Our Work
At J-PAL North America, we work across a number of program areas to better understand which anti-poverty programs and policies work and why.
Health
J-PAL North America’s US Health Care Delivery Initiative (HCDI) catalyzes randomized evaluations of strategies that aim to make health care delivery in the United States more efficient, effective, and equitable. Our bi-annual Request for Proposals solicits proposals from our research network and organizations partnered with a researcher in the J-PAL network for policy-relevant studies on key health care issues, such as health insurance, substance use and addiction, maternal and child health, and more.
Education
J-PAL North America’s education work focuses on the identification of evidence-based practices to improve outcomes and address inequity within the education system. Focus areas include the transition from high school to college, tutoring programs, education technology, and more. The education team works with researchers, nonprofits, and government agencies to design and implement randomized evaluations to test questions to improve learning outcomes and expand access to quality educational opportunities.
Tutoring Evidence and Resources
J-PAL North America has curated a body of rigorous evidence and policy recommendations pertaining to tutoring, particularly as a solution to combat learning loss precipitated by Covid-19.
Labor Markets
Our work in labor markets focuses on evidence-based strategies to make labor markets more equitable, efficient, and just, particularly for low-wage workers. Our Worker Prosperity Initiative supports randomized evaluations of strategies and innovations that address the changing nature of work in North America
State & Local Governments
Our State and Local Innovation Initiative supports US state and local leaders in using randomized evaluations to generate new and widely applicable lessons about which programs work, which work best, and why. The state and local leaders selected to participate in this initiative serve as a model for others across the United States, demonstrating that state and local governments can create and use rigorous evidence to address challenging social problems. Through this initiative, state and local governments can apply for project development awards, including: up to one year of pro bono technical support as they design randomized evaluations to inform critical policy questions; flexible funding to help get these evaluations off the ground; and connections with J-PAL’s network of leading academic researchers. State and local governments that have partnered with a researcher from J-PAL’s network to design a high-quality randomized evaluation can apply for funding to carry out the evaluations.
Learn more about the State and Local Innovation Initiative »
Summer Youth Employment Evidence and Resources
J-PAL North America has curated a body of rigorous evidence and policy recommendations pertaining to Summer Youth Employment Programs (SYEP), which are typically run at the local government level. These programs are an evidence-based option for improving the lives of young people in areas as diverse as criminal justice involvement, education, employment, and youth development.
Learn more about J-PAL North America's work on SYEP »
Puerto Rico Partnerships and Engagement
Since 2017, J-PAL North America has partnered with agencies in Puerto Rico to develop and evaluate promising programs to support and foster a culture of evidence-based decision-making. Our partnerships have aimed to improve academic achievement, social-emotional skills of students and teachers, and workforce development opportunities on the island. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of research teams and agency staff to be better producers and users of scientific evidence. We are working in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Department of Education, the Department of Economic Development and Commerce, and other agencies to design and launch these research projects.
Learn more about our partnerships and engagement in Puerto Rico »
Addressing Homelessness and Housing Stability
Our work on homelessness and housing stability seeks to expand the base of rigorous evidence on strategies to reduce homelessness and foster housing stability. We work with nonprofits and government agencies to design and implement randomized evaluations to test questions that can best inform the policies and programs helping people find and maintain stable, affordable housing.
Crime & Violence Prevention
Decision-makers need a broad toolbox of credible strategies to reduce unnecessary incarceration and improve correctional equity while maintaining or even enhancing public safety. Our work in this sector seeks to identify and promote evidence-based practices to reduce crime and violence, increase opportunities for individuals who are at-risk for involvement in the justice system, and foster the fairness and efficacy of the institutions and laws that make up the criminal justice system.
Environment, Energy, & Climate Change
Our work in environment, energy and climate change supports the generation of evidence on equitable programs and policies for efficient energy access and use, reducing exposure to toxins and pollution, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. In 2024, we launched the Evidence for Climate Action Project, which aims to generate evidence to identify and advance equitable, high-impact policy solutions to climate change in the United States. Through this project, we are convening an influential network of government leaders, academic researchers, and other key policy partners to launch successful researcher-practitioner partnerships and rigorously evaluate promising decarbonization programs.
Social Policy Research Initiative
J-PAL North America's Social Policy Research Initiative (SPRI) supports randomized impact evaluations of innovative social programs and policies that can provide insights for learning which policies work best and why.
Administrative Data
The vast amounts of data now being digitally collected or stored creates tremendous opportunities to transform lives through improved social policy by using administrative data in evaluation. J-PAL North America has a variety of resources to support governments, firms, non-profits, and researchers in using administrative data for rigorous, policy-relevant research. For practical guidance on how to obtain and use administrative data, see Using administrative data for randomized evaluations as well as other topics in our research resources. We further highlight the value of administrative data used in a number of high-profile policy-relevant studies through The Lessons of Administrative Data brief. We help policymakers integrate administrative data in evaluations through presentations, trainings, and our research engagements. Our work complements J-PAL's worldwide Innovations in Data and Experiments for Action Initiative (IDEA). For more information about our work on administrative data, please contact us at [email protected].