American Idea Foundation

Measuring Results, Expanding Opportunity, Improving Lives.

Press Release

Family Promise of Wisconsin prevents homelessness & strengthens children, families, & communities

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By: AIF Staff

Since 2022, the American Idea Foundation has offered policy advice, generated awareness, and provided financial support to nearly 30 organizations across the United States. The goal is to help these organizations as they work to alleviate poverty and address complex social challenges in a data-driven, evidence-based way.

In partnering with these organizations that are doing amazing work in every corner of the country, the American Idea Foundation hopes to identify promising solutions that can be studied, scaled, and replicated.

In some cases, the Foundation’s grantees have a long history of working with academic researchers and data scientists to evaluate their programs in a rigorous manner, usually through impact evaluations or randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In other cases, organizations are committed to developing an initial base of evidence to determine if their solutions are truly having a quantifiable impact on those they serve.

Inviting academics to evaluate a program can be a nerve-wrecking experience, but former Speaker of the House and AIF President Paul Ryan believes it is necessary if America wants to break the cycle of poverty and overcome the problems plaguing our communities. In Ryan’s view, it is vital that these front-line organizations match their powerful anecdotal evidence with data and empirically-sound research. By doing so, these organizations will arm policymakers and community leaders with the data and evidence to prioritize what works, deprioritize what doesn’t, and develop a more targeted and effective approach to fighting poverty.

One of the organizations that is committed to developing an initial base of evidence and data around their programming isFamily Promise.

In 2024, AIF partnered with  Family Promise of West Michigan as they, along with Family Promise of Spokane, and the Lord’s Place (located in West Palm Beach), conduct a randomized controlled trial with researchers at Notre Dame’s Laboratory for Economic Opportunities, to study how flexible financial assistance during diversion conversations impacts housing shelter use, housing stability issues, and other outcomes.

The goal of the trial is to determine if individuals who are diverted from homeless shelters, largely through financial assistance or other support services, will have increased housing stability and improved outcomes in terms of income, employment, and overall well-being.

This year, with  the RCT of Family Promise still ongoing, the American Idea Foundation will focus on helping build Family Promise’s capacity in the state of Wisconsin.

Family Promise of Wisconsin is a state-based affiliate of the national Family Promise organization, which works with faith-based and community organizations to move families to stable housing where they can grow and thrive. Family Promise of Wisconsin is focused on ending homelessness by connecting families in need with a suite of services like supplies to meet their basic needs, access to family support and emergency assistance, and other stabilization efforts.

Family Promise of Wisconsin employs a case management model, which means providing individualized, wrap-around support for families and their children during times of great need. The people engaging Family Promise of Wisconsin are often seeking urgent assistance with basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter and Family Promise works tirelessly to address their immediate problems while identifying long-term solutions for shelter.

They try to divert clients away from homelessness and costly shelter stays by instead providing them with alternative temporary housing options. Most individuals who enter emergency shelters tend to remain homeless longer, which is why Family Promise seeks to intervene before that occurs, operating with a lighter touch and supporting individuals as they find alternatives like short-term rental housing or staying with family and friends.

Family Promise uses local resources, volunteers, and organizations to create a network of assistance that keeps families intact and children healthy. As part of the wrap-around support, families are given access to Family Promise services like tutoring, summer programming, and trauma-informed mental health care. The video below provides an overview of their holistic approach.

Across the country, Family Promise has a network of 200 sites in 40 different states. Since 1988, they have helped over 1,000,000 families in times of great need. Most of their families (50%) are minorities and 100% are low-income or no-income. In 2024, they served 25,000 families nation-wide, 50% of whom were minorities and 100% are low-or-no income households.

Family Promise is looking to expand to 8 sites operating full-time in Wisconsin. Thus far, they have served 516 Wisconsin families with 936 children through their four core programs: Prevention, Shelter, Housing, and Stabilization. The support provided by the American Idea Foundation will go towards expanding Family Promise’s operations into areas like Monroe, Ozaukee, and Washington Counties, helping train staff and volunteers, and giving the organization added capacity to help more families and kids with emergency stabilization needs.

As Family Promise summarized in their 2024 Annual Report: “Preventing and ending family homelessness requires a community response. Family Promise maximizes impact through extensive partnerships and collaborative contributions at the national level, as well as through local businesses and community organizations within every community.” The American Idea Foundation is proud to assist them in this noble endeavor and help build a base of evidence that hopefully validates the profound impact Family Promise is having in Wisconsin and around the country.

To learn more about the American Idea Foundation’s 2025 grant recipients, click here. 

Replicating the Transformative Impact of Catholic Charities’ Padua Project

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By: AIF Staff

Since his time as a Member of Congress, American Idea Foundation President and former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has believed the case-management model utilized by Catholic Charities of Fort Worth is an effective way to help individuals out of poverty.

