Analysis of Nine-month Interviews for Supported Work - Results of an Early Sample

• NCJ Number: 78865
• Author(s): S Masters
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 94 pages
• Grant Number(s): 33-36-75-01
• Contract Number(s): 30-36-75-01; 30-34-75-02
• Sponsoring Agency: Ford Foundation; US Dept of Labor; Manpower Demonstration Research Project
• Corporate Author: University of Wisconsin, Madison; Mathematica Policy Research
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report presents initial results of a program developed by the National Demonstration of Supported Work; experiences over a 9-month period of 700 persons, including supported workers and members of a control group, are evaluated.

Abstract

The National Demonstration of Supported Work was established to test the effects of the supported work experience on people with long histories of unemployment and resistance to traditional manpower efforts. Participants included ex-addicts, ex-offenders, female welfare recipients, and young high school dropouts. Approximately 50 percent of the participants had had difficulties with the law. The program goals all relate to improving the individual employment potential of participants. The immediate, in-program goal is the creation of a work atmosphere that will attract and hold members of the target population. The postprogram goal is to ensure successful transition into the regular labor force. This report covers a sample of 356 program participants and 335 control group individuals. Findings are based on the results of an interview administered to the entire sample 9 months after the participants enrolled in the program. Analysis revealed a number of significant differences between the two groups, reflecting the early positive effect of supported work. Participants earned an average of $3,333 in the 9-month period, while controls, who were eligible to become participants but were assigned at random to nonparticipant status, earned only $1,298. Participants worked an average of about 75 percent of the available working hours, while nonparticipants worked about 25 percent of the possible hours. Almost 8 percent more controls than participants reported arrests during the report period. In the youth group, supported work resulted in an approximately 20 percent lower incidence of drug use. All of these results were found to be statistically significant at the 95-percent level. Footnotes, extensive tables, and appendixes of technical data are included. (Author abstract modified)