Subsidized Employment - Special Alert

Subsidized employment continues to be a hot topic within the TANF field as agencies look for ways to help participants gain meaningful work experience that will lead to sustainable jobs and careers. Since this topic is of such interest to our users, we've highlighted resources available on our website as well as recent, relevant reports related to using subsidized employment within the TANF program.

What Strategies Work for the Hard-to-Employ? Final Results of the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project and Selected Sites from the Employment Retention and Advancement Project, March 2012
The Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ (HtE) Demonstration and Evaluation Project was a 10-year study sponsored by the Office of Research, Planning and Evaluation (OPRE) and that evaluated innovative strategies aimed at improving employment and other outcomes for groups who face serious barriers to employment. Eight program models were evaluated and three were found to lead to increases in employment for Hard-to-Employ workers.

Findings from the Jobs Now Program: Findings From the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funded Subsidized Employment Program in San Francisco, California, June 2012
This report highlights outcomes from San Francisco's Jobs Now program, a subsidized employment program that began under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). It explains the program's design, how the city engaged with employers to secure jobs for participants and outcomes related to job attainment, job retention and wages. The Jobs Now program has continued even after ARRA funds were no longer available (though on a smaller scale) and the city is currently operating its fourth iteration of the program.

Transitional Jobs: Background, Program Models, and Evaluation Evidence, February 2010
MDRC prepared this paper as part of the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project. This paper draws heavily on results and lessons from three ongoing evaluation projects. This paper describes the origins of the transitional jobs models in operation today, reviews the evidence on the effectiveness of this approach and other subsidized employment models, and offers some suggestions regarding the next steps for program design and research.

Publicly Funded Jobs: An Essential Strategy for Reducing Poverty and Economic Distress Throughout the Business Cycle, April 2010
Coauthored by the Youth, Education, and Families Institute, and the National Transitional Jobs Network, this paper makes the case for using public-service employment (PSE) and transitional jobs programs to combat economic recession and advance long-term workforce development goals. This paper addresses the urgent needs for publicly funded jobs, key elements of federal job creation, opportunities to build transitional jobs capacity with federal support, and early lessons learned about job creation.

In addition to the resources we've included in this email, more information regarding job readiness and training, including subsidized employment, can be found on the WPTA Web site.

Please help us to expand our network and reach a greater number of people by directing interested colleagues from your local and State networks and agencies to our Web siteand E-Mail Alert system!

Sincerely,
The Welfare Peer TA Team