City's poverty programs under evaluation

from New York business

Kira Bindrim

The city said Friday that Westat Inc., an independent evaluator, was selected by the Center for Economic Opportunity to assess the success of the city’s anti-poverty programs.

Rockville, Md.-based Westat will head a team that will review more than 30 new pilot programs addressing poverty in three key demographics -- young adults ages 16 to 24, the working poor, and families with children under five years old, according to an announcement by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Among the programs being evaluated are CUNY ASAP -- a new initiative aimed at helping 1,000 CUNY students complete their associate degrees -- and Youth Financial Empowerment -- a financial literacy and savings program for young people aging out of foster care. Westat will also evaluate the city’s Child Care Tax Credit, a new tax credit designed to help families earning less than $30,000 a year with child care.

“We are investing in innovative anti-poverty programs [but] we don’t know that they will work without understand the long-term impact that these programs may have,” said Mr. Bloomberg.

Westat’s contract is expected to run for three years, during which time the company will continuously offer analysis and conclusions about the city’s programs, including suggesting which should be discontinued Subcontractor Metis Associates will assist with the project.

The mayor established the Center for Economic Opportunity in 2006 based on recommendations from the Commission for Economic Opportunity, which had been created to develop new strategies for reducing poverty.