Decisions that dictate whether vulnerable individuals and families remain housed must be guided by rigorous research. HUD’s changes to its CoC grant funding program—which drastically scale back support for “Housing First” programs—directly contradict the evidence. These changes would result in a substantial redistribution of funds requiring local agencies to redirect resources without strong evidence to guide them.

“Decisions that affect whether people keep their housing should be guided by evidence of what works,” said Rachel Fulcher Dawson, director of policy and impact. "Grounding policy in evidence helps ensure we remain focused on effective solutions that prioritize human dignity.”

The homelessness crisis is a social issue where we do have evidence to guide how we address it. Housing First, a program that first houses, then surrounds people with services to stabilize them further, is one of several evidence-based programs LEO and other labs have shown to work to reduce homelessness. Prevention programs that provide emergency financial assistance (EFA) have also shown clear impact. These programs are impactful, cost-effective, and dignity-centered solutions that keep families off the streets and strengthen communities.

“We have strong evidence that housing first programs typically help people gain housing stability while accessing supportive services, and targeted short-term emergency rental assistance programs can prevent homelessness altogether. The research shows both approaches can lead to better outcomes for those in need,” said David Phillips, research professor of economics and LEO’s director of research. “Reallocating funds away from proven interventions ignores clear evidence and puts vulnerable Americans at immediate risk of homelessness.”

What Our Research Shows

• Housing First works at scale: The federally funded HUD-VASH program—built on a 1990s pilot that combined permanent housing with mental health and substance use services—demonstrates that Housing First scales effectively. A LEO study found that for every 10 beds HUD-VASH funded, 9 fewer veterans experienced homelessness, helping halve overall veteran homelessness nationwide since 2007.

• Safer, stronger communities: Targeted financial assistance stabilizes households, keeping them out of shelters and reducing their exposure to crime. In Chicago, families at risk of homelessness who had access to financial assistance were 51% less likely to be arrested for violent crime and 36% less likely to require healthcare related to an assault. And in Santa Clara County, our best estimate is that every dollar spent on such assistance yields $2.47 in benefits to the family and broader community.

• Supportive services drive independence: LEO's evaluation of the Padua program—a comprehensive service model—showed that holistic support paired with flexible financial assistance improves economic mobility. Unemployed participants saw a 67% increase in full-time employment and a 46% increase in monthly earnings, while those lacking stable housing experienced a 64% increase in long-term housing stability.

When it comes to homelessness, we have evidence of what works. And when it comes to making decisions on how to spend public dollars, we owe it to taxpayers and our neighbors in need of these services to put it to use.

Rachel Fulcher Dawson

Director of Policy and Impact, LEO

William Evans

Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Economics, LEO Co-founder

David Phillips

Research Professor of Economics, LEO Director of Research

James Sullivan

Gilbert F. Schaefer Professor of Economics, LEO Co-founder

Media contact: Kat Desai, kdesai2@nd.edu

The Padua program, an initiative of Catholic Charities Fort Worth, uses holistic, intensive case management services to address barriers faced by families in poverty. It’s launching a new site in Chicago this fall.

Read the rest of the article here.

In the last couple of decades, Catholic Charities Fort Worth added new services to address client demand. The nonprofit began offering transportation services throughout Tarrant County in 2012. It started a dental clinic in 2013.

However, the organization dedicated to providing pathways out of poverty was still seeing repeat customers, said president and CEO Heather Reynolds.

“What we realized we were doing really well as an organization is when somebody came to our doors, we were helping their poverty not hurt so much. They were hungry, we fed them. They didn’t have transportation, we got it for them,” Reynolds said. “But were things better and different? Not really. We were just making their poverty less painful.”

To tackle poverty at its roots, the Fort Worth nonprofit started Padua, a case management program meant to lift clients out of poverty. Solutions are structured based on the client’s goals, ranging from financial independence to employment stability to housing security.

The program has served 1,089 clients since its inception in 2015. And the success was noted in studies — a 25% increase in likelihood of being employed full time, 64% more likely to have housing and a 46% jump in monthly earnings. That’s according to Patrick Turner, a researcher at University of Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities.

Click to read more in The Fort Worth Report.

"We are at an exciting point in our work. LEO has over 110 studies underway or completed. LEO’s research is increasingly being put into action; we are replicating effective programs, we are actively growing our engagement with policymakers, and other nonprofits are learning from our results. All this is built off of innovative service providers who put the people they serve first and treat them with dignity and respect. In the pages that follow, you’ll hear directly from those partners, who authored nearly all of the articles in this issue. It is an easy and important mission to get behind, and I’m honored to join this team and lead us to our next phase of impact."

- Holly Kuzmich, Michael L. Smith managing director

Read the issue in full here.

When I first learned about the important work LEO is doing to address poverty across the country, I was struck by how naturally it fits within the mission of Notre Dame to be a force for good in the world. And now as I have taken on the role of stewarding LEO’s work, I wanted to share my journey in getting here and why this work is so important.

You see, I grew up in the shadow of Notre Dame, just a few miles north of campus. I come from a Notre Dame family, but I’m just now returning to South Bend after spending several decades working at a national level on domestic policy issues.

My belief in LEO’s mission comes from all the experiences in my life, which all led me here.

Through my own family history, I heard about the challenges of starting with very little from my grandparents, who immigrated to South Bend after World War I from a small Croatian village in Austria. They boarded a ship in Germany in their early twenties, leaving most of their family behind, not speaking English and with only a few dollars in their pocket. After working in a variety of service roles, they were able to save up enough money to open a small neighborhood grocery store, which my dad and his siblings worked in every day. That store closed in the early 1960s, about the time that South Bend itself was going through economic turmoil with the closing of the Studebaker auto company which was headquartered here. My own history demonstrated to me in very real ways the promise of opportunity–but I also have thought a lot about how a significant bump in the road could have meant harder times for my family.

My interest in understanding the complexities of poverty and what stands in the way of opportunity also came from my experiences of regularly driving from South Bend through the South Side of Chicago where I saw the Robert Taylor Homes. This was an enormous
hi-rise public housing project that sat to the east of the freeway that housed over 25,000 Chicagoans experiencing poverty at its peak. The freeway created a physical barrier that separated residents from the surrounding neighborhoods, and the housing authority did little to maintain the buildings. I became deeply interested in how that type of development had occurred and how to better address the needs and the dignity of people living there.

In my professional life, I’ve been driven by a desire to provide opportunity and lift up the lives of the underserved. In my time working in public policy, I saw how rigorous research and evidence on what works can lead to impact for millions of people. During my time working on federal education policy, we leveraged our nation’s best research on literacy to design programs on effective reading instruction. And research on how to effectively disseminate antiretroviral drugs to people living with AIDS led to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has saved 26 million lives around the world. But there’s a big gap in translating research into policy, and that’s a role that LEO is filling.

I’ve also been on the side of working with non-profits who are tackling some of our biggest challenges. Social service providers are doing challenging work, and they have a lot on their plate. Undertaking the type of rigorous research that LEO tackles takes leadership, capacity, good data, and a strong commitment. After working with CEOs of nonprofits across the country to help them grow and scale their work and serving on the boards of these organizations, I have a deep appreciation and respect for the work they do every day and the vulnerability it takes to open yourselves up to finding out if your programs are doing what they are designed to do.

These experiences all drew me to LEO. The work we do is different from many others who are involved in rigorous research, in that we put providers and the people they serve front and center in the work. The fact that we do this work at no cost to our service provider partners is a real benefit.

And we are at an exciting point in our work. LEO has over 110 studies underway or completed. LEO’s research is increasingly being put into action; we are replicating effective programs, we are actively growing our engagement with policymakers, and other nonprofits are learning from our results. All this is built off of innovative service providers who put the people they serve first and treat them with dignity and respect. In the pages that follow, you’ll hear directly from those partners, who authored nearly all of the articles in this issue. It is an easy and important mission to get behind, and I’m honored to join this team and lead us to our next phase of impact.

