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Current & Recent Projects

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The Social IMPACT Research Center has expertise on issues facing poor and low-income populations and an extensive portfolio of needs assessment and evaluation research. Below is a sample of current and recent IMPACT projects.

Annual and Ongoing Efforts

Contracted Studies and Evaluations

Annual Report on Illinois Poverty

For over 10 years, IMPACT has produced the annual Report on Illinois Poverty. The annual report is a snapshot of the state of poverty in Illinois. It is one of only a handful of state reports on poverty in the nation and is unique in its presentation and delivery of information. The goals of the project are simple: to educate lay people, legislators, and other decision makers in Illinois that poverty is a reality for millions of people in the state; to help people make the links between the various facets of poverty and help them see that educational challenges, health disparities and access issues, hunger, employment barriers, and housing hardship are part and parcel of the broader issue of poverty; and ultimately to compel them to care, thereby influencing policy and programmatic changes in order to expand opportunity for the most vulnerable people in the state of Illinois.

The 2011 Report on Illinois Poverty was released in December 2011. Complementing the report, IMPACT launched a new user-friendly portal to easily access county-level data related to poverty, employment, education, and assets, to name a few. The interactive site allows advocates, impacted individuals, and decision makers to see how poverty is impacting different populations and different areas of the state and to build fact sheets or spreadsheets customized to geography and selected indicators, to print, PDF, or share via email and social media outlets.

Annual Census Data Analysis

IMPACT continually tracks poverty-related indicators for the nation and for a variety of geographies in Illinois and across the Midwest. Each year, IMPACT provides quick analysis on newly released American Community Survey and Current Population Survey data, and develops geographically-specific fact sheets for counties and places in Illinois and the Midwest.

Illinois Self-Sufficiency Standard

The Self-Sufficiency Standard is a tool that provides family budgets based on real costs in local areas and calculates the amount families need to earn to pay for their basic needs without public or private assistance. The Illinois Self-Sufficiency Standard has been calculated for 108 areas in the state and for 152 different family types (varying by number of adults and children as well as by the ages of those children). The Standard is the most geographically- and family composition-specific tool of its kind.

The Self-Sufficiency Standard helps define who needs assistance and places an emphasis on the importance of work supports, wages, career ladders, and economic development priorities. This tool enables individuals, policymakers, advocates, business leaders, and service providers to plan, not just how to move families out of poverty, but how to move them forward on a path to true economic independence and stability. The goal of self-reliance or self-sufficiency for families, meaning a family can meet its basic needs without relying on income supports, requires strong economic and workforce development policies that support the growth of quality jobs that pay a family-supporting wage, provide benefits, offer training and advancement opportunities, and are accessible to workers.

The Self-Sufficiency Standard was calculated for 2009. IMPACT continues to update its analysis of annual self-sufficiency wages.

Human Services System Research

IMPACT developed a report to support the work of the Illinois Human Services Commission in its effort to fulfill its charge to “undertake a systematic review of human services programs with the goal of ensuring their consistent delivery in the State of Illinois” and to “make recommendations for achieving a system that will provide for the efficient and effective delivery of high quality human service.” The report includes basic population and demographic trends that impact human services and identifies who is in need of services and how current realities and trends may impact need going forward. The report demonstrates how relatively simple data can inform program and policy decisions, which are far too often made in information voids. It concludes with a detailed account of how all need estimates in the report were developed and practical recommendations for how the state can incorporate this type of analysis into regular planning.

Read the report.

Additionally, IMPACT wrote a report that examined publicly-funded services and highlighted a body of evidence that speaks to both the social and economic value for society when investments are made into human services. The story that emerged points to the advantages of investments in human services in three distinct ways:

  1. Human services provide a lifeline for many of the state’s most disadvantaged residents—seniors, people with disabilities, people who are poor, those experiencing homelessness, children—thereby honoring concepts of human rights, equality, and the inherent dignity and worth of each and every individual.
  2. There are a variety of documented positive impacts of a variety of human services programs including enhanced quality of life and stronger and more economically competitive individuals, families, and communities.
  3. Such programs are wise investments, staving off the much larger immediate and/or future costs that would be incurred if the social problems they address were left unchecked.

IMPACT provides data and research support to Illinois Partners for Human Service. In addition to ongoing technical assistance, IMPACT recently coordinated an effort to survey human service organizations in Illinois to understand the impact of state budget cuts and late state payments on the sector. 

The Social IMPACT Research Center engages in human services system research with multiple partners in order to improve the quality of services and service delivery. Click here to learn more about IMPACT's human services system research and to access reports and other resources.

Chicago Youth Voices Network

IMPACT is conducting a multi-year evaluation of the work done by member organizations of the Chicago Youth Voices Network. The Chicago Youth Voices Network consists of programs designed to strengthen high school journalism and encourage civic engagement and expression. Member organizations seek to understand the effect their work is having on participants and the broader community. This evaluation will give each participating organization an understanding of what the program is doing in the lives of youth participants and perhaps other stakeholder groups, such as community audiences. IMPACT will also build the capacity of member organizations to conduct evaluations in the future, and help shape the broader discourse and positioning of youth media.

