The workforce development system in Chicago and nationwide is multifaceted and includes public and private training providers that work with individuals of all ages and abilities. Broadly, the programs within the system aim to train their participants while preparing them to (re)enter the workforce, graduate them from the programs, and place them…

This report summarizes the final impact results for the national Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project. This project tested, using a random assignment design, the effectiveness of numerous programs intended to promote steady work and career advancement. All the programs targeted current and former welfare recipients and other low-wage…

Research completed since the 1980s has yielded substantial knowledge about how to help welfare recipients and other low-income individuals prepare for and find jobs. Many participants in these successful job preparation and placement programs, however, ended up in unstable, low-paying jobs, and little was known about how to effectively help them…

More than 2 million people are incarcerated in the United States, and around 700,000 are released from prison each year. Those who are released face daunting obstacles as they seek to reenter their communities, and rates of recidivism are high. Many experts believe that stable employment is critical to a successful transition from prison to the…

More than 2 million people are incarcerated in the United States, and around 700,000 are released from prison each year. Those who are released face daunting obstacles as they seek to reenter their communities, and rates of recidivism are high. Many experts believe that stable employment is critical to a successful transition from prison to the…

A benefit-cost analysis of the first year of a statewide supported employment initiative involving 394 Illinois individuals with handicaps found that society received a $.75 return for every $1.00 invested, taxpayers received a return of $.66, and supported employees earned an average of 37 percent more in supported employment than in alternative…

Three papers are presented on the benefits and costs of providing supported employment programs in Illinois for persons with disabilities. An introductory section, by Ronald W. Conley, explains the need for and use of cost-benefit analysis, the population in need of supported employment, and some methodological considerations. The three papers…

This report describes the programs provided by the Illinois Department of Public Aid and the initiatives that the department has begun to help welfare recipients find work and get off welfare rolls. Programs described include the following: (1) AFDC (Aid for Families with Dependent Children) Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program (JOBS), which…

A study assessed the success of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs by examining current approaches, featuring operational and experimentally based measures, all using the individual as the unit observation. The research used Program Year 1990 JTPA termination and associated program participation records in Illinois and Texas. Two…

This book-length report, prepared for the Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities of the House Committee on Education and Labor, describes the first comprehensive state-wide assessment of training programs--specifically the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)--in Illinois. The introduction assesses the JTPA in Illinois, a State with high…

Helping low-income families in rural areas find gainful employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency is an ongoing policy concern. The Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies demonstration is using rigorous experimental designs to build knowledge about how to help low-income families in rural areas strive toward sustained employment and…

Because of a perceived lack in the development and use of evaluation procedures for vocational education in Illinois, a new evaluation system was begun in 1984. It required that at least 20 percent of funded vocational programs be evaluated annually, in compliance with requirements of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act. The evaluation…

The Illinois Council on Vocational Education (ICOVE) has tried to influence educational policy in recent years. Members of the council met with the chief executive officers of the three educational boards in Illinois to discuss issues and pending policies paramount within the educational arena. ICOVE also met with members of the various education…

A study was conducted in Illinois to determine how effectively the vocational education system was meeting its responsibilities to serve persons in economically depressed areas under the terms of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984. State records showed that during fiscal year 1987, Illinois expended $982,956 of the $1,336,238…

A national literature search was conducted on the state of the art that identified linkage activities and model linkage programs; a survey and follow-up questionnaire that identified 107 exemplary projects and received materials on 40 of them; and visits to 30 projects in the Chicago area and Illinois, California, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio,…