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.

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.

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.