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.

Santa Clara Housing Authority (SCCHA) Rent Reform

The SCCHA increased tenant contribution rates for families receiving Housing Choice Vouchers from about 27 percent to 35 percent (and later reduced this rate to 32 percent). The policy also eliminated all allowances and deductions (such as child care or medical expenses) and reduced the number of bedrooms on a household’s voucher for some families.

Clean Slate Clinic

Intervention (standard name)

The Clean Slate Clinic provided services to people with criminal records to help them remove some or all items listed in their criminal records that job applicants are required to disclose as part of their employment applications. A lawyer obtained the client’s records of arrests and prosecutions (known as a rap sheet), reviewed the records to identify arrests and convictions that might be eligible to be cleared from the client’s criminal history, and then submitted a petition on behalf of the client for all eligible items.

Training Focused Program (as compared with Work Plus)

To continue to receive benefits, TANF participants were required to engage in employment-related activities for 32 hours per week. Program staff allowed TANF participants in the Training Focused intervention to decrease work hours per week to zero hours to pursue education and training activities, with the philosophy that eliminating the requirement to engage in work would allow participants to access the most useful education and training programs.

Opportunity Works

Intervention (standard name)

Services delivered via Opportunity Works varied by program site over an unspecified duration. Services could include case management, college-readiness instruction and coaching, goal setting, support with high school completion, career planning and exploration, job development and support, financial planning support, occupational skills training, and transportation assistance. Eligibility requirements varied by age and gender across program sites, but all Opportunity Works participants were between the ages of 18 and 24.

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.

Los Angeles Regional Initiative for Social Enterprise (LA:RISE) Pilot Program

Participants of LA:RISE were co-enrolled in programs funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and received a minimum of 300 hours of subsidized, transitional employment at a social enterprise or workforce development system partner. These programs also provided on-the-job training, specialized training, or both. Other provided services varied by placement and included soft-skills training, work-readiness training and assessments, supportive services, case management, education, and permanent job search and placement services.

Riverside Human Capital Development [HCD] Program (as compared with Riverside Labor Force Attachment [LFA] Program)

The HCD program implemented in Riverside, CA, emphasized that participants should spend time receiving education or training to prepare for good jobs. If participants did not have a high school diploma or general education diploma, the program provided basic education classes in the public school system to help participants make progress toward their goals (such as increasing their literacy level). Case managers were accountable for the employment and education outcomes of their clients and therefore encouraged success and emphasized and enforced program participation.

Breaking Barriers

Intervention (standard name)

Breaking Barriers followed the IPS model by assigning employment specialists to help participants set career goals and search for a job. Employment specialists maintained relationships with local employers, which they used to connect participants to potential job opportunities. After participants found employment, specialists provided as-needed, customized support (such as counseling or transportation assistance). This follow-along support did not have a time limit. Participants were involved in the program for an average of 10 months.

Year Up Professional Training Corps (PTC)

Intervention (standard name)

PTC program applicants applied to both the Year Up program and the partner college. Once accepted to both, participants took part in a full-day program for five days a week that included structured college courses, professional skills courses, and technical skills courses. The college courses were provided by the partner college and participants earned up to 15 college credits during this time period. Many of these courses were either geared toward an occupational path or were meant to prepare the participant for college-level courses.