View Research by Author - Laudan Y. Aron

Publications

Seldom do the needs of children with disabilities divide neatly along program lines. Instead, children and their families navigate a large, complex, and fragmented array of programs with inconsistent eligibility standards, application procedures, and program goals. "Meeting the Needs of Children with Disabilities" examines these programs, focusing on the three largest—special education, Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Income—and suggests ways to unify them into one system that will provide continuous care and support. Efforts at early intervention and prevention and difficulties caused by programs' funding structures are given particular attention.

Many humans are trafficked across international borders for the purposes of labor or sexual exploitation. The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) developed the “Services for Trafficking Victims Discretionary Grant Program - Comprehensive Services Sites.” The program provides direct services, such as legal and crisis counseling to assist victims once they are identified until they are “certified” to receive other federal benefits. Urban Institute researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with survivors and with key service providers in three evaluation sites. The in-depth interviews document victims’ service needs, their experiences using OVC-funded services, and barriers to services. They also provide a unique opportunity to listen directly to the voices of the victims.

The City of Santa Monica occupies a unique place in Los Angeles County as one of the handful of the county's 88 cities to use its own money to fund homeless services. However, unlike other cities that do so, it participates in the larger county process of applying for HUD homeless funding and does not conduct any regular systematic planning around homelessness. Santa Monica wanted an objective, external examination of its system of homeless services, related activities of city government agencies, descriptions of people homeless in Santa Monica, program performance, system costs, and the views and potential contributions of many stakeholders including the business community, general public, local elected officials, religious congregations, and the county and state actors beyond Santa Monica who control many of the resources needed for an effective approach to ending homelessness. This report covers our findings on those issues and many recommendations for future action.

In this commentary, senior research associate Laudan Aron explores the dark side of a booming business -- matching American men with foreign women -- and what should be done to protect "mail-order brides."

The Urban Institute partnered with the One Economy Corporation in applying for a special improvement project (SIP) grant from OCSE to develop high-quality online child support information specifically developed for families in low-income and ethnic and culturally diverse communities. This grant was awarded and used to prepare three sets of bilingual web pages (one national and two local) that are now available to millions of Americans across the country, and can also be used as models for other local and national sites. The main “products” of this grant are the new child support web pages, which can be viewed live at www.thebeehive.org. This report provides the history and background for this project, describes the work completed under the SIP grant, presents interesting findings not apparent on the website itself, and discusses lessons learned for similar future efforts.

Advancements in biotechnology, bioengineering, neuroscience, genetics and other medical specialties have dramatically altered the way people are diagnosed and treated for injury or disease. These advancements promise to continue at unprecedented rates of discovery. Along the way, bioethicists, philosophers, politicians, medical practitioners and other professionals will debate the numerous and very complex ethical, financial and service delivery issues inherent in each new development. This report, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through a grant to the Alliance for Children and Families, focuses on exploring how advancements in neuroscience will impact the abilities of nonprofit human service providers to organize and deliver behavioral health services in the future.

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 (P.L. 105-220) recognized the relationship between adult education and workforce development and the need for accountability in all literacy, training, and employment programs. Enacted as Title II of WIA, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) required substantial changes in the operations of state and local adult education programs, including allocation of funds, accountability and performance measurement, and the relationship between adult education and one-stop delivery systems. This report synthesizes information from a survey of all state directors of adult education and site visits to nine local programs in five states. Findings relate primarily to the first 18 months of AEFLA implementation.

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 (P.L. 105-220) recognized the relationship between adult education and workforce development and the need for accountability in all literacy, training, and employment programs. Enacted as Title II of WIA, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) required substantial changes in the operations of state and local adult education programs, including allocation of funds, accountability and performance measurement, and the relationship between adult education and one-stop delivery systems. This report synthesizes information from a survey of all state directors of adult education and site visits to nine local programs in five states. Findings relate primarily to the first 18 months of AEFLA implementation.

There is a great need for a variety of alternative pathways to educational success, ranging from essential early intervention and prevention strategies in the early years, to a multiplicity of high-quality alternative options within mainstream K-12 systems at the middle and high school levels, and finally to opportunities outside of the mainstream for those unable to learn and thrive in the general education system. This paper reviews community- or district-based programs that have as their primary focus the re-engagement of out-of-school youth in learning in order to better prepare them to successfully enter high growth occupations and careers.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) initiated the Mental Health Treatment Study (MHTS) to investigate the types of initiatives that would assist Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries in returning to work. This report summarizes the first stage of the MHTS development, which includes an expert review by a Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) charged with making initial recommendations on the general parameters of the MHTS. The summary includes a discussion of several options for identifying a target population, developing intervention approaches, the mode of service delivery and overall design recommendations (e.g., random assignment). The TAP recommended that the intervention deliver an integrated set of medical and employment supports that can be implemented with enough fidelity for a rigorous evaluation.

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