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Summary

Bridges to Success was an intensive adult mentoring and comprehensive case management program targeted to working age adults with household incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold where mentors worked with participants over two years to identify their short- and long-term goals, create step-by-step plans for progress, and provide cash incentives for completing planned steps.

Bridges to Success adapted a Mobility Mentoring® approach, where mentors helped participants create step-by-step plans for short- and long-term goals identified through a detailed assessment process covering housing, family relationships, health, relational networks, finances, education, and employment. Mentors connected participants to a variety of community organizations to ensure clients had access to support services. Progress was tracked using an assessment tool called the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency Matrix. Participants received financial incentives for completing action steps toward their goals.

Mentors met with participants for up to two years and aimed for at least monthly interactions, though they commonly met on a more frequent basis, either in-person or virtually.

Eligible participants were working age adults who were U.S. citizens, were able to work, had household incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold, and resided in the City of Rochester. The program was implemented in Rochester, NY.

101035-Study of Bridges to
Populations and employment barriers:

Effectiveness rating and effect by outcome domain

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Outcome domain Term Effectiveness rating Effect in 2024 dollars and percentages Effect in standard deviations Sample size
Increase earnings Short-term Little evidence to assess support favorable $583 per year 0.016 356
Long-term Little evidence to assess support favorable $219 per year 0.006 356
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Increase employment Short-term Little evidence to assess support favorable 5% (in percentage points) 0.127 356
Long-term Little evidence to assess support favorable 7% (in percentage points) 0.165 356
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Decrease benefit receipt Short-term Not supported unfavorable $199 per year 0.058 273
Long-term Cannot assess support
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Increase education and training All measurement periods Cannot assess support

Effectiveness ratings

  • Well- supported
  • Supported
  • Mixed support
  • Not supported
  • Insufficient evidence
  • Cannot assess support

Studies of this program

Study quality rating Study counts per rating
High High 1
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Implementation details

Organizations implementing program

Catholic Family Center; Action for a Better Community; Community Place of Greater Rochester

The information contained here reflects how the program was implemented at the time of the evaluation.

Local context

The providers and study site were located in Rochester, NY.

Characteristics of research participants
Black or African American
64%
White
9%
Another race
27%
Hispanic or Latino of any race
26%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

State(s) where implemented

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY Canada

Pathways to Work refers to programs by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some program names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.