::

Department of Health and Human Services


OFFICE 

INSPECTOR GENERAL


JOBS SKILLS ASSESSMENT 

:v' 

Richard P. Kusserow 

INSPECTOR GENERAL 

JUNE 1992 
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL


The mission of the Offce of Inspector General (DIG), as mandated by Public Law 95-452 

as amended, is to protect the integrity of the Department of Health and Human Services 

(HHS) programs as well as the health and welfare of beneficiaries served by those 

programs. This statutory mission is carried out through a nationwide network of audits 

investigations, and inspections conducted by three DIG operating components: the Office 

of Audit Services, the Offce of Investigations, and the Offce of Evaluation and 

Inspections. The OIG also informs the Secretary of HHS of program and management 

problems, and recommends courses to correct them. 

OFFICE OF AUDIT SERVICES


The OIG' s Office of Audit Services (OAS) provides all auditing services for HHS, either 

by conducting audits with its own audit resources or by overseeing audit work done by 

others. Audits examine the performance of HHS programs and/or its grantees and 

contractors in carring out their respective responsibilities and are intended to provide 

independent assessments of HHS programs and operations in order to reduce waste, abuse, 

and mismanagement and to promote economy and effciency throughout the Department. 

OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS 

The OIG' s Office of Investigations (01) conducts criminal, civil, and administrative 

investigations of allegations of wrongdoing in HHS programs or to HHS beneficiaries and 

of unjust enrichment by providers. The investigative efforts of 01 lead to criminal 

convictions, administrative sanctions, or civil money penalties. The 01 also oversees State 

Medicaid fraud control units which investigate and prosecute fraud and patient abuse in the 

Medicaid program.


OFFICE OF EVALUATION AND INSPECTIONS 

The DIG' s Offce of Evaluation and Inspections (OEI) conducts short-term management 

and program evaluations (called inspections) that focus on issues of concern to the 

Department, the Congress, and the public. The findings and recommendations contained in 

these inspection reports generate rapid, accurate, and up-to-date information on the 

efficiency, vulnerability, and effectiveness of departmental programs. This report was 

prepared in Dallas under the direction of Regional Inspector General Ralph Tunnell and 

Deputy Regional Inspector General Chester B. Slaughter. Project staff included: 

Dallas Headquarters 

Carol L. Cockrell, 
 Project Leader Susan Hardwick 

Elsie Chaisson 

Susan Rousseau O'Connell 

To obtain a copy of this report, call the Dallas Regional Offce at (214) 767-3310 
Department of Health and Human Services


OFFICE OF


INSPECTOR GENERAL


JOBS SKILLS ASSESSMENT


''v 

( J Richard P. Kusserow 

INSPECTOR GENERAL 

d'a OEI-06-89-0161O 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Purpose 

The purposes of this report are to describe the assessment process and identify useful 

assessment practices in the Job Opportnities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS). 

Background 

The primar goal of the Famly Support Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-485) is to decrease 

dependency on the Aid to Famlies with Dependent Children (AFC) grant by providing 

education, training and employment opportnities for grantees though the JOBS program. 

States are required to conduct an "initial assessment" of JOBS parcipants' work readiness 

and employability. The results of this assessment are used to constrct the "employability 

plan" which specifies a permanent employment objective with goals and activities leading 

. up to that objective.


Federal regulations provide general guidance and few requirements for assessment 

activities, leaving the specifics of form and content to States' discretion. The regulations 

do require the "initial assessment" be based on the person s famly circumstaces, prior 

work experiences, job skills, and educational and support services needs. Assessment 

methods may include testing, interviews, counseling, and the use of self-assessment 

instrments. If a State tests for literacy, basic skills, aptitudes, and so on, the regulations 

encourage the State to use "nationally recognized, stadardized, or industr-developed" instrments in order to avoid inappropriate placements and misspent funds. 

Methodology 

States which have "mature" programs were chosen intentionally, "mature" being defined as 

having a lengthy operating history (e. , having had the regular Work Incentive (W)

program or WI Demonstration through most of the 1980s) and a track record of offering 

a fairly comprehensive range of services. We selected five States and, with the help of 

State-level JOBS administrators, selected two sites withn each one. We conducted site 

visits in the States of Californa (San Bernardino and Yuba counties), Michigan (Bay and 

Kent counties), Massachusetts (Hampden and Worcester counties), and Nebraska (the 

Southeast Distrct and the Omaha Distrct). In the State of Florida, telephone interviews 

replaced site visits at the Ft. Meyers and Orlando Distrcts. At each site, strctued 

interviews were conducted with the local administrator, two experienced line supervisors 

and two experienced case managers or equivalents. 
Conclusions The Current State of JOBS Skills Assessment 

Skils assessment is stil in an early phase of development. Under very general Federal 

guidelines, local welfare agencies are experimenting with diverse approaches to assessing 

the job skills of paricipants. A varety of assessment tools, events and practices are being 

used within a process on which uniform agreement as to its exact content and sequences is 

still lacking. Thus, it would be premature to identify specific tools and practices as the 

most effective and efficient, or the most valid and reliable. 

