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The study focused on individuals who were unemployed, receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and participating in California's mandatory welfare-to-work program for this evaluation. Selected individuals were randomly assigned between June 2004 and September 2004 to either the Enhanced Job Club (EJC) or Traditional Job Club (TJC) groups. This study includes 1,183 research sample members who were single parents. (Another study examines effects for two-parent families.) A random sample of participants was selected to participate in a 12-month follow-up survey. Of these 809 participants who were randomly selected to participate in the survey, 608 responded: 311 from the ERA group and 297 from the comparison group.
Random assignment occurred from June 2004 to September 2004 and follow-up lasted three years.
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in ACF at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded the study, with support from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The study involved 1,183 unemployed single-parent TANF clients. Among all study participants, 91 percent were women. Participants’ average age was 30, and 57 percent had one or two children. More than half (56 percent) were Hispanic, and 35 percent were Black. Most participants spoke English, and 15 percent spoke Spanish. Slightly more than half of the members did not have a high school diploma or a GED.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (state TANF agency) and Los Angeles County Office of Education
Development of the EJC model began in 2000. The model was first implemented in 2002.
The EJC model aimed to increase unemployed TANF clients' employment retention and advancement in fields aligned with their occupational interests. EJC included classroom activities and targeted job search activities, and clients had access to a job developer and a job coach. EJC was provided over the course of five weeks. During the first week, individuals participated in a career planning and job search preparation workshop. During the second week, participants refined plans and discussed their job search. During the third and fourth weeks, individuals who remained unemployed expanded the scope of their job search. During the fifth week, individuals who remained unemployed received individualized job search assistance.
Individuals in the comparison group received job club services through a TJC model. The TJC model aimed to place unemployed TANF clients rapidly in any job, including jobs not necessarily aligned with clients’ occupational interests. TJC operated over a three-week period and included mostly job search activities.
Participants were mandated to participate in the assigned job club and could face sanctions for failing to do so. (The fifth week of the EJC condition was voluntary.)
EJC services lasted for five weeks.
California TANF
The study took place in two regions (San Gabriel Valley and central Los Angeles) of Los Angeles County.
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