Evaluating Impact of Choice Neighborhood Initiative
Research Agenda
Urban Strategies Incorporated (USI) is a national nonprofit that provides community development, neighborhood revitalization, and case management services to thousands of families across 13 U.S. states. They are co-recipients of numerous Choice Neighborhood grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In addition to assistance with housing, USI provides case management services to assist families in meeting their workforce, education, and health and wellness goals. Although USI has a substantial wealth of data, USI’s participatory research and community engagement strategies, measurement tools, programmatic characteristics, and social and economic impacts have not yet been rigorously analyzed. Specifically, we will explore (1) how USI’s services are developed and measured, (2) how USI’s services are implemented in a variety of contexts, and (3) what the impact of USI’s services are on families’ economic mobility, education, and health outcomes. Analyses of USI’s data—in combination with a detailed case study of USI’s operations—will allow insights on USI’s best practices to be shared with policy and practice communities across the globe.