Citation
Hendra, R., Dillman, K-N., Hamilton, G., Lundquist, E., Martinson, K., Wavelet, M., Hill, A., & Williams, S. (2010). The Employment Retention and Advancement project: How effective are different approaches aiming to increase employment retention and advancement? Final impacts for twelve models. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families. [Chicago ERA]
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to determine the effectiveness of a Chicago program to increase the earnings of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients. The Chicago site was one of 16 nationwide to participate in the Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project.
- The authors randomly assigned 1,728 TANF recipients to either a treatment group, which received enhanced employment services, or a control group, which received benefits as usual. The authors collected employment and earnings data from Illinois Unemployment Insurance (UI) records over four follow-up years and Food Stamps and TANF receipt data from administrative records over three follow-up years.
- The study found that members of the treatment group received significantly less in average annual TANF benefits ($778 compared with $1,010 among control group members) but more in average annual Food Stamps ($4,111 compared with $3,959 among control group members). People in the ERA group were also more likely to be employed in the first year (69.7 percent) than people in the control group (66.2 percent).
- The quality of causal evidence provided in this study is high because it was based on a well-implemented randomized controlled trial. This means we are confident that the estimated impacts are attributable to the Chicago ERA program, and not to other factors.
Intervention Examined
The Employment Retention and Advancement project, Chicago
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. Chicago was one of 16 sites across the United States to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to implement a program intended to improve TANF recipients’ employment outcomes.
In Chicago, TANF recipients who worked 30 hours or more per week for six months or more but were still eligible for TANF were eligible to receive enhanced employment services aimed at increasing their earnings. A career and income advisor met with and assisted each participant in developing a career and income advancement plan. The advisor counseled participants about how to advance in their current jobs and (more commonly) helped them apply for higher-paying jobs in companies that had relationships with the program. Services could include education and training, but fewer than one-quarter of program participants received those services. In addition to the 30-hour work requirement that was part of their TANF participation, clients had to maintain regular contact with their case managers; failure to do so could result in a sanction of their TANF benefits. The staff-client relationship often continued after people left TANF.
Features of the Study
The study randomly assigned 1,728 Chicago TANF recipients were randomly assigned to either a treatment group, which could receive enhanced employment services through Chicago ERA, or a control group, which received TANF but was not offered enhanced employment services. Randomization took place from February 2002 to June 2003.
The authors collected employment and earnings data from Illinois UI records over four follow-up years and Food Stamps and TANF receipt data from administrative records over three follow-up years.
Findings
- The study found that members of the treatment group received significantly less in average annual TANF benefits ($778 compared with $1,010 among control group members) but more in average annual Food Stamps ($4,111 compared with $3,959 among control group members). These differences were statistically significant.
- People in the ERA group were also more likely to be employed in the first year (69.7 percent) than people in the control group (66.2 percent). Beyond that, treatment and control group members’ earnings and employment histories were comparable over the follow-up period.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The authors noted that sanctions for failing to adhere to ERA program guidelines led some treatment group members to forfeit their TANF cash assistance rather than continue to participate in the program, reducing the average amount of TANF assistance received among treatment group members. The authors also suggested that the general reduction in TANF assistance among treatment group members might have led them to rely more on Food Stamps, and perhaps to qualify for higher levels of Food Stamps benefits.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence provided in this study is high because it was based on a well-implemented randomized controlled trial. This means we are confident that the estimated impacts are attributable to the Chicago ERA program, and not to other factors.