When the US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty first met in 2016, it had an ambitious charter: to determine what it would take to dramatically increase upward mobility from poverty in the US. As a central part of its work, the partnership developed a definition of mobility from poverty that goes beyond economic success, arguing that economic success alone “does not fully capture people’s experiences with poverty”. Rather, it also requires power and autonomy, or the ability to exercise control over one’s circumstances and to influence policies and practices that affect one’s life, and a sense of belonging—a feeling of being valued by one’s community.

But what does building power, autonomy, and a sense of belonging look like for a person and a community? How can these noneconomic dimensions of mobility be imbued into specific programs and policies?

Despite stagnating rates of upward mobility in the US over the past several decades, research shows programs can indeed move the needle on promoting mobility from poverty for people and families. With that, the Urban Institute set out to identify and understand interventions that have been shown through rigorous evaluation to improve mobility outcomes. Our intent was to better understand how they measurably boosted mobility from poverty.

We examined six interventions, each selected because of their rigorous evidence of success and strong intentionality in improving power, autonomy, and belonging. We visited the programs and interviewed program leaders and beneficiaries to better understand each intervention’s approach.

Below, we describe three of those programs and how they enhance elements of the three-part definition of mobility from poverty:

Nurse-Family Partnership

Nurse-Family Partnership is a home visiting model that sends nurses to first-time expectant mothers to help them improve prenatal outcomes, support their child’s health and development, and work toward economic stability. It served 61,575 families in 2019 and has served more than 309,000 families since 1996.

• Economic success: lowers the cash burden of motherhood by helping young mothers navigate access to safety net programs such as Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Women, Infants, and Children program
• Power and autonomy: improves pregnancy outcomes by enabling mothers to make healthy choices, like attending prenatal doctor’s appointments, improving diets, and quitting smoking
• Belonging: promotes confidence in young mothers by reducing the stigma of receiving public assistance through encouragement and connection to resources

Educare

Educare is an early childhood care and education model that helps prepare 6-week-to-5-year-old children from families with low incomes for success in kindergarten and beyond. It promotes this success by providing highly trained teachers, state-of-the-art classrooms, and other supports that strengthen the capacity of children’s families to build networks, set goals, and access resources. There are 25 Educare sites that serve about 3,800 children annually.

• Economic success: provides parents with more flexibility and predictability in their work schedules by offering no-cost, yearlong, reliable early child care
• Power and autonomy: helps parents stand up for their families and communities by providing free training in public speaking and advocacy through their parent ambassador program
• Belonging: fosters a greater sense of community in schools by giving parents a specific space to relax and work in their child’s school

YouthBuild

YouthBuild provides construction and other industry training as well as high school completion options to young people who are out of school and out of work. There are 252 YouthBuild locations in the US and 50 internationally. The program serves 7,500 young people in the US each year.

• Economic success: increases the job prospects of young people without high school diplomas by teaching them valuable vocational skills through free workshops
• Power and autonomy: encourages young people to become local leaders by connecting them with community service opportunities
• Belonging: builds a sense of community in young people by offering team-building activities and opportunities for intergenerational relationships

Specific interventions offered by each program appropriately differ based on local needs and feasibility. Nonetheless, the programs featured in Boosting Upward Mobility: Exemplars share several common elements that contribute to their success as mobility-boosting interventions: they build human capital, provide tangible short-term financial relief, tailor services and supports to participants’ goals, and foster a sense of community among participants.

Recognizing the significance of these core program attributes and their local adaptability is important if policymakers seek to expand such efforts. Additionally, policymakers could consider how policy and legal reforms can reduce structural barriers to the delivery of and access to program benefits.