The intervention provided access to supplemental resources in the Veterans Employment Resource Center (VERC). The standard VERC services included internet and phone access for job search activities, resume writing supports, video training for applying to and interviewing for jobs, and two video-recorded practice interviews. In addition, the program provided intervention participants with the About Face vocational manual and in-person classes during the week following study enrollment.

The About Face—Self Study intervention provided participants with a vocational manual titled About Face in addition to standard services from the Veterans Employment Resource Center (VERC). The standard VERC services included internet and phone access for job search activities, resume writing supports, video training for applying to and interviewing for jobs, and two video-recorded practice interviews.

SEI participants received continuous case management over the full 20-month intervention period. For the first eight months, participants attended classes twice a week for one and a half hours each session. In the vocational skills acquisition phase (four months), participants learned vocational skills such as, photography and silk-screening. In the small business skills acquisition phase (four months), participants learned accounting, budgeting, marketing, and management skills.

Program participants were sorted into services based on education and college readiness at enrollment. Adults with a high school diploma or GED whose Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) reflected a 9th-to-12th-grade score equivalency received case management and college readiness training in preparation for subsequent enrollment in occupational training. If participants with a high-school-level TABE score were not enrolled in school and did not have a high school diploma or GED, they received accelerated GED preparation and occupational training simultaneously.

Twenty-four grantees offered the RExO program, including national nonprofits, faith-based community organizations, community health organizations, and local or regional nonprofits. The exact bundle of services each grantee provided varied significantly. In all programs, case managers coordinated service delivery and supported participants. Most grantees offered group mentoring for participants, and a smaller subset offered individual mentoring.

Thirteen JOBSTART sites provided youth with instruction in basic academic skills, occupational skills training, supportive services, and job search assistance. Basic academic skills instruction was individualized and commonly focused on developing skills needed to pass a GED examination. Occupational skills training was classroom based. Youth could choose from various occupational skills courses that generally prepared participants for jobs requiring moderate or higher skills.