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Out of Prison, Into a Vicious Circle of Debt

Tina Rosenberg

June 09, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Many offenders get out of jail owing hundreds or thousands of dollars in court and parole fees but face barriers to financing and job acquisition, sticking them in a punitive, vicious cycle of debt and arrest. A program called the Clapham Set, perhaps paired with conditional cash transfers - may be a solution, as it erases fees for felons who complete rehab and job training upon release.

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A Way to Pay for College, With Dividends

David Bornstein

June 02, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Low-income students are always looking for ways to finance their education. A new system using “human capital contracts” to pay for higher education isn’t as scary as it sounds.

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Instead of Student Loans, Investing in Futures

David Bornstein

May 30, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Colombia

For millions of students who could succeed in college, the limiting factor is money. Is it possible to finance higher education the way we finance start-up companies? A company called Lumni uses “human capital contracts” to offer loans for students contingent upon 14 percent of the student's salary for 118 months after graduation. There are risks to this approach and not a lot of years or data available to be sure of its efficacy, but results are promising already—with a default rate under 3 percent.

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Speaking Up for Patient Safety, and Survival

Tina Rosenberg

April 28, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Michigan

Patients in U.S. hospitals suffer high rates of infection due to poor practices such as lack of proper hand-washing and lack of sanitization when inserting central line catheters. The Michigan Health and Hospital Association set out to reduce the rate of infection in their Intensive Care Units by developing a 5-step protocol for nurses and doctors to follow when inserting central lines. What they found was astonishing-- following these simple steps reduced the rate of infection to zero within three months of implementation.

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Save the Poor by Selling Them Stuff — Cheap

Vince Beiser

April 25, 2011 |

Pacific Standard |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Stanford, California

Despite the trillions of dollars of aid money, donations, and goods gifted to impoverished nations each year, the cycle of poverty fails to break, and conventional thinking has shifted to believing that the poor are best served through opportunity, rather than charity. The concept of "marketing to the base of the pyramid' - creating goods and services catered to the wants and needs of the poor that they purchase at an accessible price - started out as somewhat controversial, but is proving in many cases to be more sustainable and empowering than traditional methods of philanthropy.

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When Math Makes Sense (To Everyone)

David Bornstein

April 21, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Toronto, Ontario

Many people believe that math is only for a select few. By fostering commitment and providing explicit guidance, Jump, an math education curriculum, is showing people that anyone can do math if they understand it.

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Hard Times for Recess

David Bornstein

April 04, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Despite strong evidence that school-based physical activity improves children’s cognitive skills, concentration, and behavior, schools under pressure to produce quantitative results and decrease bullying have drastically cut back on recess in recent years. An Oakland-based nonprofit organization called Playworks is working to make healthy play accessible for more children and show schools how productive recess can be to the whole academic world.

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A Network of Support

David Bornstein

February 25, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Memphis, Tennessee

It’s now common for youth to remain in foster care or residential treatment for years. For troubled or victimized children in need, assistance at home is often more effective than foster placement.

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A Families-First Approach to Foster Care

David Bornstein

February 21, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Memphis, Tennessee

The foster care system is widely acknowledged to be 'broken', and to ignore those who age out of the system. A program in Memphis is improving the lives of at-risk youths by working to reunite them with their original families.

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Training Youths in the Ways of the Workplace

David Bornstein

January 24, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

The non-profit program Year Up is getting low-income young people into jobs by training them in the culture of work. The organization pairs companies—which help fund the training period—with interns from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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