This article appeared in the British Journal of Industrial Relations, December 2006. In it, co-authors, Françoise Carré, of CSP, and Charles Heckscher, examine the record of quasi-unions and find that although they have sometimes helped workers who lack other means of representation, they have significant limitations and are unlikely to replace unions as the primary means of representation. But networks, consisting of sets of diverse actors including unions and quasi-unions, are more promising as the article explores. There are substantial resistances to these network institutions because of the history of fragmentation and autonomy among both unions and quasi-unions; yet this article identifies positive potential for network formation.

This project assesses residential stability, access to employment and mainstream benefits, and health impacts of a pilot housing model that targets chronically homeless individuals in Quincy, Massachusetts. Currently implemented by Father Bill's Place (FBP), this model puts housing first and attends to treatment needs after an individual has moved off the streets. This model will provide "housing that works for the 'toughest customers' … who are stuck in the 'revolving door' of the shelter, and who are resistant to services." Specifically, this study will assess residential stability over two years; assess changes in employment and incomes over two years; examine the effects of Housing First on health, mental health, and substance abuse; track access to health services pre and post move into housing; estimate associated health care costs; explore issues related to health, such as general satisfaction and increased social/communication skills; include residents' and clinicians' assessment of their health status and access to health care services.

As part of the Homelessness Prevention Initative (HPI), this report documents findings at the end of year two of this three year evaluation. The HPI is made up of 18 Massachusetts nonprofit organizations that have received grants for homelessness prevention from the Boston Foundation/Starr Foundation, Tufts Health Plan, and the Massachusetts Medical Society & Alliance Charitable Foundation. The report assesses the effectiveness of varied homeless prevention strategies to contribute in the shaping of programs and state level policymaking on homelessness prevention.

Complex information management implementation projects develop cyclical downturn patterns that, if not managed effectively, can throw them off course. These cycles are intrinsically related to contradictions that are normally embedded in the project’s goals and expectations. The position presented in this article is that managing these cycles is more effective than attempting to eradicate them. Human services information systems are examples of systems that embed enormous contradictions. This paper uses the context provided by homeless management information systems to present a model of project management evolution. It explains how the cyclical pattern presented here can be used as a learning model that recognizes the limitations of deterministic project management thinking and the value of deferral planning, experimentation and balancing. The paper proposes a strategy to deal with this.

In 2003-2004, the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assitance worked to eliminate placement of homeless families in hotels and motels and succeeded in August 2004. This was done by working with shelter providers and aggressively finding other places for homeless families. The result was better placements for families and a substantial savings to the state. In part with the money that was saved, DTA initiated a series of initiatives to better serve homeless families and place them in transitional and permanant housing. This CSP report reviews the seven initiatives DTA implemented with extensive write up of two transitional housing programs. The report is a part of the Homelessness Prevention Initative.

As part of the Homelessness Prevention Initative this paper examines community-wide efforts to prevent homelessness in Cape Cod and Worcester, Massachusetts and in Columbus/Franklin County, Ohio, the State of Minnesota, New York City and Washington, D.C. Partners in Prevention explores the philosophies, people served, range of interventions, leadership and partnership approaches, funding strategies, outcome measurement and accountability approaches, and the successes and challenges of each community. This paper was funded by The Boston Foundation.

These two studies have taken a first and significant step in documenting employee misclassification in the Massachusetts and Maine construction industries. Misclassification occurs when employers treat workers who would otherwise be waged or salaried employees as independent contractors (self employed). Forces promoting employee misclassification include the desire to avoid the costs of payroll taxes and of mandated benefits. Employee misclassification creates severe challenges for workers, employers, and insurers as well as for policy enforcement. This report documents the dimensions of misclassification and its implications for Unemployment Insurance and Income tax collection and for worker compensation insurance.

CSP is assessing food and nutrition programs in Massachusetts funded through a class action settlement. The project will identify innovative programs, including service delivery approaches that target specific populations (e.g., racial/linguistic minorities; rural, urban and suburban residents; children, adolescents, and elders) and specific medical problems (e.g., obesity in children). CSP will highlight promising practices--including new technologies, collaborative methods, and sustainability approaches--and will study ways in which programs resolve obstacles commonly experienced during start-up and ongoing implementation stages.

