Bloom directs MDRC’s Policy, Research, and Evaluation Department, which houses the organization’s research and technical assistance activities. He previously directed the Youth Development, Criminal Justice, and Employment Policy Area, where his work focused on groups seeking to gain a foothold in the labor market, including former prisoners, disconnected young adults, low-income noncustodial parents (usually fathers), welfare recipients, individuals with disabilities, and others. He led several major projects, including the Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration, the Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration, the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe evaluation, and evaluations of three state welfare reform initiatives in the 1990s. Since joining MDRC in 1988, Bloom has coauthored more than 50 research reports and contributed articles to several published volumes on workforce and youth policy. Bloom previously worked for America Works, a for-profit company that operates job-placement programs for welfare recipients, and for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, DC-based policy analysis group. He has a master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Projects
Other Publications
Bloom, Dan, and David Butler. 2007. “Overcoming Employment Barriers: Strategies to Help the Hard-to-Employ.” In Harry Holzer and Demetra Nightingale (eds.), Reshaping the American Workforce in a Changing Economy. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
Bloom, Dan. 2010. “Programs and Policies to Assist High School Dropouts in the Transition to Adulthood.” The Future of Children 20, 1: 89-108.
