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GAPS Initiative

General Information

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Evaluator(s) Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Investigator(s) Robert Wood (Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.)
Sponsor(s) US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families
Funder(s) Pittsburgh Foundation
US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families
Subcontractor(s) Hill House Organization
Neighborhood Centers Association
Rankin Christian Center
Urban League of Pittsburgh
 
Domain Community/Neighborhood
Status Completed (final report released)
Duration Sep 1997 - Sep 2000
Type Research and/or Program Evaluation
Goal To gather information about GAPS program implementation and participant outcomes.
Program/Policy Description The GAPS initiative began in September 1997 and served participants for a three-year period ending in September 2000. When GAPS was implemented, it was the first program in Allegheny County to offer employment retention services to welfare recipients. Residents of Allegheny County who were employed current or former TANF recipients are eligible for GAPS. Over the three-year grant period, the program served about 600 participants. GAPS was a voluntary program. Participants were recruited through mass mailings from the county welfare department, as well as directly by GAPS service providers. The Pittsburgh Foundation contracted with four community-based organizations in the Pittsburgh area to provide employment retention services. Case management was the central element of the GAPS program model. Through one-on-one contacts with participants, case managers provided supportive counseling; advice on child care, transportation, workplace behavior, and other issues; and referrals to other services in the community.
Notes Employment services offered include resume-writing and job search assistance; social/support services include case management, supportive counseling, budgeting assistance, emergency financial assistance, access to computers, child care, literacy tutoring, peer support, family service workers, referrals, life skills coaching, nutrition counseling, home visits, housing program, flexible office hours
 
Last Updated 12/08/01
Type of Summary Reviewed
External Reviewer(s) Fay Gibson (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University)
Contact(s) Robert Wood (rwood@mathematica-mpr.com)
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
P.O. Box 2393
(T) (609) 936-2776
(F) (609) 799-0005
Publications Department Jacqueline Allen (jallen@mathematica-mpr.com)
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
P.O. Box 2393
(T) (609)-275-2350
(F) (609)-799-0005

Populations Studied

Target Population Recipients/participants/clients
Former recipients ("leavers")
Subgroups Analyzed None
Sample Size and Unit About 600 voluntary participants enrolled in GAPS over the life of the program (September 1997 through September 2000). The GAPS study tracked the 467 program participants who enrolled in GAPS through June 1998. To be eligible, participants had to be employed Allegheny County residents who had received TANF at some point since March 1997. Both current and former TANF recipients were eligible.

Sites Studied

Allegheny County, PA

Program Components, Policies, and Activities Evaluated

Employment activities

  • Job search
  • Job placement

Social/Support services

  • Transitional child care
  • Transportation
  • Case management
  • Employment support for job retention
  • Multiple services in single location
  • Life Skills and Opportunities Classes (LSO)
  • Counseling
  • Community/social services
  • Home visits
  • Access to computer lab
  • Access to family service workers
  • Budgeting assistance
  • Emergency financial/material assistance
  • Expanded hours in community centers
  • Peer support sessions
  • Referrals to other service organizations

Administration/Implementation

  • Development of partnerships with private organizations
  • Development of new welfare policies
  • Development of partnerships with city, state, and local governments

Housing

  • Other housing assistance program (e.g. no-interest loans)
  • Housing - misc.
Variation in program components across sites? Yes
Notes on program components Employment Activities: Services include resume-writing and job search assistance (HHA, NCA, RCC, ULP)and job fairs (HHA, ULP).

Social/Support Services: Services offered include: case management and supportive counseling (HHA, NCA, RCC, ULP); help with budgeting (HHA, NCA); emergency financial assistance (HHA, NCA, RCC, ULP); access to computer lab (HHA); help with child care (RCC); access to family service workers (RCC); literacy tutoring (HHA); peer support sessions (HHA, RCC); referrals to other service providers (HHA, NCA, RCC, ULP); life skills coaching (NCA); nutrition counseling (NCA); home visits (NCA); access to housing program (ULP); and flexible office hours (HHA, RCC, ULP).

Outcomes Assessed

Education

  • School attendance
  • Education - misc.

