The program provided a life-skills course and internet-based instruction designed to improve math and reading skills to the ninth-grade level. After completing the initial education, participants could enroll in occupational training in certificate courses, including courses in the administrative support, health care, and manufacturing fields. Participants began with a life-skills course that lasted 17 hours, progressed to occupational training courses that lasted between 2.5 and 16 weeks, and finished with 24 hours of career-readiness training.

The program provided information about and simplified access to financial work supports, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and child care subsidies. Retention and advancement services included career coaching and access to training and education to stabilize participants’ employment and help them find better-paying jobs. The program helped participants secure funding for training and education costs through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and other training funds.

FAST provided extra services to participants who qualified for FSS. FAST integrated the IPS supported employment model into the FSS program to provide participants with individualized job search assistance, job development services, and related supports based on their preferences and abilities. FAST also integrated motivational interviewing and a vocational assessment into the FSS program alongside IPS. To better support FAST participants, the caseload of FAST case managers was reduced to 50 active cases from an average of 75 to 100.

PSI participants attended a job-readiness course, called Learning Expectations and Developing Employment Readiness Skills (LEADERS), course for two weeks. In addition to providing information about the program services and its expectations, LEADERS included conflict resolution, work readiness, mock interviews, and help preparing resumes. LEADERS was intended to prepare participants for the National Work Readiness assessment, which they took at the end of the course to be placed on a work crew.

SFTW started with a three- to five-day job-readiness workshop, during which participants took assessments and engaged in job-readiness activities. Participants were then assigned a case manager, who helped participants become more job ready; develop soft skills; and address barriers to work, such as a lack of clothing, transportation, or housing. Case managers also served as job coaches and helped match participants to transitional jobs based on their skills and interests, mostly with private-sector employers.