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The Employment Retention and Advancement project: Early results from four sites. [Texas ERA—Corpus Christi] (Bloom et al. 2005)

Review Guidelines

Citation

Bloom, D., Hendra, R., Martinson, K., & Scrivener, S. (2005). The Employment Retention and Advancement project: Early results from four sites. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children & Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [Texas ERA—Corpus Christi]

Highlights

  • The study’s objective was to estimate the impact of pre- and post-employment job supports and intensive case management on welfare recipients’ employment and benefits receipt outcomes after one year. The Corpus Christi site was one of three in Texas that participated in the Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project.
  • The authors randomly assigned about 1,300 single-parent participants in Corpus Christi’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to either a treatment group, which received ERA services, or a control group, which received standard TANF services. The authors analyzed data from Unemployment Insurance (UI), TANF, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program administrative records.
  • The study did not find any statistically significant effects one year after random assignment on employment, earnings, and public benefits receipt.
  • The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is high because it was based on a well-implemented randomized controlled trial. This means we are confident that any estimated effects would be attributable to the Corpus Christi ERA program and not to other factors. However, the study found no statistically significant impacts.

Intervention Examined

The Employment Retention and Advancement project, Corpus Christi

Features of the Intervention

The ERA project was introduced in 1999 as a nationwide exploration of factors that help welfare recipients not only find employment but retain their positions and advance in their careers. Corpus Christi was one of 16 sites across the United States to receive funding from the Department of Health and Human Services to implement a program intended to improve welfare recipients’ employment outcomes. (Two other sites in Texas were evaluated separately and are therefore reported separately by CLEAR.)

TANF recipients in Corpus Christi assigned to the Texas ERA program attended a four-day job-search workshop after attending an initial orientation. They then spent four to six weeks searching for jobs, and the program assigned those who did not then secure employment to community service or volunteer positions. People who found jobs were eligible for a $200 monthly stipend for up to 12 nonconsecutive months if they were employed for at least 30 hours per week, participated in a postemployment advancement activity, or left TANF; they could also receive the stipend if they worked 15 hours per week and participated in an education and training activity. The first four months of earnings for people in the program were disregarded when calculating their eligibility for a stipend. Texas ERA staff also helped clients with job-related problems, reemployment assistance, and support meeting stipend requirements. Program staff made regular employer site visits. Participants were eligible for these services as long as they were eligible for the monthly stipend. Program staff coordinated case management services (including employment assessment, goal setting and career planning, support services, barrier resolution, and job-search assistance) across several partner agencies.

Features of the Study

From November 2000 through December 2002, 1,726 single-parent participants were randomly assigned to the ERA program or the Choices program (control group) in Corpus Christi after TANF eligibility had been confirmed but before participants started to receive cash assistance. Those assigned to the control group received standard services, including job-search assistance, case management, and support services, but these were not coordinated across agencies to the extent that they were in the ERA program. The authors compared earnings, employment, and benefits receipt outcomes between the two groups one year after random assignment. This study focused on the 1,310 study participants who had been randomly assigned through June 2002.

Findings

  • The study did not find any statistically significant effects one year after random assignment on employment, earnings, and public benefits receipt.

Causal Evidence Rating

The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is high because it was based on a well-implemented randomized controlled trial. This means we would be confident that any estimated effects are attributable to Texas ERA and not to other factors. However, the study did not find any statistically significant effects.

Reviewed by CLEAR

September 2016

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