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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Can a participant-centered approach to setting and pursuing goals help adults with low incomes become economically stable? Impacts of four employment coaching programs 21 months after enrollment (Moore et al., 2024)

Review Guidelines

Causal Evidence Guidelines

Absence of conflict of interest.

Citation

Moore, Q., Wu, A., Kautz, T., Kent, C., McConnell, S., McInnis, N., Patnaik, A., & Schochet, O. (2024). Can a participant-centered approach to setting and pursuing goals help adults with low incomes become economically stable? Impacts of four employment coaching programs 21 months after enrollment. OPRE Report #2024-061. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [MyGoals]

Highlights

Intervention Examined

MyGoals

Features of the Intervention

MyGoals was a pilot employment coaching program that served unemployed adults receiving housing assistance. MyGoals was implemented by public housing authorities (PHAs) in Baltimore and Houston between 2017 and 2022. MyGoals participants worked with employment coaches to set and work toward employment, educational, financial, and personal goals. Participants met monthly with coaches for up to three years and could earn financial incentives up to a total of $5,000 for attending coaching sessions and meeting certain employment outcomes.

Features of the Study

The study was a randomized controlled trial that assigned 1,803 eligible individuals to a treatment or a control group. Eligible study participants, who were referred to MyGoals by the PHAs in Baltimore and Houston or who learned about MyGoals via program outreach, had to be receiving housing assistance and either unemployed or working less than 20 hours per month. Individuals already participating in other employment programs offered by the PHAs were not eligible to enroll in the study. Study enrollment took place between June 2018 and November 2019. The 902 study participants assigned to the treatment group were offered MyGoals services. The 901 study participants assigned to the comparison group could not participate in MyGoals but could access other services available in their communities.

Most study participants were female (88 percent)), and the average study participant’s household included two children. Nearly all study participants were Black (95 percent), 3 percent were Hispanic, and 2 percent were White. At baseline, more than a third reported having worked for pay in the past 30 days (35 percent). A quarter did not have a high school diploma or GED (25 percent).

The study relied on multiple data sources, including a baseline survey at study enrollment, 12- and 21-month follow-up surveys, and administrative data on quarterly earnings, unemployment insurance, and public assistance receipt. The authors used statistical models to compare the outcomes of treatment and control group participants and survey weights to adjust for survey nonresponse.

Findings

Earnings and wages

  • The study did not find statistically significant effects of MyGoals on earnings and wages.

Employment

  • The study found statistically significant effects of MyGoals on employment and job satisfaction: at 21 months after study enrollment, MyGoals group members were more likely to be employed and very satisfied with their current job (15 percent), on average, than members of the comparison group (11 percent).

Employer benefits receipt

  • The study did not find statistically significant effects of MyGoals on employer benefits receipt.

Public benefits receipt

  • The study did not find statistically significant effects of MyGoals on public benefits receipt.

Considerations for Interpreting the Findings

The study authors estimated multiple related impacts on outcomes related to earnings and wages, employment, public benefits receipt, employer benefits receipt, and education and skills gains. Performing multiple statistical tests on related outcomes makes it more likely that some impacts will be found statistically significant purely by chance, and not because they reflect program effectiveness. To help address this risk, the study authors pre-specified four confirmatory outcomes: a scaled measure of self-regulation and goal-related skills, earnings, a scaled measure of economic wellbeing, and TANF assistance receipt. However, the authors did not perform statistical adjustments to account for the multiple tests, so the number of statistically significant findings in these domains is likely to be overstated.

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 are confident that any estimated effects are attributable to LIFT and not to other factors.

Additional Sources

Moore, Q., Kautz, T., McConnell, S., Schochet, O., & Wu, A. (2023). Can a participant-centered approach to setting and pursuing goals help adults with low incomes become economically stable? Short-term impacts of four employment coaching programs. OPRE Report #2023-139. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Reviewed by CLEAR

June 2026