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Answer
As a result of federal, state, and local welfare reform
efforts and, until recently, a strong economy, more and
more welfare recipients have been able to find jobs and
leave cash assistance. However, the newly employed sometimes
find it difficult to keep their jobs because of problems
with transportation and child care, a lack of work experience,
or personal struggles with substance abuse or mental health
problems. Even if they are able to continue working, their
wages are often insufficient to support a family and make
ends meet. Consequently, welfare offices, workforce development
boards, and community organizations across the country
are developing programs and services to help welfare recipients
stay employed and advance in a career. Post-employment
services can include meetings with case managers to address
work and personal issues; training programs to upgrade
skills; assistance with support services such as child
care, transportation subsidies, and health insurance coverage;
and group sessions on work and financial issues. But staff
often find it a struggle to encourage intended beneficiaries
to participate in these programs and services.
Increasing participation in post-employment services can
be challenging for a number of reasons. Recently employed
single parents in low-wage jobs may find it hard to balance
work and family responsibilities; taking on additional
activities may be overwhelming. Some may not be aware
that the services are available, or they may feel a stigma
associated with continuing to receive publicly funded
support once they are working. Furthermore, the target
population is sometimes hard to reach because they are
no longer receiving cash assistance.
To counter these challenges, program staff must be creative
in trying to increase participation in post-employment
services. Specific strategies will depend on the nature
of your post-employment program and the target population,
but they will include: (1) marketing your program using
a variety of different methods and media, and (2) structuring
programs for working families or providing incentives
for participation.
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How
to Market Your Program |
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Research has shown
that utilization rates of post-employment services - particularly
child care, health care, or transportation subsidies -
are low because individuals do not know about them. Just
as a large corporation advertises their products and services,
you should identify your customers and target marketing
efforts specifically to them. Key lessons include: |
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Communicate
early and often. While benefits may not be available
until a new jobholder begins working, it is important
that intended beneficiaries be made aware of what they
are and how they can help from the very beginning of their
tenure in a welfare-to-work program. This will ensure
that they are knowledgeable about the programs if they
leave welfare for employment without contacting program
staff. Knowing that support services are available may
even influence their decision to take a job. Imparting
this information can be made part of the welfare-to-work
programs' orientation or separate workshops explaining
the full range of work supports can be developed. Agencies
may also consider incorporating information about these
services into caseworker/client interactions and activities
such as job search or job readiness classes. |
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Develop
procedures for identifying and enrolling eligible families.
The most critical point for connecting new workers with
post-employment services and benefits is when they first
enter employment. But that's a time when intended beneficiaries
may simply ask that their case be closed or may not show
up for required appointments. Welfare staff may not even
be aware that employment is the reason for case closure,
so procedures should be set up to let the welfare office
know when a client is leaving assistance to take a job
and enroll the individual in appropriate programs efficiently.
Some states use computer systems that automatically enroll
potential beneficiaries for post-employment benefits.
Approaches developed by states include inquiring of those
who request voluntary closure of their case whether they
have become employed and, if earnings are confirmed, closing
the case in a way that preserves their qualification for
transitional benefits. |
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Train
your staff. A common problem of past welfare-to-work
programs has been that staff were unclear as to who was
eligible for benefits and what services could be provided
once clients become employed. Administrators should ensure
that staff receive consistent and thorough training on
who is eligible, and how and when welfare recipients find
out about these services. Staff should be made aware of
the range of benefits, services, or subsidies available,
as well as how the program is administered. Because staff
turnover in some offices can be substantial, training
schedules should also take this into account. |
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Make
the provision of benefits or services a program priority.
Programs that have strong management systems in place
and make participation a high priority have been successful
in providing transitional benefits or post-employment
services. Strong management can ensure that all program
systems and staffing efforts are coordinated to maximize
participation in transitional services and to see to it
that no families fall through the cracks. |
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Involve
employers. Enlisting the help of employers can
be an effective way to provide information to welfare
recipients who no longer have any contact with the welfare
agency. Employers may have a stake in assisting outreach
efforts, since it may help them attract good workers;
improve employee moral; raise retention rates; and reduce
the costs of absenteeism, recruiting, and retraining -
all at no cost to them. The Southern Institute for Children
and Families found that one-on-one sessions that emphasized
the benefits to employers were critical to having this
group participate in outreach efforts. In New Jersey,
some employers have agreed to include information about
the availability of child care subsidies in paycheck envelopes.
Employers can even be involved in general outreach efforts.
For example, Safeway, the grocery store chain, is printing
information on child health programs on grocery bags. |
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Involve
community organizations. Given the limited contact
welfare agencies have with the post-employment population
they try to serve, agencies in some locales have found
it critical to enlist others in the community who may
have frequent contact with low-income workers to help
market their benefits. Informational materials can be
distributed through health clinics, schools, Laundromats,
child care centers, places of worship, one-stop job training
centers, community groups, and recreation centers. Enlisting
the services of community-based organizations for this
purpose has been formalized in Massachusetts, Minnesota,
and New York, where the state provides contracts or grants
to local organizations to publicize specific programs
and enroll eligible families. In other communities, the
welfare department conducts sessions to provide information
to these groups directly. The Southern Institute campaign
found it effective to hold informational meetings and
provide brochures and other materials that community groups
could distribute to their clientele. |
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Use
different modes of communication. Relying solely
on written materials to convey information about programs
may not be enough. Posters, public service announcements,
and the direct transmittal of information by caseworkers
can be an important supplement to official documents,
brochures, and fliers. Some programs have also had success
with hotlines that people can call to learn more about
benefits that may be available to them. |
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Know
your audience. Outreach materials should be tailored
to the specific audience you are trying to reach. The
Southern Institute developed three versions of its brochures,
each targeted to a unique audience of welfare recipients,
low-income working families, and employers of low-wage
families. The Institute found that welfare recipients
responded best to a straightforward message that provided
minimal details but offered a hotline number they could
call to get more information. Low-income workers, sensitive
to the perceived stigma of being associated with a welfare
agency, were found to be more responsive to materials
that simply emphasized what was available for their families
and contained no references to the welfare department.
