A new approach reveals which social programs work

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer ^ | November 28, 2006 | Frank Greve

[Zakeet]

MINNEAPOLIS - A new scientific method of assessing social welfare programs is revealing something important that's never been known before: which ones work.

Among the ones that do, it turns out, are:

* Career Academies, a nationwide high school vocational program whose graduates earn more than comparable nonparticipants with at least a year of community college credits.

* Center for Employment Opportunities, a work program for ex-cons that halves their recidivism rate by putting them to work - and paying them daily - as soon as they're released.

* Louisiana Opening Doors, a $1,000-a-semester performance-based scholarship whose community college recipients - all low-income parents - earn higher grades and are more likely to stay in school than nonscholarship recipients.

* Jobs-Plus, a multifaceted jobs campaign that helps public housing residents find work and earn bigger paychecks.

Behind each claim of success lies scientific-quality evidence. Typically, it's based on dividing a random selection of volunteers into two groups: one that gets a program's help and one that doesn't.

[libertylover]

Maybe I missed it since I only scanned the article, but they didn't seem to have the guts to show the statistics of programs that don't work, instead focusing on a few that do.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

The media doesn't 'do' science, it abuses it for its own purposes.

Either we are equal or we are not. Good people ought to be armed where they will, with wits and guns. NRA KMA

[joshhiggins]

Among ex-cons who held higher-skilled jobs for one month, the New York State Department of Correctional Services found, the recidivism rate was 24 percent. For those who held the jobs for six months, it was 13 percent.

Typical meaningless social statistics.

[Popman]

If this is a true means of evaluation, Let's test every government program

There will be lots of very nice buildings in DC that can be used as 5 star hotels or converted into condo

[3Lean]

What they didn't include is a list of social programs that not only work but don't steal money from people who work for a living. Here it is

[Syberyenta]

By a new approach, they mean analysis of outcomes.

I guess the old approach was inattention.