What makes someone at-risk of experiencing homelessness? Depending on what community you’re in, the list of risk factors can vary widely. For Asheville’s Right at Home team, that question sparked a much larger conversation.

Asheville is a small city in the mountains of Buncombe County, North Carolina. Known for a thriving tourism industry and beautiful vacation homes, Asheville’s cost of living is a challenge for many of our year-round residents. In 2024, Hurricane Helene hit our region. The damage was found to be the costliest natural disaster in the community’s history, leaving thousands of people struggling to find housing or repair what was left of their home.

When Right at Home conducted a national search for 10 sites to be part of their homelessness prevention program, the Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care (CoC) was a natural fit. Established in 2024 just months before Hurricane Helene, our CoC values the voice of people with lived experience. All CoC bodies — the Board, Committees, and Work Groups — must have an elected or appointed voting member with lived or living experience of homelessness. We facilitate the collaboration of service providers and promote a person-centered system to ensure we address the unique needs of each community member. We have a robust system of emergency rental assistance, but our homelessness prevention services have been limited to times of crisis. Nearly two years after Hurricane Helene, the data shows our community is still in need. Asheville’s Point in Time (PIT) Count for 2026 identified 824 people in shelters, transitional housing, or unsheltered, a 9.1% increase from the year prior. This data drives us to be part of Right at Home’s mission to stop homelessness before it starts.

As Asheville’s Right at Home Project Manager, I have worked with community members, provider agencies, and LEO staff to fine tune our research design. For us, the most important component in the research is the dignity of our clients. That’s why defining the risk factors for entering homelessness in Asheville became so important.

Our randomized controlled trial tracks people’s experience of homelessness after receiving the Right at Home intervention compared to the experiences of those who don’t. Although most of our data will come from our Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), the research team will also be conducting surveys with clients. What we came to realize is each person has a different view of their own experience, and it is not for us to tell them what it was and assign the label to it; they can identify in the manner that’s truest for them. We need to use a consistent definition of homelessness across clients and even across sites in this replication study, yet acknowledge that experiences of housing insecurity are complex and deeply personal. And well-designed research can still recognize that and validate
research participants’ experiences.

Asheville-Buncombe’s HMIS inflow data from 2025 showed that of those who were experiencing homelessness, 73% were disabled as determined by HUD’s six categories: development, physical, mental, non-alcohol substance-related, or alcohol and substance related. The data also showed 66% last resided in non-permanent housing, which included staying with family and friends, a foster home, a halfway house, and other temporary locations. When our case workers administer these surveys, we want to ensure people can accurately identify their barriers to maintaining housing. The goal is to better understand lifetime interactions with homelessness prevention and homelessness interventions. In order to achieve this, we restructured the survey to give participants more ability to explain their experiences in their own wording.

The flexibility in our survey reflects our goal to meet individuals where they are during a vulnerable time in their life. We want to take the burden of navigating systems away from clients by preparing our staff to break through barriers to housing. Sometimes, the hurdles are too big for someone to jump over alone. Government identification and drivers license applications are often flagged when there is no permanent address provided. Yet housing and job applications typically require a valid ID. Right at Home case managers will be ready to support individuals through each step on their journey to stable housing, whether that’s working together on paperwork, providing referrals to legal support, or determining their level of need for flexible financial assistance.

In our CoC, we believe that in order to create systems, policies, and programs that recognize and validate unique experiences, we have to create equity for those with lived and living experience. That’s why we hosted listening sessions and formed work groups with several provider agencies in our region. It’s the “nothing about us without us” approach. That’s why the work groups and committees taking on the detailed work of the CoC always include people with lived and living experience; in our Right at Home design work group, four appointed members brought lived expertise to shape the initiative. One work group participant with lived experience says, “It’s so important to have the voices of lived experience. There are many portrayals of homelessness, creating a narrative of us versus them. The people with lived experience involved in this work can share the stories of those who aren’t already seen and whose stories aren’t known, especially for those who can’t share for themselves. We can also show where systems went wrong so they don’t have to go wrong for the next person.”

As we prepare to launch our program in a few months, we will continue to lean on our membership, work groups, and CoC board for insight. We want to continuously evaluate what works and what doesn’t. With LEO’s support, we will track and evaluate the progress of a program tailored to the unique needs of our community.

We are keeping dignity in the design. Dignity in our research. Dignity in our services. Dignity at the heart of our community.

Because implementation is a nuanced process, bringing Padua Michiana to life has offered a challenging, but rewarding opportunity for Goodwill Industries of Michiana to learn and systematically build our capabilities.

When I sat down with Goodwill’s president and CEO, Debie Coble, to ask her what it was like to first talk with LEO and Catholic Charities Fort Worth about bringing Padua to South Bend, she described the process as a courtship.

“It was fun. We were told that this was going to be almost like a dating process,” Coble said. “We would have conversations, we’re going steady. Is there commitment? Put a ring on it. We’re walking down the aisle.”

We chuckled when she said this, yet there was a true sincerity in what she was capturing. “What I really appreciated about it is the openness in the conversations.”

It was more of a patient courtship than anything else. Over months of calls and site visits, the two organizations moved toward a shared commitment: Goodwill Industries of Michiana would become the inaugural mission site to replicate Padua outside its original home in Fort Worth, Texas.

For Coble, saying “yes” wasn’t a leap so much as a recognition of truth. Goodwill’s underlying mission is “to empower people to live their most abundant life,” and Padua, an evidence-based, holistic case management model built to help participants rise above generational poverty, does exactly that.

“It absolutely aligns with our core values,” Coble said. “We get to walk alongside [our clients]. We get to help them break barriers.”

Still, the decision carried real weight. Coble’s biggest hesitation wasn’t whether Padua worked, but one of long-term sustainability: could Goodwill raise and steward the funds needed to keep it running? She credits LEO and Catholic Charities Fort Worth for their support as her team worked through that question before committing.

The Groundwork

Once the “yes” was officially cemented, the real work began. Sara Brodzinski, Goodwill Michiana’s chief people officer, and Erin Stojic, senior director of mission impact, remember the months leading up to launch as a period of shared learning between Fort Worth and South Bend. Over several months, the two teams launched a new journey, and forged a bond together.

“Being the first site is obviously a growing experience for both sides, especially because we’re in a different part of the country,” Stojic shared. “It’s so exciting, yet it also has to be incredibly delicate and careful.”

What stuck with Brodzinski from those early meetings with LEO was the program’s emphasis on emotional resilience and inner dignity. Describing the belief Padua tries to nurture in participants, she said:

“If they don’t believe deep down that they can do it, and we have proof that they can do it, being able to encourage and walk with people as they go through those ups and downs…to me, that’s the most critical piece.”

Brodzinski knew her team would embrace Padua because it filled a gap in Goodwill’s services they were eager to address: the chance to stand by clients without a time limit.

“The people that stood by you when you were at your lowest, who were there for you consistently. You’re not going to forget that.”

As Coble put it, simply and plainly: “We hired the right people.”

The Welcome

Claire Coleman, Padua Michiana’s program manager, saw the internal excitement and hope building well before launch. Part of her job was forging the referral relationships the program would need to grow. But when she arrived, Goodwill staff already knew who she was.

“People were just randomly walking up to me, ‘Oh, you’re the Padua lady, we’ve been waiting for you,’” she said.

That anticipation turned quickly into action: Padua Michiana’s initial cohort of 18 participants all came through internal referrals, and community reception has been overwhelmingly warm.

“Everyone at Goodwill was very hospitable and happy to have this resource internally to provide additional support to the people they serve,” Coleman recalls.

Coleman also credits Padua’s proven model, existing structure, and program supports with softening the most harrowing aspect of any launch: figuring out what works. Padua arrived fully formed with proven impact.

Breanna Fitzhugh, one of Padua’s case managers, feels that same credibility from the other side of the table: sitting across from someone new. In past roles, she said, showing up meant asking a client to trust an approach with no track record. With Padua, she doesn’t have to ask for that leap of faith.

