Evidence Snapshot: Employment Retention Services
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Evidence Snapshot: Employment Retention Services

Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse, OPRE Report #2023-057
Published: Mar 31, 2023
Publisher: Washington, DC: Offce of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Human Services Employment Training and Re-employment Federal State and Local
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Associated Project

Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse

Time frame: 2018-2023

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

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Authors

Danielle Fumia

Olivia Mirek

Erin Welch

Key Findings

On average, interventions that use employment retention services produced modest improvements on outcomes and had the largest effects on earnings. In particular, for intervention participants—as compared with comparison groups that did not receive intervention services.

  • Short-term annual earnings increased by $818, and long-term annual earnings increased by $671, on average, across the 9 employment retention services interventions for which these outcomes were examined.
  • Short-term and long-term employment increased by one percentage point, on average, across the nine employment retention services interventions for which these outcomes were examined.
  • The proportion of people receiving public benefits did not change in the short term or long term, and the amount of annual public benefits received decreased by $11 in the short term and $34 in the long term, on average, across the 8 employment retention services interventions for which these outcomes were examined.
  • Most of the 19 studies of employment retention services interventions reviewed for this snapshot did not assess effects on education and training attainment; therefore, we do not know whether most employment retention services interventions affected these outcomes. Education and training attainment increased by 3.3 percentage points for the 1 employment retention services intervention for which this outcome was examined.
  • Two employment retention services interventions improved more than one type of outcome.
  • One intervention had effects that were not supported in three domains. One intervention had effects that were not supported in two domains.

This Evidence Snapshot describes the effectiveness of programs that were identified by the Pathways Clearinghouse as using employment retention services as their primary service. It summarizes what we know about these programs and their impacts so TANF administrators, policymakers, researchers, and the general public can apply the evidence to their context and the questions that matter to them.

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