Building Better Programs

A Framework for Thinking about Job Search Assistance Programs

This practice brief describes an overarching framework for thinking about Job Search Assistance (JSA) programs, including an overview of service delivery methods, key JSA program components, and the key steps that make up the job search process. It then describes the mechanisms affecting the job search process, including program goals.

ABT Associates – A Framework for Thinking about Job Search Assistance Programs

 

Other useful materials are available on the report page, also prepared by Abt Associates.

This report reviews research related to the relative effectiveness of various job search methods and the components of job search assistance (JSA) programs, including federally-funded programs.  The report provides an overview of current JSA programs and the existing literature related to JSA, with a focus on low-income and disadvantaged workers and heads of households.

Job Search Assistance Programs: A Review of the Literature (December 2012)

Services to help people find work are a common element of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other programs, but evidence on the effectiveness of different approaches is limited. This report presents options for designing a rigorous evaluation of the impact of job search assistance for low-income workers. It describes several broad designs, using both individual- and group-randomized experimental designs, and concludes with a discussion of the tradeoffs when considering research questions, technical merit, practical merit, and policy relevance.

Design Options for an Evaluation of TANF Job Search Assistance (February 2013)

 

The Design Options of the Search for Employment (DOSE) page, click here
(This page contains links for all the above reports and frames the project)