Overview

At P/PV, innovation means having the creativity to approach social challenges from fresh perspectives, the will to design and rigorously test new program strategies, the discipline to focus on high-quality implementation as these strategies "hit the ground," and the candor to report—and act on—the results. Whether incubating new models through small-scale pilots, evaluating promising existing programs or leading national demonstrations, we are committed to advancing knowledge about what works to improve the lives of children, youth and families in high-poverty communities.

To view the "Innovation" clip from P/PV's 30th anniversary video, click here.

Launching Innovative Pilots
In partnership with funders, program leaders and local decision-makers, we work to identify the factors that limit opportunity for youth and young adults living in poverty. We examine gaps in existing programming, and sift through the sea of available evidence to determine which practices stand the best chance of success. We then pilot new program models, carefully integrating technical assistance with research to guide program development and ensure strong implementation. Recent pilot projects include the Women's Reentry Initiative and The Gulf Coast Alternative Staffing Project.

Several P/PV pilots have grown into successful nationwide initiatives. For example, in 2000, recognizing the daunting challenges faced by children of prisoners, P/PV created Amachi, a unique partnership of secular and faith-based organizations working together to provide mentoring to children of incarcerated parents. Since the program's launch in Philadelphia, Amachi has expanded to all 50 states, serving more than 100,000 children. Philadelphia was also home to the Youth Education for Tomorrow (YET) project, a literacy initiative originally implemented in 30 community- and faith-based organizations, which has now grown to more than 500 after-school classrooms around the country.

Piloting new ideas can extend beyond particular program models and focus instead on strategies to propel an entire field forward. P/PV's Benchmarking Project, for instance, aims to identify meaningful outcome benchmarks for the workforce development field so that practitioners, funders and policymakers can be better informed about what constitutes "good" performance. This innovative project is developing a tool that allows similar organizations to compare their job placement and retention outcomes; in an effort to boost performance across the field, it is using the data collected and the experiences of participating organizations to identify and document effective program strategies.

Evaluating Promising Models
P/PV designs and implements rigorous evaluations of promising social programs. We draw on a variety of research methods to illuminate what works—and how—in a broad range of program areas. Examples include:

• The recently released Sectoral Employment Impact Study, a random assignment evaluation of three leading sector-based employment programs; the study showed strong employment impacts for program participants, including increased earnings, wages and access to benefits.
• The ongoing 10-year evaluation of Children's Futures, a community change initiative designed to improve the health, wellness and school readiness of children from birth to age three in Trenton, New Jersey.
• The evaluation of Career Advancement Academies(CAAs), California partnerships that are working to provide bridges to college and high-wage careers for underprepared young adults.
• The random assignment study of Latin American Youth Center's Promotores Pathway Model, which is designed to help disconnected youth achieve academic success, obtain employment with long-term potential and make healthy choices.
• Three studies of the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership, a Philadelphia-based program that provides intensive support and supervision to youth deemed most likely to "kill or be killed," including an ongoing evaluation using a comparison group of similar youth from high-risk Philadelphia police districts not currently implementing YVRP.
• A study of the expansion of Experience Corps, a program that engages older adults as volunteers to help strengthen literacy and other skills of elementary school students in low-income neighborhoods.
• Evaluations of many of the nation's most well-respected and enduring youth programs, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Managing Multi-Site Demonstrations
P/PV creates, manages and evaluates national demonstration projects that address some of the nation's most pressing social problems. These include:

• The Ready4Work prisoner reentry initiative, which helped formerly incarcerated individuals prepare for, find and keep jobs and successfully reintegrate into their communities. Outcomes from this three-year, 17-site national project were impressive, including recidivism rates 34 to 50 percent below national averages.
• Bridges to Work, which tested reverse commuting programs in five cities.
• The Alternative Staffing Demonstration, which explored how four alternative staffing programs serve both job seekers and business customers.
• Fathers at Work, a three-year, national initiative designed to help young, noncustodial fathers achieve increased employment and earnings, greater involvement in their children's lives, and more consistent financial support of their children.
• The Sectoral Employment Initiative, which evaluated and provided technical assistance to a nine-site, three-year demonstration of sectoral employment programs (learning from this outcomes evaluation set the stage for the more rigorous Sectoral Employment Impact Study, launched in 2003).
• The James Irvine Foundations Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative in California. P/PV provided technical assistance to sites in this five-city, $58 million effort to improve educational achievement through after-school programming—helping them integrate literacy instruction—and evaluated the results. As James Canales, the foundation's president and CEO, writes in the foreword of P/PV's final report on CORAL: "P/PV served as a key independent partner in helping to reorient the focus of CORAL...(and) brought a rigor and discipline in implementing these changes, helping to pave the way for the initiative's eventual successes."

Related Publications

Working Dads: Final Report on the Fathers at Work Initiative Working Dads: Final Report on the Fathers at Work Initiative presents findings from P/PV's evaluation of Fathers at Work, a national demonstration funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, designed to help low-income noncustodial fathers increase their employment and earnings, become more involved in their children's lives, and provide them with more consistent financial support. read more >>

A Foot in the Door: Using Alternative Staffing Organizations to Open Up Opportunities for Disadvantaged Workers A Foot in the Door presents P/PV's findings from the national Alternative Staffing Demonstration, funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. It provides a close examination of four alternative staffing organizations and their efforts to help low-skill and low-wage job seekers find employment. read more >>

More Related Publications >> View all P/PV Publications >>