On the Evidence

Latest Episodes:

71 | The Role of Evidence in Local Spending of Pandemic Fiscal Relief Funds Feb 02, 2022

Show notes

Last year’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was the largest one-time federal investment in state, local, and Tribal governments in the past century, and it included $350 billion meant for governments to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. State, local, and Tribal governments have wide latitude in how they can spend the money, including the use of evaluation and data management tools that can improve the efficacy of public health and economic assistance programs. On the latest episode of On the Evidence, guests Zachary Markovits, Candace Miller, and Christy McFarland discuss the role that data and evidence are playing in state and local spending of ARPA fiscal relief funds. Markovits is the vice president and local practice lead at Results for America. His organization partnered with Mathematica to create the ARP Data and Evidence Dashboard (https://results4america.org/tools/arp-dashboard/), a free online tool that uses publicly available plans from local governments to analyze trends and assess the extent to which localities use data and evidence to guide how they spend their ARPA coronavirus fiscal relief funds. The dashboard is meant to inform and inspire state, local, and Tribal governments as they spend their coronavirus fiscal relief funds, half of which won’t be available until the spring. Miller is a principal researcher at Mathematica who helped create the ARP Data and Evidence Dashboard with Results for America. She also leads Mathematica’s work with Washington State on contact tracing and has appeared on a previous episode of On the Evidence to discuss the opportunities of and challenges to implementing an equitable approach to contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. McFarland is the research director at the National League of Cities, which has developed the Local Government ARPA Investment Tracker (https://www.nlc.org/resource/local-government-arpa-investment-tracker/) and a local action tracker for COVID-19 (https://www.nlc.org/resource/covid-19-local-action-tracker/). Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/the-role-of-evidence-in-how-local-governments-spend-federal-pandemic-relief-funds Explore the ARP Data and Evidence Dashboard from Mathematica and Results for America: https://results4america.org/tools/arp-dashboard/ Explore the Local Government ARPA Investment Tracker from National League of Cities, Brookings Metro, and the National Association of Counties: https://www.nlc.org/resource/local-government-arpa-investment-tracker/ Read a blog by Zachary Markovits about how the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund in the American Rescue Plan Act encourages state, local, and Tribal governments to invest in solutions with evidence of effectiveness: https://results4america.medium.com/5-ways-governments-can-make-the-american-rescue-plan-work-for-all-526c8cda2537 Explore the Local Action Tracker from the National League of Cities, which collects and shares municipal responses to COVID-19: https://www.nlc.org/resource/covid-19-local-action-tracker/ Read an overview of the final rule from the U.S. Department of the Treasury on the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Relief Funds: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/SLFRF-Final-Rule-Overview.pdf

70 | Preventing Cardiovascular Disease and Promoting Equity in Higher Ed Jan 19, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of On the Evidence, Temitope Ojo and Katlyn Lee Milless discuss their experience with the Mathematica Summer Fellowship in 2021. Ojo is a doctoral candidate at the NYU School of Global Public Health. Her research focuses on implementation science as well as the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease and other non-communicable diseases in a global setting. Milless is a doctoral candidate in basic and applied social psychology at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York. Her research takes a psychological approach to understanding how to promote gender and racial equity in education spaces, particularly among college students in STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. On the episode, Ojo and Milless discuss their career paths, why they’re interested in applied research, and what they plan to do after completing their dissertations. Find a full transcript of the episode here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/a-conversation-with-mathematicas-2021-summer-fellows Mathematica is currently accepting applications for its 2022 Summer Fellowship program through the end of February. Find more information about the fellowship here: https://www.mathematica.org/career-opportunities/summer-fellowships

69 | Understanding the Equity and Justice Dimensions of Energy Policy Decisions Jan 05, 2022