Some principles and useful practices are emerging. Even at this early date, it is 

possible to make several observations about the nature of assessment in local agencies and 

to describe some of its more regularly occurrng stages and events. It is not, for example, 

an event which transpires at a single point in time. Rather, assessment is an ongoing 

process continuing throughout the parcipant's tenure in the JOBS program. Its content 

not limited to skills testing, but encompasses a varety of formal and informal activities 

and decisions. Assessment is at the hear of three major functions performed by case 

managers for the local agency: 1) identifying the parcipant's employment strengths and 

weakesses, 2) tailoring the service strategy to meet the parcipant's needs, and 

3) monitoring progress toward the participant's employment goal. 

More experience and research are needed. For this report, we have developed a 

description of the assessment process from data collected at ten "matue" sites. We have 

discussed assessment as several sometimes discrete, sometimes overlapping, stages or sets 

of activities: initial assessment, a preliminar labor market sort, extended assessment, the 

employabilty plan, and job readiness. We believe this descriptive report provides useful 

guidelines for practitioners in the field and wil also be useful to those formulating a 

research or evaluation agenda in the area of JOBS skills assessment. 

Departental Comments


We are appreciative of comments received from the Administration for Children and 

Famlies on the working draft of ths report. 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

INTRODUCTION 

THE CONTEXT OF JOBS 

INITIAL ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES 

PRELIMINARY LABOR MARKET SORT 

EXTENDED ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES 

EMPLOYABILITY PIA 

JOB READINESS 

APPENDIXES 

Appendix A: Literature Sources and Interviews 

Appendix B: Forml and Informl Tools and Practices 

Appendix Elements of Effective Assessment 

Appendix D: Employabilty Plan as a Documentation Device 

Appendix E: Checklist for Determining Job Readiness 
INTRODUCTION


Purpose 

The purposes of this report are to describe the assessment process and identify useful 

practices in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS). 

Background 

The Federal Context for the JOBS Program 

The primar goal of the Famly Support Act is to increase famly self-suffciency and to 

decrease dependency on the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFC) grant by 

providing AFDC recipients the opportunities to upgrade their work skills or lear new 

skills as paricipants in the JOBS program. 

Title II of the Famly Support Act (Pblic Law 100-485) establishes the JOBS program 

under title IV-F of the Social Security Act. ! JOBS is the operatig welfare-to-work 

program in the Deparment of Health and Human Services, replacing and expandig 

current authority for education, training, and work programs in title IV -A (AFC) and title 

IV -C (Work Incentive (WIN) program and WIN Demonstration) of the Social Security 

Act. 

States were required to implement the program by October 1 , 1990. By October 1, 1992, 

the program must be available on a statewide basis where feasible, accounting for the 

number of eligible parcipants, the condition of the local economy, and other relevant 

factors. The JOBS program in every State must include a varety of educational activities, 

job skills training, work experiences, job readiness activities, job development and job 

placement activities, as well as support services (e. , transporttion and child care). The 

State s IV-A agency (welfare agency) has the responsibilty for the admstration, or the 

supervision of the administration, of the JOBS program and may contract out varous 

program activities. 

In regard to assessment activities, States are required to conduct an "initial assessment" of 

JOBS parcipants' work readiness and employability. Federal regulations provide general 

guidance and few requirements for the "initial assessment " allowing States to determne 

specifics of form and content. The regulations do require the initial assessment to account 

for the paricipant's family circumstances , prior work experiences, current job skills, and 

Federal Register, October 13, 1989, Par II, DHHSIFSA, 45 CFR Par 205 et seq. . 
educational and support services needs. Assessment methods may include testing,


interviews, counseling, and the use of self-assessment instruments If a State tests for


literacy, basic skills, aptitudes, etc., the regulations encourage the State to use "nationally


recognized, standardized, or industr-developed" instrments before placing JOBS


paricipants in order to avoid inappropriate placements and misspent funds. No time 

period for completing the assessment is specified except that it must be done "withn a 

reasonable time frame prior to paricipation (in the JOBS program). ,,2 

The regulations also require the creation of an "employabilty plan" based on the data 

collected from initial assessment activities. The employability plan is the action plan for 

the parcipant. It must state a permanent employment objective or outcome, describe the 

activities the paricipant wil complete (e. , complete high school, go though nurse aide 

training), and specify any support services to be provided. It must also account for the 

participant's preferences and needs to the extent allowed by available resources and local 

job opportunities. The regulations encourage, but do not require, States to include a 

schedule of activities necessar to achieve employment by a specified date. 

Scope 

For ths report, we focus on overall assessment practices inside the local agency and do not 

review specific assessment activities and tools in the education, job training, and the 

individual or group job search component. 

