Washington D.C. Region

Publications on District of Columbia

Institute Fellow Olivia Golden, the former head of the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency, offers the region’s subway and bus system five management lessons for turning around the problem-plagued agency.

The 16th annual Fact Book is a comprehensive data source for indicators of child well-being in the District of Columbia. It tracks the progression of child well-being over time, as well as differences in child well-being across wards and races/ethnicities. It is organized to reflect the six citywide goals for children and youth in DC: children are ready for school; children and youth succeed in school; children and youth are healthy and practice healthy behaviors; children and youth engage in meaningful activities; children and youth live in healthy, stable, and supportive families; and all youth make a successful transition to adulthood.

The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) is a collaborative effort of the Urban Institute and local organizations in more than 30 cities that operate recurrently updated information systems with neighborhood level data and work to ensure the data will be applied effectively in policy development and community building. This collection of brief case studies describes the local partners’ successes in using neighborhood indicators to improve their communities in several areas, including neighborhood development, housing, children and schools, crime and prisoner reentry, health and service delivery.

This congressional testimony summarizes research on the utility of halfway houses in facilitating the successful reentry of former prisoners, emphasizing that not all halfway houses are effective in preventing recidivism. Halfway houses that work have qualified staff who use such evidence-based practices as needs assessments and tailored, wraparound services. Halfway houses are most effective for medium- and high-risk prisoners. However, they can actually be detrimental for low-risk prisoners, who would fair better by simply returning directly to their families and communities. This research suggests that the District of Columbia's halfway houses should be reserved for higher-risk returning prisoners.

NeighborhoodInfo DC, a partnership between the Urban Institute and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, held the second dialogue on the foreclosure crisis facing the Greater Washington region to answer these questions. The panel discussion on Banking and Servicer Solutions featured Jennifer Murphy from Center for New York City Neighborhoods and their innovative program to work with servicers.