Show notes

In her research, Sanya Carley examines the effects of energy policies, including their equity and justice implications. In a new episode of On the Evidence, Carley discusses her increased interest in understanding the human element of energy policy decisions: Who makes policy decisions, who benefits from those decisions, and who does not. Carley is a professor at the Paul O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, where she directs the Master of Public Affairs (MPA) Program and O'Neill Online MPA Program. In the fall of 2021, she was selected to be the 21st recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize, which recognizes professionals younger than 40 who have made distinguished contributions to the field of public policy. In the episode, Carley discusses the origin story of her interest in energy policy, why she became interested in the equity and justice dimensions of energy policy, and how she ensures that her research influences decision makers. A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/understanding-the-equity-and-justice-dimensions-of-energy-policy-decisions Follow Carley on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/carleysanya Listen to her new podcast, Just Energy, here: https://spoti.fi/3so2FXF Read her scholarship here: https://bit.ly/3HlLPP5 Learn more about Mathematica's work on climate change here: https://mathematica.org/sp/climate-change/climate-action Listen to our interview with Adam Coyne about Mathematica's recent work around climate action here: https://bit.ly/3msxxDZ

68 | Reflecting on Evidence and Insights in 2021 and the Year Ahead Dec 16, 2021

Show notes

Between a pandemic, an uneven economic recovery, ongoing concerns about societal inequities, and increasingly troubling signs of climate change’s impacts, decision makers in 2021 faced an acute need for timely and reliable evidence about what works to address a range of health and social challenges. In this episode of On the Evidence, Mathematica’s Adam Coyne, Jill Constantine, and Chris Trenholm reflect on the role that evidence played in responding to pressing challenges in the past year and preview how evidence may help address problems in the year ahead. Coyne, Constantine, and Trenholm are the general managers of Mathematica’s International, Human Services, and Health business units, respectively. The episode features short interviews with each of them as they discuss some of Mathematica’s most significant work from the past year. Each interview includes a preview of projects, initiatives, and likely themes for 2022. This episode is being released in conjunction with Mathematica’s year-in-review feature page, Inquiry to Insight, which includes a curated summary of impactful, evidence-based work by Mathematica and its partners in 2021: mathematica.org/features/from-inquiry-to-insight-in-2021 The interview with Adam Coyne begins at 2:00. The interview with Jill Constantine begins at 18:22. The interview with Chris Trenholm begins at 42:08. A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/reflecting-on-evidence-and-insights-in-2021-and-the-year-ahead

67 | Advancing Racial Equity in Fatherhood Programs Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

The latest episode of On the Evidence focuses on the ways that racism and inequity within human services programs affect fathers and families, and how adopting a more inclusive father engagement strategy can benefit children, fathers, and their families. Today, federal and state governments, as well as foundations and nonprofits, are emphasizing the importance of understanding the role of racism in American institutions and policies. In partnership with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mathematica has been gathering information on what works in engaging fathers across a wide range of human services programs, with the goal of helping fathers and families thrive. On this episode, guests Alan-Michael Graves, Leonard Burton, Shaneen Moore, Jerry Tello, and Armando Yañez discuss how human services programs have historically treated fathers, particularly fathers of color, and strategies for improving the racial equity of these programs as it relates to father engagement. Graves is the senior director of teaching, capacity building, and systems change with the Good+Foundation, a national nonprofit that works to dismantle multi-generational poverty. Burton is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, a national nonprofit policy organization that connects community action, public system reform, and policy change to create a fair and just society. Moore is the director of the Child Support Division within the Children and Family Services administration of the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Tello is the founder of and director of training and capacity building at the Compadres Network, a national nonprofit that provides a voice for racial equity, healing, training, technical assistance, and systems change. Yañez is a research analyst at Mathematica. Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/advancing-racial-equity-in-fatherhood-programs Learn more about the partnership between ASPE and Mathematica to identify the strategies human services programs use to engage fathers: https://aspe.hhs.gov/father-engagement

66 | Removing Barriers to Child Care for Parents in Education and Training Programs Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

