BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS TO ADVANCE SELF-SUFFICIENCY (BIAS) NEXT GENERATION PROJECT

Manpower Demonstration Research Corp, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/research/project/behavioral-interventions-to-advance-self-sufficiency) demonstrated that applying behavioral insights to challenges facing human services programs can improve program operations and outcomes at relatively low cost. The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency Next Generation project will continue ACF's exploration of the application of behavioral science to the programs and target populations of ACF. This next generation project, launched in September 2015, will build on the activities and lessons of BIAS by designing interventions for human services programs using insights from behavioral science and testing them using randomized controlled trials. BIAS Next Generation will also go beyond the work of BIAS in several ways including: working with additional ACF programs; testing additional types of interventions (including going beyond nudges and considering changes to program structures and choice architecture); collecting additional types of information (including conducting implementation research to better understand intervention mechanisms); and creating dissemination materials targeted specifically to program administrators and operators.