We conduct the first quantitative analysis of "blind removals," an increasingly popular reform that seeks to reduce the over-representation of Black children in foster care by eliminating biases in the removal decisions of investigators. We first show that over-representation in most foster care systems is driven by Black children being…

Research Findings: In recent years, several initiatives have been put into place both federally and state-wide to expand access to high-quality early education programs. At the center of these efforts are the tools that measure program or classroom quality. The present study compares the psychometrics of two such tools used in Michigan, the…

Coaching is a popular mechanism for supporting teachers' improved use of teaching strategies. However, relatively little is known about which coaching processes are used or how those are implemented, especially in emerging formats like online asynchronous coaching. We used a multiple-case study design to examine coaching logs from an asynchronous…

The Families Forward Demonstration (FFD) examined new strategies to increase the earnings of parents who owe child support but are unable to fully meet their obligations due to low earnings. It also focused on "responsive" child support services that helped parents understand their support obligations, and even suspended certain…

Educational policymakers, leaders, and researchers are paying increasing attention to student attendance and chronic absenteeism, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though researchers have documented the consequences and causes of absenteeism, there is limited empirical evidence about what schools and districts are actually doing to…

Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) is a Head Start program which serves exclusively young children from the migrant farmworker community, the majority of whom are Mexican nationals and second-generation immigrants. From this early childhood context, little is known about parents' perspectives on education and the roles they take to engage in…

Food insecurity--the condition of having inadequate food due to a lack of resources--affected roughly 1 in 10 Americans in 2019, and this number increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among college students nationwide, the prevalence of food insecurity is unknown; however, studies have shown that food insecurity is a problem for some college…

Children's Savings Accounts (CSAs) are tools designed to help low- and moderate-income families save for college and build students' expectations for attendance. But for many low-income families who can benefit most from these tools, the challenge to save and pay for college is underscored by systemic barriers connected to income and wealth…

This report analyzes how students were served by Benefits Access for College Completion (BACC), a 2.5-year initiative designed to increase access to public benefits (such as SNAP or Medicaid) for eligible low-income students. These crucial supports reduce students' unmet financial needs and help them finish school. Launched in 2011, BACC funded…

This survey and interview-based study examined the perspectives of 30 of the 38 migrant directors in Michigan, covering 26 summer migrant programs. Among the findings of this study were an unexpected inverse relationship between the size of programs and the frequency and number of external services and referrals they are able to provide for…

For 21st century workers, success is rapidly being redefined. A high school education is no longer sufficient for high-wage employment, and the path to a postsecondary credential of value can be a convoluted one. Each transition -- from secondary to postsecondary education, from postsecondary education to the workforce, or from adult basic…

Many individuals with dementia and problem behavior are served in nursing home settings long before health issues necessitate constant medical care. Alternative community-based adult day health care programs allow individuals with dementia to remain in their home with their families at a substantially reduced cost; however, many adult day programs…

With Washington trapped in budget battles and partisan gridlock, cities have emerged as the best source of government innovation. Nowhere is this more visible than in New York City. Since taking office in 2002, Mayor Bloomberg has introduced a steady stream of innovative policies, from a competition to recruit a new applied sciences campus and a…

This report describes the results of an exploratory study of juvenile justice programs where managers and practitioners are attempting to build youth interventions with strength-based, positive youth development principles. Previous researchers have not adequately documented how such reforms take place, let alone whether they produce effective…

Relative to other fields, social work has been slow to adopt geographic information systems (GIS) as a tool for research and practice. This paper argues that GIS can benefit social work by: (1) continuing and strengthening the social survey tradition; (2) providing a framework for understanding human behavior; (3) identifying community needs and…