About MDRC
Skemer’s research focuses on evaluations of criminal justice policies, systems, and reforms. She also studies new system approaches in child support enforcement. Currently, Skemer leads the process and impact evaluation of New York City’s Supervised Release program, a bail alternative designed to reduce the use of pretrial detention and money bail while ensuring defendants’ appearance in court and maintaining public safety. Skemer also serves as a research and design lead for the Pretrial Justice Collaborative, a study of eight jurisdictions across the country aimed at building usable evidence on the most effective strategies for reducing pretrial detention, minimizing supervision conditions, and reducing racial and economic inequities while preserving court appearance rates. Additionally, Skemer directs the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt demonstration, a random assignment study testing the efficacy of incorporating procedural justice principles into child support practices to re-engage noncustodial parents who have fallen behind in their payments, rather than relying on a court-led civil contempt process. Skemer’s responsibilities include project management and direction; research design; impact analysis; the collection of qualitative data through observations, interviews, and focus groups; the writing of policy briefs and reports; and the presentation of research findings. Selected past projects include the Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration, the Evaluation of the PACE Center for Girls, and the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation. Skemer holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in sociology from the University of California-Irvine.
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MDRC Publications
BriefFebruary, 2021The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) project integrates procedural justice (the idea of fairness in processes) into enforcement at six child support agencies. This brief explains which parents these agencies refer to civil contempt for not paying child support, and describes the business-as-usual contempt proceedings.
ReportFindings from an Evaluation of New York City’s Supervised Release Program
September, 2020In 2016, New York City rolled out Supervised Release, which allowed judges to release defendants under supervision instead of setting bail. The findings in this report suggest that the program reduced the number of defendants detained in jail, while at the same time maintaining court appearance rates and public safety.
ReportSummary Report on the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation
December, 2018This report summarizes an evaluation of a program that helps young people with histories of foster care or juvenile justice custody become independent adults. The program improved earnings, housing stability and economic well-being, and some health and safety outcomes. It did not improve education, social support, or criminal involvement outcomes.
ReportFinal Impacts and Costs of New York City’s Young Adult Internship Program
August, 2018This report presents 30-month impacts from a random assignment evaluation of a program that subsidized employers to offer temporary paid jobs to young people who were disconnected from school and work in New York City. After 30 months, program enrollees and nonenrollees fared similarly, with the former slightly more likely to report employment.
BriefAn Alternative to Bail
April, 2017Defendants awaiting trial and unable to post bail are often detained in local jails unnecessarily, disrupting their lives and adding to costs for taxpayers. To address this situation, New York City has launched a program that gives judges the option to release some defendants to community-based supervision.
ReportImplementation and Early Impacts of the Young Adult Internship Program
April, 2017This report presents implementation and early impact results from a random assignment evaluation of the Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP), a subsidized employment program for young people in New York City who are disconnected from school and work. YAIP boosted earnings for participants, which suggests that they obtained better jobs.
ReportTwo-Year Impact Findings from the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation
November, 2016This study tested a program that offers individualized services to young people who are making the transition from foster care or juvenile justice custody to independent living. The program had modest, positive effects on earnings, housing stability, and economic well-being and improved some health and safety outcomes.
ReportThe Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration
November, 2016This demonstration is testing seven enhanced transitional jobs programs that offer temporary, subsidized jobs and comprehensive support to people recently released from prison and unemployed parents behind in child support payments.
ReportOne-Year Impact Findings from the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation
May, 2015This study evaluated a program, called YVLifeSet, that offers individualized services to young people who are making the transition from foster care or juvenile justice custody to independent adulthood. After one year, the program increased earnings, reduced homelessness and material hardship, and improved outcomes related to health and safety.
ReportImplementation Findings from the Youth Villages Transitional Living Evaluation
March, 2014This highly structured program offers clinically focused case management, support, and counseling to youth who are leaving state custody or are otherwise unprepared for independent adult living. It emphasizes treatment planning, ongoing client assessment, and evidence-informed practices. Early findings indicate that it has been implemented well and participation is high.
ReportLessons from an In-Depth Data Analysis
December, 2013Both Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) may serve low-income individuals with disabilities. This brief uses MDRC’s analysis of merged national-level TANF and SSI data — two rich data sources that have never before been linked — to better understand the extent of the two programs’ overlap.