The Response

Padua Michiana is far too early for outcome data. Yet, it’s how clients talk about the program and Goodwill that has struck staff most. The impact of the program is already clear through the stories clients share.

“They come to us with this sort of abundant excitement about Goodwill and what it has done for them,” Coble said. “Many of them say that they didn’t feel accepted anywhere else.” Several participants have told staff this is the first place they’ve ever been treated like a human being, rather than a problem to be managed.

When I asked one Padua participant what they would say about their experience so far, they stated: “What you’re all doing, the way you’re here for me and the way I can count on you…it’s not something I’ve gotten…consistently in my life. I’m grateful to Goodwill for being the only place that welcomed me like this,” the participant said, opening his arms wide. “I’m just grateful to know that you’re not going to give up on me even if I sometimes give up on myself.”

The Future

When Coble brought Padua to Goodwill’s board, she told them something that could have been a hard sell: Padua would mean serving fewer people than some of Goodwill’s other programs. But the board’s response wasn’t hesitation, rather: they knew that helping break cycles of poverty holistically mattered more than raw volume.

“We know that for every person in this community that we get to help lift up, it’s a stronger community as a whole,” Coble said.

And, as the pioneering mission site, Goodwill Michiana will now be sharing lessons learned with the next wave of replication sites.

“We aren’t just building this for Michiana,” Stojic said. “By working through the early growth lessons here, we get to help smooth the path for every site that comes after us.”

But finally, and perhaps most impactfully, Brodzinski stated that for many participants, a Padua case manager might be the first person who has ever offered them consistency.

“They might be the first person to come along and offer grace. That’s something impossibly special.”

Only time will tell the scope of this exciting new future, but we feel nothing but raw optimism here at Padua Michiana. And I could not be more thrilled to be a part of it.

For many people, a criminal record is an indication of past behavior. Yet long after a sentence has been served, probation completed, and life rebuilt, that record often continues to determine the future. Even if they are doing the hard work and creating stability in their life.

Every job application. Every housing application. Every background check becomes another reminder that while they may have moved forward, society often has not.

The Excel Center is a free public high school for adults, offering individuals who have left high school the opportunity to earn their diploma while preparing for a career or college — earning dual credit or an industry recognized certification. Students receive personalized support, flexible scheduling, and careerfocused education designed to help them build a better future. Those who work at The Excel Center hold the core belief that people are not defined by the worst decision they have ever made.

For students with justice involvement, their future often comes with additional obstacles. A criminal record can continue to create barriers long after someone has accepted responsibility and turned their life around. Through the Justice Involved Coaching Model (JICM), The Excel Center works alongside students to identify and remove the barriers that stand between them and the lives they are working so hard to create.

That’s why we partnered with LEO to study the impact of career and reintegration coaching for justice-involved students. Specifically, the LEO researchers are keen to measure its effect on students’ likelihood of recidivating, educational persistence, and employment.

The Excel Center’s Justice Involved Coaching Model (JICM) doesn’t define students by their records. Instead, we begin by asking a different question: What is standing in the way of your goals?

The answer to that question is different for each individual. It could be transportation, housing, community resources, employment, or help navigating the legal system. The JICM steps in to support each student with each individual challenge.

The work is individualized because every student is an individual.

One of those students was Charley Johnson, a 36-year-old mother of two, determined to build a better future for herself and her family.

Ten years earlier, Charley had made mistakes that resulted in a criminal record. Although those mistakes were well behind her, they remained a barrier every time she tried to move forward. She wanted a career in healthcare and was committed to earning her Pharmacy Technician (Pharm Tech) certification—one of the career pathways students can pursue while attending The Excel Center. But her record threatened to keep that goal out of reach.

Graduating from The Excel Center requires more than earning a high school diploma. Every student also completes an industry-recognized certification or earns dual college credits, ensuring they leave prepared for meaningful employment or continued education. For Charley, becoming a Pharm Tech represented more than a certification. It represented stability, purpose, and an opportunity to provide for her family.

Working with the JICM, Charley was able to pursue an expungement of her record. Removing that legal barrier opened the door to the healthcare career she had been working toward for years.

“I did not initially believe I could get over this hurdle in my life and felt I would always be stuck,” Charley says. “But getting my Pharmacy Tech license and walking into an interview with my head held high was life-changing.”

The expungement did not erase the work she had done to change her life—it recognized it. For the first time in years, Charley was no longer defined by a mistake from her past, but by the future she had worked so hard to build.

Stories like Charley’s remind us that rehabilitation is not simply about serving time. It is about creating opportunities for people to fully rejoin their communities. When barriers remain long after accountability has been accepted, they can prevent individuals from contributing their talents, supporting their families and their communities, and reaching their potential.

The Justice Involved program exists because second chances require more than encouragement. They require action. Every student’s path is different, and there is no checklist that solves every challenge. Some students need help navigating the legal system. Others need connections to employers willing to look beyond a background check. Others need support accessing housing, transportation, or community
resources that make it possible to stay in school and remain focused on their goals.

Betsy Delago, senior vice president & chief mission and education officer at Excel Center, says, “At Excel Center, we believe transformation happens when people are given opportunity, support, and someone who believes in their potential. The Justice Involved Coaching Model reflects that belief by helping students overcome barriers that have followed them for years and empowering them to build meaningful careers, strengthen their families, and create brighter futures.”

The Excel Center’s role is to help remove the barriers that keep that future just out of reach. Because everyone deserves to be seen for who they are becoming — not just what they once did.

Elevating Families is an evidence-based economic mobility program where trained professionals, known as Mobility Mentors, partner with parents and caregivers to identify, set, and achieve goals that lead to greater stability for themselves and their families.

At its simplest, the program exists to help families move toward economic sustainability. But for those who participate, sustainability means much more than earning a higher income or checking a box on a list of accomplishments. It means creating a life where they have the freedom, confidence, and stability to make choices for themselves and their children.

This philosophy is what makes Elevating Families different. The program is built on the nationally recognized Mobility Mentoring® model developed by Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath), a researchbacked approach grounded in the belief that every person is the expert in their own life. Rather than prescribing solutions or defining success on someone else’s behalf, Mobility Mentors walk alongside participants as partners. They ask questions, help break large goals into achievable steps, celebrate progress, and provide encouragement when setbacks inevitably occur. The participant, not the mentor, is always in the driver’s seat.

That same philosophy extends to our ongoing research partnership with LEO. While research studies often focus on statistics, outcomes, and data points, our team never loses sight of what matters most: every data point represents a real person with unique experiences, hopes, and challenges.

The purpose of our study is not simply to prove that the program works. It is to better understand how families experience economic mobility so that we can serve parents more effectively in the future. Our participants are not subjects of research; they are partners in helping shape a stronger, more compassionate approach to supporting families.

Participation in the study is entirely voluntary, and throughout the process we strive to ensure that each parent feels respected, heard, and valued. Trust, autonomy, and dignity are the core principles that guide both our mentoring relationships and our research practices. We recognize that every family defines success differently, and we intentionally create space for participants to determine what progress means for them.

For some, success may be earning a certificate or securing a higher-paying job. For others, it begins with something much smaller, but no less significant.

One participant’s journey illustrates this beautifully. When Suzie earned her driver’s license at the age of thirty, some people might have viewed it as simply accomplishing something long overdue. But to Suzie, it represented a profound turning point. For years, a lack of reliable transportation had been one of the barriers keeping her trapped in an abusive relationship. Without the ability to drive, leaving safely felt impossible. Obtaining her driver’s license gave her much more than the ability to operate a vehicle. It gave her freedom, confidence, and independence. Most importantly, it opened the door to creating a safer life for herself and her children.

That goal may not appear extraordinary on paper. Yet for Suzie, it was the foundation upon which every future goal could be built.

