The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) is holding its Annual Fall Research Conference in National Harbor, MD. Entitled “Policymaking at the Federal, State, and Local Levels,” it will be held November 21-23, 2024. MDRC experts are presenting papers and participating in panels and roundtables.

Please join us for a special reception celebrating the 50^th anniversary of MDRC’s founding in 1974 on Thursday, November 21, 7:00-8:30 pm.

And visit our exhibit booth (#123) to learn about our latest work and current career opportunities.

Thursday, November 21, 2024

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Panel: Program and Policy Interventions in Early Childhood and Early Elementary Education

• Organizer: Sarah Souders (Syracuse University)
• Discussants: Jade Jenkins (University of California Irvine) and Michelle Maier (MDRC)

10:15 AM - 11:45 AM

Panel: Context Matters: Exploring Impact Heterogeneity in Employment and Training Programs

• Impacts of Sector-Focused Training Programs in the Time of COVID-19: Lessons from WorkAdvance and TechHire, Kelsey Schaberg, Richard Hendra, & Joshua Vermette (MDRC), and Joseph Gasper (Westat)

Panel: Supporting Students through Innovative State Programs That Complement the Federal Pell Grant

• A Collaborative Use of a State Longitudinal Data System: A Study of the Washington College Grant Program, Claudia Escobar, Rebecca Unterman, Bryce Marshall, & David Selby (MDRC), and Daniel Oliver (Washington Student Achievement Council)

1:45 PM - 3:15 PM

Panel: Financial Approaches That Confront Structural Racism

• Organizer: Alexandra Bernardi (MDRC)
• Chair: Mina Addo (MDRC)
• Discussant: Irene Skricki (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)
• Conducting a Culturally Responsive Study on Credit Building in New York City’s Homeless Shelter System, Alexandra Bernardi, Edith Yang, and Crystal Ganges-Reid (MDRC)

Panel: Prosecutors, Public Defenders, and Courts

• Comparing Pretrial Supervision Modes: Findings from a Random Assignment Study of Remote Versus Hybrid Supervision in New York City, Melanie Skemer and Emily Brennan (MDRC Center for Criminal Justice Research)

Roundtable: Leveraging Data Insights and the Evidence Base to Inform Policy and Practice Decision Making

• Moderator: John Martinez (MDRC)
• Jared Barnett (Slingshot Memphis)
• Melissa Wavelet (MDRC)
• Britany Orlebeke (New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance)

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Panel: Effects of Rental Assistance on Housing, Health, and Children’s Outcomes

• Chair: Nandita Verma (MDRC)
• Discussants: Katharine Harwood (New York University) and Kristin Perkins (Georgetown University)

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

MDRC 50^th Anniversary Reception

Friday, November 22, 2024

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Student Research Session: AI and Machine Learning as Analytic Tools

• Chair: Torbet McNeil (University of Arizona)
• Discussant: Richard Hendra (MDRC)

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Panel: Barriers to and Facilitators of Employment for People with Behavioral Health Conditions

• Delivering Employment Services in Substance Use Disorder Treatment Settings, and in Partnership with Federally Qualified Health Centers, Emily Brennan, Niko Leiva (MDRC)

Saturday, November 23, 2024

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

Roundtable: Taking Stock of HUD Self-Sufficiency Research: What Have We Learned Over the Past 30 Years and Where Do We Go Next?

• Moderator: James Riccio (MDRC)
• Todd Richardson and Jayme Brown (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)
• Katherine O'Regan (New York University)
• Alix M Gould-Werth (U.S. Department of Labor)

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Panel: Qualitative Findings on Housing Mobility Programs for Families in the Housing Choice Voucher Program

• Implementation Insights from the Supporting Moves to Opportunity Housing Mobility Demonstration in Milwaukee and St. Louis, Jonathan Bigelow (MDRC)

Panel: Networks for School Improvement Evaluation

• Evaluation of the Networks for School Improvement Initiative — Implementing Continuous Improvement in Schools: Interim Report, Michael S. Garet, Laura B. Stein, Ryan C. Eisner, Kathleen T. Jones, Matthew Farmer, & Sara Mitrano (American Institutes for Research), Beth Gamse(Independent Consultant), Kianna Medina & Shelley Rappaport (MDRC), and David Liebowitz (University of Oregon)

Panel: Building the Evidence Base for Career Pathways Programs: Measures, Equity, and Models

• Exploring the Components of Disparities in Program Success in Healthcare Training Programs: A Secondary Analysis of Data from the Health Professions Opportunity (HPOG) Evaluation, Daron Holman, Kristin Porter, and Kacey Eickmeyer (MDRC)

10:15 AM - 11:45 AM

Roundtable: Scaling Equitable Evaluation Practices within Research Firms

• Moderator: Ann Bickerton (The James Irvine Foundation)
• Rekha Balu (Urban Institute)
• Ashani Johnson-Turbes (NORC at the University of Chicago)
• Katrina Bledsoe (Abt Global)
• Dara Lewis (MDRC)

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM 

Poster: A Systematic Comparison of Methods for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects in Large-Scale Randomized Trials, John D Selby (MDRC), Luke Miratrix (Harvard), Polina Polskaia, Nicholas Commins, & Pei Zhu (MDRC), and Richard Dorsett (University of Westminster)

1:45 PM - 3:15 PM

Panel: Classroom-Based Interventions in Early Childhood

• Organizer: Michelle Maier (MDRC)
• Discussant: Meghan McCormick (Overdeck Family Foundation)
• Impacts on Classroom Quality and Child Outcomes: Findings from a Multi-Arm Randomized Trial in Head Start and Community-Based Child Care Settings, Michelle Maier, Amy Taub, & Marie-Andrée Somers (MDRC), JoAnn Hsueh (Foundation for Child Development), and Margaret Burchinal (University of Virginia)

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Panel: Rent Reform and Direct Rental Assistance: The Future of the Housing Choice Voucher Program?

• Organizer: Nina Castells (MDRC)
• Chair: Paul Joice (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)
• Discussants: Will Fischer (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) and Nina Chien (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
• Supporting Work and Simplifying the Rules in the Housing Voucher Program: Final Results from Hud’s Rent Reform Demonstration, James Riccio, Nandita Verma, Gilda Azurdia, & Joshua Vermette (MDRC), and David Long (consultant)
• Rent Reform in Subsidized Housing: Launching the Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration, Nina Castells, Nandita Verma, Keith Olejniczak, James Riccio, Elizabeth Saiz, and Alexandra Ubalijoro (MDRC)