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To be eligible for the Bridges program and enroll in the study, participants had to be 17 to 21 years old, identify as male, lack a high school credential, and report having been incarcerated at least once. After recruitment, the research team obtained informed consent, conducted a baseline survey, and randomly assigned participants. The research team enrolled a total of 480 participants in the study between June 2015 and July 2016. Assignment was stratified by provider; sixty percent of the sample was assigned to the intervention group, and 40 percent was assigned to the comparison group. Across the two organizations that provided services in four locations, 289 people were randomly assigned to the intervention group, and 191 people were randomly assigned to the comparison group. Evaluators conducted analysis at the individual level.
The study enrolled participants between June 2015 and July 2016.
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), funded the Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED) study. The Rockefeller Foundation also provided funding for the study. The Bridges evaluation is part of the STED study.
All participants identified as male, lacked a high school credential, and reported having been incarcerated at least once. On average, individuals were between 18 and 19 years old, and about one-quarter of study participants reported having children (26 percent). About three-quarters were Black (74 percent), and about one-fifth were Hispanic (22 percent). The average participant had completed the 10th grade, and about 95 percent of study participants had at least one arrest in the administrative records used for this study.
The City of Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS), Office of Children and Youth Services, managed the Bridges program. DFSS selected two social services agencies, Central States SER and SGA Youth and Family Services, as vendors to operate Bridges.
The Bridges pilot program launched in May 2013, and the program model was refined from May 2014 to May 2015. The program closed in December 2016, but a revamped version was launched in 2017.
The Bridges program offered online instruction toward a high school diploma or GED, socio-emotional learning workshops, individual counseling, soft-skills and job-readiness training, subsidized internships, and case management services to men ages 17 to 21 who did not have a high school credential and had been incarcerated. After being enrolled in Bridges, participants were required to attend a group orientation session and participate in pre-program activities, including meeting program staff and taking the Test of Adult Basic Education and an online financial training. In Phase I of Bridges, the program was available for about five hours per day for five weeks to start academic enrichment, socio-emotional learning workshops, individual counseling, and soft-skills and employment-readiness training. In Phase II of Bridges, participants were able to spend a total of 33 hours per week at their subsidized internships and working toward their academic goals. In Phase III of Bridges, from week 18 to 25, participants were intended to earn their GED, complete their counseling, and obtain employment. After the program, participants could receive three months of additional support from program staff.
Participants in the comparison group were not offered services through Bridges, but they could access other services available in their community. These included other services at the agencies operating Bridges.
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Participants received services throughout 3 phases over the course of 25 weeks
DFSS and STED grants through HHS funded the Bridges program.
Social services agencies in the Healy, Little Village, Roseland, and Englewood neighborhoods in Chicago, IL.
Support and mentoring; criminal justice; personal well-being.