Study Details | Pathways to Work

3074.03-Postemployment Servi

Study quality: High

High

Reason for the rating: This study received a high study quality rating because it is a low-attrition randomized controlled trial with no known issues that suggest the findings cannot be attributed to the intervention.

Intervention: Post-Employment Services Demonstration (PESD)

Population and employment barriers:

Cash assistance recipients, Employment status and income level (Employed)

Services provided:

Case management, Employment retention services, Supportive services, Work readiness activities (Job development/job placement, Job search assistance)

Setting: Urban only

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

In Riverside, California, evaluators identified newly employed welfare recipients who had been referred to or participated in Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS). The research team randomly assigned people to either the Post-Employment Services Demonstration (PESD) group or to a comparison group. Among the 1,506 newly employed welfare recipients identified, 500 (33.2 percent) were randomly assigned to the intervention group. Researchers attempted to collect administrative records for every person in the study; about one year after random assignment, researchers selected a random subsample of 428 newly employed welfare recipients (who enrolled in the demonstration between July 1994 and August 1995) for a follow-up survey .

Time period of study:

Individuals were randomly assigned from March 1994 to December 1995 and were followed for two years thereafter.

Primary outcome domains examined:

Increase short-term earnings, Increase long-term earnings, Increase short-term employment, Increase long-term employment, Decrease short-term benefit receipt, Decrease long-term benefit receipt

Other outcome domains examined:

The study reports employment, earnings, and public benefit receipt outcomes for other months and quarters that are not the focus of this review.

Study funded by:

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in ACF at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded the study.

Results

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Outcome domain	Measure	Timing	Study quality by finding	Intervention group mean	Impact	Units	Sample size
Increase short-term earnings	Annual earnings	Year 1	High	6,861.00	301.00	1996 dollars	302
Increase short-term earnings	Quarterly earnings	Quarter 6	High	1,546.00	105.00	1996 dollars	1,506
Increase long-term earnings	Quarterly earnings	Quarter 8	High	1,569.00	85.00	1996 dollars	1,506
Increase short-term employment	Ever employed, monthly	Month 12	High	69.90	0.10	percentage points	302
Increase short-term employment	Ever employed, quarterly	Quarter 6	High	56.20	2.30	percentage points	1,506
Increase short-term employment	Number of quarters employed, annual	Year 1	High	2.50	0.10	quarters	1,506
Increase long-term employment	Ever employed, quarterly	Quarter 8	High	54.60	0.20	percentage points	1,506
Increase long-term employment	Number of quarters employed, follow-up period	Years 1–2	High	4.70	0.10	quarters	1,506
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Amount of AFDC/TANF benefits, annual	Year 1	High	4,605.00	-96.00	1995 dollars	302
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Amount of Food Stamps/SNAP benefits, annual	Year 1	High	1,386.00	-112.00	1995 dollars	302
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Average monthly AFDC/TANF payment, annual	Year 1	High	393.00	11.00	1996 dollars	1,503
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Average monthly Food Stamp/SNAP benefit, annual	Year 1	High	124.00	4.00	1996 dollars	1,502
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Percent of time received AFDC/TANF, annual	Year 1	High	76.90	-0.40	percentage points	302
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Percent of time received AFDC/TANF, annual	Year 1	High	75.50	2.60	percentage points	1,504
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Percent of time received Food Stamps/SNAP, annual	Year 1	High	68.90	2.70	percentage points	1,504
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Percent of time received Food Stamps/SNAP, annual	Year 1	High	77.20	6.20	percentage points	302
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Average monthly AFDC/TANF payment, annual	Year 2	High	235.00	-5.00	1996 dollars	1,497
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Average monthly Food Stamp/SNAP benefit, annual	Year 2	High	84.00	-3.00	1996 dollars	1,494
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Percent of time received AFDC/TANF, annual	Year 2	High	49.00	-0.30	percentage points	1,504
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Percent of time received Food Stamps/SNAP, annual	Year 2	High	46.60	-1.40	percentage points	1,504

Short-term outcomes are those measured 18 months or fewer after participants are first offered services. Long-term outcomes are those measured between 18 months and 5 years after participants are first offered services. Very long-term outcomes are those measured 5 years or more after participants are first offered services.

Findings quality key:

High
Moderate

Study quality terms?

The findings quality describe our confidence that a given study’s finding is because of the intervention. We do not display findings that rate low.

Findings key:

A moderate-to-large favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large favorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that might be due to chance
A favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A favorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that might be due to chance
An unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
An unfavorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size or direction
A finding of no effect that might be due to chance

Favorable findings are impacts in a direction that is socially desirable. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a study finding is due to the intervention, rather than due to chance. Findings are described as moderate-to-large if the intervention produced a sufficiently large change in the outcome. An impact receives this designation if the standardized effect size is equal to or greater than 0.25 or equal to or less than -0.25.

Sample characteristics

On average, sample members were 32 years old. Most sample members were female (92 percent) and, on average, their households included two children, the youngest of whom was 6 years old. About one-third of sample members had not, at the time of random assignment, completed high school or a received a GED. All people in the study were required to participate in the JOBS program. About 97 percent received Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) all of the year before random assignment. Nearly 10 percent reported receiving welfare most of the time while growing up.

Age

Mean age

32 years

Sex

Female	92%
Male	8%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	17%
White	47%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	33%

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.

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were employed	100%
Were eligible for or receiving cash assistance	100%

Participant education

Had some postsecondary education	17%
Had a high school diploma or GED	63%
Did not have a high school diploma or GED	37%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

Riverside County AFDC/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Program history:

The program was a demonstration program implemented for the first time during the evaluation.

Intervention services:

Between spring 1994 and fall 1996, California received waivers for its AFDC program and JOBS rules to provide additional case management services and financial support to newly employed welfare recipients in Riverside. PESD case managers provided people enrolled in PESD with counseling and support, job search assistance, help with benefits, and service referrals tailored to the needs of individual recipients. The program also increased the amount of financial support available to newly employed welfare recipients for initial employment expenses and expanded the range of eligible expenses.

Mandatory services:

All participants were required to participate in JOBS to receive benefits.

Comparison services:

Sample members assigned to the comparison group received the regular services available to employed welfare recipients in California. In Riverside, most AFDC recipients who found jobs remained eligible for AFDC and had access to job search and other assistance available to AFDC recipients if they lost their job.

Service receipt duration:

The program expected to maintain contact with all clients during the first few months after they became employed, then expected the need for contact to decline. Case managers still had contact with about half of treatment group members one year after they became employed.

Intervention funding:

ACF, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Study publications

Rangarajan, Anu, Alicia Meckstroth, and Tim Novak (1998). The effectiveness of the Postemployment Services Demonstration: Preliminary findings, Springfield, IL: Illinois Department of Human Services. Available at http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/~/media/publications/PDFs/IMPACT.PDF.

Rangarajan, Anu, and Tim Novak (1999). The struggle to sustain employment: The effectiveness of the Postemployment Services Demonstration, final report, Springfield, IL: Illinois Department of Human Services. Available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/the_struggle_to_sustain_employment.pdf.

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

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.

Study of Post-Employment Services Demonstration (PESD)—Riverside