Between 2000 and 2002, the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) street outreach team assessed 174 chronically homeless street dwellers at high risk of death and provided them with continuous intensive medical care on the streets. At the end of 2002, 42 of these individuals were housed or in a long-term treatment program, 19 died, and 92 remained at high-risk on the streets. The remaining 21 individuals were either lost to follow-up, moved out of state, were jailed or in a shelter. This report explores the ways in which medical and substance abuse services succeeded and failed in helping to connect these homeless high-risk street dwellers to the broader homeless continuum of care and ultimately to housing. The study analyzes a unique dataset of health and substance abuse service use, and also incorporates 36 interviews with service providers (BHCHP street outreach team, respite care, detoxification staff) and current and formerly high-risk street dwellers. By combining quantitative and qualitative methods, this study uncovers bridges and barriers to housing and has important implications for the homeless service system and homeless policies.

The Planning Department in Lake County, Illinois received a Department of Labor TIIAP grant to implement the IMPACT project. The goals of the IMPACT project are “to improve access to and delivery of human services for low-income residents, strengthen community planning and resource allocation, and enhance understanding of data on homelessness can be gathered and aggregated on local and national levels to accurately capture the scope of the problem and the effectiveness of efforts to ameliorate it.” IMPACT utilizes the Internet, Interactive Voice Response, Geographic Information System interfaces, touch-screen kiosks, and interactive multi-media centers to implement a an HMIS with a state of the art information and referral system. CSP was commissioned to produce a series of evaluation reports of the IMPACT project.
Year One Report (September 2001)
Year Two Report (December 2002)

This report contains authoritative information about individuals using Massachusetts emergency shelters. Data were collected at 17 shelters on 18,708 unduplicated unaccompanied individuals in 2003. Highlights include:

• An estimated 28,800 individuals were served in the state’s emergency homeless shelter system in calendar year 2003.
• Close to 80% of 2003 shelter guests lived in Massachusetts before becoming homeless
• Most shelter guests attributed their homelessness to financial problems and unemployment.
• Health insurance coverage has decreased since new eligibility standards were implemented in April 2003.
• Over 50% of shelter guests stayed in shelter for a week or less.
• Elders were the fastest growing group among the emergency shelter population.

This manual contains checklists and resources to to help homeless service providers prepare for different types of terrorist asttacks as well as natural disasters. It explains what to do in different types of emergencies and also includes a list of other useful resources.

CSP's Research Director, Françoise Carré, was among a group of development analysts – researchers, activists, and practitioners - who engaged in an unusual exercise in early 2004. They had a dialogue about labor market, trade and poverty issues, but they preceded the dialogue with exposure to the realities of the lives of six remarkable women in Gujarat: Dohiben, Kalavatiben, Kamlaben, Kesarben, Leelaben and Ushaben. These women are all members of SEWA (the Self- Employed Women’s Association) of India. Their struggles provided the frame for the technical dialogue that followed. This is a Compendium of personal and technical reflections of the analysts involved in the exercise.

The One Family Scholarship Project provides educational scholarships to low-income and formerly homeless women. The project is based in the belief that education creates a path out of poverty for low-income women and their families. The project promotes family economic self-sufficiency by supporting women in their efforts to gain the education and skills needed to build a career. Scholarships combine financial aid for expenses such as tuition, books, childcare, and other living expenses, with leadership development training, mentoring, and other supports. Scholars are chosen based on academic promise, leadership potential and financial need. CSP conducted an overall program evaluation and gathered information from current and former scholars, program staff, project mentors, and One Family Campaign programs. Methods employed include focus groups, document review, interviews, observation, and surveys.
Project Executive Summary

Over the past 25 years, nonstandard work arrangements (temporary, short term, part-time work) have become a notable feature of labor markets in France and the United States. This chapter compares patterns of nonstandard work in the two countries and examines explanations for the growth of these arrangements. Differences in institutional and macroeconomic contexts in France and the United States are fruitful areas for exploring the factors that shape nonstandard arrangements and their implications for workers and policy. The chapter was written by CSP's research director, and published in Nonstandard Work in Developed Economies: Causes and Consequences. Susan Houseman and Machiko Osawa, Eds. Kalamazoo, MI: Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. The title is available from the publisher.