Employment

  • Job readiness/training
  • Job attainment
  • Job retention
  • Job promotion
  • Number of hours worked for wages

Income security

  • Child support payments
  • Earnings
  • Food stamps receipt
  • Medicaid receipt
  • Welfare receipt
  • Income security - misc.
  • Overall income
  • Unemployment Insurance (UI) receipt

Family and relationship outcomes

  • Family formation and stability/Living arrangements
  • Family and relationship outcomes - misc.

Attitudes towards work, welfare, and program

  • Attitudes towards work, welfare, and program - misc.

Standard of living

  • Standard of living - misc.

Service utilization

  • Service utilization - misc.

Community Outcomes

  • Community economic development (e.g. labor market outcomes)
  • Community Outcomes - misc.
  • Community interpersonal relationships (“neighborhood effects”)
  • Distribution of community services (equity)

Adult outcomes

  • Adult outcomes - misc.

Types of Studies

Type Implementation/Process Study
Aim To examine the program implementation and participants’ experiences during the first 2 years of program operations.
 
Type Descriptive/Analytical Study
Aim To examine both the challenges participants faced in maintaining employment and their progress toward self-sufficiency.
 

Data Sources

Source Field Research
Title Site visits to community-based organizations
Sample Characteristics/Data Collection 2 rounds of site visits to the four GAPS service providers.
Data collected in mid-1998 and mid-1999.
Sites 4 GAPS service providers in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Response Rate/Attrition Notes N/A
Additional Execution Notes During these visits, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with GAPS case managers, ACAO and Foundation staff and other service providers to which GAPS participants were referred.
 
Source Program descriptions and documents
Title Service logs maintained by program staff
Sample Characteristics/Data Collection Service logs maintained by GAPS program staff; Program staff collected these data on the 467 participants who entered the program through June 1998.
Sites Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Response Rate/Attrition Notes N/A
Additional Execution Notes GAPS program staff documented the services they provided by recording information about their contacts with or on behalf of GAPS participants on standard contact logs that MPR developed.
 
Source Administrative data
Title State administrative welfare records
Sample Characteristics/Data Collection Data on welfare receipt from 467 participants in the GAPS program.
Sites Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Response Rate/Attrition Notes N/A
Additional Execution Notes Includes information covering the period from 5 years before their enrollment in GAPS through 18 months after their enrollment.
 
Source Survey
Title Telephone follow-up surveys
Sample Characteristics/Data Collection Two follow-up surveys were conducted. To assure an adequate follow-up period, the sample for the first survey was restricted to the 355 GAPS participants who enrolled in the program through March 1998. The second survey sample included the 467 participants who enrolled in GAPS through June 1998.

First survey was conducted from July through September 1998 (an average of 8 months after program enrollment).
Second survey was conducted from September through December 1999 (an average of 22 months after program enrollment).

Sites Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Response Rate/Attrition Notes Of the 467 GAPS participants who entered the program through June 1998, a total of 378 completed the second follow-up survey, for a response rate of 81%.
Additional Execution Notes Both surveys included questions about participants’ backgrounds, work histories, barriers to employment, experiences with GAPS, income sources, and employment outcomes.
 

Findings Available

Final Implementation Findings
Final Descriptive/Analytical Findings

Findings

12/01/00: GAPS Initiative: Promoting Employment Retention Among TANF Recipients: Lessons from the GAPS Initiative
Final Descriptive/Analytical Findings:

  • Most GAPS participants experienced steady economic progress during their first 18 months in the program.
  • In spite of this economic progress, substantial challenges remain.
  • GAPS participants valued the supportive counseling, personal attention, and advice their case managers provided
  • Supplementing case management with additional tangible services may help gain participants’ trust and , ultimately, improve their economic outcomes.
 

Recommendations

GAPS Initiative: Promoting Employment Retention Among TANF Recipients: Lessons from the GAPS Initiative (12/01/00)
“A greater emphasis on job advancement for newly employed welfare recipients may be needed.”
 

Existing Publications

04/07/99 GAPS Initiative: Helping TANF Recipients Stay Employed: Early Evidence from the GAPS Initiative Mathematica
12/01/00 GAPS Initiative: Promoting Employment Retention Among TANF Recipients: Lessons from the GAPS Initiative Mathematica

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