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Other Publications
Courtney, Mark E., Erin J. Valentine, and Melanie Skemer. 2019. “Experimental Evaluation of Transitional Living Services for System-Involved Youth: Implications for Policy and Practice.” Children and Youth Services Review 96: 396-408.
Baer, Justin, and Melanie Skemer. 2009. Review of State Motorcycle Safety Program Technical Assessments. DOT HS 811–082. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
Baldi, Stéphane, Ying Jin, Melanie Skemer, Patricia J. Green, and Deborah Herget. 2007. Highlights From PISA 2006: Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science and Mathematics Literacy in an International Context. NCES 2008–016. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
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Projects
Kristin Porter, Bret Barden, Melanie Skemer, Chloe Anderson Golub, Brit Henderson, Viktoriya Syrov, Lily Freedman, Emily Brennan, Sara Ellis, Olivia WilliamsJurisdictions across the United States are taking steps to reduce the number of people who are detained in jail unnecessarily while awaiting trial. In particular, they are seeking to reduce the use of cash bail as a mechanism to ensure court appearance. Many jurisdictions have introduced risk-assessment tools to inform release decisions and pretrial supervision...
The objective of the MDRC Center for Criminal Justice Research is to help build a more effective and equitable criminal justice system through clear, rigorous, and actionable research evidence. We partner with national and local criminal justice agencies, policymakers, and community-based organizations to assess reforms, practices, and programs that seek to increase...
Melanie Skemer, Dan Bloom, Peter Baird, Dina A. R. Israel, Louisa Treskon, Douglas Phillips, Rebecca Behrmann, Caroline Mage, Yana Kusayeva, Olivia Williams, Jennifer (Jenny) HauslerThe Office of Child Support Enforcement launched the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt ( PJAC ) demonstration to test the efficacy of incorporating procedural justice principles into child support practices as a cost-effective alternative to contempt. In this context, contempt is a legal action involving the use of civil court proceedings against...
Supervised Release ( SR ) offers judges across the five boroughs of New York City an alternative to money bail by providing the option of pretrial release supervision. Eligible defendants include individuals facing certain misdemeanor and nonviolent felony charges who are not at high risk for felony pretrial rearrest based on a locally developed and validated risk...
Megan Millenky, Jean Grossman, Louisa Treskon, Melanie Skemer, Sally Dai, Lily Freedman, Caroline MageYoung girls and women make up an increasing share of the youth in the juvenile justice system, despite a national decline in the overall rate of juvenile incarceration in this country. In 2011, girls made up nearly 30 percent of all juvenile arrests, up from 20 percent in 1980. However, girls account for a very small share of the juvenile arrests for violent crimes and...
John Martinez, Peter Baird, Lauren Cates, Johanna Walter, Bret Barden, Melanie Skemer, Dina A. R. IsraelWhile welfare agencies and the federal disability system have common goals of supporting people with disabilities and helping them become more independent, the two systems often have diverging interests as well. Differing missions, programmatic and financial challenges, definitions of disability, and rules and incentives related to work make it challenging for the...
Dan Bloom, Sally Dai, Bret Barden, Melanie Skemer, David Navarro, Jillian Verrillo, Yana Kusayeva, Gary ReynoldsIn the past three decades, broad economic shifts have sharply decreased the availability of good jobs for workers without postsecondary education. Disadvantaged men have been particularly hard hit by these trends. Many of these men become enmeshed in the criminal justice and child support enforcement systems, which are increasingly focusing on how to help their “...
Most of the children who are placed in out-of-home care through the child welfare system exit to a “permanent” placement with a family member, or they are adopted or placed with a legal guardian. However, more than 20,000 young people each year “age out” of care, usually when they reach age 18. Most of these young people entered foster care in their teens after having...
Dan Bloom, Richard Hendra, Melanie Skemer, David Navarro, Sally Dai, Bret Barden, Kyla Wasserman, Jillian Verrillo, Gary Reynolds, Chloe Anderson GolubOver the past 80 years, a variety of subsidized employment strategies have been used for two main purposes: (1) to provide work-based income support for people who are not able to find regular, unsubsidized jobs; and (2) to improve the employability of disadvantaged groups. Programs with the first goal have typically emerged during periods of sustained high...