Technology Goes Home (TGH) is a Boston Digital Bridge Foundation (BDBF) program that strives to prepare adults for employment opportunities and to help children improve academic performance by offering computer training and equipment to low-income families in Boston. Groups of parents and children learn together in order to strengthen families and build community as well as skills. TGH is offered through Neighborhood Technology Collaboratives and through the children's schools. CSP is evaluating the program and has worked closely with TGH to refine its techniques. Evaluation methods have included site observations at both neighborhood and school-based programs; focus groups with front-line providers and with former program participants, adults and children; analysis of feedback data; pre- and post-program participation skills assessments; and questionnaires assessing program goals, achievements, and satisfaction.

In recent years, a number of non-profit and alternative proprietary organizations have become involved in placing workers in temporary and permanent jobs. This two-year national research project, funded by the Ford Foundation, paints a picture of alternative staffing services (doing "temp" and "temp-to-perm" placements) by studying the nature, extent, relevance, and quality of their job-brokering functions and their attempts to affect career mobility for the workers they serve. Specifically, the study examines what organizations establish these staffing services; where they are located; their characteristics; their strategies; their presence in local and regional labor markets; and how they compare to mainstream staffing services.
View streaming audio and video of the forum marking the release of this report at WGBH.org

An outgrowth of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Neighborhood Transformation and Family Development Initiative (Making Connections), the Family Circle Project was designed to reach out to residents of the Dudley Street neighborhood and represent a variety of ethnic groups for mulitple purposes: creating a space for residents to get together and talk with one another; giving the residents of the Dudley community an opportunity to get involved with the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative’s Urban Village Work Group; understanding residents' perspectives as to what makes their families and community strong; gathering information from residents regarding key areas of concern that will assist in the development of the community’s agenda to strengthen families. CSP has been involved in the design and implementation of this project, providing training and technical assistance around resident involvement, as well as analyzing and summarizing the results. Project Description

Homeless families face complex challenges when making the transition from welfare to the workforce. By focusing on the experiences of homeless families participating in a Boston-based welfare-to-work program, this multimethod, longitudinal study explored factors contributing to more successful transitions as well as barriers faced by families having a harder time making the transition. Nearly 90 percent of the families that were studied left a shelter with a housing subsidy and retained it 6 to 12 months later. Income levels for most families did not meet their basic needs. Therefore, housing assistance was essential and allowed families to use their limited resources to pay for food and other basic necessities. Originally published in CityScape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research (Vol.6, No.3 2003).

This report evaluates the Massachusetts Youth Development Collaboration Project (YDCP), a five-year grant awarded to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services in 1998. YDCP’s goal was to promote the use of a “Positive Youth Development” approach to addressing the needs of young people, particularly runaway and homeless youth. It emphasized collaboration among youth-serving agencies at the state and local levels, and the development of initiatives catering to young people’s strengths. CSP researchers found that YDCP helped further awareness of positive youth development in a variety of forums in the state. Staff and advisors shaped major policy initiatives in education and health benefits for youth aging out of foster care, workforce development, and coordination of data collection among youth-serving agencies. YDCP also faced considerable barriers, such as capturing high level support, maintaining agency participation, and involving youth members. Among its key lessons is the need for a common framework to enlist support for youth development and the value of integrating youth development principles into administrative practices and technology.
Project Summary

This Center study reports that the process of applying for Food Stamps is daunting for many applicants. Limitations in the Department of Transitional Assistance’s locations and office hours (no weekend or evening hours) pose a challenge for working families. The lengthy application, the wait to see caseworkers and their often unwelcoming attitude, and the lack of sufficient bilingual staff all pose additional barriers. Study data show that here in Massachusetts Food Stamps are available for eligible families, but not easily accessible. Though recognizing the importance of having Food Stamps, families question whether having this benefit is worth the hassle.

Those who are far removed from the daily lives of low-income families have proclaimed welfare reform a success. They herald the fact that welfare rolls have decreased. And yet, when we examine the numbers more closely and listen to the voices of parents and service providers on the front lines, we find that the pooreest families are not better off, and many are faring worse.

