For participants with low educational attainment or low math, reading, or English language skills at program entry, GAIN began with adult education or job search assistance. For all other GAIN participants, the program began with job search assistance, including job clubs and supervised job searches.

Next STEP participants received 2 weeks of work-readiness training and then worked with a job developer to search for a private job with subsidized wages. The subsidized job lasted for 16 weeks, with a full subsidy for 8 weeks and a half subsidy for the subsequent 8 weeks. All employers agreed to retain participants if they did well, and hired participants were invited to quarterly job retention meetings. In addition to subsidized employment, participants had access to case management, mental health services, financial incentives, and legal assistance.

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.

The TransitionsSF program, which took place in San Francisco, CA, served unemployed and underemployed noncustodial parents. TransitionsSF included three stages. The first stage, which typically lasted three months, was a pre-transitional job period, during which participants took assessments to determine whether they required substance abuse services, mental health services, or other services. This stage also included individualized job-readiness training that helped participants develop their soft skills.

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.

The YAIP offered work-readiness workshops; internships; educational workshops; case management; supportive services; and assistance finding work, educational, or military placements to youth who were not working or in school. Youth participated for about 20 hours per week in the work-readiness workshops and internships and were paid subsidized minimum wages. The work-readiness workshops lasted 2 to 4 weeks; internships lasted 10 to 12 weeks; and follow-up services were available for 9 months after the internship ended.

At the time this evaluation occurred, two Transitional Subsidized Employment programs were active in Los Angeles County: PWE and an on-the-job (OJT) training program. PWE placed each participant in a fully subsidized, six-month position at a public-sector or nonprofit organization, where they were paid minimum wage by the local Workforce Investment Board.

At the time this evaluation occurred, two Transitional Subsidized Employment programs were active in Los Angeles County: OJT and a paid work experience (PWE) program. OJT placed participants in a partially subsidized, six-month position at a for-profit, private-sector organization, where they were paid $8 an hour by the local Workforce Investment Board for the first two months. The intervention aimed to have participants make the transition into unsubsidized positions with the same employer when the subsidy ended. The average placement lasted two and a half months.