All UI claimants assigned to the comparison condition were required to fulfill the usual requirements to continue receiving UI benefits, including demonstrating that they were not working, “able and available” for work, and actively seeking work in weeks that they claimed benefits. They could also receive any services available in the community.
SJSA cost $286 per participant in DC and $241 per participant in Florida to administer. The structured approach to services had higher costs in both locations than the individualized approach to job search assistance, which cost the government $199 per participant in DC and $97 per participant in Florida. A cost-benefit analysis examined costs and benefits to the participant, the government, and society:
- The participant. SJSA resulted in a gain of $1,930 to participants in DC; this means that the sum of benefits, including increases in earnings and fringe benefits, was estimated to be $1,930 higher than the sum of costs, including increased tax payments and reduced UI benefit receipt, in DC. SJSA resulted in a loss of $653 to participants in Florida; this means that the sum of costs, including reduced earnings, fringe benefits, and UI benefit receipt, was estimated to be $653 higher than the sum of benefits, including decreased tax payments, in Florida.
- The government. SJSA resulted in a gain of $431 to the government in DC; this means that the sum of benefits, including reduced UI benefit receipt and increased tax payments, was estimated to be $431 higher than the sum of costs, including local and central office costs, in DC. SJSA resulted in a loss of $351 to the government in Florida; this means that the sum of costs, including local and central office costs as well as reduced tax payments, was estimated to be $351 higher than the sum of benefits, including reduced UI benefit receipt, in Florida.
- Society. SJSA resulted in a gain of $2,361 to society, including the government and participants, in DC; this means that the sum of benefits was estimated to be $2,361 higher than the sum of costs in DC. SJSA resulted in a loss of $1,004 in Florida; this means that the sum of costs was estimated to be $1,004 higher than the sum of benefits in Florida.
Participants received services between March 1995 and March 1996 in Florida, and between June 1995 and June 1996 in Washington, DC. Outcomes were measured for three years from when the participant’s initial UI claim was filed.
All SJSA participants were required to participate in an initial orientation and testing about seven weeks after filing for UI, followed by a job-search workshop and a one-on-one assessment interview with SJSA staff to develop an individual service plan. In the following 10 weeks, participants were required to make two additional contacts with SJSA staff to provide updates on their job search. Participants could optionally receive other job search assistance and placement services through the job service program.
The demonstration program was implemented as planned in both locations. More than a quarter of UI claimants in Florida were excused from participating in the mandatory orientation (offered at about six to seven weeks after job loss) and exited SJSA because they had obtained a new job or been recalled to a prior job. Participants in DC tended to have longer durations of UI, so only 5 percent of DC claimants were excused from orientation and exited SJSA. No notable changes in services occurred over the period of the study, although Florida was only able to offer orientations on a biweekly basis (rather than weekly, as in DC) because there were fewer participants in the scattered sites.
The study did not discuss any tools to measure fidelity to the intervention model.
Funding for the SJSA demonstration came from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Unemployment Insurance Service.
SJSA was implemented in the Washington, DC, metro area and at 10 offices throughout the state of Florida: Clearwater, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Hialeah, Lakeland, Miami, Orlando, Pensacola, and St. Augustine. Several potential offices in Florida were excluded based on their size or the suitability of the population served (for example, areas where UI claims were largely based on seasonal agricultural layoffs by people who would likely not be actively seeking employment).
SJSA was implemented by the local agency that administers the UI program in each site, which was the Department of Employment Services in Washington, DC, and the Department of Labor and Employment Security (DLES) in Florida. UI offices in Washington, DC, were responsible only for administering UI benefits and oversaw provision of services by local job agencies, whereas the local jobs and benefits offices operated by the Florida DLES were responsible for both UI claims and job service programs.
The study did not discuss any partners involved with implementing SJSA.
Both locations used a two-step process to determine eligibility for SJSA, with the goal of focusing on UI claimants who had a higher likelihood of facing long periods of UI. In step one, three groups of UI claimants were screened out:
- Claimants determined not at risk of facing long periods of UI (for example, workers with ties to a former employer)
- Claimants with a long period of unemployment before UI application, as they would not meet SJSA’s goal of early intervention
- Claimants who would face severe obstacles to participating in SJSA (for example, claimants in offices considered too small to provide services)
After the initial screening, both DC and Florida ran regression models to predict the likelihood that remaining claimants would exhaust all of their UI benefits, considering factors such as the participant’s industry of employment before UI, past occupation, years of employment, educational attainment, and the local unemployment rate. UI claimants predicted as likely to exhaust all UI benefits were selected for the SJSA demonstration program and assigned to a comparison group or to one of three intervention groups: IJSA, IJSA+, or SJSA. This brief describes the SJSA intervention only.
Characteristics of participants varied by location:
- In Florida, the average participant was 43 years old and White (62 percent) or Hispanic (22 percent), with limited educational attainment (26 percent had no high school diploma, and 56 percent had no education beyond a high school diploma). The main prior industries of employment among Florida participants were services, wholesale and retail trade, and manufacturing, with the majority of participants serving an average of four years in a clerical or sales role at prior jobs.
- In Washington, DC, the average participant was 38 years old and Black (83 percent), and held a high school diploma (55 percent) or associate’s degree (24 percent). The majority of participants previously worked in the services industry (57 percent), and most worked in a clerical or sales role (59 percent).
In Florida and Washington, DC, individuals who filed for UI cash benefits in UI offices received an initial eligibility determination and, if eligible, were randomly assigned to a comparison group or one of three intervention groups: SJSA, IJSA, or IJSA+. For UI claimants who were determined eligible, participation in their assigned services was mandatory, and they could lose their UI benefits if they failed to attend.
The average SJSA orientation and initial assessment each lasted 45 minutes at the DC site and 30 minutes at Florida sites. Participants were also required to participate in aptitude and interest testing, which lasted 4 hours; a job-search workshop, which lasted 15 hours at the DC site and 17 hours at Florida sites; and a one-on-one assessment interview, which lasted 30 minutes at the DC site and 10 minutes at Florida sites. About 80 percent of assigned participants in DC and 60 percent of assigned participants in Florida attended orientation, the first activity in a mandatory sequence. About 60 percent of assigned participants in DC and 45 percent of assigned participants in Florida participated in all of the activities after orientation; the majority who did not attend activities after orientation were excused from these services and exited SJSA because they had found work.
The DC site used two staff to lead the mandatory orientation and the Florida sites used one staff member. All DC staff had office space and training for one-on-one counseling services but had limited physical space for group services and had difficulty retaining staff who had been trained to lead group services. The study authors did not include additional information on the number of staff or their training, degrees, or certifications.