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Summary

BTH provided health care training in patient care, technical, or administrative occupations to individuals with low incomes interested in a career in health care.

Participants first met with a counselor who helped them select an accredited training program in a patient care, technical, or administrative health care occupation. The counselor also identified any barriers participants might face and connected participants with supportive services such as transportation or child care assistance, Individual Training Accounts to cover the cost of training, and employment services and job search assistance. Supportive services could be funded up to $1,000, and Individual Training Accounts could cover between $7,000 and $10,000 for training, depending on the chosen occupation. The program focused on individuals who were at least 18 years old, received Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or were low income (as defined by the program; before the study, participants had an average annual income of about $17,000), had a high school diploma or GED, were eligible to work in the United States, and scored above the sixth- to eighth-grade level on a basic-skills assessment. BTH was implemented in San Diego County, CA.

BTH was part of the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education study which also evaluated the following career pathways programs: Carreras en Salud, Health Careers for All, Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training, Pathways to Healthcare, Patient Care Pathway Program, Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement, Workforce Training Academy Connect, and Year Up.

Populations and employment barriers:

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 No evidence to assess support
Long-term Little evidence to assess support favorable $1,632 per year 0.078 974
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Increase employment Short-term No evidence to assess support
Long-term No evidence to assess support
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Decrease benefit receipt Short-term No evidence to assess support
Long-term Little evidence to assess support unfavorable $63 per year 0.023 658
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Increase education and training All measurement periods No evidence to assess support

Studies of this intervention

Study quality rating Study counts per rating
High High 1

Implementation details

Cost information

The average cost per participant was $5,593 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.

Local context

Characteristics of research participants
Black or African American
22%
White, not Hispanic
20%
Another race
15%
Hispanic or Latino of any race
47%

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.