Pandemic relief and economic recovery | Office of Evaluation Sciences

Evaluations and insights from the COVID-19 response

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic caused both a public health and an economic crisis. The federal government responded with historic investments. What lessons about designing effective programs and strategies can we draw from them?

We’ve built a pandemic relief and economic recovery portfolio consisting of dozens of evaluations to begin to answer this question. Our work encompasses many agency priorities, such as housing, mental health, economic security, small businesses, and community safety.

Portfolio

We’ve partnered with federal agencies to conduct dozens of evaluations, some national and some site-specific, to better understand what worked to increase awareness of, access to, and allocation of federal recovery programs. The results offer a wealth of insights, such as what worked to connect thousands more callers in mental health crises to counselors, how one state saved tens of thousands of dollars by shifting away from an ineffective outreach technique, and which program change made it easier, faster, and more likely for people facing housing instability to access rental assistance.

Evaluating the effect of changes to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

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graduation caps and confetti scattered on a gym floor

Examining the impacts of COVID-era direct payments during the transition to adulthood

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Decreasing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) denials due to incomplete information

A text campaign encouraging the use of a redesigned document uploader decreased SNAP denial rates due to incomplete eligibility information

Decreasing abandonment of calls to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

An updated caller experience resulted in more people being connected to a 988 counselor

Measuring the impact of the Appropriate Responses Initiative on arrests in Ramsey County, MN

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Modifying income reporting on benefits applicants — Evidence from single-income households

Providing applicants with different alternatives to reporting an hourly wage did not increase submission rates for an online application for SNAP benefits

Decreasing homelessness and financial instability with unconditional cash transfers

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Streamlining income verification to broaden access to rental assistance

Streamlining income verification for application processors in Kentucky increased application approval rates by at least 7 percentage points

Reducing documentation burdens to accelerate and broaden access to emergency rental assistance

Simplifying income documentation reduced application processing times and increased application approval rates, but did not significantly increase new applications

Increasing access to Minnesota Child Care Stabilization Base Grants

Texts and calls increased funding awards for child care providers

Decreasing opt out from text messages about benefit programs

Measuring delivery and opt out-rates for a text message campaign with a state partner

Identifying interventions to increase Affordable Care Act uptake through a systematic review and meta-analysis

Support-based interventions increase health insurance enrollment

Arial view of a neighborhood in Milwaukee, WI

Increasing applications to the Homeowner Assistance Fund using mailers

Sending postcards did not increase applications from at-risk homeowners

Describing the distribution of Emergency Rental Assistance funds to those who need and qualify for it

A descriptive study of the first-ever nationwide eviction prevention program

Understanding and improving Tribal governments’ and non-entitlement units’ experiences with the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program

Increasing timely reporting by local governments through reminders

Sending reminder emails did not increase submission of spending reports

Increasing timely reporting by local governments through peer comparisons and encouragements

Adding peer comparisons and information that registering is quick and easy to emails did not increase submission of spending reports

Increasing timely reporting by local governments through to-do lists

Adding to-do lists and calls to action to emails increased signup on an online expenditure reporting portal

How documentation burdens affect the distribution of small business relief funding

A city small business relief program that reduced documentation requirements subsequently received a higher share of completed applications from historically underserved businesses

Evaluating the effects of HEERF Aid to students

A regression-discontinuity design to estimate the effects of emergency aid on student academic outcomes

Dallas small business continuity fund impact evaluation

Analysis of a pre-existing lottery for small business grants and loans was unable to determine impact on business resilience

Evaluation of San Diego Small Business Relief Fund

A selection on observables analysis was unable to determine the effect of funding for small businesses on business outcomes during the pandemic

Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation

A toolkit developed by the Office of the Surgeon General provides information and exercises to slow the spread of health misinformation.