As Fort Worth Inc. described when profiling Catholic Charities of Fort Worth’s approach:

“Catholic Charities isn’t handing out scholarships or money; they’re guiding students to make the right decisions and navigate challenges. The goal is to help individuals move from survival jobs to career roles, teaching soft skills that lead to promotions.

As Paul Ryan says, “What the Padua Project is doing is more than just helping people get jobs or improve housing — they’re helping them achieve their God-given potential, building a more just society.”

How does the Padua Project work?

Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), which has partnered with Catholic Charities of Fort Worth on empirical studies, described the Padua Project this way: 

“The backbone of Padua is wrap-around, “supercharged” case management that involves a two-person team of social workers and begins with building a relationship with clients. The Padua model ensures a high level of personal support for each client. Clients work with their teams to set goals related to asset areas that are key to clients’ long-term success including finances, education, social skills, legal status and physical and emotional well-being.”

The services provided by Catholic Charities Fort Worth through the Padua Project fall into one of five “Out of Poverty Pathways” and include:

  • Education: Offering counseling and support for educational milestones.
  • Emotional Resiliency: Providing counseling referrals, long-term case management, and mental health programs.
  • Employment: Assisting with job searches and career coaching to help clients secure and succeed in employment.
  • Financial Resiliency: Teaching financial skills for long-term independence.
  • Resource Stability: Offering short-term relief, support for new mothers, and comprehensive refugee services.

It’s a high-touch, labor-intensive care modality designed to help people get back on their feet over the long-term. And it’s delivering results.

Catholic Charities’ approach to expanding upward mobility has been the subject of multiple randomized controlled trials, each with incredibly promising findings, and though there have been challenges along the way, the “Padua Project” has made an enormous impact helping those struggling in Fort Worth, Texas.

Because of this hands-on, comprehensive intervention, people like Keith Collins have benefitted. As Cynthia Allen summarized in a Fort Worth Star Telegram op-ed:  “According to CCFW, participants in the Padua Pilot on average increased their liquid assets by over $5,000, reduced their debt by over $2,000, and experienced a 23% increase in full-time employment. In two years time, 73% of those who entered the program not housed were stably housed and working toward self-sufficiency, and those who came into case management stably housed had a 36% in full-time work and a 34% increase in monthly earnings.”

Additionally, Notre Dame’s RCT found real improvements in self-sufficiency and labor market outcomes for Padua participants:

  • 25% more likely to have full-time employment than the control group.
  • Monthly earnings were 18% higher after 2 years, compared with the control group.
  • 43% of participants reported improved health after two years.

When Catholic Charities Fort Worth began the Padua Project, the organization’s leadership set a goal of helping 10,000 families get out of poverty in 10 years. They have currently assisted 5,700 families out of poverty and they have done so in an academically rigorous, quantifiable way which allows their program to be replicated, scaled, and improved upon. Due to this approach, the Padua Project is not only helping local families every day in Texas, but they are also providing a successful template for others to follow in their communities.

In a 2021 policy panel hosted by Notre Dame and the American Idea Foundation, Dr. Jim Sullivan spoke to the importance scaling successful solutions that are rooted in data and evidence, saying in part:

“The way you get the policy at a national level is to build the evidence at the local level. If we can demonstrate that it can work with Catholic Charities, is it because Catholic Charities Fort Worth is so good [or] can we replicate it? If we can replicate the Padua Project in a lot of the community providers in Dallas, then let’s spread it to other cities and let’s apply it in other contexts, like for prisoner re-entry or for refugee services. This comprehensive case management model works and as you build the evidence, it becomes more and more compelling.”  

During a 2019 visit to Catholic Charities while he was Speaker of the House, Ryan summed up the Padua Project’s impact succinctly, saying in part: “Organizations like Catholic Charities are doing heroic work in our communities to fight poverty. This is among the keys to breaking the cycle and getting more people into good-paying jobs…. The case management system is the best possible system. It’s individual, it’s focused, it’s customized.”

Because of their impact and because of the strong base of evidence in support of their “Padua Project,” the American Idea Foundation has awarded a 2025 grant to Catholic Charities of Fort Worth so they can scale, replicate, and study their program’s effectiveness in other U.S. cities.

The American Idea Foundation is proud to work with Catholic Charities Fort Worth, Franchise for Good, and Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunities as they expand the Padua Project into other communities that are struggling with persistent and multi-generational poverty. Because of their fidelity to evidence and their proven model, Speaker Ryan wholeheartedly believes the transformative results seen in Texas will be found in other areas where the Padua Project expands.

To learn more about the American Idea Foundation’s 2025 grant recipients, click here. 

