VT

The Learn, Innovate, Improve (or, LI2) process is a way for human services leaders to intentionally launch and systematically guide program change and to incorporate evidence and research methods into such efforts. This practice brief provides an overview of the first phase of LI2—the Learn phase—which is intended to lay the foundation for successful and sustainable program changes. The Learn phase involves two primary steps: (1) clarifying the reason for seeking change and the problem to be addressed, and (2) assessing the program environment’s readiness for change. (Author abstract) 

This volume and its companion volumes are the first of two reports designed to share the experiences of the 17 Early Head Start research programs with others. The first report focuses on the programs early in their implementation (fall 1997), approximately two years after they were funded and one year after they began serving families. Volume I examines the characteristics and experiences of the 17 research programs from a cross-site perspective, focusing on the similarities and differences among the programs in fall 1997.

This brief discusses how 7 of the 12 Phase I grantees who were not awarded Phase II grants are working to sustain efforts in their community to prevent homelessness based on the planning accomplished during Phase I. Sustainability efforts were discussed in individual phone calls with the Phase I project director and/or project manager in November and December 2015, as most Phase I grantees were preparing to submit their final Phase I grant report. (Author summary)

Introduction

During the recent recession only seventeen states offered short-time compensation (STC)—prorated unemployment benefits for workers whose hours are reduced for economic reasons. Federal legislation passed in 2012 will encourage the expansion of STC. Exploiting cross-state variation in STC, we present new evidence indicating that jobs saved during the recession as a consequence of STC may have been significant in manufacturing, but that the overall scale of the STC program was generally too small to have substantially mitigated aggregate job losses in the seventeen states.

The video and its accompanying presentation slides are from the 2018 Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS). Recent research has rigorously explored the ways in which insights from behavioral sciences can support improved program performance in government services, including in the child support system. This panel examined three randomized controlled experiments to discuss the design, implementation, findings, and lessons learned for the application of behavioral insights to child support programs.

Introduction

Introduction

This study examined the relationship between parental substance misuse and child welfare caseloads, which began rising in 2012 after more than a decade of decline. We examined county level variation in both phenomena and qualitative interviews documented the perspectives and experiences of local professionals in the child welfare agency, substance use disorder treatment programs, family courts, and other community partners in 11 communities across the country.

This brief examines correlates of DI benefit receipt for people with mental disorders, focusing on the higher rate of receipt in the six New England states. In 2015, 1.8 percent of all 18- to 65-year-olds across the country received DI benefits because of mental disorders. That recipiency rate was markedly higher in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The evidence suggests that access to and treatment from the health care system (which tend to be better in New England states) may help people identify their illnesses and contact the DI program and other services.