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Housing & Workforce Policy
The SPHERE Institute's research covers a number of policy areas
concerning employment and workforce development issues. This research includes
in-depth program evaluations - such as studying alternative means of
assessing eligibility for unemployment insurance - and highly-detailed workforce
studies for particular industries or regions - such as tracking the
outcomes of laid-off high-tech workers in Silicon Valley and developing lessons
for public and private workforce professionals facing similar challenges.
SPHERE is also active in areas concerning economic growth in California and the
states regions. Research often involves the analysis of tax policy -
such as tax increment financing for redevelopment agencies or the effects of
turnover in commercial property assessment - and its implications for economic
growth. In addition to our longer-term research projects, we also perform
regular assessments of the California and Bay Area economies, as well as the
states budget issues.
Current and Recent Projects
Effects of an Alternative Base Period on Unemployment
Benefits in California
Oakland Housing Authority Moving-to-Work Program Evaluation
SPHERE staff are currently assisting the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) in
developing in-house capacity to evaluate its Moving-to-Work (MTW) Demonstration
Program. Under this federally sponsored waiver program, housing authorities are
given greater flexibility over the use of their federal funds with the goal of
increased cost effectiveness, wider housing choice, and high quality housing
for low-income families. The SPHERE Institute is currently structuring an
evaluation framework for OHA's MTW reforms and developing baseline data that
will enable the agency to track the impact of policy change on program
operations and client outcomes. Tasks associated with this project include the
development of outcome measures across relevant topic areas, a comprehensive
evaluation of OHA's current data and IT systems to asses their capacity for
supporting new performance indicators and an evaluation framework that defines
all measures and data reporting protocols.
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Funded by: Oakland Housing Authority
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