VIP eligibility provisions included the following: (1) one-time payments to families with a temporary loss of income if they agreed to forgo AFDC/TANF receipt for 160 days; (2) a “family cap” that excluded children born more than 10 months after a family began to receive AFDC/TANF from a family’s benefit calculation; (3) an exemption for the accumulation of savings up to $5,000 to support education, entrepreneurship, or the purchase of a home; (4) the application of one-parent eligibility criteria in determining benefits for two-parent families; and (5) requirements for paternity establishm

Before release, participants who were incarcerated received 16 hours of job search training and additional job search assistance from job training and job development specialists. In the week before release, participants were assigned a retention specialist and received a portfolio with a resume, an EMPLOY program certification, job leads, and additional supports such as bus fare and clothing for interviews. Retention specialists conducted 4 follow-up meetings with participants over the 12-month period after their release.

IPS gave people ongoing support to find work based on their own preferences, a vocational assessment, and job development. Employment specialists gave individualized support to participants as well as counseling and help with transportation. There was no time limit on IPS services; employment support was given as needed. IPS was provided to unemployed individuals who were living in an urban neighborhood that was low income and who had severe mental disorders that kept them from finding employment for at least two years.

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.

I-BEST offered occupational training courses in a variety of areas, including allied health, welding, and clerical fields. I-BEST integrated basic skills and occupational training through the use of a team teaching model whereby a basic skills and occupational instructor team taught (for at least 50 percent of class time) an occupational training course.