for the Study of Human Resources
RMC Research Associate Cynthia Juniper was interviewed recently by Texas Standard on pandemic-era staffing shortages in the childcare sector. “Compared to pre-pandemic levels, Texas’ childcare industry remains understaffed” aired October 17, 2022. You can read a transcript of and listen to the interview here.
| Principal Investigators: | Daniel G. Schroeder, PhD (Principal Investigator) – Ray Marshall Center Monica Faulkner (Principal Investigator), Laura Marra (Co-Principal Investigator) – Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing |
| Sponsor: | Texas Workforce Commission |
| Project Duration: | July 2022 – June 2024 |
| Description: | Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin will provide services in order to complete two annual studies for the Texas Workforce Commission. The Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work will manage data collection from child care providers. The Ray Marshall Center at the LBJ School of Public Affairs manages the data analysis and reporting.
The purpose of the Child Care Market Rate Study is to create statistical summaries of market rates for child care for the entire state of Texas and for each of the 28 Local Workforce Development Areas. The purpose of the Cost of Quality Study is to understand the cost of providing quality child care in the state of Texas. The purpose is to provide estimates of how much more additional funding, in terms of daily rates, should be paid to providers who meet quality standards to care for children, relative to how much providers who meet minimal standards are paid. |
| Reports Available: |
| Principal Investigator: | Greg Cumpton, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce |
| Project Duration: | February 2022 – May 2024 |
| Description: | The CAREER Project (Trellis Foundation’s Regional Ecosystem Innovation for Reskilling/Upskilling in Texas) aims to create a network of postsecondary and employment support for individuals in the Central Texas community impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic by building out widescale infrastructure like a referral map and integrated marketing and data efforts. The Ray Marshall Center has partnered with the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce to evaluate the CAREER Project. |
| Reports Available: |
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | UP Partnership |
| Project Duration: | October 2021 – August 2026 |
| Description: | Through a partnership with the UP Partnership and the Aspen Institute, the RMC will engage in a data-driven longitudinal study following Opportunity Youth (OY) in San Antonio into either the labor market or postsecondary education (or both) between Fall 2021 and Summer 2026 to map out the pathways taken by OY. This study will begin tracking OY at the point that they exit OY programs. In addition, and in order to gain a fuller understanding of the entire OY population, we will identify the total population of OY in an area (based on high school of graduation) through data collected from the Education Research Center (ERC). We will also submit a request to the ERC to upload participant data we collect from OY programs in order to compare the difference in the relative size of the OY population receiving and not receiving services. This partnership is motivated by several research questions:
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| Associated Projects: | Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth in San Antonio (Aspen) |
| Reports Available: |
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Aspen Institute |
| Project Duration: | September 2021 – March 2023 |
| Description: | Through a partnership with the Aspen Institute, the RMC will engage in a data-driven longitudinal study following Opportunity Youth (OY) in San Antonio into either the labor market or postsecondary education (or both) between Fall 2021 and Summer 2026 to map out the pathways taken by OY. This study will use UI wage and National Student Clearinghouse data to monitor the progress at the individual level. This partnership is motivated by several research questions:
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| Associated Projects: | Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth in San Antonio (UP) |
| Reports Available: |
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | JPMorgan Chase |
| Project Duration: | August 2021 – August 2026 |
| Description: | With the support of JPMorgan Chase, the Ray Marshall Center will study the pathways taken by Opportunity Youth in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. This five-year grant represents one of the largest efforts undertaken in Texas to date to study the systems that serve, and the trajectories taken by, disconnected young adults (between the ages of 18 and 24 who are neither enrolled in school nor working) after participation in a youth-serving program. The study aims to determine the size of the OY population in each of these cities, as well as measure programmatic impact in terms of employment and/or enrollment in postsecondary education. In addition to providing a clearer picture of the OY landscape, it is our expectation that the study findings will inform OY policy for the state. |
| Associated Projects: | Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth in San Antonio (Aspen) Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth in San Antonio (UP) |
| Reports Available: |
The Ray Marshall Center is pleased to announce support from JPMorgan Chase to study the pathways taken by Opportunity Youth in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. This $750,000, five-year grant represents one of the largest efforts undertaken in Texas to date to study the systems that serve, and the trajectories taken by, disconnected young adults (between the ages of 18 and 24 who are neither enrolled in school nor working) after participation in a youth-serving program. The study aims to determine the size of the OY population in each of these cities, as well as measure programmatic impact in terms of employment and/or enrollment in postsecondary education. In addition to providing a clearer picture of the OY landscape, it is our expectation that the study findings will inform OY policy for the state.
| Principal Investigator: | Ashweeta Patnaik, MPH |
| Sponsor: | Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities, University of Notre Dame |
| Project Duration: | June 2021 – June 2023 |
| Description: | The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame conducts impact evaluations in partnership with non-profit and government agencies focused on reducing poverty by creating evidence based programs that move people from poverty to self-sufficiency. LEO is currently conducting a large research study in Texas to test assumptions about self-sufficiency programs. The research examines the impact of multiple self-sufficiency programs being implemented in locations across the state of Texas. Partners include Catholic Charities of Galveston-Houston, the Goodwill Excel Center in Austin, Catholic Charities of Dallas, Jewish Family Services, NPower, Combined Arms, and Lubbock County, and the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition. This research will help in understanding the impact of anti-poverty programs on populations ranging from school age children, to elderly, to veterans to people and families at low-income levels.
LEO is partnering with the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) at The University of Texas at Austin to utilize state administrative data to support this research. LEO and RMC researchers will use the data to demonstrate the impact of these self-sufficiency programs on outcomes such as earnings, employment and public benefit usage. By testing what works to move people to self-sufficiency, LEO and RMC will inform and improve poverty programming across the state and inform policymakers as they make decisions about funding and programming. |
| Reports Available: |
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Nuru International |
| Project Duration: | April 2021 – February 2023 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center will assist Nuru International’s M&E team with analyzing and reporting Nuru Ethiopia, Nuru Kenya, and Nuru Nigeria’s impact. |
| Reports Available: | Nuru Kenya 2022 Dairy Report Authors: Thomas Boswell and Heath Prince (Ray Marshall Center), and Fatuma Nyanjong (Nuru Kenya) Casey Harrison, Matt Lineal, and Ian Schwenke (Nuru International) Date: December 2022 Publication Type: Report, 15pp. This report is commissioned by Nuru International Nuru Ethiopia 2021 Impact Report Nuru Nigeria 2022 Short-Term Impacts Nuru Nigeria: 2021 Midpoint Impact Report |
The Dutch Research Council has published a project summary for Examining Reproductive Health Services of Women, Female Youth, and Female Refugees in Northern Jordan with a Behavioral Economics Lens titled “Behavioural economics-inspired counselling helped to reduce pregnancies in Jordan” dated June 7, 2021. RMC’s Research Scientist Dr. Heath Prince led the project team in the United States which ran from 2017 to 2020. You can read more about the project here.
Introduction:
A behavioural economics experiment demonstrated that women in Jordan tended to make more use of modern family planning methods after the introduction of an innovative contraceptive counselling approach. Insights from behavioural economics were used to design text-based messaging reminders and to revise training and counselling guides used by midwives, resulting in women continuing to use modern family planning methods for longer.
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Austin, Texas 78712-1536
Phone: (512) 471-7891
Email: rmcinfo@raymarshallcenter.org
