Patrick Power PRO
Economics PhD @ Boston University
Current Needs
Underlying Root Causes
Food
Shelter
Health Care
SNAP
WIC
TANF
Medicaid
HUD Housing Choice Vouchers
Supplemental Security Income and Disability Insurance
Programs
Lacking human, physical social capital
The Status Quo
$670 Billon per year
Reasons for Poverty are Varied
Focus on working age individuals who are willing and able to work but face significant barriers to self-sufficiency
Program of Interest
Social Service Delivery Model
Lift Families out of Poverty
(Individualized & Holistic)
Results
Program costs $22,950
"When K first joined Padua, she was a stay-at-home mom and her undocumented husband worked as a cook in area restaurants. They struggled to make ends meet as her husband was poorly paid. K’s goal was to work to help the family financially, but she did not have a college degree and her earning potential was limited. K had started at a local community college but never graduated and used up all the education subsidies available to her so she could not afford school. Her previous experience in college generated a lack of confidence that stood in the way of her acquiring more skill. Her case management team worked with her extensively to get her to a point where she was ready for training and employment. During that time, the case management team at times provided financial assistance to help with rent and expenses, always with a plan in place as to how these expenses were to be paid the next month. An education specialist working for CCFW helped K enroll in a medical assistant program and prepared K to apply. The case management team arranged for a local charity to pay for K’s tuition, and Padua paid for school supplies. K graduated with a medical assistant’s degree and is working in a job she finds rewarding. The household’s earnings now place them well above the poverty line for their family."
"When M first enrolled in Padua, his son had just had a health crisis that required emergency surgery that devastated the family financially. Because of these expenses, they could not pay their rent and were evicted. They found a temporary residence with family but this was a 90-minute commute from M’s job. M was stressed, overwhelmed, frustrated, and near hopeless. The case management team helped M create a budget to save resources to settle his outstanding debts. Using these savings and some financial assistance from Padua, a CCFW Housing Specialist helped M though the process of having his landlord dismiss his previous eviction. This allowed M to obtain a lease on an apartment much closer to his work and stabilize his housing situation. M now has a lease in his name and the case management team continues to work with M on his family’s budget."
"J was working in law enforcement, but a workplace injury placed him on workers’ compensation for two years. His benefits were expiring and his rehabilitation was unsuccessful at getting him to the point where he could return to his previous occupation. Working with his case management team, they identified commercial driving as an occupation J would both enjoy and could work in with his injuries. While he worked part time as a security guard, J enrolled in a six-week training course to obtain a commercial driver’s license. The Texas Workforce Commission funded his schooling and Padua provided assistance for J to help him financially while he was in school and searching for work. J is now working full-time as a commercial driver in a job that frequently offers over-time hours."
Pauda
Context
(Isn't designed to serve individuals with mental health, substance abuse or other disabilities)
(a) Living Wage, (b) Reduced participation in transfer programs (c) decreasing debt (d) saving goals
Program
"The case management teams frequently use the financial assistance component as a way of incentivizing behavior."
*I made the word cloud
Initial Assessment takes place over 5-7 in person meetings
Design
It would be great to know a bit more about what it means to exit a program
Clearly a time intensive innitiative
Coordinating services takes up a lot of time
The Rent
It would be great to know what did employment look like prior to the innitiative
Wide Distribution in Amount of Cash
Balance Check
Linear Model
Nonparametric Residualized Form
Controls
Age, Race, Gender, Educational Attainment, Marital Status, Employment Status, Earnings, Household Size, cohort, interview month, number of months between baseline interview
Uses post double selection lasso to fit the linear model
Why?
Our reading of the situation is that those working are experiencing low earnings because they have low job skills and the intervention is less likely to alter human capital and hence earnings in a two-year period
What about differences between the groups?
Program costs $22,950 per client
Why is the sample size so small?
It's harder to take this full sample outcome serious when the effect on the employed subset is negative
By Patrick Power