Stories like hers remind us that transformation rarely happens in one dramatic moment. It happens through hundreds of small victories that, over time, reshape a person’s confidence and belief in what is possible. This is why Elevating Families never measures participants against a universal definition of success. A driver’s license, a completed GED, stable housing, opening a savings account, finding meaningful employment, or simply learning to believe in one’s own ability to overcome obstacles—each achievement represents an important step forward because it was chosen by the participants themselves.

Our role is not to determine which goals matter most. Our role is to honor the goals that matter most to the individual.

That commitment to participant autonomy is at the heart of everything we do. Mobility Mentors use evidencebased coaching techniques, including motivational interviewing and the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency®, to help participants identify priorities across five areas of life: family stability, well-being, financial management, education and training, and employment and career. Together, the mentor and participant develop realistic, meaningful goals that reflect each family’s unique circumstances and aspirations.

Along the way, mentors provide encouragement, accountability, and practical support, but they never take ownership of the participant’s journey. Success belongs entirely to the individual who has done the difficult work of changing their life.

Perhaps the greatest lesson our team has learned through Elevating Families is that dignity is not something we give to participants. Dignity already belongs to them.

When I first accepted the position at Lubbock County Detention Center (LCDC) as the rehabilitation coordinator, I had no idea that coordinating the Step Up program would be one of the most fulfilling experiences in my career. This experience, working with an incarcerated male population, has given me a new perspective as an experienced mental health professional. This is all thanks to LEO and their research showing positive outcomes.

The results have shown a decrease in behavioral incidents and a decrease in aggressive and/or volatile behaviors from the inmates that participate in the program. So, what makes the program successful? From a non-research perspective, and from my own clinical opinion based on my observations of the program, here’s how I would answer that question.

It is important to understand that therapy alone does not change an individual’s behavior, other people cannot force someone to change, and a shift in behavior does not guarantee permanent change. Developmental growth consists of change in core beliefs and values of oneself and the world, life experiences, knowledge, awareness, and the ability to exercise choice.

Step Up has taught me that it is imperative that we change the culture and environment of jail.

Society has created the belief that jail should be a cold, dark, isolating, and harsh environment with a staff versus inmate dynamic. Think “The Shawshank Redemption” or “The Alabama Solution”. Step Up has taught us differently: officers and inmates work together to create respect, clear communication, and defined boundaries.

Creating a safe place where individuals can be vulnerable and express themselves helps them find their own motivation for change. Even in confinement, they can build autonomy, open-mindedness, peer support, accountability, integrity, and healthy socialization skills.

One Step Up participant, a frequent flyer at the jail, began the program in his 60s as he prepared for prison. He said his biggest fear was failure and the relapse it could cause before reentry.

He recently wrote a letter from prison about his experience in the program:

“Even though I’m still locked up it’s like I’m this different guy and it’s not just on the outside…The shame is gone and I live for the future now instead of in the past. My dreams have come back and I know that I’m capable of having a good life!...I know that I’m the one that put in the work. I’m very proud of that but I also know that you and that program changed my life.”

Another participant, placed in the same prison unit as his brother, shared how he used what he learned in Step Up:

“Prison sure ain’t what it used to be…I shared with my brother what I have learned and how I manage with my anxiety from the Step Up program. I’m very grateful you allowed me to attend and be able to graduate.”

He continued to mentor others and reported that prison was easier this time. He adjusted in a healthy way, avoided focusing on gang affiliations, and became a positive influence by modeling accountability, healthy coping strategies, and constructive behavior.

Starting Step Up during the pre-sentencing stage can lay the foundation for a safer correctional culture for inmates and staff and a better future for those reentering society.

When I introduced games such as inflatable bowling, karaoke, and silicone darts, the idea was questioned. I argued that incentives are part of behavior modification, but the result was deeper: participants learned to have fun without substances, built healthy friendships, experienced play they may have missed in childhood, and developed humility and self-awareness that helped them become positive role models and
mentors.

As much as we would like for this program to be the cure to prevent relapses of negative behaviors, it does not guarantee prevention. Relapses do happen and it is part of the stages of change. Some participants move through all stages during the 21-week program; others remain in precontemplation for the first 12 weeks.

Each participant’s timeline is different, and many move between contemplation—thinking about change—and action—taking steps to change.

The final letter comes from one of our youngest participants, who became a Step Up mentor before transitioning to prison. While there, he experienced a relapse:

“You gave me the chance of a lifetime that a lot of people don’t get or don’t realize the opportunity that they have. And I really am thankful for that. I’ve been in and out of incarceration and different types of programs since 14 years old and none of them has helped me as much as the Step Up program has. I can’t lie when I first got to my transfer unit, I started condoning in negativity and ended up relapsing…After awhile I really realized if I’m messing up in here how am I gonna really change…I am currently going to college now to get my associates degree…I take a lot of classes called ITP classes. They’re kind of like the ones in Step Up…I know the program is hard due to the cost and inmates but you can’t let other people affect your life and your future. I highly recommend this program if you’re willing to give it a try.”

Every participant’s journey and outcomes are different. Step Up succeeds because it is not a cut-and-paste program focused on one thing for every participant. Collaboration, psychoeducation, and a willingness to adapt to a correctional facility’s unique culture are essential.

Looking ahead, I hope to build on these lessons by scalingand replicating the program’s most effective practices to improve jail culture and
outcomes for incarcerated individuals and correctional staff nationwide.

My three-hour shift manning the LEO office’s front desk was a refreshing slice of calm in my day. Far from the cacophony of chatting voices
echoing through Duncan Student Center and the winding lines of South Dining Hall, the “LEO Pod” was peaceful, with researchers filtering in for their morning coffee or a meeting. For three hours, everything slowed down, a break from that go-go-go, “efficiency-is-everything” feeling that can pervade campus.

That front desk offered me a front-row seat to LEO’s mission as I absorbed glimpses of projects through coffee refills and conversations. Since I study Economics and Political Science, I started connecting the research jargon in the LEO Pod with my problem sets and papers, and felt pulled to learn more.

The Poverty Research Fellows program provided a chance to swap my chair in the LEO Pod for a seat beside Arik Zintel, one of LEO’s research design managers. He manages LEO’s work with the Right at Home (RAH) initiative, an effort to replicate Santa Clara County’s homelessness prevention program in 10 diverse sites across the country. From Atlanta to Alaska, Right at Home provides fast, flexible financial assistance and supportive services to households at imminent risk of losing housing. LEO works with sites to develop a rigorous evaluation method and develop targeted screening to direct limited resources to where they’ll have the greatest impact.

When I began my summer as Arik’s intern, his work ethic and attention to detail were immediately apparent. Each of the 10 sites has its own unique stakeholders and contexts. I found myself frequently toggling to our master RAH spreadsheet in meetings to keep track of site-specific agenda items—but Arik has internalized them all, mentally switching from site to site within seconds. I began to see a critical challenge of his work: each program must maintain fidelity to core components of Santa Clara’s model, while also being adapted to the needs of that given community.

That adaptation piece, or adjusting targeted prevention to a local context, takes up the bulk of research design conversations. In weekly research design calls for each site, Arik, LEO researchers, and local providers wrestle with a central question: what systems can we build to ensure RAH dollars reach the folks most likely to become homeless?

Over the first few weeks of my internship, these tough, hour-long conversations sometimes felt grueling, even inefficient. I wondered how Arik stayed so energized, driving each site’s discussion towards the next problem to solve. Were these calls, logistics, and adjustments really worth it, and how did Arik stay motivated through them all? Why was the site-specific adaptation component that important?

As the summer began, I decided to read Pope Leo XIV’s hot-off-the-press encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. Its second chapter addresses and reframes key pillars of Catholic Social Teaching in this technology-driven age, and as I read, I reevaluated my attitude towards that day’s Zoom calls. The principle of subsidiarity asserts that social tasks should be completed by the most local level capable of providing them. Pope Leo writes that such “processes [must] not be imposed from above in an opaque and unilateral manner, but instead be directed toward
the common good with transparency, accountability and meaningful forms of participation” (Magnifica Humanitas, no. 71).

