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The Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) identified and invited a sample of eligible individuals from their database each month. Individuals were eligible if they were a noncustodial parent between the ages of 18 and 60; were living in San Francisco; were either unemployed or underemployed; and were behind in child support payments by 121 or more days, had made child support payments of less than $100 in the past 120 days, had zero or reserved orders because of low income, or were required to have child support orders established within 30 days. To reach their target recruitment number, DCSS staff reached out to custodial parents for help contacting noncustodial parents and also advertised the program in the community, including in halfway houses, jails, and community centers. Interested individuals attended an orientation at a public library and, if they agreed to participate, attended a random assignment appointment two days later where they were randomly assigned to either the TransitionsSF program or a comparison group. A total of 995 people were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (502) or the comparison group (493).
Evaluators randomly assigned people into groups for the study between November 2011 and December 2013. The study reports impacts up to 30 months after random assignment.
Employment and Training Administration in the U.S. Department of Labor and ACF
The study examined unemployed or underemployed noncustodial parents. The majority of participants were male (88 percent). Sixty-seven percent were Black; the average age was 40 years. At the time the study began, 8 percent were married, 28 percent had formerly been incarcerated, 14 percent were homeless, and 29 percent did not have a high school diploma.
Goodwill Industries and the San Francisco Department of Child Support Services
The program is based on a subsidized employment program that the city's Human Services Agency funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The TransitionsSF program served unemployed and underemployed noncustodial parents. The program included three phases. The first, which typically lasted three weeks, was a pre-transitional job period, during which participants took assessments to determine whether they needed substance abuse services, mental health services, or other services. If participants needed such services, case managers made appropriate referrals. During this time, participants also received job-readiness training to help them develop their soft skills. In the second phase, participants were placed in subsidized transitional jobs for five months. Participants were placed at a nonprofit (Goodwill), in the public sector, or in the private sector, depending on their readiness. Near the end of the transitional job, participants received job search assistance. In the third phase, staff assisted participants for one year with job searching if the participant had not found a job, or with retention and advancement if they had found a job. During each phase, participants received case management services. As an incentive to continue participation in the program, participants had suspended driver's licenses reinstated, and their child support payments were reduced while they continued participating in the program.
Comparison group members could participate in other programs, including DCSS's Custodial and Noncustodial Employment Training Program.
None.
The pre-transitional jobs period lasted three weeks; participants were then placed in transitional jobs for five months. Participants received support for one year after the transitional job ended. In total, participants received services for about a year and a half.
Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
The program took place in San Francisco, CA.
Child support and family relations, Material hardship, Criminal justice, Economic and personal well-being