In the United States, education and training programs are available to help adults with low incomes secure better jobs and earn higher wages. But, of an estimated 21 million parents with low incomes nationwide, only about 1 in 10 participated in such programs. One reason the participation rate isn’t higher? Inadequate supply of affordable and convenient child care options. The lack of child is a major barrier for parents with low incomes who want to engage in training, acquire new skills, increase their earnings, and advance their careers. In 2016 the U.S. Department of Labor launched a five-year federal grant program called the Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) to remove barriers to child care for parents with low incomes who wanted to participate in education and training programs. SWFI provided 13 grantees in 12 states with up to $4 million each. The grantees were a mix of nonprofits, local workforce development boards, institutions of higher learning, and municipalities. As part of the initiative, Mathematica provided technical assistance to SWFI grantees to assist them with identifying areas for improvement, co-creating solutions, and assessing progress. The latest episode of On the Evidence explores lessons from SWFI that can inform federal policies and programs, as well as cross-sector community partnerships at the local level that help parents participate in education and training by removing barriers to child care. This episode features the following guests: • Robin Fernkas, the deputy administrator for the Office of Workforce Investment at the U.S. Department of Labor • Shalonda Jackson, a working mom in Mississippi who completed a pre-apprenticeship training program and found a job in the shipbuilding industry afterward • Carol Burnett, the executive director of Moore Community House, a SWFI grantee in Mississippi that provides workforce training to women as well as early childhood education • Ruth Mazara, a program manager at Moore Community House • Nick Schultz, the executive director of the Pacific Gateway Workforce Innovation Network, a public agency in Long Beach, California, that received a SWFI grant • Sandra Dafiaghor, who directs OAI Chicago Southland, a workforce development agency that received a SWFI grant • David Moore, who directed the SwiftStart program for Total Action for Progress, a workforce development agency in Virginia that received a SWFI grant • Nickie Fung, a researcher at Mathematica who provided technical assistance to SWFI grantees Find a full transcript of the episode here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/removing-barriers-to-child-care-for-parents-in-education-and-training-programs Learn more about Mathematica's work on SWFI here: mathematica.org/projects/strengthening-working-families-initiatives

65 | Learning from Foundations' Push to Advance Equity through Evidence Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

Although researchers play an important role in making progress on equitable research, they are one part of a broader ecosystem of people and organizations who make research possible and use research findings to change policies, programs, and practices to improve people’s lives. On this episode of On the Evidence, we focus on the role of funders, particularly those in the philanthropic sector, as early proponents and adopters of culturally responsive and equitable research in social programs. Our guests for this episode are Mindelyn Anderson and Kimberlin Butler. Anderson is a sociologist who has studied social inequality and stratification, race and migration, education and social mobility, and health. She is the founder and principal of Mirror Group, a consulting firm that brings collaborative, participatory, utilization-focused evaluation and capacity building to communities and learning organizations, including foundations. Butler is the senior director of foundation engagement at Mathematica. Since joining Mathematica in 2019, Kimberlin has helped lead the company to incorporate equity in all aspects of Mathematica’s work. She also works with foundations that are setting the agenda on embedding equity in research in areas like food security, early care and education, and economic mobility. During the conversation, Anderson and Butler talk about their career paths, how they became interested in culturally responsive and equitable research, the role philanthropy plays in centering equity in research, and how research organizations can avoid common pitfalls as they seek to incorporate equity in their work. Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/how-and-why-foundations-push-to-advance-equity-through-evidence

64 | Lessons from a National Health Initiative that Helps Address Social Needs Oct 27, 2021

Show notes

On this episode of On the Evidence, we focus on a national initiative aimed at addressing social needs like housing or food insecurity that affect a person's health. Specifically, we discuss a screening tool for health-related social needs. The screening tool stems from the Accountable Health Communities Model, a nationwide initiative funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center. Mathematica developed, on CMS’s behalf, a guide to help health care providers administer the screening tool. Our guests for this episode are Natalia Barolín from CMS; Maureen Kirkwood and Rafael Castañon of Health Net of West Michigan, a bridge organization participating in the Accountable Health Communities Model; Rachel Kogan of Mathematica who helped write the screening tool guide; and Lee-Lee Ellis, a health researcher formerly at Mathematica who facilitated peer learning among organizations that used the screening tool as part of their participation in the Accountable Health Communities Model. Learn more about the screening tool and guide here: http://mathematica.org/news/new-guide-helps-providers-address-health-related-social-needs Find a full transcript of the episode here: mathematica.org/blogs/lessons-from-a-national-health-initiative-that-helps-address-social-needs

