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ENHANCED SERVICES FOR THE HARD TO EMPLOY
DEMONSTRATION AND EVALUATION PROJECT
Purpose
The Enhanced Services for the Hard to Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project assesses the effectiveness of programs that improve employment outcomes for current or former TANF recipients and other low-income parents who have had difficulty entering and sustaining employment. The project will both measure programmatic effects on adults’ employment and earnings and evaluate family functioning, child well-being (from early childhood through adolescence), and two-generation programs, which provide employment services to adults and direct services to children or youth. The other issues and challenges to be examined are ways to implement and operate different approaches that promote employment among the hard-to-employ, the services included in these programs, the way the programs meet the needs of participants with many employment or family challenges, and the benefits and costs of programs studied.
The evaluation addresses the following questions:
- What are the issues and challenges in implementing and operating different approaches that promote employment among the hard-to-employ? What services are included in such programs? How do programs meet the needs of participants with multiple employment or family challenges? Are there unique challenges associated with more comprehensive models that provide a wider range of services?
- Are there specific challenges related to serving hard-to-employ parents and their children? What types of changes in program policies or operations are necessary to serve and adequately address the needs of hard-to-employ parents? How are the needs of younger children and teens addressed in the context of employment-focused programs for the hard-to-employ parents? How accurately and efficiently do different definitions and methods of assessment predict employment outcomes? Do different definitions and methods of assessment lead to different kinds of services or outcomes?
- What are the net impacts of different approaches to enhancing employment outcomes of the hard-to-employ parents on employment, earnings, income, and welfare dependence?
- What are the impacts on parental attitudes, parental mental health, parenting behavior, family formation including marriage status and stability, and access to and use of services and benefits such as Food Stamps, Medicaid, SCHIP, and other health insurance, physical health care, and child care?
- What are the impacts on child and youth well-being, including school attendance and performance, health and safety, and social and emotional adjustment (e.g., behavior problems, social competence)
- Which program designs work best for those with different characteristics? Are programs as effective for parents with more serious disadvantages or multiple barriers? Do the effects on children vary by age of child or other characteristics?
- What are the costs of different approaches to enhancing employment outcomes of the hard-to-employ parents? Do two-generation models incur different costs? What are the challenges of utilizing multiple funding sources within programs? What role does funding play in the provision of services? What are the costs and benefits of programs studied?
For more information:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/index.html
Agencies/Institutions
The Enhanced Services for the Hard to Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project is funded by the Administration for Children and Families and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Labor. MDRC carries out the project in cooperation with the following partners: the Urban Institute, the Lewin Group, and the California Institute for Mental Health.
Research/Survey Design
The Hard to Employ evaluation is a longitudinal study that uses an experimental design. The evaluation has three components:
- An implementation and process analysis will use on-site visits and interviews with program staff and administrators to look at how the programs operate.
- An impact analysis will use a rigorous research design to measure the programs’ effects on employment, welfare use, and family functioning. Half the prospective participants in each site will be randomly assigned to the program group. These participants will be eligible for the special services provided by the program and subject to its requirements. The other half will be randomly assigned to a control group. These participants will be eligible for standard services. Public administrative records, surveys of study members, and site visits will be used to follow the outcomes for both groups over at least 3 years. A follow-up survey will be conducted 42 months after random assignment.
- A benefit-cost analysis will compare the financial costs and benefits of the interventions, from the perspective of both participants and government budgets.
For more information:
http://www.mdrc.org/
Date(s)/Periodicity
The Enhanced Services for the Hard to Employ Demonstration and Evaluation project began in September 2001 and is scheduled to conclude in September 2010.
Population/Sample
The respondents to the baseline survey are Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, former TANF recipients, or low-income individuals who are hard-to-employ from six states. HHS has granted approval for three sites (New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin). Pennsylvania is currently being explored as a potential site.
For more information:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre
Content Covered
The project will cover content in a number of areas:
- Employment outcomes for low-income participants who have trouble entering and sustaining employment
- Family functioning
- Child well-being (early childhood through adolescence)
- Two-generation programs that provide employment services to adults and direct services to children or youth
- Issues and challenges in the implementation and operation of employment-related programs for hard-to-employ individuals
- Services in the programs
- How programs meet the needs of participants with multiple employment or family challenges
- Costs and benefits of programs
For more information:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre
Availability of Data for Public Use
Data for public use not yet available.
Reference List for Users’ Guide, Codebooks, and Methodology Report(s)
No information is available about users’ guides, codebooks, and methodology reports.
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