Dr. Danielle A. Crosby

Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Studies

Higher Ground: New Hope for the Working Poor and Their Children
by Greg J. Duncan, Aletha C. Huston, and Thomas S. Weisner

The New Hope Project, which is the focal point of this book, was an integral part of my academic training. As a graduate student interested in the effects of public policy on children's development, I joined the research team for the New Hope evaluation study and worked on it for several years. In my opinion, New Hope is an exemplary study for a number of reasons. By using a random assignment design (rare in the field of social policy), it has provided strong causal evidence of the benefits of work supports for children and families, and has influenced policy in the U.S. and abroad. It also highlights the advantages of mixed-methods research and provides a wonderful example of successful collaboration between a multidisciplinary team of researchers and the grass-roots community-based organization at the heart of the program.