Child welfare systems in the United States are intended to ensure that children are safe, cared for within stable and loving forever families, and able to thrive in childhood and beyond. This work is both complex and critical, and these systems face a number of ongoing challenges. This blog provides ...
Through the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, the USDA provides support to low-income, food-deficit countries around the globe to reduce hunger and improve literacy and primary education, especially for girls. Since 2013, AIR has conducted over 25 evaluations of McGovern Dole Food for Education projects around ...
This spotlight takes a look at the history of Title I, how the program has changed over time, and how it affects children, schools, families and education policy. Experts weigh in on the program's past and future in interviews, briefs, and blogs.
While we believe wholly in numbers and facts, they don't tell the full, human story. Karen Francis, AIR Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, offers a stirring personal account of a recent trip visiting AIR-supported projects in Tanzania and Zambia.
The effects of climate change are becoming more pronounced as natural disasters and extreme weather force families out of their communities, drive hunger and disease. On March 22, 2023, AIR hosted a discussion on how climate change and pollution impact mental health.
Expanding local access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is a critical step towards improving the lives of people with opioid use disorder and starting to curb the epidemic. Susan Heil talks about the barriers to adopting MAT and what can be done to assist its adoption, especially in rural areas with ...
According to existing research, giving mothers paid time off could lead to both improved health outcomes and overall costs savings from reduced employee turnover and re-training costs. AIR's Alex Holod describes the benefits of family leave for both parent and child, why some parents aren’t taking full advantage of available ...
A quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) is a voluntary state assessment system that uses multidimensional data on early childhood education programs to rate program quality, support quality improvement efforts, and provide information to families about the quality of available early childhood education programs. This report describes three versions of ...
As part of its Pay for Success work, AIR developed a workaround to common data obstacles these projects face. AIR was contracted to develop the evaluation design for the San Diego-based Project (re)Launch, which sought to improve employment and health outcomes for veterans with service-connected disabilities by providing intensive case ...
The expanded learning field continues to bring multiple stakeholders together to advance program quality and research. This article from the Journal of Expanded Learning Opportunities features a dialogue on the topic of program quality in expanded learning programs between Michael Funk, afterschool division director for the California Department of Education, ...