Participants volunteered for the program and received job counseling and help preparing for interviews from their case managers. Case managers then identified job opportunities with partner employers suited to the clients’ skills and interests and scheduled job interviews for participants at weekly job fairs. Employers were given a monthly subsidy of at least $1,000 for up to 5 months for each participant they hired at the prevailing market wage for at least 25 hours of work per week. Staff also made referrals for educational and social services not provided by the program. The program provided services to its participants until they found jobs and did not provide follow-up services during employment. STEP Forward participants had either left Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), unemployment insurance, or other public assistance programs; were current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients; or were from households with an annual income no more than 200 percent of the poverty level. STEP Forward was implemented in San Francisco, CA.
- 0.16,1.00
- 0.14,1.25
Summary
STEP Forward’s goal was to help cash assistance recipients and other job seekers with low income find local employment opportunities. The program provided a subsidy to local employers for hiring participants and supported participants with counseling and weekly job fairs that connected them with employers.
Effectiveness rating and effect by outcome domain
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| Outcome domain | Term | Effectiveness rating | Effect in 2018 dollars and percentages | Effect in standard deviations | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increase earnings | Short-term | 
|
$3,451 per year
|
0.165 | 811 |
| Long-term |
|
$3,075 per year
|
0.147 | 811 | |
| Very long-term |  |
||||
| Increase employment | Short-term |
|
3% (in percentage points)
|
0.077 | 811 |
| Long-term |
|
3% (in percentage points)
|
0.068 | 811 | |
| Very long-term | |
||||
| Decrease benefit receipt | Short-term | |
|||
| Long-term | |
||||
| Very long-term | |
||||
| Increase education and training | All measurement periods | 
|
3% (in percentage points)
|
0.050 | 556 |
Effectiveness rating key:
-
Well-supported
-
Supported
-
Not supported
-
Mixed support
-
Insufficient evidence
-
No evidence
Studies of this intervention
| Study quality rating | Study counts per rating |
|---|---|
 High
|
1 |
Implementation details
Dates covered by study
STEP Forward stemmed from the JobsNOW program, which began in 2009. Enrollment in the STEP Forward study occurred between November 2012 and March 2015. While STEP Forward is no longer operating, some aspects of the JobsNOW program are still active.
Organizations implementing intervention
The Human Services Agency of San Francisco (HSA) operated STEP Forward as part of its subsidized employment initiative called JOBsNOW! HSA operates the city and county of San Francisco’s major public assistance programs, including TANF, SNAP, and County Adult Assistance (CAAP) programs.
Populations served
HSA initially recruited study participants from two populations. The first was people in the state’s TANF program—called CalWORKs—who (1) had reached the 48-month lifetime limit for cash aid but still had dependent children who received cash aid; (2) were exempt from work requirements because of age, health issues, or domestic violence; or (3) were sanctioned because of noncompliance with CalWORKs requirements but had dependent children who were receiving cash aid. The second population HSA recruited was people who had received their maximum unemployment insurance benefits (99 weeks in California), whose reported family income was at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and who had a dependent child.
The study enrolled fewer participants than expected in its first year, partially because of an extension of unemployment benefits and an over-projection of eligible and interested CalWORKs candidates. To boost the size of the sample, HSA expanded its eligibility pool by recruiting former JOBsNOW! participants who had not secured unsubsidized employment, CalFRESH (California’s SNAP program) recipients enrolled in its employment and training program, county General Assistance recipients who were sanctioned from or previously chose not to participate in CAAP employment services, and families with dependent children whose household income was at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. People in these programs who had not been employed in the previous 3 months or had no more than 6 months of earned income in the past 24 months were eligible for STEP Forward. HSA also allowed those without dependent children who had maxed out unemployment benefits to enroll.
The sample was mostly female (72 percent). Nearly 42 percent of participants were Black, 23 percent were Asian, and 19 percent were Hispanic or Latino. About 20 percent had no high school diploma, 40 percent had a high school diploma, and 20 percent held an associate’s degree or higher. Nearly 99 percent of participants had been employed previously, although recent employment history was sporadic. Participation in STEP Forward was voluntary.
