This report presents results from an evaluation of the Achieve program in Cleveland. Run by the organization Towards Employment, Achieve provided on-site services in the workplace to increase retention among low-wage workers. It is among 16 models being tested by MDRC in the national Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project under contract to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with additional support from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). A common challenge for programs providing retention and advancement services is the difficulty of engaging clients, whose work and family responsibilities often leave little time to visit program staff. The key idea behind Achieve’s employer-based model was to take the program to the workers, making it easier and more convenient for them to take advantage of services. The Achieve program consisted of on-site delivery of case management services, where staff met individually with clients to discuss a wide variety of issues, ranging from workplace and housing problems to transportation and child care; weekly information sessions covering such topics as time and stress management, goal-setting, budgeting, and credit repair; and trainings for the supervisors of low-wage workers. Achieve is being evaluated using a random assignment research design, in which 44 employers were randomly assigned to either a program group, eligible to receive Achieve’s services for their low-wage workers, or a control group, not eligible for these services. Because of traditionally high turnover rates in the long-term nursing care industry, Towards Employment recruited employers primarily from that sector. (author abstract)

As part of the Employment Retention and Advancement project, this issue brief is from MDRC and offers data from the study three years after its start. The Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project evaluated strategies to promote employment stability among low-income workers. After three years, one in four single parents had advanced. Single parents who advanced worked more consistently over the study period than other parents and, if unemployed, returned to work more quickly.

The Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project was designed to evaluate and analyze employment retention and advancement models from around the country, and identify key strategies to best support families. From the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, this report summarizes 12 models of employment retention and advancement from the evaluation and key strategies employed by these programs to best serve their participants.

The Work Advancement and Support Center (WASC) is testing a strategy to support low-wage workers in increasing earnings. The WASC offers services to help workers improve skills, access support services, and ultimately, increase earnings by working additional hours or finding higher-paying jobs. From MDRC, this report outlines the early impacts of the WASC Demonstration in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Dayton, Ohio; and San Diego, California from a random assignment research design.

This report discusses the correlation between car ownership and work readiness.  The publication addresses car ownership and leverages it as an asset-building strategy for helping people move into the labor market and helping low-wage workers gain access to better paying opportunities. In addition, it provides profiles and experiences of seven car-ownership programs, along with a bibliography of additional publications on transportation and poverty.

The National Governors Association sponsored a meeting in November 2007 on promising practices and evidence-based approaches to help families attain employment, advance to better jobs, and sustain self-sufficiency. This webpage provides an overview of presentations and event sessions from this meeting.

Through MDRC’s Employment Retention and Advancement project, this report presents findings after two years of a program in Riverside County, California. The program’s objective was to promote job retention and advancement among employed individuals who recently left the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. It was found that participants in the program had increased employment rates of four percent above the control group, and increased earnings of 11 percent.

Authored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this research brief provides information on car ownership programs for low-income families to support job stability. This resource offers information on local programs around the country aimed at providing low-income families with the opportunity to own their own vehicle.