Dr. Steven B. Garasky, Vice President, Labor & Human Services

Dr. Steven Garasky is an economist with more than 20 years of experience as a researcher and an evaluator of domestic social policies and programs. His work has included leading state and federally funded projects for which he has developed study designs and survey questionnaires; overseen data management and conducted econometric‐based quantitative data analyses; written proposals, reports and manuscripts for publication; and presented results to funding agencies, government staff, and audiences at professional meetings. Throughout his career, Dr. Garasky’s primary research focus has been examining and evaluating programs affecting low‐income families in the areas of poverty prevention, welfare reform and child welfare, including assistance program participation, food insecurity and obesity.

Recently Dr. Garasky has served as Project Director on a number of important projects, including projects evaluating impacts on families and children of policy changes in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Iowa Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF), and the Iowa and Federal child support enforcement programs.

Prior Experience

Dr. Garasky joined IMPAQ in 2010. Prior to joining IMPAQ, he was on the faculty of Iowa State University (ISU) since 1992. At ISU, he served as the Director of the ISU Child Welfare Research and Training Project and Director of the ISU Center for Family Policy. Prior to joining ISU, Dr. Garasky was an Economist for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). At ASPE, his primary responsibilities were to establish research programs to inform policy development and to collaborate with state staff to formulate experimental design‐based evaluations for state welfare reform demonstrations.

Education

Dr. Garasky earned his B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Wittenberg University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from The Ohio State University. He has authored numerous papers and reports and has been published in leading professional journals.