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Summary

Reach for Success’s goal was to help Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients maintain their current employment, secure higher-paying jobs, or rapidly resecure employment after job loss through an individualized case management approach that counseled participants in overcoming challenges to work and connected them to supportive and employment services.

Reach for Success revolved around case managers who recruited participants for the intervention, connected them with services, and helped them navigate through life crises and job loss. Case managers contacted participants at least once a month and provided individualized counseling to help them navigate new job responsibilities or interpersonal issues (at work or at home) that presented a challenge to their continued employment. Case managers were given a reduced caseload of 40 to 85 cases compared with the typical 100 to 120 cases per case manager. Case managers focused primarily on connecting participants with supportive services (mainly transportation and child care assistance) to help them maintain employment but also connected them with existing employment retention and advancement services as needed. These services included job development for participants who lost their jobs or sought better-paying jobs, as well as soft-skills training, work-based or general education, and career-specific training. Participants received services until they left TANF, or for up to one year if they remained on it. Reach for Success’s target population was volunteer TANF recipients (mostly single mothers) who worked at least 32 hours a week but did not earn enough to leave TANF. Reach for Success was implemented in Los Angeles County. It was evaluated as part of the Employment Retention and Advancement Evaluation.

Populations and employment barriers: Cash assistance recipients, Employed, Parents, Single parents

Effectiveness rating and effect by outcome domain

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Outcome domain Term Effectiveness rating Effect in 2018 dollars and percentages Effect in standard deviations Sample size
Increase earnings Short-term Little evidence to assess support favorable $1,130 per year 0.054 5700
Long-term Little evidence to assess support favorable $167 per year 0.008 5700
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Increase employment Short-term Little evidence to assess support favorable 2% (in percentage points) 0.057 5700
Long-term Little evidence to assess support unfavorable 0% (in percentage points) -0.007 5700
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Decrease benefit receipt Short-term Little evidence to assess support unfavorable $74 per year 0.027 5700
Long-term Little evidence to assess support unfavorable $105 per year 0.038 5700
Very long-term No evidence to assess support
Increase education and training All measurement periods No evidence to assess support

Studies of this intervention

Study quality rating Study counts per rating
High High 1

Implementation details

Characteristics of research participants
Black or African American
51%
White, not Hispanic
5%
Another race
4%
Hispanic or Latino of any race
40%

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