I diagnosed my initial impatience as a subconscious byproduct of our optimization-obsessed culture. It would certainly be faster to bypass weekly research-design conversations, but homelessness prevention is not one-size-fits-all. What initially appeared inefficient was actually deliberate. For me, I began to see the benefits of LEO’s comprehensive attention to local context as twofold.

First, it strengthens a program’s potential impact. For example, in the case of Right at Home, one of its core components is targeted prevention, or the use of a data-driven assessment tool in determining client eligibility. If certain characteristics indicate a greater risk of housing loss in a particular community, the tool can prioritize those households, making it more likely that limited financial support
reaches people who would otherwise become homeless. The development of such a tool takes time and analysis, and, by nature, looks different from site to site.

Perhaps more importantly, taking time with each RAH site’s team builds relationships and affirms dignity—not just for the folks being served, but also for the providers that serve them. Time spent with sites implicitly reasserts LEO’s mission: there isn’t a tradeoff between research and social work; instead, they are intimately codependent. Quantitative analysis needs qualitative understanding. As Pope Leo’s encyclical reminds us, true human connection must not be lost amidst exponential technological advancement.

As students, we often assume that effectiveness decreases as the time required increases. The faster, the better. Let’s get our lunches on the move, “Grab-N’-Go” style; maintain jam-packed Google Calendar schedules, and multitask to the max. But perhaps true innovation lies in reclaiming a measure of inefficiency for the sake of authentic connection.

While I’ve moved from administrative assistance to research support, for me, LEO has remained an oasis from the relentless speed of our culture. This summer, I witnessed how each extra minute on Zoom strengthened the researcher-provider relationships on which effective social programs depend.

That is what sets LEO apart: a stubborn dedication to human dignity, no matter how much time it takes.

Padua has redefined traditional case management through its client-led, long-term, and research-driven approach. The program was rigorously tested through a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) by the University of Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), confirming its transformative impact. 

Read the rest of the article here.

Steve speaks with William Evans and Ethan Lieber about the heartbreaking rise of deaths due to drug misuse in the United States. A major shift in prescription practices for pain management after 1995 drove higher levels of opiate use and misuse and contributed to an explosion of illicit opiates in the 21^st century. It’s a disturbing story of professional misjudgments, deceptive marketing, policy mistakes, and unintended consequences. Reforms in prescription practices, while overdue, will mitigate but not solve current-day problems of drug abuse and misuse.

We’ve all heard Rome wasn’t built in a day. And we’ve all seen the influences of the Romans in our daily lives. For all their faults, the Romans nearly perfected several crafts of their time, including law, language, and a calendar system. They engineered roads, built aqueducts to transport water, improved sanitation with public toilets, created central heat, and developed public welfare systems. They spread these systems across continents that changed the world. But it’s easy to imagine that first—

First there were problems to be solved, an urgency to be had. People who cared about issues, people who studied, people who experimented and risked the status quo. There were likely moments of failure, fear, and frustration that things might not work. Which led to repetition, observation, and success. And then one day, they moved their learnings forward to create inventions and structures that continue to make an impact centuries later.

At the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), the genesis of the work is in scouting and finding these inventors, poverty’s fiercest adversaries who really have something that can change things for the better. Then comes rigorous study and research. But LEO’s mission extends beyond generating evidence; they turn that evidence into action. Replication brings a program to new contexts, while scaling adapts it to expand its reach.

Scaling evidence-based solutions expands both reach and knowledge. As they replicate programs, LEO conducts research to refine the replication process, offering both academic and practical insights. With a structured approach, programs move through Phase I (Defining the Program), Phase II (Packaging the Program), and Phase III (Replicating the Program) after demonstrating impact through randomized controlled trials.

Each spring, LEO hosts an Impact Workshop for partner agencies who are ready to expand their programs through replication sites, social franchising, toolkits, and other methods. For agency partners, scaling their signature programs is often a major goal in this line of work. But scale is not a beginning or an end. It is a milestone in a longer journey, one marked by iteration, evidence, and hard-won progress.

The journey to impact is made up of lessons that are anything but small. The sections below explore what some of these learnings and stops along the journey mean for LEO’s partners as they walk the path to impact.

For Cindy Casey of Catholic Charities Fort Worth, the journey began with a powerful realization: the systems meant to support people in poverty were often making things worse. Padua, the program she helped build, came to fruition because of a lived frustration with a system that wasn’t working.

“In 2014, as we were designing Padua, we had three goals,” Casey explains. “To walk alongside families on their journey out of poverty, to really gather the data and identify those
key points, and to advocate for change nationwide.” That final goal—systemic change—would eventually define the program’s trajectory. But it was far from an immediate fix.

Across LEO’s network of partners, one of the most important milestones on the path to impact is the transition from believing a program works to proving it does.

The journey to impact is made up of lessons that are anything but small.

At NPower, a program that provides technology training and career opportunities, that shift marked a turning point. Kim Mitchell recalls a time when the organization knew it was making
a difference but lacked the external validation to show it. “We are not the only ones that can report our impact,” she says. “We need to have more objective, external, and research-backed activities that would help to tell the story of impact.”

Through a randomized controlled trial alongside LEO, NPower moved beyond internal confidence to external evidence. The process itself drove the clarity required to take things to the next level. What exactly drives these successful outcomes? What must be preserved as the program grows?

The moment when data replaces assumption is key to getting to the next level. It requires partner agencies to open themselves up to scrutiny and to rethink long-held practices. But it is also what makes scale possible.

In some cases, the journey to impact reveals not just what works, but also what those future challenges might be. For example, LEO’s study of Padua found that Padua participants were 67% more likely to be employed full-time (among those unemployed at start of program) and 46% more likely to see an increase in monthly earnings, compared to a control group. Results are strong, but there are still questions about a path to sustainability. These are questions replication can help answer.

Social service providers often face challenges in this process, such as packaging programs for replication, resource limitations, and balancing fidelity with local adaptation. In partnership with franchising experts, LEO helps overcome these barriers by applying best practices from research and the franchising industry. They package programs for successful launch and expansion to communities in need, paving the way for lasting change.

At King County Metro, Alyson Hams saw firsthand how data can expose the hidden barriers to scale. The ORCA LIFT program, which provides reducedfare transit to low-income riders, was already helping people access jobs, education, and essential services.

“It’s really good having data,” Hams says. “We want to scale up—and we can’t right now.” The obstacle wasn’t the program; it was the system surrounding it: legacy technology, complex enrollment processes, and administrative constraints that made expansion difficult. Identifying those limitations is a part of the journey to chart a path forward. King County is taking a unique path to take their evidence to scale. The program will create a toolkit with best practices from transportation systems across the US implementing reduced fare transit
subsidies.

For some partners, the enlightening challenges encountered along the journey are not just operational; they are cultural. At the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, Captain Salome Lopez
and Kristina Luera manage a program that focuses on early intervention, targeting individuals before patterns of incarceration become a way of life. What sets their program apart is a
focus on trauma.

Introducing this kind of approach in a correctional setting is not for the faint of heart. Skepticism is common. Change is slow. But here, too, evidence becomes a turning point. “With the data, we’re seeing improvements and changes, behavior-wise,” Lopez says. That proof helps shift mindsets, opening the door for broader adoption in the future.

Behind each successful model in LEO’s portfolio of partners is a network of researchers, funders, governments, and nonprofits, all working together to move from evidence to action.

Organizations like Arnold Ventures play a critical role in this ecosystem. As Justin Milner explains, the goal is not just to fund research but to ensure that findings translate into real-world impact. “We are not doing our jobs if we’re not thinking about how we can use limited public resources to the greatest effect.”

Ross Tilchin of Results for America shares as a partner of LEO, “The whole mission (of Results for America) is to help state and local leaders identify strategies that have good evidence of being effective—and then produce material that helps them actually implement those strategies.” Evidence alone is not enough. It needs translation; it needs action.

