Earnings

Earnings

Per Scholas Sectoral Employment Program had the largest effects on long-term annual earnings (an average of $7,509 per year). Per Scholas provided a computer technician training program, internships, soft skills training, and supportive services to participants with low incomes. The program aimed to help participants obtain computer certification and find jobs in the information technology sector.

Employment

Employment

Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) had the largest effects on long-term employment (an average of 7 percentage points). I-BEST helped workers with low skills develop basic skills and receive occupational credentials.

Public benefit receipt

Public benefit receipt

Portland Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS) had the largest effects on long-term benefit receipt (decreasing the amount of public benefits received by $653 per year). The Portland version of JOBS, a national program model enacted through the Family Support Act of 1988 to support recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) in finding a job, focused on quickly moving participants into any employment, while also encouraging them to search for higher paying jobs with benefits.

Effects on long-term benefit receipt

Education and training

Education and training

Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) had the largest effects on education and training (increasing the attainment of a degree or credential by an average of 30 percentage points). I-BEST helped workers with low skills develop basic skills and receive occupational credentials.

Standard Job Club (as compared to Fast Track Job Club)

Standard Job Club was an eight-week program broken into three-week and five-week segments. The first segment required enrollees to attend one week of daily, eight-hour group classes on workplace behavior skills and two weeks of daily, eight-hour group classes on job search skills. The second segment required enrollees to complete five weeks of supervised job search. During this time, enrollees had to make daily trips to the Standard Job Club office, where they received individual assistance from program staff.

Enhanced Vocational Rehabilitation [EVR] (as compared to Community Connections Individual Placement and Support (IPS))

EVR provided a vocational counselor who helped place participants with rehabilitation agencies. The vocational counselor regularly monitored participants to ensure a good fit between the participant and rehabilitation agency. All rehabilitation agencies involved with EVR had the goal of gradually preparing individuals for competitive employment through a stepped approach of prevocational experiences that primarily consisted of paid work adjustment training in a sheltered workshop.

Youth Villages LifeSet (YVLifeSet)

Intervention (standard name)

Youth formerly in state custody (foster care or the juvenile justice system) received customized case management that included weekly meetings with a transitional living specialist who used motivational interviewing and provided trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy services as needed. Participants also received soft-skills training, supportive services, and other services to encourage independent living, education, and work.

National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program (ChalleNGe)

Intervention (standard name)

The ChalleNGe program consisted of three phases. In Phase 1, participants attended a two-week, intensive orientation and assessment. Following this orientation, participants were formally enrolled in the program and considered cadets. The cadets then began Phase 2, which consisted of a 20-week education program focused on preparation for the GED exam and positive youth development. Phases 1 and 2 required the cadets to live on-site and experience a quasi-military environment. During Phase 3, the cadets participated in a nonresidential structured mentoring program for a year.