Study Details | Pathways to Work

3137.3137.03-Eugene, Oregon Emplo

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: Progress Towards Retention, Opportunities, Growth, Enhancement and Self-Sufficiency (PROGRESS)

Population and employment barriers:

Employment status and income level (Employed), Parents

Services provided:

Case management, Employment retention services, Financial education, Soft skills training, Work readiness activities (Employment coaching, Job search assistance)

Setting: Urban only

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

The study focused on employed people who were leaving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and who had completed an "I Have a Job" form (required of newly employed TANF applicants and those leaving TANF who were working at least 20 hours per week). Evaluators randomly assigned clients without first contacting them or confirming their interest in participating in the study. Assignment occurred from June 2002 through June 2004. This study included 265 research sample members who were in two-parent families. (Another study examines effects for single-parent families). Only one member of each family was included in the sample. If both parents were eligible for the program, program staff selected one to participate in the study before random assignment, but both could be eligible to receive services.

Time period of study:

Random assignment occurred from June 2002 through June 2004, and participants were followed for three years.

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

Other outcome domains examined:

None

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, with support from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Results

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Outcome domain	Measure	Timing	Study quality by finding	Comparison group mean	Intervention group mean	Impact	Units	Sample size
Increase short-term earnings	Total earnings, follow-up period	Quarters 1–6	High	15,194.00	13,667.00	-1,527.00	2003 dollars	254
Increase long-term earnings	Average annual earnings, follow-up period	Years 1–3	High	10,210.00	9,458.00	-752.00	2004 dollars	265
Increase short-term employment	Employed for four consecutive quarters	Quarters 1–6	High	58.40	55.10	-3.30	percentage points	254
Increase short-term employment	Ever employed, quarterly	Quarter 6	High	64.30	60.30	-4.00	percentage points	254
Increase short-term employment	Number of quarters employed	Quarters 1–6	High	4.10	4.00	-0.10	quarters	254
Increase long-term employment	Ever employed, follow-up period	Years 1–3	High	94.10	93.80	-0.30	percentage points	265
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Amount of AFDC/TANF benefits, follow-up period	Quarters 1–6	High	812.00	764.00	-48.00	2003 dollars	254
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Amount of Food Stamps/SNAP benefits, follow-up period	Quarters 1–6	High	3,779.00	3,867.00	88.00	2003 dollars	254

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

Sample members were all adults in a two-parent family who had exited TANF and were employed. Across all members of two-parent families enrolled in Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA), half were White and non-Hispanic, 32 percent were Hispanic, and 12 percent were Black and non-Hispanic. On average, participants were 31 years old. More than half (62 percent) had at least a high school diploma or equivalent certification, and more than half (59 percent) were employed during the quarter when they enrolled in ERA. In the year before enrolling in ERA, most participants (76 percent) received the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and slightly less than half (42 percent) received TANF.

Age

Mean age

31 years

Sex

Female	54%
Male	46%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	12%
White, not Hispanic	50%
Another race	5%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	32%

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.

Family status

Parents

100%

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were employed

100%

Participant education

Had a high school diploma or GED

62%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

Oregon TANF and Lane Community College

Program history:

The program operated from February 2002 to July 2005.

Intervention services:

The Progress Towards Retention, Opportunities, Growth, Enhancement, and Self-Sufficiency (PROGRESS) program aimed to provide employed, former TANF recipients with services to support continued employment and career progress. A case manager (from the Oregon Department of Human Services) and a career development specialist (from Lane Community College) worked with each client. The team created a career development plan, including a needs assessment, career goals, and action steps, and documented any need for vocational assessments. Subsequent meeting topics depended on participant needs but included coaching, job search assistance, education and training referrals, and counseling and advice on topics such as budgeting and conflict resolution. Case managers also worked with clients to obtain additional benefits, such as Medicaid coverage and child care and transportation assistance.

Mandatory services:

None.

Comparison services:

People in the comparison group had access to employment-related services in the community. They could access the same employment, training, and supportive services as individuals in the PROGRESS program but did not receive support in finding or enrolling in these services.

Service receipt duration:

Program services were available for one year.

Intervention funding:

Oregon TANF (primary); U.S. Department of Labor

Study publications

Molina, Frieda, Mark van Dok, Richard Hendra, Gayle Hamilton, and Wan-Lae Cheng (2009). The Employment Retention and Advancement project: Findings for the Eugene and Medford, Oregon, models: Implementation and early impacts for two programs that sought to encourage advancement among low-income workers, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at https://www.mdrc.org/publication/findings-eugene-and-medford-oregon-models.

Williams, Sonya, and Stephen Freedman (2010). The Employment Retention and Advancement project: Background characteristics and patterns of employment, earnings, and public assistance receipt of adults in two-parent families, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families. Available at https://www.mdrc.org/publication/background-characteristics-and-patterns-employment-earnings-and-public-assistance.

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 Progress Towards Retention, Opportunities, Growth, Enhancement and Self-Sufficiency (PROGRESS)—Two-parent families