College Possible expands access to higher education in a data-driven way

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By: AIF Staff

American Idea Foundation President and former House Speaker Paul Ryan has long believed that education is essential to helping individuals experience upward mobility and economic prosperity. There is a strong correlation between economic well-being and educational attainment, which is why the American Idea Foundation is working with organizations who are expanding access to higher education, helping students (often first-generation students or under-represented communities) to complete their degrees, and doing so in an evidence-based way.

One of these groups, which was awarded a grant from the American Idea Foundation in 2025, is College Possible.

Founded by Jim McCorkell, who was a first-generation college student, in St. Paul, Minnesota, College Possible was built on the belief that every student, regardless of their individual challenges, should have a chance to attend and succeed in college.

Starting with 35 students and a group of AmeriCorps coaches, College Possible has helped nearly 100,000 students since they began twenty-five years. Their expansion is due in large part to their unique programming model and their fidelity to data and evidence.

College Possible matches eligible students with near-peer coaches and provides an intensive curriculum designed to help these students overcome the most common barriers to getting into college and completing their degrees at no cost to students or their families.

These peer coaches operate from one of College Possible’s 8 sites across the country and provide students who have been identified and selected as having high academic potential and who come  from low-income backgrounds, with 5 critical services: 

(1) academic support through ACT/SAT test preparation;

(2) college application assistance;

(3) financial aid consulting;

(4) guidance in the transition to college; and

(5) coaching throughout college to support the academic confidence, financial literacy and resilience needed to graduate.

Originally conceived as a program centered around “test prep help for students who can’t afford Kaplan,” College Possible has expanded methodically. It now has a presence in 8 regions of the country, with sites stretching from Austin, TX to Seattle, WA, and College Possible’s near-peer coaches have assisted nearly 100,000 students on their college journeys.

To see the impact College Possible has had on the lives of young Americans, check out this video featuring testimonials from students enrolled in the College Possible Wisconsin program.

Beginning in 2008, College Possible began working with the Milwaukee Public School system, deploying their model to help students successfully apply and complete an undergraduate degree. In 2018, a multi-year evaluation was commissioned to measure how students participating in the College Possible program performed relative to a peer group, who were also in the Milwaukee Public School system.

The results of the evaluation were impressive. Among them:

  • College Possible students were 30% more likely to enroll in college immediately after high school.
  • College Possible students completed 1.4x the number of scholarship applications relative to the comparison group.
  • Enrolled students were 30% more likely to attend a 4-year college or university.

Equally important was the finding that the more often students participated in the College Possible program, the higher their college enrollment and persistence rates were.

These state-specific results lend credibility to a 2013 randomized controlled trial conducted by Professor Chris Avery of Harvard’s Kennedy School. This evaluation, which consisted of 238 Minnesota juniors and seniors who were randomly selected and split into treatment and control groups, found the following:

  • Participating in College Possible led to a statistically significant increase in college enrollment by around 19 to 21%.
  • Utilizing College Possible increased the likelihood of applying to a “highly competitive” or “very competitive” school and increased the number of applications submitted, particularly to four-year programs.
  • The effectiveness of College Possible’s programming was limited when it came to standardized test scores and the positive impact diminished over time as students enrolled in college degree programs.

As College Possible has matured as an organization, they have tweaked their model to account for some of these research findings. In 2016, to ensure that the robust, hands-on support continued throughout students’ college journeys, College Possible created the Catalyze program, which is a partnership where peer-coaches work with student support teams directly on campuses to help 1st year and 2nd year students remain on track towards degree completion.

In 2024, the Catalyze program helped 4,000 students graduate from 9 partner schools. It works by having coaches, who are often recent graduates of the same institution and partner campus, work directly with enrolled students to navigate registration, financial aid renewals, degree requirements, and connections to on-campus resources. These college freshmen and sophomores benefit from a trusted relationship with their near-peer coach and access to College Possible’s tech-enabled curriculum, which hopefully increases the likelihood of their remaining in school through graduation.

College Possible has recognized the importance of evidence and data in measuring success and the organization has gone a step further by augmenting their programming in response to early studies and experiments. They are committed to meeting the long-term needs of students and have worked tirelessly to help under-resourced students not only gain acceptance to colleges but to succeed and graduate upon admission.

The data from College Possible alumni is a testament to the program’s impact. In a 2024 survey of alumni, 95% of college graduates were employed, 71% were saving for retirement, 57% have experienced material career advancements, and nearly 40% were pursuing or had completed an advanced degree.

College Possible was created with the noble goal of helping every young person in America pursue higher education and because of the effectiveness of their peer-coaches and their reliance on evidence and data in shaping their programming, they are well on their way to succeeding. The American Idea Foundation looks forward to partnering with them as they continue to scale and assist more deserving students get into college and ultimately graduate.

To learn more about the American Idea Foundation’s 2025 grant recipients, click here.