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.

TWE, part of the VA’s Compensated Work Therapy Program, helped participants develop work restoration plans and provided a rehabilitative work setting within the VA, other federal agencies, or private businesses in the community. TWE participants received at least 30 hours per week of structured vocational rehabilitation activities and were assigned to therapeutic work placements for six months to one year. Participants also received case management to help them gain and enhance their employment skills and find and maintain competitive employment.

TWE, part of the VA’s Compensated Work Therapy Program, helped participants develop work restoration plans and provided a rehabilitative work setting within the VA, other federal agencies, or private businesses in the community. After their participation in TWE, participants moved into CE, during which they could receive standard VA services (including VA health care, education benefits, home loan assistance, disability compensation, and vocational rehabilitation and employment assistance).

Traditional Case Management participants worked with one case manager to improve educational and vocational skills and with a separate income maintenance case manager to determine their welfare eligibility and payment issuance. Participants who did not have a high school diploma or GED were assigned to basic education classes; participants with basic education credentials were assigned to vocational training, postsecondary education, or work experience.

As part of the Health Careers Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati, individuals who were unemployed and interested in health careers, such as nursing, rehabilitation, health information technology, or biotechnology, worked with an advisor to meet their career goals. Participants could receive a variety of trainings and services based on these goals. They were offered trainings on soft skills and financial literacy, along with job-search assistance and work-readiness activities.

As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, participants worked with a case manager to complete short-term training aligned with their employment and education goals to prepare for and secure in-demand, advanced manufacturing jobs. These jobs included team assembler, electromechanical maintenance technician, welder, computer numerical control operator, and bioscience or pharmaceutical technician.

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 (WIB) for the first two months.

The Milwaukee Area Healthcare Alliance, a workforce intermediary led by the YMCA of Greater Milwaukee, partnered with health care employers to identify needed skills and provided occupational training to participants to help meet those needs. The program also offered on-the-job-training and job search assistance. The program served workers in the Milwaukee, WI, region who were low skilled and unemployed.

Maximum Customer Choice participants could request counseling from program staff to guide them to appropriate training selections, but they did not automatically receive counseling. Participants received an individual training account in the amount of $3,000 to $5,000, depending on the program site. Most Maximum Customer Choice participants requested counseling and completed counseling and training program selection in five sessions. Then, participants engaged in their selected training program for an average of 18 weeks.

CE participants were military veterans who found unsubsidized jobs in the competitive market on their own. They received the standard VA services, including VA health care, education benefits, home loan assistance, disability compensation, and vocational rehabilitation and employment assistance, but no specific employment-focused intervention. Veterans could receive the standard services indefinitely.