John Bauer, Casey Hicks, Rachel Casselman - November 2018

The 2018 Washington State Legislature directed WSIPP to conduct a study of single-payer and universal health coverage systems. This interim report addresses several aspects of the study assignment. We discuss universal health care coverage and policies that promote it, define single-payer health care and examine how it differs from our current multi-payer system, examine the effects of single-payer systems on health care costs, and summarize the challenges of implementing single-payer systems.

Our final report, due in June 2019, will address the remaining components of the study assignment. It will describe universal coverage and single-payer systems in other countries, and review evidence regarding differences across high-income countries in health care costs, health outcomes, access to care, and equity.

Danielle Fumia, Kristofer Bitney, Michael Hirsch - November 2018

The 2015 Washington State Legislature directed WSIPP to evaluate the effects of the College Bound Scholarship (CBS) program on education outcomes. The CBS program is an early commitment program that provides financial assistance to low-income undergraduate students. At public institutions, CBS covers full tuition and fees, plus a book stipend. Eligible students at corresponding private institutions receive the equivalent dollar value. To receive the scholarship, students must sign a pledge in middle school promising to graduate high school with at least a 2.0 GPA and no felony convictions and apply for federal or state financial aid. Students who complete the pledge requirements and have family incomes at or below 65% of the state median family income during college can receive their full CBS award. The program started in the 2007-08 academic year with the first CBS cohort entering college in the 2012-13 academic year.

This report describes our findings of the effectiveness of the College Bound Scholarship program on education outcomes for students attending Washington public schools in middle school. We analyze the effects of pledge eligibility and signing the College Bound pledge in middle school, CBS eligibility at the end of high school, and CBS receipt in the first year of college on secondary and postsecondary outcomes at public institutions in Washington.

In February 2019, we updated our main findings with a supplemental report using data from the National Student Clearinghouse’s StudentTracker service. This supplemental report evaluates the effects of the CBS program on enrollment and graduation across all institutions, including outcomes at private institutions in Washington and public and private institutions outside of Washington.

Rebecca Goodvin - November 2018

The 2017 Washington State Legislature directed WSIPP to evaluate a new short-term foster care support program. The program allows licensed foster parents to access temporary and flexible short-term support services provided by organizations in their local communities, with the overall goal of supporting the parental efforts of the foster parents. The short-term support does not include overnight assistance. This new program is differentiated from existing services by being potentially available to any licensed foster parent, whereas existing case aide services have been almost exclusively available to foster parents for specific children with high-level needs.

In this interim report, we briefly describe initial program implementation in two community-based non-profit organizations and outline WSIPP’s broad evaluation approach and potential data limitations.

A final report is due to the legislature by June 30, 2020. The outcome evaluation will, to the maximum extent possible, assess the impact of the short-term support services on the retention of foster homes and the number of placements a foster child receives while in out-of-home care, as well as the return on investment to the state.

Madeline Barch, Chasya Hoagland, John Hansen, Amelia Haselkorn - November 2018

The 2018 Washington State Legislature directed WSIPP to conduct a study on student loan refinancing, with particular attention to authorities that refinance student loans from the proceeds of tax-exempt bonds. In this report, we summarize federal guidance on using tax-exempt bonds for state loan refinancing programs and describe the structure and characteristics of the 15 student loan refinance programs run by other states, including their requirements for borrowers. We also estimate the potential savings to Washington undergraduate and graduate borrowers from refinancing their loans through a hypothetical state program. Finally, we consider the foregone value of federal loan repayment and forgiveness options to borrowers who choose to refinance using such a program.

Marna Miller - November 2018

The 2017 Washington State Legislature directed WSIPP to complete a study measuring the outcomes for youth who have received extended foster care services pursuant to RCW 74.13.031(11). The final study, due December 1, 2019, will include estimates of any savings to state and local governments and compare outcomes for youth who have received extended foster care services with youth who aged out of foster care when they turned 18. To the extent possible, the study will also include a comparison of extended foster care programs in other states and a review of the available research on those programs.

In this preliminary report, we provide background on the evolution of the program in Washington State and describe research on similar programs in other states. We then outline the approaches we will use to: (1) evaluate Washington’s extended foster care program and (2) estimate the benefits and costs of the program.

Julia Cramer, Kristofer Bitney, Paige Wanner - June 2018

Washington State provides funding to school districts to help underachieving students through the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). The 2013 Washington State Legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to prepare an inventory of evidence-based and research-based effective practices, activities, and programs for use by school districts in LAP and to update the inventory each two years thereafter. This report describes the fourth update to the inventory of evidence-based and research-based practices for use in LAP.

Find previous versions of the LAP inventory with the following links: third update, second update, first update, and initial report.

Chasya Hoagland, Kristofer Bitney, Julia Cramer, Danielle Fumia, Stephanie Lee - April 2018

In 2015, WSIPP's Board of Directors authorized a collaborative project with the MacArthur Foundation and Pew Charitable Trusts to extend WSIPP’s benefit-cost analysis to higher education programs.

WSIPP produced a first report of a review of the evidence and benefit-cost analysis for ten postsecondary interventions in December 2016. This report updates those previous findings and presents new findings for an additional ten programs in four topic areas: 1) financial interventions, 2) student support interventions, 3) brief information interventions, and 4) concurrent enrollment interventions.

Eva Westley, Sara del Moral, Madeline Barch, Michael Hirsch, Paige Wanner, Casey Hicks - April 2018

WSIPP's Board of Directors authorized WSIPP to work on a joint project with the MacArthur Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts to extend WSIPP’s benefit-cost analysis to certain health care topics. In this report, we present findings on interventions to promote health and increase health care efficiency for older adults, including: 1) interventions to prevent falls and 2) interventions for older adults with dementia and/or their caregivers. We describe whether the interventions achieve effects on desired outcomes, and, if so, the magnitudes of those effects. We present benefit-cost results for these interventions, when possible.

Paige Wanner - February 2018

The 2013 Washington State Legislature passed a bill to facilitate the use of evidence-based programs in adult corrections. The legislature directed WSIPP to define the terms “evidence-based” and “research-based” and create an inventory of adult corrections programs classified as evidence-based or research-based.

WSIPP produced the first inventory of evidence-based and research-based programs for adult corrections in 2013. This is an update to the original inventory, classifying an additional 30 programs, for a total of 57 programs.

Madeline Barch - December 2017

Washington State has compulsory school attendance laws that require school-aged children to attend school and mandate how schools and courts must respond to unexcused absences. These laws establish a series of escalating interventions that can ultimately result in truant students facing legal consequences, including detention.

The 2016 and 2017 Washington State Legislature modified these requirements. Some significant changes included increasing the information provided to parents about truancy, requiring schools to use formal assessments of students and data-informed steps to address truant behavior, mandating the use of community truancy boards (CTBs), and requiring courts to try alternative methods before ordering detention.

The Washington State Legislature directed WSIPP to evaluate the effectiveness of the 2016 act. In this initial report, we outline the evaluation plan and identify potential data gaps. The final report, due January 2021, will describe changes in CTBs, truancy petition characteristics and outcomes, and student academic outcomes using a combination of descriptive and quasi-experimental methods. If possible, the analysis will include a meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of truancy and drop-out prevention programs.