And in categories like child welfare, public-private partnerships are essential. At the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Rita Soronen has seen how scaling impact requires
alignment between mission-driven organizations and public systems. “We would never have the capacity to serve the number of children we do simply with private funds,” she explains. “Taking it to scale really takes a public-private partnership.”

For several of LEO’s partners, their journeys are nearing the next phase. Replication is no longer a distant goal; it is an immediate opportunity. If evidence itself is a milestone, replication is where the rubber meets the road.

For Casey and the Padua team, it represents the fulfillment of a longheld vision. “To advocate for change nationwide, that’s what replication is all about,” she says. “Replication is really hard work,” she continues. It isn’t about adding a new location; it’s more nuanced than that. Will this work somewhere else, with different people, under different conditions?

For Padua, that time is now. After years of partnership with LEO, replication sites are launching in South Bend and Chicago. “We know that Padua works in Fort Worth, Texas,” Casey explains. “We now want to know where and how else it can work in other communities serving other populations.” It’s a big deal for both LEO and Padua, balanced by a tension that the future depends on adapting that success without losing what made it effective.

That tension is echoed across LEO’s partners. At NPower, Mitchell emphasizes the importance of scaling with integrity. “We want to continue to deliver those same levels of support…in ways that allow us to serve more people but also continue to deliver the same level of quality.” The challenge for all partner agencies is not just to grow but to identify the “special sauce” and ensure it survives the transition from a local program to a scalable model.

Replication is no longer a distant goal; it is an immediate opportunity. If evidence itself is a milestone, replication is where the rubber meets the road.

And for LEO itself, it marks a transition—from evaluating what works to helping ensure it works everywhere it can. As Tilchin notes, the ultimate goal is to accelerate the adoption of proven solutions. But that acceleration is only possible because of the groundwork laid along the journey. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, Padua and many other partner programs have been around for decade(s).

As LEO and several of its partner agencies step into this next phase, one with an emphasis on replication and national expansion, they do so not at the beginning of their journeys but well into their paths. They do so from a place of strength—good ideas that have been validated, vetted, and proven ready to be tested on a grander scale. Ideas that have been exposed to pushback and barriers but have workshopped ways to improve with some of the brightest minds around the table. Collectively, LEO and its partner agencies hold hope that in scaling what works, they too can change the course of the future for the better. They too can look around and see evidence of better work to end poverty everywhere they go.

In the early days of LEO, we knew how to build evidence. We also knew we wanted to make an impact. We just didn’t know how we’d do that part yet.

That might sound strange coming from a research lab. But it’s the truth. From the beginning, we were deeply committed to partnering with social service providers—listening to them, learning from them, and rigorously evaluating their programs. We knew that if we could build strong evidence alongside these partners, we could better understand what truly works to reduce poverty.

What was less clear was how that evidence would live beyond a publication. What role might and should we play in taking evidence to impact. How might we influence policy, how might we help programs grow, replicate, and reach more people.

One of our earliest projects, the Homelessness Prevention Call Center with Catholic Charities Chicago, offered a glimpse of what might be possible. We built the study in careful partnership with a provider. That work ultimately led to five academic publications, including one in Science. From there we worked with the partner to demonstrate the impact of the program which led to the state renewing funding for the program.

But more importantly, we were approached by leaders on the other side of the country interested in launching a similar prevention program. They wanted to understand what we had learned and how to do it well. And for the first time, we found ourselves not just sharing results, but helping shape what came next. We encouraged them to build the program with a randomized evaluation from the start, knowing that rigorous evidence would give it a strong foundation from which to scale.

Looking back, that moment was a blueprint. Not because we had all the answers, but because we began to see the full arc of the work: from building evidence, to sharing it, to informing decisions about what should grow.

It also taught us that timing matters.

If we had tried to build towards a large scale effort based on that first study, we wouldn’t have been ready. We needed time to build the right partnerships, to understand the programs, and to do the research well. That patience allowed the evidence to be strong enough to matter later. But at some point, patience has to give way to action. For years, we had conversations about scale. We talked with leaders in social finance, performance-based contracting, and impact investing. We talked to scaling experts and people who had failed to scale social programs. We explored questions about how to fund programs at scale, how to replicate what works, how to move from evidence to broader impact.

We could have kept learning forever. But about four years ago, we made a decision: it was time to start doing. That decision led to what is now our Policy and Impact team and to a new phase of LEO’s work. In many ways, this phase is a fulfillment of our research work- impacting more people with anti-poverty programs that work.

Our approach is simple and consistent with how we do our research. We ground ourselves in a simple principle: our partners must remain at the center. Any effort to scale or replicate a program has to start with them. They have to want it. They have to see the opportunity. And we have to bring something of value—whether that’s evidence, strategic support, or help navigating funding and policy landscapes.

In other words, we have to and can help de-risk the path forward.

We also recognized that we couldn’t do this alone. So we built a model that combines a small internal team with a network of exceptional partners—people and organizations with deep expertise in policy, scaling, and implementation. Groups like Results for America and Franchise for Good have brought perspectives and tools that simply didn’t exist within LEO before. Together, we’re building. Together we’re contributing to a broader understanding of what it takes to replicate evidence-based solutions effectively.

And we’re still learning.

Recently, we launched a second replication cohort working with three county-level programs, each at a different stage of growth. It’s an exciting step forward, but it’s also a reminder that this work is complex.

Scaling is not a formula. It requires adaptation, humility, and constant attention to the communities being served.

That’s what keeps me up at night—not in a way that feels heavy, but in a way that feels energizing.

Because this work matters.

For me, this is the reason I’m at LEO. The policy and impact work we’re doing now doesn’t feel separate from the research, it feels like the natural and necessary continuation of it. The fulfillment of the courage our providers show in building evidence and using it to inform how they best serve people in need. A way to ensure that the evidence we build doesn’t just sit on a shelf, but actually changes lives.

At LEO, we’ve spent years building a strong foundation of evidence. Now, we’re building a pathway for that evidence to travel further.

A pathway for impact.

We don’t have it all figured out. There are still open questions about how best to scale, how to sustain funding, how to ensure fidelity while adapting to new contexts. Those are the questions that continue to push us, to challenge us, to keep us learning.

But what I do know is this: we are no longer just building evidence. We are building the conditions for that evidence to matter at scale.

Partner: Project Diakonia
Project: Low Barrier Workforce Development Program
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
By: Lily Morrell, senior research design manager

Project Diakonia is a nonprofit organization providing vocational training and wraparound support to disconnected youth ages 16 to 24.

The program deliberately targets individuals who are typically excluded from traditional workforce development programs due to strict performance requirements tied to funding, including those who are justice-involved, experiencing homelessness, in foster care, dropped out of a traditional high school, or are enrolled in an alternative high school.

“There are these huge pools of untapped talent who just need programming tailored to their needs so that they’re prepared to succeed in these opportunities,” said Project Diakonia executive director Cliff Hunter.

Program participants complete an eight-week, competency-based construction skills training course and receive up to 12 months of post-program support, including individualized case management, mentorship, and employment navigation services. A distinguishing feature of the model is its “screening in” philosophy. Rather than prioritizing participants with the highest likelihood of nearterm success, Project Diakonia intentionally serves those with the most complex barriers to stability.

LEO is partnering with Project Diakonia to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the causal impact of this workforce development model. The study leverages excess demand for the program to randomly assign eligible and consenting youth to either a treatment group, that receives the full program, or a control group, that receives referrals to community resources and a warm handoff to local workforce services.

The evaluation will measure Project Diakonia’s impact on primary outcomes including employment, earnings, and educational attainment. Secondary outcomes include justice system involvement (including recidivism and frequency and intensity of reoffenses), housing stability, and use of government benefits. The baseline and follow-up survey instruments will capture harder-to-quantify dimensions of the intervention’s impact, such as self-efficacy, agency, and goal orientation. The study aims to generate rigorous causal evidence on the effectiveness of low-barrier workforce development programs for high-need youth populations, with implications for program scaling and policy advocacy at the state and national level.

