Dr. Stefanie DeLuca, Associate Professor of Sociology at the Johns Hopkins University, will present results of a study on housing relocation choices of minority urban poor on Thursday, March 14, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. at Optimal Solutions Group’s, LLC (Optimal’s) office in M Square Research Park in College Park, Maryland. Dr. Deluca will discuss the mixed methods approach used in the study and as well as 

her other research on the intersection between housing choice and educational attainment. Dr. DeLuca’s discussion is part of Optimal’s on-going Brown Bag lunch lecture series.

 

Dr. DeLuca has carried out mixed-methods studies that incorporate qualitative research into experimental or quasi-experimental designs, including surveys, geographic information systems, and longitudinal interviews to study the long-term effects of programs. Some of her other research examines the timing of educational transitions, and the transition to college and work for young 

adults. Dr. DeLuca has been awarded a William T. Grant Foundation Scholars Award to study residential mobility, neighborhoods and schooling among very poor youth in the South as well as a 

William T. Grant Foundation major grant to conduct a qualitative follow up study of Moving to Opportunity children as they transition to adulthood in Baltimore. She was recently appointed to a 

MacArthur Foundation research network to study the effects of housing on young children. She earned her PhD in Human Development and Social Policy at Northwestern University, and bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Sociology at the University of Chicago.

 

Refreshments will be served. RSVP to events@optimalsolutionsgroup.com.

 

 

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC

 

Founded in 2000, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC is a nonpartisan public policy research and technical assistance firm that stands out through its quantitative expertise and innovative approaches to provide rigorous, data-driven research, and technical assistance to government agencies, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic foundations. Located at the University of Maryland’s M Square Research Park in College Park, Optimal is a leader in driving real-time public policy research. Optimal has 60+ employees including multidisciplinary researchers with backgrounds in business, communication, economics, education, health policy, psychology, public policy, sociology, statistics, and urban planning. Optimal has four research centers: Health, Education, Housing, and Workforce Development and Social Policy, as well as the Optimal Analytics and International Development Groups, whose work cuts across research areas.