Employment Programs with the Highest Chance of Improving Earnings

This webinar was an opportunity to better understand the chances that an employment program will improve earnings and other outcomes for program participants and which programs have the greatest odds of success. We explored a comprehensive resource developed by the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse, which is designed to help service providers understand:

• How likely is it that specific programs will improve employment-related outcomes?
• What combination of employment-focused services have the greatest chance of improving outcomes?
• Which services are most effective for different groups of people?

The resource is based on a meta-analysis of the evidence of effectiveness of employment programs reviewed by the Pathways Clearinghouse. Our dialogue featured a high-level overview of the resource, followed by a discussion with experts who shared ways that service providers can use the resource as they explore how to use the evidence to improve the odds that their employment program will be successful.

The expert panel included:

• Sarah Dolfin, Senior Researcher, Mathematica
• John Deke, Senior Fellow, Mathematica
• Leah Shiferaw, Researcher, Mathematica
• David Kassabian, Children and Families Program Specialist, Office of Family Assistance, Administration for Children and Families
• Ryan Howard, Executive Director, Owens Valley Career Development Center