which individuals in financial trouble receive personalized help from a professionally trained counselor through their local government. Bloomberg Philanthropies partnered with Denver, Lansing, Nashville, Philadelphia, and San Antonio to see how they could replicate this model. In each city, the local government implemented the model and contracted with a nonprofit partner to provide counseling services. Over 22,000 individuals received financial counseling, and they were able to achieve positive financial outcomes like opening bank accounts, reducing debt, improving credit, and establishing emergency savings. Each city also found sources of public funding to sustain the program beyond the Bloomberg Philanthropies grant.

This MDRC brief is part of a series that documents the implementation of the Change Capital Fund, an economic mobility initiative in New York City. The Change Capital Fund was a consortium of donors who invested in local community development corporations that were pursuing antipoverty strategies that integrated housing, education, and employment services. In this brief, the authors focus on how the Change Capital fund used program data as a tool for continuous learning and improvement, including the specific assistance that grantees received to build their capacity to use data for performance management.

This journal article estimates how three large sectoral employment programs in New York City affected the employment and earnings of participants. These Sector-Focused Career Centers (SFCCs) target occupations that offer competitive wages of at least $10 per hour, full-time jobs, advancement opportunities for workers, and high growth potential for businesses. Participants receive a variety of services, including resume review, interview skills development, job search assistance, and career advice. Results showed gains in employment levels and earnings for participants, and participants who received industry-specific training had the greatest earnings gains.