HPOG aimed to prepare participants for careers in health care occupations that paid well and were expected to experience labor shortages or increased demand. HPOG 2.0 refers to the second round of five-year HPOG grants that the Administration for Children and Families awarded in 2010. HPOG 2.0 used a career pathways framework with three core components: basic skills training, health care occupational training, and wraparound supports and services. Local HPOG 2.0 programs varied in how they implemented the career pathways framework.

ACE offered occupational and job readiness training within the workforce system. The types of training varied based on labor market demands at each of the nine intervention sites. ACE also offered learning assessments at program intake; integrated adult education and basic skills training; student support services, including individual case management and additional academic supports when necessary; and transition services, including job search and placement. The duration of the intervention was 12 months.

EfA provided vocational English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), including lessons focused on answering job interview questions, communicating in the workplace, and finding a job. EfA participants attended classes for 2 to 12 months, depending on their skill and education level. About 24 months after the program’s start, evaluators followed up with participants to assess participants’ employment and earnings.

Intervention participants received a combination of site-specific services, including enhanced student supportive services (money or vouchers to fund child care, transportation, or other supports to help clients engage in their program), basic academic development, student peer cohorts, and job-search assistance.

C2C was a community college consortium designed to develop and provide education and training to prepare unemployed, underemployed, and displaced workers to take on jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math industries. Participants in Shoreline Community College’s local C2C program enrolled in machinist training programs such as the Machine Maintenance Certificate and Quality Assurance Certificate programs. Career navigators led work-readiness activities focused on job placement and building relationships with employers, as well as soft-skills coaching.