P/PV is a national nonprofit whose mission is to improve the effectiveness of social programs, particularly those that aim to help young people from high-poverty communities successfully transition to adulthood. Working in close partnership with organizations and their leaders, P/PV conducts research that leads to better services and outcomes; evaluates programs; and designs and manages select demonstration projects. We share the findings and lessons of our work by publishing accessible, relevant research reports and hands-on guides and tools. We also promote opportunities to share knowledge and improve practice, including in-person and online workshops, conferences and leadership academies. In addition, we provide selective technical assistance, particularly around the use of data and evaluation to improve program outcomes.

Through this work, we aim to:

• Promote the broad adoption of appropriate evaluation methods;
• Advance knowledge in several specific areas in which we have longstanding experience: juvenile and criminal justice, youth development (particularly out-of-school time and mentoring) and labor market transitions for young people; and
• Enable practitioners and organizations to use their own data, as well as evidence in these fields, to develop and improve their programs.

In this way, we are helping our program and funder partners to become better consumers of evaluation services, to embrace effective program strategies and to abandon ineffective ones. Ultimately, we believe this work will lead to more programs that make a positive difference for youth in high-poverty communities.

We are currently working to mobilize the social sector to rethink and improve the use of evaluation, as outlined in our recent white paper, Priorities for a New Decade: Making (More) Social Programs (More) Effective.