The WASC Demonstration with Incentive Payments had three key program components: (1) advancement services aimed at improving work conditions and increasing earnings, wages, and employer-provided benefits; (2) work supports aimed at connecting participants to wraparound services and increase their uptake of public benefits; and (3) incentive payments that supported and motivated participants to partake in WASC services, particularly education and training, and maintain employment.
Advancement services. Participants received advancement services through career coaching and skills development.
- Career coaching. Career coaches or navigators helped participants develop short-term and long-term advancement goals with attainable steps, administered career assessments, connected participants to potential employers through informational interviews and job opportunities, and addressed participants’ barriers to maintaining employment by helping them identify job advancement opportunities such as pursuing promotions. Coaches delivered services in participants’ homes after business hours, and during weekends to accommodate participants’ work schedules.
- Skills development. Participants could receive classroom-based training, on-the-job training, and paid work experience. Participants also could receive individual training accounts as a form of voucher to subsidize education and training costs.
Work support services. Work support services for WASC participants consisted of education and enrollment in public benefit programs and guaranteed, subsidized child care.
- Public benefit awareness and enrollment. WASC staff used a web-based calculator to help participants identify if they were eligible for public benefits such as SNAP, state-sponsored insurance, subsidized child care, and the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit. The calculator, called the Work Advancement Calculator, was also designed to help participants prepare for advancement, illustrating how income, earnings, and benefits change as earnings increase. WASC also simplified application forms and merged eligibility requirements for work supports across different programs and extended the recertification period for some benefits. Furthermore, WASC provided on-site, co-located public benefit caseworkers who helped participants with applications for and recertifications of work support benefits. WASC staff also provided more flexible access than typical public benefits programs because they could deliver direct services outside the office and after business hours, including evenings and weekends.
- Subsidized child care. WASC offered participants guaranteed immediate access to subsidized child care.
Financial incentives. WASC participants in Dayton could receive up to $5,630 in incentive payments during the two-year program if they met the conditions outlined below. These payments did not count as income in determining work support eligibility.
- Participants who enrolled in skills training, college courses for credit, or GED classes and completed the courses with a C+ grade-point average or higher received up to $800 per year during the two years. Participants received an additional $300 for completing a credential training. The average total amount participants received for a training or completion bonus was $379 because many participants did not complete the training or did not receive a certificate.
- Participants who earned a job promotion after completing the training received $250.
- Participants who retained a new job for at least 9 months or who became reemployed within 45 days of their job loss earned $100.
- Participants could receive supportive services, including a $65-per-month child care stipend for participants who maintained work, and an $80 monthly gas card for working individuals who participated in training.
The intervention featured co-located TANF staff who were trained eligibility workers with authorization to grant public benefits on-site. Offering joint work supports and advancement services helped increase uptake of public benefits and reduce stigma associated with receiving benefits. The Dayton WASC model enabled participants to call in for their SNAP benefits redetermination meeting. Allowing participants to call in rather than going in person helped increase uptake of the program, which, in turn, increased participants’ total income.
Challenges. WASC’s initial design included employer-based services provided to participants at their workplaces, but these were not implemented because it took too long to obtain buy-in from employers and employees. Also, because of recruitment challenges, the eligibility wage cap was increased from $9 to $15 per hour.