Description of services implemented
STEP Forward focused on rapidly getting participants interviews for a subsidized job. HSA anticipated that participants would quickly move through the program and interview for jobs. The following activities comprised STEP Forward:
- Case management. Upon random assignment into STEP Forward, participants met with a case manager who assessed their job readiness on three factors: 1) if they had an up-to-date resume, 2) if they had access to child care and transportation, and 3) if they had appropriate interview attire. In practice, HSA staff identified additional barriers like mental health and substance use challenges and outdated job skills that also affected job readiness.
- Work-readiness activities. If a participant was not considered job ready, case managers could help with resumes, mock interviews, soft-skills development, and career advice. They also referred participants to remedial and postsecondary education services. Social workers referred participants to external social services agencies as necessary. Most participants were not deemed immediately job ready.
- Job fairs. HSA organized weekly job fairs with private employers specifically for participants in the JOBsNOW! and STEP Forward programs. If a participant was considered job ready, the case manager reviewed jobs that participants could interview for at the weekly job fair. The case manager signed the participant up for interviews that they thought would be a good match and the participant had expressed interest in. Interviews lasted about 15 minutes. Employers might hire a participant based on the interview alone or might invite participants to additional interviews.
- Subsidized employment. Private employers could receive wage reimbursements from HSA for STEP Forward participants hired to work at least 25 hours a week at market wages. These were competitive jobs, meaning they were not created specifically for the program. Employers made all hiring decisions and were expected to put participant hires on the company’s payroll. Initially, HSA reimbursed all employers up to $1,000 a month for up to five months per participant. To attract employers offering higher wages, HSA increased subsidies for employers that paid at least $13.50 an hour by reimbursing 100 percent of a participant’s wages in the first month, 75 percent in the second month, and up to $1,000 a month for the last three months. The initial subsidy structure remained the same for employers paying less than $13.50 an hour.
- Job club. At the weekly job club for program participants, job developers presented openings for that week’s job fair. Job club was intended to be a voluntary activity, but it became a central program service as the issues with job readiness became more apparent. If participants missed three job clubs in a row, a social worker would reach out to encourage them to return.
The study authors also characterized the employers as clients of HSA and STEP Forward because job developers recruited employers for the job fairs and participant interviews. Further, employers wanting to remain in HSA’s employer network had to agree to conditions intended to protect HSA clients, like retaining participants as employees as long as they met employers’ job performance standards.
Service intensity
Participants and case managers communicated weekly via phone or email. Case managers informed participants of available positions at that week’s job fair. Job club also took place weekly.
More participants struggled with job readiness than HSA had anticipated; nearly 91 percent of participants engaged with some type of job-readiness activity, such as career counseling or interview preparation, and social workers engaged with about 60 percent of program participants. Further, only 65 percent of program participants ever interviewed for a subsidized job.
A participant was considered to have completed the STEP Forward program once they were hired into a subsidized or unsubsidized job. HSA did not have formal follow-up services with participants after they were hired, but program staff said they would respond to communication from clients or employers if issues arose. Clients who left their subsidized job and needed additional assistance from the program could return to participate in any of STEP Forward’s services.
Comparison conditions
The comparison group was not offered STEP Forward services, but they could receive other HSA services and services they found in the community.
Partnerships
The Human Services Agency of San Francisco (HSA) partnered with MDRC to develop the STEP Forward program and research design of its evaluation. The National Transitional Jobs Network assisted with the implementation of the study.
Staffing
In addition to the case managers, staffing for STEP Forward included social workers and job developers at job club, who served as liaisons with employers and presented job openings for the upcoming week’s job fair.
The study authors did not include information on the number of staff or their training, degrees, or certifications.
Fidelity measures
The study did not discuss any tools to measure fidelity to the intervention model.
Funding source
HSA used TANF funds to pay for program services and wage subsidies for CalWORKs clients. The agency used the grant funding it received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for participating in the broader Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration project to cover program costs for non-CalWORKs clients.
Cost information
The average cost per participant was $5,521 in 2018 dollars.
This figure is based on cost information reported by authors of the study or studies the Pathways Clearinghouse reviewed for this intervention. The Pathways Clearinghouse converted that information to a single amount expressed in 2018 dollars; for details, see the FAQ. Where there are multiple studies of an intervention rated high or moderate quality, the Pathways Clearinghouse computed the average of costs reported across those studies.
Cost information is not directly comparable across interventions due to differences in the categories of costs reported and the amount of time interventions lasted. Cost information is not an official price tag or guarantee.
State(s) where implemented
The Pathways Clearinghouse refers to interventions by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some intervention names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.