Many hard-to-employ families with low incomes face one or more of the following obstacles to finding and sustaining employment: low basic skills, limited work experience, health problems, or a criminal record. The Hard-to-Employ demonstration is designed to field and evaluate a variety of innovative ways to boost employment, reduce welfare receipt, and promote well-being in this population.
Each of the sites in the demonstration targets a segment of the hard-to-employ population, such as individuals leaving prison, those in need of mental health treatment, or those who would benefit from a “two-generation” intervention. The following four sites are participating in this project:
- Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), New York City. Parolees who are mandated to work as a condition of parole are placed in paid transitional employment at one of several dozen worksites around the city for two to three months, followed by job placement into unsubsidized jobs. The program also includes a fatherhood program, employer-driven skills training programs, a greater focus on post-placement retention services, and job coaching.
- Rhode Island Mental Health Evaluation. The target population for this intervention is working-age parents who are on Medicaid and have undiagnosed depression. An enhanced treatment group receives intensive telephonic outreach and follow-up from managed care case managers to encourage participation in mental health treatment. The program provides access to employment services as well.
- Kansas and Missouri Early Head Start (EHS). Aimed at poor families who have children four years old or younger or a baby on the way, and who are interested in receiving EHS, this “two-generation” intervention seeks to enhance the link between the TANF employment and EHS child development programs. The children in the program group are enrolled in EHS services and the parents receive home visits to establish and work toward self-sufficiency goals.
- Alternative Employment Strategies for Long-Term Welfare Recipients in Philadelphia. This study is testing two employment strategies — paid transitional employment (provided by the Transitional Work Corporation) and upfront barrier removal services (provided by Jewish Employment and Vocational Services).