Upcoming studies with Project Diakonia and Polaris will demonstrate which interventions are most effective to address a multitude of economic barriers.

Partner: Polaris
Project: The Resilience Fund
Location: Washington D.C. (National)
By: Paul Gramling, research design manager

Polaris is a leading non-profit dedicated to combating human trafficking. They put survivors first, treating them as the true experts in the field. Their work centers on listening to survivors and letting their experiences drive real change.

One of Polaris’s flagship programs is the Resilience Fund, which provides direct cash assistance to trafficking survivors across the U.S. The idea is simple but powerful: give survivors back what their traffickers took from them—control over their own lives. The fund steps in where traditional resources fall short, while also connecting participants to services that address the deeper barriers to financial security.

Through the Resilience Fund, survivors can receive up to $6,900 over 18 months. Payments start at up to $500 per month and gradually taper down over time, a deliberate design choice that encourages long-term independence rather than ongoing reliance on outside support. Survivors can use the funds however they need, whether that’s for housing, transportation, childcare, or paying down debt. Beyond the financial assistance, participants have access to benefits navigation, a monthly community forum, and a survivor support group throughout the program.

Megan Lundstrom, CEO of Polaris, says, “Survivors of human trafficking, by definition, have experienced a form of severe financial abuse, so feeling like you are being monitored around your spending, being controlled, not having true agency, can bring up memories of exploitation. So, the act of direct cash assistance says we trust you, you know your life best, and you are the expert in your life. That in itself has a healing effect.”

Now, Polaris is partnering with LEO to study the impact of the Resilience Fund. The research will use a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to measure the program’s impact on survivors’ safety, economic stability, and well-being. Researchers will look at outcomes like housing stability, mental health, credit scores, debt reduction, and educational progress. A key question is whether the financial support reduces survivors’ risk of being exploited again. Once the study is complete, Polaris will use results not only to improve and expand the program — but also to advocate for policies and resources that support survivors’ long-term thriving.

Do you work at or know of an organization ready to develop evidence to show their impact.? Start with a quick call. Visit partnerwithleo.org to learn more.

One of our key partners in impact right now focuses on expansion through state policy change. The Excel Centers are on a mission to transform adult lives through the power of achieving a high school diploma and accessing postsecondary education. More than 23 million adults in the US lack a high school credential, and this group faces substantially worse labor market and criminal justice outcomes than people who graduate. For many adults past the traditional high school age, they believe earning a GED is their only option. Goodwill knows the value of a high school diploma, and they founded Excel Center to expand access to education and grant high school diplomas to adults of any age.

Our partners at the Goodwill Excel National have a deep commitment to expanding the footprint and the impact of the Excel Centers model program. A key barrier to expanding is state law that prevents adults ages 22 and above from earning a high school diploma. As such, Senior Vice President and Chief Mission and Education Officer Betsy Delgado and her team seek to find states where a policy change is possible so that in moving into that state and working with the Goodwill/s there, they work towards clear sustainable funding. This means that when they open up an Excel Center they do so with a commitment to funding a proven program consistently. For Betsy and her team, a key strategy for expansion is bringing LEO to new states to share about the research. As Betsy says, “We need to educate people on why they should invest in these programs.”

Goodwill knows the value of a high school diploma, and they founded Excel Center to expand access to education and grant high school diplomas to adults of any age.

I recently joined leaders from Goodwill Excel National and Goodwill Arkansas to testify in front of the Arkansas State Legislature Education

Committee sharing about the impact, verified by LEO’s independent research, on student earnings, employment, and higher education participation. LEO team members have testified similarly in half a dozen other states. This effort, to take evidence to state policy leaders, has supported Excel Center expansions into 50 schools in 12 states and Washington, D.C.

Lead researcher Patrick Turner notes, “We find that graduating from the Excel Center raises earnings by nearly 40% within five years, while also increasing workforce certifications and college credits that open doors to higherpaying sectors such as healthcare. And this is not just an Indiana story. We find similarly-sized earnings impacts when replicating our analysis with Excel Center students in Austin, TX. The program is highly cost-effective, generating $20 in benefits for every net public dollar spent based on our analysis of earnings gains alone. Our new work exploring the school’s impact on contact with the criminal justice system suggests these benefits increase to over $60.”

This shows strong partnership and evidence are leading the way to poverty reduction across the country.

In 2017, LEO began a partnership with Destination: Home, a non-profit organization based in Santa Clara County with a different approach to ending homelessness: stopping it before it starts. The idea was simple: what if, instead of allowing someone to be evicted because they could not pay their rent or utilities this month, those costs were taken care of by Destination: Home, allowing people and families to remain housed and off the streets? Alongside this financial aid would be supportive services like case management and legal help to support clients in their time of need.

LEO partnered with Destination: Home to test the effectiveness of their Homelessness Prevention System. Because of an excess of demand for prevention funds, from July 2019 to December 2020 clients applying for homelessness prevention were randomly selected to either receive financial help or be referred to non-financial services.

The results were striking. Those who received homelessness prevention funds were 3.6 percentage points less likely to use homelessness services within six months of application. Within 12 months, those who did not receive funds were three times more likely to have interacted with the homelessness system in Santa Clara County. Not only were those who received prevention more likely to remain stably housed, but researchers at LEO found that for every $1 spent on homelessness prevention funds in Santa Clara County, $2.47 of societal benefit resulted.

So, if you had a program that not only reduced the risk of homelessness by 67% and was cost effective while doing so, what would you do? Obviously, you would tell people. You would try to spread your message to other communities. And you would hope that other communities would hear that message and start programs of their own. LEO’s interim managing director, Rachel Fulcher Dawson said it best: “We have a moral obligation to take evidence to impact. When we find strong evidence that something is effective, it’s not enough to publish a result. We have to make sure that evidence gets used by replicating and scaling what works, so communities across the country can benefit.”

And so, the Right at Home initiative was born.

“We have proven that targeted homelessness prevention works locally, and now it’s time to prove that this can work all across the country. We should never let people, in the worst moments of their lives, suffer even more.”

Destination: Home, in collaboration with LEO as the national evidence partner, Homebase as the technical assistance partner, and a variety of funding partners, including The Audacious Project, have collaborated to create the Right at Home initiative, an effort to introduce Destination: Home’s proven prevention model in 10 communities across the nation. In doing so, we hope to prevent thousands of families from losing their homes, while building upon the evidence unearthed in Santa Clara County. As Jennifer Loving, the CEO of Destination: Home said, “We have proven that targeted homelessness prevention works locally, and now it’s time to prove that this can work all across the country. We should never let people, in the worst moments of their lives, suffer even more.”

Each community chosen to be a part of Right at Home will implement Destination: Home’s model, made up of 10 essential components which make up the foundation of a targeted homelessness prevention model. These components include flexible cash assistance, rapid delivery of assistance, no set upper bound on the amount of funds received, and no wrong entrance into the system, among others.

Sites for the initiative include: Atlanta, GA; Austin-Travis County, TX; the Asheville Region, NC; the Minnesota Tribal Collaborative; the County of San Mateo, CA; Miami-Dade County, FL; Denver-Adams County, CO; Alaska; and two more communities to be announced soon.

Together, these communities will serve over 10,000 people across the nation, offering assistance for rent payment, utility bills, and other essentials to ensure individuals and families remain housed. As David Phillips, one of the lead researchers on the original Destination: Home study as well as on the current Right at Home studies, said, “We already have strong evidence that targeted prevention can keep people housed. Right at Home is a chance to take those results to impact at a national scale. By working alongside communities, we can learn what it takes to deliver strong outcomes in different places—and share what works so leaders can strengthen and sustain prevention over time.”

The Right at Home communities are beginning research design with a goal of all 10 programs being launched by January 2027.

The Right at Home initiative demonstrates the full potential of research, and a culmination of LEO’s mission and values. Evidence created through rigorous research in Santa Clara County is supporting the creation of new, effective programs in partnership with other communities on a national scale, offering dignity and hope to thousands in crisis.