63 | Inside an Initiative to Diversify the Field of Computational Social Science Oct 13, 2021

Show notes

On this episode of On the Evidence, we focus on a creative initiative designed to build a more diverse pipeline of researchers who use methods and tools from data science and social science. Earlier this year, Howard University and Mathematica sponsored a free, two-week training for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and beginning faculty in the fields of data science and social science. The training was part of a broader instructional program held at 20 sites across the globe called the Summer Institutes in Computational Social Science (SICSS). The Howard-Mathematica SICSS was unique in that it was the first site to be hosted by a historically Black college or university (Howard) and the first to focus on anti-Black racism and inequity. This episode will include the following guests: • Nicole Jenkins, an assistant professor at Howard University in the Department of Sociology and Criminology whose ethnographic research focuses on studying the experiences of Black women in institutions • Jeremy Prim, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Davis whose research focuses on race, policing, exclusionary discipline, and educational outcomes • Felix Owusu, a Ph.D. candidate in public policy at Harvard whose dissertation research centers on racial disparities in the criminal legal system • Naniette Coleman, founder and lead organizer of the SICSS-Howard/Mathematica and a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology Department at the University of California, Berkeley • Matt Salganik, a professor of sociology at Princeton University who is a member of Mathematica’s Board of Directors and the author of Bit by Bit: Social Research in the Digital Age • Akira Bell, a senior vice president and the chief information officer at Mathematica • Wayne A.I. Frederick, president of Howard University and a surgical oncologist whose medical research focuses on narrowing racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in cancer-care outcomes • Paul Decker, president and chief executive officer of Mathematica Read an op-ed in The Hechinger Report by Wayne A.I. Frederick and Paul Decker, the presidents of Howard University and Mathematica, respectively, about the need to increase diversity in research and analytics: https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-a-lack-of-diversity-in-research-and-analytics-is-not-just-unethical-it-is-dangerous/ Read more about the launch of the SICSS-Howard/Mathematica: https://mathematica.org/events/howard-university-mathematica-computational-social-science-institute-on-countering-anti-black-racism A full transcript of the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/inside-an-initiative-to-diversify-the-field-of-computational-social-science

62 | Improving the College and Career Readiness of High School Students with Disabilities Sep 22, 2021

Show notes

On this episode of On the Evidence, we focus on a demonstration in Vermont evaluated by Mathematica intended to help high school students with disabilities transition to college and the workforce. In 2016, the Rehabilitation Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Education, awarded grants to state vocational rehabilitation agencies to build on the body of knowledge about what works to help young people transition from high school to adulthood. States had to identify and demonstrate evidence-based practices for providing work-based learning experiences in integrated settings. Mathematica evaluated the resulting demonstration in Vermont called Linking Learning to Careers. On this episode, guests from Mathematica and Vermont's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation reflect on successes and challenges in implementing the demonstration as well as lessons for other states interested in trying a similar program for transition-age youth with disabilities. Our guests for this episode are Rich Tulikangas, Emma Page, Diane Torres, and Purvi Sevak. • Tulikangas is the director of Linking Learning to Careers for the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. • Page is a youth employment specialist in Addison County, Vermont. She works with high school students and young adults, helping them progress along their career paths. • Torres is a senior transition counselor for the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the career consultant for Linking Learning to Careers in Bennington, Vermont. • Sevak is a principal researcher at Mathematica who studies disability, health, and employment policy. She led the impact evaluation of the Linking Learning to Careers demonstration. This episode was made possible through funding from the Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. A full transcript of the episode, as well as a video recording of the episode with closed captioning, are available here: mathematica.org/blogs/improving-college-and-career-readiness-of-high-school-students-with-disabilities Read Mathematica’s reports on the implementation and impacts of Vermont’s Linking Learning to Careers demonstration: http://mathematica.org/projects/evaluation-of-the-vermont-linking-learning-to-careers-model

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