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Subgroups
The Human Services Agency (HSA) of San Francisco, which operated the program, identified eligible participants who had been unemployed for the previous three months and had no more than six months of earned income in the previous two years. The program initially focused on California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids clients (who had timed out or were exempt from work requirements) and unemployment insurance exhaustees (who had already received unemployment benefits for the maximum number of weeks and had income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level). HSA also recruited from additional populations to create a larger sample, including people enrolled in the CalFresh (California's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) Employment and Training program, County General Assistance recipients who did not participate in Personal Assisted Employment Services, and former JOBsNOW! participants who were state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or General Assistance clients and had received two or more subsidized employment job placements through JOBsNOW! but no unsubsidized employment. Interested people attended prescreening sessions with HSA staff to confirm they were eligible before being randomly assigned. A total of 837 people were randomly assigned to the intervention group (421) or the comparison group (416) from November 2012 to March 2015.
Evaluators randomly assigned people into groups for the study from November 2012 to March 2015. The study reports impacts up to four years after random assignment.
ACF, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The study sample included CalFresh recipients (37 percent), recipients of TANF who had exhausted their benefits (27 percent), recipients of unemployment insurance who had exhausted their benefits (20 percent), and other people deemed eligible for services. The majority (72 percent) were female, 42 percent were Black, 23 percent were Asian, 19 percent were Hispanic, and 9 percent were White. The average age was 41. At the time the study began, 60 percent were never married, and 68 percent had children who were minors. Nearly 33 percent had worked fewer than six months in the last three years, and 19 percent did not have a high school diploma.
HSA of San Francisco
The JOBsNOW! program, which was only available to California TANF recipients with dependent children and incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, launched in 2009 and was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. STEP Forward was an extension of JOBsNOW! and expanded eligibility for wage subsidies.
The JOBsNOW! STEP Forward program served people with low incomes who were experiencing unemployment. Participants had access to interviews for subsidized employment opportunities, individualized career counseling, job interview preparation, job development services, and case management. Participating employers received a subsidy of up to $5,000 over five months for each program participant that employers hired at the prevailing market wage for at least 25 hours per week.
The comparison group could receive services as usual in the community, such as assistance with housing, transportation, and job search, but did not have access to subsidized employment opportunities or other services provided by STEP Forward.
None
Wage subsidies could last up to five months.
ACF, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The program took place in San Francisco, CA.
Economic well-being and personal well-being