Glossary

Reductions in payment for failing to comply with mandated services. Sanctions may be an intervention's primary service.

For this review, a period lasting 18 months or fewer after participants are first offered services.

Training in so-called soft skills, such as punctuality, manners, professional dress, interactions with colleagues, or conflict management. Sometimes also called life skills training. Soft skills training may be an intervention's primary service.

Pathways considers statistical significance to be support for the existence of an effect of an intervention. Pathways considers an effect estimate statistically significant if the p-value of a two-sided hypothesis test of whether the effect is equal to zero is less than 0.05.  A p-value is the probability of observing an effect estimate as large or larger than the one observed, if there were no actual effect.

An analysis of a distinct implementation of an intervention.

Studies vary in terms of their quality, or rigor. This variability in quality can result either from the way a study was designed or the way it was executed. Study quality affects the confidence we can have in the study’s findings. Three possible ratings—high, moderate, and low—describe our confidence that a given study’s finding is because of the intervention. We assign the study quality rating based on our assessment of its quality. For studies that include multiple findings, we might assess study quality for each finding. The study quality rating is the highest rating assigned to any of the findings. In the Pathways Clearinghouse, study quality ratings only apply to randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental design studies.

• High. The quality of the study is high, meaning we can be fairly confident in the study findings. Strong evidence shows that the study finding is solely attributable to the intervention examined. This rating is reserved for study findings from high quality RCTs with low attrition of sample members.
• Moderate. The quality of the study is moderate, meaning we can be somewhat confident in the study findings. However, other factors not accounted for in the study might also have contributed to the findings. This applies to findings from random assignment studies that, because of flaws in the study design or analysis (for example, high sample attrition), do not meet the criteria for the high rating but satisfy other design criteria. We also assign the moderate rating to study findings from well-executed QEDs.
• Low. The quality of the study is low, meaning we cannot have much confidence in the study findings. Other important factors could have influenced the study findings, and the study did not account for them. Study findings that do not meet the high or moderate ratings criteria receive the low rating.

Overall, a study receives the highest study quality rating of any finding in that study. More information about study quality ratings is available in the Protocol for the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse.

A subset of individuals examined in a study who share a particular characteristic (for example, single parents or women).

Employment that is partially or fully paid for by an external funder (not the employer). Subsidized employment may be an intervention's primary service.

Services to treat clients for substance use disorder or mental health diagnoses. Substance use disorder treatment and mental health services may be an intervention's primary service.

Pathways describes studies as having been conducted in suburban only settings if the study authors reported that the study was conducted in a suburban location or in multiple locations, all of which were suburban. This typically means that they were conducted in communities with moderate population density, such as large towns or neighborhoods outside of cities, where residential areas are typically separate from commercial areas. Interventions are listed as having been tested in suburban only settings if at least one study of the intervention was in a suburban only setting.

SNAP, the largest of the domestic nutrition assistance programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), provides food assistance to individuals and households in need. The assistance is provided through electronic benefit cards participants can use to purchase food. Most individuals whose income and resources fall below certain federally-determined thresholds, are eligible for SNAP.

We have some evidence that the intervention improves outcomes. These ratings are domain specific, meaning that the intervention is considered supported only for the particular domains for which we have given this rating. These interventions have at least one study of moderate or high quality and show evidence of favorable findings in the domain, but the evidence is less conclusive than that for well-supported interventions.

Money or vouchers to fund child care, transportation (such as gas cards or tokens), or other supports to help clients search for work or engage in a training program. Supportive services may be an intervention's primary service.