Massachusetts' economic growth over the 1990s has led to more jobs and an increasing median income, but the rising tide did not lift the boats at the bottom. The bottom 20 percent of the Commonwealth's families with children did not find relief. Growth in earnings was almost completely offset by the loss of public support, which in turn strained the private sector's emergency support system. Poverty rates for families dropped only slightly, child poverty rates and the percentage of families who are very poor increased, and the need for emergency housing and food services grew.

In an effort to understand the impact of welfare reform on nonprofit agencies and the clients they serve, CSP examined the structures, operations, and service delivery patterns of emergency service providers. The study explores these agencies in six Massachusetts communities, focusing primarily on those addressing the emergency housing and food needs of low-income families. The study finds that despite agencies doing their best to respond to client needs, many families, regardless of location, still face many difficult issues. Clearly, welfare reform has resulted in some increased need for emergency food and housing resources among many low-income families, whether working or still receiving cash assistance.

In an effort to understand changes in use of emergency services following sweeping 1995 welfare reforms in Massachusetts, CSP examined statewide economic, employment, income, and housing conditions as well as the use of emergency services, focusing primarily on housing and food assistance.

When parents must rely on public assistance and family shelters to provide for their children's most basic needs, they lose autonomy. Within a system of public assistance that already stigmatizes and isolates its beneficiaries, their family lives become subject to public scrutiny and criticism. They are parenting in public. This book, published by Columbia University Press and written by CSP Director, Donna Haig Friedman, is an in-depth examination of the realities of life for parents and their children in family shelters. The author uses the Massachusetts family shelter system to explore the impact of asset and deficit-oriented help-giving approaches as they are experienced by mothers and service providers. Following each chapter are the "reflections" of a mother who has parented in a shelter, a front-line worker, and a shelter director. The author and contributors propose a "Power With" policy and practice framework that runs counter to the prevailing "Power Over" cultural policy trends. This title is available for purchase at Amazon.com

Released in Fall 2000, UMass housing specialists, researching the status of housing in Massachusetts. Center staff in collaboration with Dr. Michael Stone, researched the portions of the study related to housing for populations with special needs and housing affordability.

This report addresses the twin themes of housing and health conditions for people living with AIDS in New England. These themes meet in the work of New England's AIDS housing agencies. These agencies shelter a population that has multiple, complex and often challenging needs. To better meet these needs, it is vital to understand present conditions and past trends in AIDS, housing market dynamics, and the capacity and constraints of AIDS housing providers.

The United Way of Massachusetts Bay (UWMB) Success By 6 initiative is engaged in an advocacy effort aimed at improving the quality of health care for child care providers in the state. To inform its efforts, UWMB contracted with CSP to analyze data from a statewide survey of 1,600 child care providers. The survey sought information in four major areas: access to health coverage and affordability; emergency room usage; the role of state funding; and staffing and retention.

CSP, in collaboration with the UMass Boston Gaston Institute's Center on Community Economic Development completed a study commissioned by a coalition of community based organization in the Malden, Everett and Medford area of Massachusetts. These two centers joined forces in an integrated research effort to identify strategies for enabling high-risk community residents to secure employment from prospective employers in telecommunications industries who are seeking workers in the Tri-City area.

The aim of this report is to support North Shore efforts to build a regional approach to housing. The report explores the housing needs of people who are caught in the squeeze between low incomes and high housing costs. The report has two goals: to provide information for understanding the need to expand below market rate housing; to illustrate that need by providing detailed documentation on the situation in Gloucester, Peabody, and Salem.

When the state's welfare reform measures were initially being implemented, CSP staff, in collaboration with the UMass Boston Center for Survey Research, completed a statewide study focused on understanding the linkage between family violence and receipt of welfare. This study was the first survey in the nation to involve a representative sample of a state's total AFDC caseload.

This study, commissioned by a statewide coalition of grassroots organizations advocating for affordable housing and income support for low-income populations in the State, examined policy, funding, and caseload changes between 1990-1996 for thirteen different housing, income support, and homeless assistance programs in Massachusetts