News from Mathematica

New Publications

Child Development

"Welfare Reform and Children: A Synthesis of Impacts in Five States." March 2004. Kathryn Tout, Jennifer Brooks, Martha Zaslow, Zakia Redd, Kristin Moore, Ayelish McGarvey, and Sharon McGroder (Child Trends); Lisa Gennetian and Pamela Morris (MDRC); Christine Ross (Mathematica); and Erik Beecroft (Abt Associates). This report focuses on whether pilot welfare reform programs launched in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota affected children's developmental outcomes. In general, the five state programs achieved their policy goals for adults and increased parental employment, earnings, and in some cases, household income. Overall, there were few impacts on young school-age children, although the programs with the most positive impacts also increased family income. Impacts on adolescents were more frequent and primarily negative.

Controlling Drug Costs

"New State Data on Medicaid Drug Use and Cost Can Help States Solve Problems. Trends in Health Care Financing, Issue Brief #4." James M. Verdier and Myoung Kim, March 2005. New data on Medicaid prescription drug use and reimbursement in 1999, prepared by Mathematica for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, provide a tool states can use to identify potential problems in their Medicaid prescription drug programs and explore solutions. The data are organized into uniformly formatted tables for each state and the nation as a whole to facilitate comparisons. States can use these tables to reveal areas in which they are outliers, compared with other states and the national average, and explore potential explanations. Their own more recent state Medicaid prescription drug data can help them assess in-state trends since 1999.

Upcoming Presentation

Researcher Leslie Foster will present "The Effects of Cash and Counseling" at the Changing Face of Aging, the Joint Conference of the American Society on Aging and the National Council on the Aging, the nation's two largest professional associations in this field. The conference, held this year in Philadelphia from March 10 to 13, showcases innovative programs, fosters policy discussions, and shares cutting-edge research findings. For more on the conference click here.

For more on Mathematica's cash and counseling study, a three-state demonstration in which frail or disabled Medicaid enrollees receive a monthly cash allowance to purchase personal assistance services and increase their choice and control and live more independently, click here.

On the Move: Staff News and Changes

Surveys and Information Services

Susan Sprachman, a senior survey researcher with more than 25 years experience designing and managing large-scale surveys of education, family functioning, child development, and child care, has been named a senior fellow. She specializes in child care and child development data collection, including assessments, observations, and complicated questionnaires and innovative survey designs.

Sameena Salvucci has joined Mathematica as a senior fellow in statistical services. Previously director of research and statistical services at Synectics for Management Decisions, she is responsible for leading statistical design and analysis on the firm's large-scale surveys and serves as a technical reviewer for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of student achievement in math, reading, science, and other subjects.

Research

Vice president Craig Thornton, who specializes in policies for people with disabilities or chronic illness, has been named managing director of health research and deputy director of research. Previously, he had been a senior fellow and associate director of health research.

Randall Brown has been named vice president and director of health research at Mathematica's Princeton headquarters. He is a nationally known expert in evaluations of case management and disease management programs for elders, as well as long-term care and Medicare managed care issues.

Three new research area leaders have also been appointed:

Valerie Cheh, an expert in health care access and quality, will lead the public health policy area.

LaDonna Pavetti, an expert in welfare and employment policy, will lead human services foundations research.

Anu Rangarajan, an expert in welfare-to-work, including programs for people with disabilities, will lead research with international clients.

Administration

Pamela Tapscott has been named vice president of contract operations. With over two decades of experience in management of federal government contracts, she has served as director of contracts, responsible for overseeing the corporate contracts function for both Mathematica and the Center for Studying Health System Change, an affiliate of the company that provides analyses about changes in the U.S. health care system.

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News From Mathematica

March 9, 2005: A Semimonthly Update on New Publications, Presentations, and Other Developments

New Publications

Child Development

Controlling Drug Costs

Upcoming Presentation

On the Move: Staff News and Changes