Publications on Public Management, Services

Child care providers are a linchpin of the voucher subsidy system, yet little is known about how the system works for them. This comprehensive report examines the voucher experiences of child care centers and family child care homes in five counties in 2003–04. Using data from a survey of representative sample of providers and discussions with providers, caseworkers, and administrators, it examines provider experiences with key features of voucher systems and highlights policy strategies to help the system better meet their needs. It is part of the Urban Institute’s Child Care Providers and the Child Care Voucher System project.

Faith-based providers are key in delivering child care services overall and for children receiving child care vouchers, though data are scarce in this area. Using data from a survey of a representative sample of centers and site visits in five counties in 2003-4, this report examines the role of faith-based organizations in center-based child care, the extent to which centers affiliated with faith-based organizations care for children receiving vouchers, and whether such providers face barriers to working with the voucher system. The paper is part of the Urban Institute’s Child Care Providers and the Child Care Voucher System project.

The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 to help Americans start and build small businesses. Recently, the SBA commissioned the Urban Institute to look at four of the agency's loan and investment programs to assess their past performance and consider how the agency can set benchmarks for future performance management. The studies addressed three key research questions of particular interest to SBA and its constituents: 1) Does SBA assistance help the firms that receive it? 2) To what extent does SBA assistance serve its market? 3) Do SBA programs duplicate or overlap with other public sector programs?

The extent of our nation's preparedness to address large-scale disasters will likely receive renewed attention around the anniversaries of Hurricane Katrina and the attacks of 9/11. This commentary recommends that disaster planning address not only the immediate and short-term responses to disaster, but also the longer-term social service needs of disaster victims, such as mental health services and case management. The Urban Institute's study of the American Red Cross September 11th Recovery Program provides a sense of the need for such services and their value to those affected by disaster. Integrating longer-term recovery services into disaster planning can help ensure their availability in the wake of future disasters.

Nonprofit organizations are a crucial link in our nation’s emergency preparedness and disaster response efforts, but their role is not always well integrated into disaster planning. After both Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, nonprofits provided immediate and longer-term assistance to help people cope with devastating life changes and the emotional aftermath, but the importance of long-term services is not well understood or even acknowledged by victims and policymakers alike. This brief highlights the lessons learned from the Urban Institute’s assessment of the American Red Cross September 11th Recovery Program, which provided grants to community-based organizations to provide longer-term case management, mental health services, and other services to facilitate recovery to eligible individuals.