My time at LEO has confirmed that instinct. We are deeply committed to challenging “business as usual” approaches that have not produced meaningful, lasting change in the lives of those experiencing poverty. I have also come to understand that disrupting the status quo is not simply about identifying one nonprofit’s solution to poverty as effective. Rather, it is about creating a broader movement in which these effective, evidence-based solutions are shared, scaled, and championed. At the heart of this movement is LEO’s replication work.

I joined LEO’s Replication and Scale team in the fall of 2024—an especially exciting moment, as the team had just selected its first projects for replication. From the outset, I was entrusted with advancing the ambitious goal of expanding evidence-based programs across the United States. One of the projects I worked on was Catholic Charities of Fort Worth’s Padua program. Previous LEO research shows that this holistic program empowers participants to achieve lasting economic stability, and the goal was to bring these outcomes to more communities in need.

My work began with conducting market assessments of nearly 30 cities across the country to evaluate their potential need for a program
like Padua. I analyzed factors such as population size, poverty rates, housing costs, and mental health indicators to help determine where the program might be most impactful. As the list narrowed to South Bend, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, I conducted deeper research into each city’s specific challenges, existing resources, and key stakeholders. I then had the opportunity to present my findings directly to Catholic Charities of Fort Worth, an experience that made me feel truly invested in the replication process.

Even while studying abroad in London during the spring semester of my junior year, I remained committed to continuing this work and seeing the Padua replication project through. After completing our city analyses, we began the extensive process of identifying potential partner organizations in Chicago and South Bend.

I quickly learned that successful replication is not easy. It requires more than interest; it depends on alignment in mission, strong leadership, and the infrastructure necessary to implement an evidence-based program effectively.

We began this process broadly, compiling information on nearly 700 nonprofit organizations in the Chicago area and about 100 in South Bend. I was responsible for researching each of these organizations to assess their potential as partners. This work required many hours, but it was also deeply inspiring. As I learned about each organization’s vision and commitment to its community, I was moved by the dedication of so many individuals working to improve the lives of their neighbors.

In the later stages of the project, I supported outreach efforts by helping organize meetings, develop agendas, and prepare materials for conversations with potential partner organizations. These meetings, bringing together LEO, Catholic Charities Fort Worth, and prospective partners, were essential in determining whether organizations had both the capacity and the commitment to implement the Padua model effectively. Ultimately, this process led to the selection of one partner organization in Chicago and one in South Bend to move forward with replicating the Padua Program.

Looking back, one of the most rewarding parts of this experience was the opportunity to see a project evolve from its earliest stages into something real and impactful. What began as research and spreadsheets gradually became partnerships, plans, and the foundation for change in two communities. It was incredibly exciting to witness that progression firsthand and to know that my work contributed to that momentum. Being part of a team that is not only studying poverty but actively working to implement solutions at scale has been inspiring. As these replication sites begin their journeys, I feel a deep sense of anticipation and hope—eager to see how the Padua Program takes root in new communities and continues to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

Evidence leads to impact

The Evidence-Based Grantmaking Act, introduced this January, is one of the strongest pieces of evidence-based policymaking legislation since the 2018 Evidence Act.

The bill aims to improve the way federal grants are invested, ensuring tax payer dollars fund effective programs. This would ensure that federal agencies:

• Build and use evidence to guide funding decisions
• Set clear, measurable outcomes for programs
• Evaluate what’s delivering results - and what’s not
• Direct resources toward proven strategies, and away from consistently ineffective ones

Indiana Representative Rudy Yakym notes, “There is broad, bipartisan consensus that federal programs should be more accountable and results-driven, and this bill is a vital step in that direction.”

“The Evidence-Based Grantmaking Act builds on the Evidence Act of 2018 by helping agencies focus dollars and efforts on evidence-based programs proven to improve the lives of those experiencing poverty,” said Jim Sullivan, co-founder of LEO and professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame. “When funding follows evidence, more communities can benefit and more lives can change.”

Evidence leads to impact.

To learn more, visit bit.ly/EvidenceBasedGrantmaking

Building government and research partnerships that matter

Our latest Evidence Matters webinar provides practical tips for government and non-profit workers seeking research partnerships.

Moderator Vincent Quan (J-PAL North America) and panelists Patrick Turner (LEO), Louise Geraghty (J-PAL North America), and Carrie S. Cihak (Public sector) had a candid conversation on government and research partnerships.

Research and collaboration go hand-in-hand. LEO faculty Patrick Turner reflected on the importance of researchers and partners defining the study together: “It really is this co-creative process of trying to find overlap on where there’s research interest on the question, and then working towards how we can best overlay research evidence on top of that.”

Public sector evidence leader Carrie S. Cihak encouraged government partners to feel confident in their part of the research process, “It’s part of human nature to be problem solvers, and that’s really what research is all about.”

J-PAL North America government partnerships lead Louise Geraghty reminded workers who are part of a program’s day-to-day operations that the foundation for the study is built on their lived experience: “You’re the expert, you know your community, and the researchers that you’re working with are looking to you as such.”

Watch the recording at https://bit.ly/evidencematters10lessons

Introducing LEO champions

LEO is building meaningful relationships with non-profit leaders, data stewards, agency officials, elected representatives, and advocacy groups.

At LEO, we believe those closest to the problem are closest to the solution.

Our goal is to establish champions in each of our priority states, ensuring we have people on the ground ready to use our evidence to advocate for change. Champions help us advance our mission by using our evidence, introducing us to their network, and testifying for state policy change.

One of our strongest champions in the policy space is Betsy Delgado, senior vice president and chief mission and education officer at Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana. Together, Betsy and LEO have advocated for education policy change in 12 states and Washington D.C. This has allowed for the expansion of Goodwill Excel Center to 50 sites.

To learn more about LEO’s policy work, connect with our assistant director of policy and scale Emily Giel at egiel@nd.edu

Happening In Your District

Happening In Your District is an effort to engage with lawmakers, agency officials, and staffers about LEO partners in their area.

These targeted email campaigns provide updates on the creation and use of evidence throughout the project lifecycle. LEO’s policy and scale team shares a quick overview of LEO project milestones including the start of the research process, preliminary results, published papers, and replication efforts. Our hope is that these campaigns can be one more way for LEO to build rapport as a trusted source of truth in the fight against poverty.

If you want to stay up to date with what’s happening in your district, visit bit.ly/HIYDUpdates to get updates for your area.

LEO partners highlighted in The Science of Second Chances

Our rigorous impact evaluations with partners are informing evidence on criminal justice reform.

In The Science of Second Chances: A Revolution in Criminal Justice economist and LEO affiliated researcher Jennifer Doleac highlights how Johnson County Mental Health Center Brief Jail Mental Health Screen and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago Homelessness Prevention Call Center reduced recidivism.

Brief Jail Mental Health Screen connects jail inmates to mental health care. LEO’s study shows this intervention at such a critical time in a person’s life reduced the likelihood of another booking within a year by 17%.

Catholic Charities Chicago’s Homelessness Prevention Call Center provides emergency financial assistance for housing. LEO’s study found this support reduced new arrests by 5.6 percentage points among individuals with past criminal justice involvement. This overall effect includes a large decline in violent crime arrests, including for battery.

Visit bit.ly/ScienceofSecondChances to read Jennifer Doleac’s groundbreaking approach to criminal justice reform.

Results for America highlights Padua

In 2015, Catholic Charities Fort Worth created Padua - a client led program designed to help people permanently exit poverty.

Padua has a holistic case management system. Every client has a two-person case management team, who they work with closely to achieve their personal, employment, and education goals.

LEO has been with Padua since the beginning. Our rigorous impact evaluation found that Padua participants were 67% more likely to be employed full-time (among those unemployed at start of program) and 46% more likely to see an increase in monthly earnings, compared to a control group. LEO has led the effort to replicate the program in South Bend, Indiana and additional locations coming soon.

Visit bit.ly/RFAPadua to learn more from Results for America’s latest case study on Padua.