A new report by the social policy and education research firm MDRC details the benefits to teenagers and their parents of the Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards program, which offered cash rewards related to education, health care, and employment to low-income families with children in six of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods. The Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) in the Mayor’s Office of the City of New York launched Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards in September 2007 as a three-year demonstration project. Seedco worked closely with MDRC and CEO to design and operate the program.
Key findings from the report suggest that Family Rewards:
- Increased the proportion of academically proficient teenagers who engaged in academic activities and reduced time spent in social activities;
- Increased the proportion of parents who saved for their children’s future education, as well as parents’ spending on school-related and leisure expenses;
- Substantially reduced teenagers’ problem behavior, such as aggression and substance use.
“Seedco is proud to have been a part of this innovative and important work and pleased that it will inform the next generation of conditional cash transfer programs,” said Seedco President and CEO Barbara Dwyer Gunn.
To learn more about the report, click here.