Focus areas
Public Health
PRG assists state government agencies, school districts, community-based organizations, and national public health leaders to assess initiatives that aim to prevent and reduce suicide, violence, substance abuse, and behaviors that may result in the transmission of HIV, other STI, and/or unwanted pregnancies. PRG works in close coordination with partners to better understand the needs of target populations, refine program implementation, and improve population-level health outcomes. PRG is currently conducting research for a number of public health initiatives, including programs funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Office of Adolescent Health, and the Administration for Children and Families. Our projects include an opioids vulnerability mapping project for the Louisiana Office of Public Health and the evaluation of a SAMHSA-funded opioids Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) project for underserved populations for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. For more information, see what we’re asking in public health.
Education
PRG helps our partners improve educational outcomes for youth and adults through the provision of rigorous effectiveness research and careful development of implementation analyses. PRG works in close coordination with educators, programmers, and policymakers to help them determine what works and what has utility in Pre-K, K-12, afterschool, and adult education. Our Director of Research is certified in the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) group design standards. Some of our current educational programmatic evaluations are funded through the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education’s EIR (Education Innovation and Research) program. Over the past 15 years, PRG has conducted school-based evaluations in a variety of settings, including in urban, rural, and tribal communities in Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Programs under study have included a tribal college readiness intervention, an interactive STEM simulation, and a positive youth development program. For more information, see what we’re asking in education.
Workforce & Income
PRG helps our partners build better education and training programs, improve graduation rates, and expand economic opportunity through the provision of rigorous impact and implementation analyses. PRG works in close coordination with state agencies, non-profits, foundations, college administrators and faculty, coalitions, and other research and evaluation partners to build more effective programs and help them fully realize their objectives. PRG’s recent work includes programs funded by the Department of Labor’s Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) and the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program. Through this research, PRG has negotiated the receipt of UI wage data from six states (Florida, New York, Indiana, West Virginia, Texas, Ohio) and has received National Student Clearinghouse data to measure enrollment in postsecondary education. For more information, see what we’re asking in workforce & income.
Child Welfare
PRG assists community-based organizations, state government agencies, and practitioners to improve the health and welfare of adolescents. We provide evaluation and research services for programs and initiatives within schools and job training centers, for youth in need of mental health services, for the promotion of healthy choices, and for youth who are at risk. Some of our current work is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPP), and the Administration for Children and Families’ Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP). In our TPP work, we have conducted individual-level RCTs of four innovative interventions: a peer mentoring program, a 20-minute entertainment education video, an intensive 10-hour therapeutic intervention for teens who have experienced trauma, and a blended learning adaptation of the therapeutic intervention. For more information, see what we’re asking in child welfare.
Housing
PRG works with government agencies, national foundations, community-based organizations, housing agencies, and other research firms to assess programs and initiatives that work in the pursuit of healthy, resilient communities, affordable housing, and in the effort to reduce and end homelessness. Our recent programmatic partnerships have enabled the assessment of housing programs funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). For more information, see what we’re asking in housing.
Youth Risk
PRG assists community-based organizations, state government agencies, and practitioners to improve the health and welfare of adolescents. We provide evaluation and research services for programs and initiatives within the schools and job training centers, for youth in need of mental health services, for the promotion of healthy choices, and for youth who are at risk. Some of our current work is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPP) and the Administration for Children and Families’ Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP). In our TPP work, we have conducted individual-level RCTs of four innovative interventions: a peer mentoring program, a 20-minute entertainment education video, an intensive 10-hour therapeutic intervention for teens who have experienced trauma, and a blended learning adaptation of the therapeutic intervention. For more information, see what we’re asking in youth risk.
