A nonprofit community development financial institution and Extension collaborated to conduct a demonstration project to evaluate efficacy of Grameen peer-group microfinance methodology in addressing barriers faced by low-income women entrepreneurs in a small metro area. Program performance metrics achieved by 284 culturally diverse, low-income…

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…

As child support debt owed nationally persists at enormous levels, both noncustodial parents and the custodial families who are not receiving support suffer significant hardships, and states are forced to expend greater resources on collection and enforcement efforts. This paper presents findings from an evaluation of a demonstration program…

The Wallace Foundation is funding a multiyear demonstration project to determine whether voluntary, district summer learning programs can stem summer learning loss for low-income students. Six districts--Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Duval County (Florida), Pittsburgh, and Rochester, New York--were selected for the demonstration project and…

Although a growing number of individuals are enrolling in college in response to the increasing payoff to higher education, more than a third of them never finish. College completion rates are especially disappointing for low-income students, in many cases because they tend to enter college underprepared academically but also because they have…

In 2007, New York City's Center for Economic Opportunity launched Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards, an experimental, privately funded, conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to help families break the cycle of poverty. Family Rewards provided payments to low-income families in six of the city's poorest communities for achieving specific goals…

In 2007, New York City's Center for Economic Opportunity launched Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards, an experimental, privately funded, conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to help families break the cycle of poverty. Family Rewards provided payments to low-income families in six of the city's poorest communities for achieving specific goals…

After attending a conference session about marketing, the author and his colleagues were inspired to start their own marketing program for the technology education program at Unionville High School in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. When they started, they had no idea how much that simple marketing program would pay off. Over the past seven years,…

Afterschool programs offer an important avenue for enhancing educational opportunities. Federal, state, and local educational authorities increasingly see them as environments to improve attitudes toward school, achievement, and academic performance (Fashola, 2002; Hollister, 2003) with higher levels of student participation and engagement in…

Exemplary programs for special education of handicapped children are outlined in the National Diffusion Network (NDN) catalog. The 46 programs are listed with the following information: descriptors, target audience, description, evidence of effectiveness, implementation requirements, financial requirements, services available, and contact person.…

This hearing transcript presents statements and testimony regarding effectiveness of the Healthy Start Demonstration Project to reduce U.S. infant mortality rates and authorization for funding to establish new sites and to enable exiting programs to act as mentors for and to disseminate information to new projects. Opening statements are presented…

Supported work is an employment program operated primarily by locally based nonprofit corporations that serve as the temporary employer for people who have traditionally had great difficulty in getting or holding a job. This article describes program operations, target groups, funding sources, and program impact research. (Author/SJL)

Part D of Public Law 90-576 and other federal mandates have authorized the use of funds for exemplary projects and programs in vocational education. Despite the investment of funds, recent studies have found little evidence of impact. Therefore, a project was conducted to identify what administrative techniques or organizational arrangements were…

This report presents an analysis of research on the state of transition, post-secondary education, and employment outcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities over the past 25 years. It identifies what has worked in the areas of transition planning, services, and supports. It also considers what should work in light of unmet needs and…

The case studies contained in this document were developed as part of a national project to identify communities that have made substantial progress toward developing comprehensive, coordinated, community-based systems of care for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances and their families. After initial identification,…