Robert Wood’s research focuses on policies affecting low-income families and disadvantaged youth.
Wood has directed or served as principal investigator for many of Mathematica’s flagship projects in the family support area. Wood is co-project director for the Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services (STREAMS) evaluation, examining the effects of a mix of relationship education programs targeting a range of low-income populations. He also serves as principal investigator for an evaluation of innovative programs in eight states that provide employment, parenting, and child support-related services to noncustodial parents (mainly fathers) with substantial child support arrearages. In addition, Wood serves as project director for the evaluation of the Personal Responsibility Education Program, a large-scale initiative to replicate evidenced-based adolescent pregnancy prevention programs nationwide, and directed Mathematica’s 11-year evaluation of Building Strong Families, a multisite random assignment evaluation of a relationship skills education program for unmarried parents. His other research has focused on dropout prevention initiatives, the economic progress of welfare recipients, and strategies for improving the outcomes of teenage parents.
Wood joined Mathematica in 1994 and serves as director of youth and family research for the organization. The author of several book chapters on methods and policy issues, he has published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Journal of Marriage and Family, Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Children and Youth Services Review, Contemporary Economic Policy, and Social Services Review. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan.
In SIMR, researchers and practitioners partnered to develop and test new approaches to HMRE service delivery using rapid cycle learning. To ensure other practitioners can use the SIMR findings, the team developed a set of eight practice briefs to share innovative implementation strategies.
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