MDRC explained

MDRC
Formation:	1974
Full Name:	MDRC
Formerly:	Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation
Purpose:	Policy research
Headquarters:	New York, NY
Leader Title:	President
Leader Name:	Virginia Knox

MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization based in New York City; Washington, DC; and Oakland and Los Angeles, California. MDRC is led by an executive team and Virginia Knox as President since October 15, 2019.^[1]

History

In 1974, the Ford Foundation and six government agencies together created the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation. Its purpose was to implement and document the results of new programs intended to help the poor.^[2] In the 1980s and 1990s, it became known for its evaluations of state welfare-to-work programs. It formally retired its original name and adopted "MDRC" as its registered corporate identity in 2003.^{[3] [4]}

MDRC works across the United States, in Canada, and in the United Kingdom.^[4] Their 2021 budget is $66 million, which they derive from government contracts, foundations, corporations and individuals.^[5]

In May 2018, MDRC named its first Director for Outreach, Diversity, and Inclusion^[6] and made this position part of the executive team.^[7]

Focus areas

MDRC focuses on five policy areas and has two centers:^[8]

• Family well-being and children's development
• K-12 education
• Postsecondary education
• Youth development, Criminal justice, and employment
• Economic mobility, housing, and communities
• Center for applied behavioral science
• Center for data insights

Accomplishments

MDRC helped pioneer the use of random assignment to test social programs.^[9] Its evaluations of welfare work programs influenced the welfare reform of the 1990s.^[10] In the 1990s and 2000s, MDRC's evaluation of the Career Academies high school reform model, which showed impacts on participants' earnings eight years after graduation, influenced the expansion of the model around the nation.^[11] MDRC was the intermediary for the first social impact bond demonstration in the United States, a project to reduce recidivism among 16- to 18-year-olds incarcerated at Rikers Island.^{[12] [13]} MDRC's study of the City University of New York's Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) has demonstrated that the program has doubled the three-year graduation rate of students who begin college requiring remedial education.^[14]

Affiliated people

• Judith M. Gueron
• Cecilia Rouse
• Bridget T. Long

Notes and References

1. Web site: Our People . September 28, 2023 . About MDRC.
2. Web site: Kohler. Scott. Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation . Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society.
3. Web site: About MDRC: MDRC History. 27 April 2012 .
4. Web site: admin. 2012-04-27. About MDRC - History. 2021-08-17. MDRC. en.
5. Web site: brad. 2012-09-20. About MDRC - Financial Profile. 2021-08-17. MDRC. en.
6. Web site: 2018-05-01 . Crystal Byndloss Named MDRC’s Director for Outreach, Diversity, and Inclusion . 2023-11-03 . MDRC . en.
7. Web site: Our People . 2023-11-03 . MDRC . en.
8. Web site: History of MDRC . September 28, 2023 . About MDRC.
9. News: Bornstein. David. Social Change's Age of Enlightenment. New York Times. October 17, 2012.
10. Mead. Lawrence. Research and Welfare Reform. NYU Department of Politics. July 8, 2004.
11. Hoye. J.D.. David Stern. The Career Academy Story: A Case Study of How Research Can Move Policy and Practice. Education Week. September 10, 2008.
12. News: Chen. David. Goldman to Invest in City Jail Program, Profiting if Recidivism Falls Sharply. New York Times. August 2, 2012.
13. Porter, Eduardo (July 28, 2015). "Wall St. Money Meets Social Policy at Rikers Island". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-08-12
14. Scrivener, Susan, Michael J. Weiss, Alyssa Ratledge, Timothy Rudd, Colleen Sommo, Hannah Fresques (February 2015). textDoubling Graduation Rates: Three-Year Effects of CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for Developmental Education Students. New York: MDRC.