Study Details | Pathways to Work

3073-Massachusetts' Emplo

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because it is a quasi-experimental design that does not demonstrate that the intervention and comparison groups were sufficiently similar before the intervention.

Intervention: Massachusetts Employment and Training and Choices (ET) Program

Population and employment barriers: Cash assistance recipients, Parents

Services provided: Case management, Education, Employment retention services, Supportive services, Training, Occupational or sectoral training, Soft skills training, Work experience, Work readiness activities, Employment coaching, Job search assistance, Job development/job placement

Setting: Tested in multiple settings

Study Design

Design:

Quasi-experimental design

Study group formation:

All applicants and recipients of Massachusetts Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) were eligible to participate in the ET program. The intervention group consisted of AFDC recipients who voluntarily entered one of the eight major ET service components from January 1986 to June 1987. People in the comparison condition were AFDC recipients who did not participate in any of the eight major ET service components from January 1986 to June 1987. Evaluators used a statistical sampling procedure to create the comparison group with characteristics similar to the intervention group. The comparison group was selected to resemble the intervention group on race, age, sex, whether a one- or two-parent family, age of youngest child, and the area of the state in which the client resided.

Time period of study:

Participants were enrolled in the program from January 1986 to June 1987, and outcomes were observed from July 1987 to June 1988.

Pathways only reports results from studies with a study quality rating of high or moderate.

Sample Characteristics

The sample of all AFDC recipients was about 12 percent male, 88 percent female, 57 percent White and non-Hispanic, 21 percent Hispanic, and 18 percent Black. Almost all (95 percent) sample members were in one-parent families. The average monthly AFDC grant was $430, and the average age of recipients was 29.

Age

Mean age

29 years

Sex

Female	88%
Male	12%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	18%
White	57%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	22%
Asian	2%

Family status

Parents	100%
Single parents	95%

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were eligible for cash assistance

100%

Intervention Implementation

Implementing organization:

Massachusetts state AFDC agency

Intervention services:

The intervention group consisted of AFDC recipients who voluntarily entered one of the eight major ET service components from January 1986 to June 1987. AFDC recipients met with case workers, who explained the services of ET and the benefits of participation in ET. If the recipient was interested in participating in these services, they first underwent an assessment to identify barriers to employment success. The recipient then chose the services that best met their needs and interests, with guidance from the case manager. Participants could choose to participate in more intensive assessments; pre-employment services such as workshops and group sessions; employment networks, including job placement and job development; remedial education, which included classes to prepare for the GED, English-as-a-second-language classes, adult basic education, or high school classes; post-secondary education at community colleges or four-year colleges; vocational training; supported work experience, which included pre-worksite counseling and employment preparation, up to nine months of employment and support services, and post employment counseling; and miscellaneous work experiences, including with youth community service corps or in programs for ex-offenders or for homemakers who are no longer supported by income from family members.

Mandatory services:

None.

Comparison services:

The comparison group consisted of AFDC applicants and recipients who did not participate in any of the eight major ET service components from January 1986 to June 1987. These non-participants could access other services available in their communities.

Study Publications

Nightingale, Demetra Smith, Douglas A. Wissoker, Lynn C. Burgridge, D. Lee Bawden, and Neal Jeffries (1990). Evaluation of the Massachusetts Employment and Training (ET) Choices Program, Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

Study of Massachusetts Employment and Training and Choices (ET) Program