Study of Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN)—Single-parent households

Applicants for AFDC deemed eligible for GAIN and assigned to the program group received various services based on their educational attainment and assessed skills as of the time the program began. Supportive services, including assistance with child care and transportation, were immediately available to ensure that participants could take part in program activities. Participants first took a basic skills test and were assigned to a case manager. Individuals who lacked basic education (such as a high school diploma or general education diploma), who received low scores on the math or reading sections of the basic skills test, or who were not proficient in English entered basic education courses for three weeks before receiving job search assistance. GAIN clients who had initiated education or training (of a type deemed by the client’s case manager to be aligned with the client’s employment goals) before entering the program could pursue that activity if their case manager deemed it beneficial; those clients remained eligible for GAIN services for up to two years. All other participants first received job search assistance. Job search assistance included job clubs, supervised job searches, and connections to local employers with the assistance of a job developer. If, after completing the first series of activities, a GAIN program member did not find employment, program staff helped the client assess career goals and develop an employment plan. The GAIN client would then undergo formal assessments and undertake further activities, including vocational or on-the-job training, unpaid work experience, supported work (paid work experience in a group), additional training, or additional education, in keeping with the employment plan.