Pathways began with orientation activities, which included assessments of occupational skills and career interests. Participants then worked three days per week and spent the other weekdays participating in nonwork activities provided by Pathways, such as job-readiness training, career-development workshops, and case management. Participants first worked in transitional jobs with street-cleaning crews or in the kitchen of the implementing organization, the Doe Fund. Next, they worked at a subsidized internship with a partner employer.

EMPOWER—Navajo Reservation was one of the demonstration projects made possible by Section 1115 waivers to the rules in effect at the time for the AFDC program. These Section 1115 waivers allowed states to test new approaches to advance the objectives of the AFDC program.

The Grand Rapids HCD program stressed that participants should spend time receiving education or training to prepare for good jobs. The program began with a 15-hour, week-long formal assessment component, during which public school staff assessed participants’ achievement, aptitude, and career interests. Participants then usually completed either high school completion programs (distinct from GED classes) or vocational training.

Job Corps provided education, training, and health services in a one-stop residential setting. The Job Corps education component was individualized and self-paced, and it included GED preparation and education about home and family living as well as remedial, consumer, driver, and health education. The vocational training component was also individualized and self-paced, and it included training in a range of trades, such as business, clerical, health, construction, culinary arts, building and apartment maintenance, and other vocations.

Jobs-Plus had three core components. First, Jobs-Plus provided public housing residents with employment and training services to help them find paid employment quickly. These services included individual job search assistance such as employment counselors and job developers, help preparing for and attending job interviews, soft skills instruction, short-term basic education, and vocational skills training.

The program includes a comprehensive set of services and resources to advance participants’ education and employment.

RecycleForce participants were placed in a subsidized job at a social enterprise (its own electronics recycling plant or a partner social enterprise), for which they received $9 per hour for up to 35 hours per week (and $10.10 per hour after March 2014). While working at their subsidized job, participants had access to case management, job development, financial support (for example, payments for drug testing, bus passes, or gas cards), assistance with child support issues, and peer mentors who taught job-related and soft skills.

The Jobs-First GAIN program began with a six-hour motivational meeting followed by job clubs, which were classroom sessions focused on participants’ job application techniques and a supervised job search. Participants were encouraged to take any job offer received, including low-wage positions. Job clubs lasted three weeks, but further job development services were available until the recipient found work, exited the welfare system, or both. Jobs-First GAIN focused on AFDC recipients. The Jobs-First GAIN evaluation took place in Los Angeles County, CA.

The Office of the Attorney General partnered with the Texas Workforce Commission and Title IV-D court (part of the state child support enforcement system) to administer the program with the goal of helping parents become more responsible parents and preventing them from falling behind on child support payments. Noncustodial parents were offered eight weekly, two-hour group workshops covering financial responsibility, parenting and co-parenting skills, and financial education.

Reach for Success revolved around case managers who recruited participants for the intervention, connected them with services, and helped them navigate through life crises and job loss. Case managers contacted participants at least once a month and provided individualized counseling to help them navigate new job responsibilities or interpersonal issues (at work or at home) that presented a challenge to their continued employment. Case managers were given a reduced caseload of 40 to 85 cases compared with the typical 100 to 120 cases per case manager.