Put Illinois to Work

IMPACT is conducting a multi-year study of Illinois’ subsidized work relief program, Put Illinois to Work (PITW). PITW was the largest Emergency Contingency Fund-supported adult program in the nation, putting 27,000 low-income, unemployed and underemployed Illinoisans in jobs with over 4,200 employers through a counter-cyclical work relief model. IMPACT’s evaluation is focused on documenting the process by which the program came to be, understanding the experience and outcomes for the workers and businesses involved, and evaluating the impact on workers, businesses, and communities across Illinois.

JobStart

IMPACT is conducting an evaluation of the Chicago Neighborhood JobStart program, which placed over 1,500 low-income residents of historically high unemployment neighborhoods into transitional jobs. The first evaluation report documents implementation and outcomes and provides recommendations for future subsidized and transitional jobs programs based on the successes and challenges of JobStart.

Visit our JobStart page to read the full report and summaries, and to learn more about the Chicago Neighborhood JobStart program.

Statewide Supportive Housing Tenant Outcomes Study

IMPACT conducted a statewide study of supportive housing for the Supportive Housing Providers Association. This study included 476 tenants from 31 supportive housing projects across Illinois. Through the study, IMPACT explored whether supportive housing reduces residents' reliance on expensive, publicly-funded emergency services. Using primarily public agency data, the study tracked individuals' usage of services for the time period 2 years before they entered supportive housing, comparing it to their usage of services 2 years after they entered supportive housing.

Credit Score and Debt Analyses

IMPACT works with groups interested in asset development to create customized analyses of rarely seen credit bureau data. The analyses reveal snapshots of geographic differences in debt and credit giving insight into the state of assets and wealth and indicating the level of economic security in communities.

The Value of Legal Services

IMPACT is working with the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation and the Chicago Bar Foundation to estimate the monetary value of legal services to Illinois. This study will present a high-level overview of cases handled by 10 legal services providers and a focused analysis of the value of case outcomes that are most feasible to monetize. IMPACT is using research on the costs of homelessness and domestic violence to estimate the monetary value of harm prevented by legal services cases in three specific areas.

Veterans

IMPACT is conducting a study to look at the unique needs of veterans in Illinois and the Chicago region who have returned to the U.S. since 2001. New veterans face a challenging context upon return: an economy with few job openings, systems of care that have grown accustomed to serving older and predominantly male veterans, and personal resistance to seeking help. These veterans need to have sufficient supports available to them in order to prevent the long-term negative impacts that many previous veteran cohorts have suffered. IMPACT is compiling data to provide a demographic snapshot of this cohort, what services they need, and what services they are receiving relative to those needs. A series of briefs based on this data will be released in early 2012.

Two areas that call for further investigation are the service needs and utilization of female veterans and potential employers of veterans. Female veterans are more vulnerable to negative impacts of military service than their male counterparts in many ways, but utilize many services at lower rates as well. They also have a disproportionately high unemployment rate. New veterans also report that despite businesses’ claims to be eager to hire veterans, many show unwillingness in reality.

Throughout 2012, IMPACT will conduct research on female veteran perspectives on barriers to employment, unique service needs, and service utilization and preferences, as well as employers’ thoughts about hiring veterans.

Student and Family Support Services Initiative

IMPACT is conducting an evaluation of the Student and Family Support Initiative (SFSI) launched by the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS). The program, operated by Heartland Human Care Services (HHCS), Heartland Health Outreach, and Beacon Therapeutic Diagnostic and Treatment Center, worked with doubled-up students in Englewood schools (elementary and secondary) providing case management, therapeutic services, housing assistance, employment services and asset building classes. The evaluation is capturing who was served, what their housing situation was before the program, the package of services provided, and outcomes.

Michigan Earn and Learn

IMPACT is conducting an evaluation of Michigan’s Earn & Learn subsidized employment program. IMPACT is detailing program implementation and outcomes, and estimating the impact of Michigan Earn & Learn on participant employment, earnings, public-benefits receipt, and engagement with the justice system. The evaluation will contribute to Michigan Earn & Learn operations and to subsequent efforts aimed at integrating disadvantaged individuals into Michigan’s workforce.

Porter County Plan to End Homelessness

IMPACT is developing a Plan to End Homelessness in Porter County, Indiana. This includes background research and data collection involving stakeholder interviews, service provider surveys, and focus groups with individuals experiencing homelessness in Porter County. IMPACT also conducted strategic planning sessions with the Porter County Plan Team around identifying action steps and time frames, and will finish with the release of a full plan to end homelessness report and short term action steps.

Click here to learn more about the Porter County Plan to End Homelessness and to read the report.

Partnership for Instructional Leadership

IMPACT has worked with Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) to create a summary report on their Partnership for Instructional Leadership (PIL) initiative. The three-year initiative’s aim was to help a group of neighborhood Chicago Public Schools to build internal capacity to improve school achievement for all students. It began with a partnership among BPI, school administrative staff and teachers, and Targeted Leadership Consulting (TLC), whose framework became the basis of the day-to-day work of the initiative. IMPACT surveyed key stakeholders who participated in the process and worked with BPI to paint a clear picture of the most important aspects of the initiative in order to share with decision makers and others in the education filed interested in school change.

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