The Reentry Intensive Case Management Services program in Los Angeles County connects people who have been involved with the criminal legal system to community health workers who help them navigate services. This report presents encouraging findings from process and outcomes studies of the program and provides recommendations for providers.
Supportive Services in the Los Angeles County Innovative Employment Solutions Program
Individuals on probation face many challenges in reentering the community. This brief describes the Los Angeles County Innovative Employment Solutions Program’s creative approach to providing workforce and supportive services to this underserved population. The program’s unique training and funding model allows staff to respond flexibly to their clients’ complex needs.
Implementation of a Sectoral Training Program for People Impacted by the Criminal Legal System
Individuals with criminal legal system involvement have many disadvantages when seeking high-wage employment. The SECTOR program aims to connect such individuals with training opportunities in high-growth sectors. This evaluation finds that SECTOR offers a promising approach to help participants find jobs that offer livable wages, career advancement opportunities, and benefits.
Five-Year Findings from the Family Self-Sufficiency Evaluation
The federal Family Self-Sufficiency program is a voluntary case-management and asset-building intervention that provides incentives to work for Housing Choice Voucher recipients. This report examines program implementation, participants’ engagement in services, and impacts on labor force participation and receipt of government benefits five years following random assignment.
Findings from the Head Start Connects Case Studies
How do Head Start programs coordinate family support services and are their practices aligned with each family’s needs and well-being? This report presents case studies of six programs across the country and explores service coordination from multiple perspectives—Head Start staff members, families, and local community service providers.
Learning from the Communities In Schools Reengagement Coordinator Initiative
Schools have long struggled to reengage students who have poor attendance or who drop out—a situation that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. During 2021–2022, Communities In Schools introduced the Reengagement Coordinator Initiative, aimed at reengaging high school students who did not reenroll or were chronically absent.
How Community Health Workers Help Navigate Reentry
Community Health Workers (CHWs) are critical to Los Angeles County’s Reentry Intensive Case Management Services program, which assists clients following incarceration or probation by connecting them to services. This brief describes CHWs’ role, outlines their strategies, and offers insights for incorporating “lived experience” into their approach to helping clients.
Head Start’s Family Support Services
This brief outlines how Head Start programs responded to the ever-evolving public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic—shifting activities to virtual formats, adapting in-person activities to local restrictions, and maintaining connections with families and community providers.
Findings From the Family Self-Sufficiency Evaluation
The federal Family Self-Sufficiency program works with Housing Choice Voucher recipients to foster economic self-sufficiency and boost assets through case management and an escrow account for participants’ increased earnings. This three-year report examines program implementation, participants’ engagement, and impacts on employment, government benefits receipt, and material and financial well-being.
When COVID-19 upended normal operations at STRIVE, a workforce development nonprofit founded in New York, the Center for Applied Behavioral Science at MDRC documented the agency’s real-time innovations that allowed it to continue serving clients during the crisis. Greg Wise, STRIVE’s National Vice President, shared a first-hand account of the transition.
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