Finally, employers wanted information on how the programs
could help them retain workers, explained how the programs
worked, and made clear whether they would have to absorb
any associated costs.
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How
to Promote Ongoing Participation |
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Beyond developing
the marketing tools to create awareness of the availability
of post-employment services is the challenge of structuring
the programs in ways that will promote ongoing participation
- a challenge that is especially large in the case of
programs that provide post-employment education and training
or services that require in-person meetings. |
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Offer
incentives. Some programs
have found that gift certificates, coupons for free movies,
haircuts, visits to the zoo, or other inexpensive amenities
can motivate families to sustain their participation.
Others provide direct cash payments to encourage participants
in education and training programs to maintain their regular
attendance and complete their curricula. |
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Provide
services that are compatible with the schedule of working
parents. Program components
and case management services should be made available
in the evening and on weekends to make it easier for single,
working parents to take advantage of them. In Portland,
Oregon, for example, Mount Hood Community College provides
short-term training in the evenings for employed former
TANF recipients who want to upgrade their computer skills.
Programs may also want to create alternative schedules
for post-employment case managers so they can work after
normal business hours. Job retention specialists in Oregon's
Jackson and Josephine counties carry pagers to make themselves
available when clients need immediate assistance with
a work-related problem. Other programs have 24-hour hotlines
that clients can call if they need help. Finally, case
managers should consider meeting clients at the worksite.
For example, career advisors in Moving Up, an employment
program operated by New York's Vocational Foundation,
routinely take working clients to a "business lunch"
during their normal midday break. |
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Keep
the ratio of staff to new workers low.
Low caseloads are essential if staff are to keep in frequent
contact with each worker and have time for in-depth, face-to-face
conversations. Participants will be more inclined to stay
engaged with program services if they feel their caseworker
is responsive to their needs and concerns. Post-employment
services focused on retention and advancement issues require
a close personal relationship and an aggressive, proactive
approach by staff. While it is difficult to determine
the appropriate caseload size, several programs have had
success with caseloads ranging from 50 to 60 clients. |
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Negotiate
release time for employees to take part in on-site activities
that support work.
In Salem, Oregon, a post-employment program called Up
With Wages struck an agreement with participating employers
to allow workers eight hours of release time to use the
initiative's services through group workshops and individual
appointments. |
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Structure
service delivery to overcome stigma.
To counter the reluctance many people feel about being
associated with a welfare program, many welfare offices
offer their post-employment service programs through one-stop
employment centers or other offices designed specifically
for people who have jobs. In Salem, Oregon, the welfare
office has divided service delivery between the North
Salem office that serves only unemployed families and
the South Salem Resource and Opportunity Center that serves
only employed families. |
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Ensure
that services are relevant to the target population.
People will be more likely to participate in your
program if the services it offers are interesting and
address the issues and problems that they face. The South
Salem Resources and Opportunity Center in Oregon offers
peer support groups and seminars on practical topics of
common interest to the recently employed such as how to
manage a household budget, build a good credit history,
and deal with challenging workplace situations. These
groups meet once a week and provide dinner and activities
for the participants' children. |
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Make
participation mandatory.
Clients who continue to receive cash assistance after
they become employed may be required to take part in post-employment
services or face sanctions if they fail to participate.
Although there is little direct evidence that mandating
participation in post-employment services is an effective
strategy, research has shown that mandates or the threat
of sanctions can increase program participation in pre-employment
activities.
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More information on this
topic
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Notes |
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1 |
Loprest, 1999; Cancian and Meyer,
2000. |
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2 |
Strawn and Martinson, 2000;
Rangarajan, Schochet, and Chu, 1998; Moffitt and Slade,
1997 |
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^ Back to top |
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No. 7, December 2001
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Karin Martinson,
a consultant to MDRC and a lead researcher in the Employment
Retention and Advancement evaluation, has more than 15
years of experience as a researcher and policy analyst
on a range of issues related to low-income families. She
was formerly a senior policy analyst at the Office of
the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a
researcher at MDRC, playing a lead role on several evaluations
of welfare-to-work programs.
Jacquie Anderson joined the MDRC California staff
as a Research Analyst, in June 2000. She currently works
as an implementation researcher for the Employment Retention
and Advancement project and leads a study, funded by the
Welfare Policy Research Project, to identify promising
job retention and advancement strategies for welfare recipients
in California. Before coming to MDRC, Anderson worked
for Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. and the Office of
the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She
has authored numerous reports on a various aspects of
welfare reform, many of which focus on providing services
to those with multiple barriers to employment.
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QFF#7
Answer 