Methodology 

Learning About Assessment 

Given the tremendous flexibility in the Federal regulations, we anticipated that States and 

localties would be faily diverse in conceptualizing, settng up and managing the 

assessment of participants' job skills. In order for us to fill in the conceptual gap between 

the broad policy statements in the regulations and the actual implementation of assessment 

in local agencies, we performed four tasks. 

First, we reviewed current literature on welfare-to-work programs, federally supported 

training programs, assessment-related activities in these programs, and literature on skills 

testing.3 Relative to the JOBS program, we began to understad assessment as: 

Federal Register ibid. p. 42178. 

3 See APPENDIX A for a list of sources. 
an ongoing process rather than intermittent event; 

a complex process, comprised of formal and informal aspects , involving all levels 

of agency staff; 

the core activities in thee major functions performed by JOBS case managers: 

1) identifying the paricipant's employment strengths and weakesses, 2) taloring 

the service strategy to meet the parcipant's needs, and 3) monitoring progress 

toward the employment goal; 

influenced by factors internal and external to JOBS. Assessment is a subsystem 

within other systems - JOBS program, local IV-A agency, local community, the 

State, and the Federal government. 

From this task a working definition of assessment developed. We view assessment as 

much more than "skills testing" (generally considered to be a formal event in which one or 

more standardized or teacher-constrcted tests are administered), and more than an initial 

interview with a case manager who collects baseline information on the paricipant. Both 

of these events are included in a broader concept of assessment: the formal and informal 

evaluative processes, decisions and events occurring within the agency from the 

partiipant' s entrance into the JOBS program to herlhis exit from the program. 

Second, we talked with some program and assessment experts inside and outside the 

Federal government to verify our initial impressions about assessment and to discuss their 

ideas, viewpoints and experiences.s We asked these experts to identify what they consider 

as essential elements of effective or useful assessment, paricularly in the context of 

welfare-to-work programs.


Third, from the literature review and the discussions with experts we developed an 

inventory of what the experts regard as essential elements of effective assessment. 

Finally, we used this inventory to help us identify useful assessment practices. 

Sample Selectin and Data Collection 

Since the focus of this report is describing assessment and identifying useful assessment 

practices, we decided to choose States having "mature" welfare-to-work programs. 

Mature" is defined as having a lengthy operating history (e.g., having had 

Demonstration or regular WI thoughout most of the 1980s) and a track record of 

offering fairly comprehensive services. We reasoned that focusing on States which had 

4 See APPENDIX B for an explanation of fonnal and infonnal assessment tools and practices vis-a­vis the


JOBS program. 

5 For a list of interviewees, see APPENDIX A. 

6 See APPENDIX C for a listing of the elements of effective assessment. 
already laid the groundwork for the JOBS program would enable us to immediately benefit 

from their experiences in integrating assessment into the program. 

In a previous Office of Inspector General study on JOBS implementation practices, the 

mature" criterion was used to select a purposive sample of eight States, diverse in their 

program strctures, demographic factors, economic conditions and geographical location. 

We selected five States from ths eight-State sample. 

In each selected State, we asked the JOBS administrator to select two local welfare 

agencies (each in a different county) which had a lengthy operating history and excelled in 

most or all JOBS program activities, especially assessment. We conducted site visits in 

the States of California (San Bernardino and Yuba counties), Michigan (Bay and Kent 

counties), Massachusetts (Hampden and Worcester counties), and Nebraska (the Southeast 

District and the Omaha Distrct). In the State of Florida, telephone contact replaced site 

visits at the Ft. Meyers and Orlando district offices. 

At each site, we conducted strctured interviews with the local administrator, two 

experienced line supervisors, and two experienced case managers or equivalents. Data 

collection activities occurred in September and October of 1990. 

We also reviewed copies of available State and site-specific policies, technical assistance 

and procedures guides regarding assessment; formal and informal interagency agreements 

governing the provision of assessment services; current JOBS program component and 

paricipant flow chars; any studies or formal evaluations of the assessment system; and 

participation/outcome data. 

7 "Working Toward JOBS, " OEI- 12-90-00960, June 1990. 
THE CONTEXT OF JOBS


The nature and extent of assessment activities inside the agency are influenced by a varety 

of factors internal and external to the agency. The interaction within and between internal 

and external factors creates a complex, dynamic environment for the JOBS program and 

the assessment process. 

The External Environment 

Federal laws, regulations and guidelines set the stage for the JOBS program and 

assessment activities. Another set of factors the health of State, regional and local 

economies, and the politics surrounding welfare programs and their funding constitutes 

the infrastructure of the external environment. Availability, coordination and delivery of 

education, employment and job training services at the State and local levels are other 

factors influencing the nature and extent of the JOBS program and assessment activities. 

Local and Regional Economic Conditions Form the Infrastructure 

As States and local agencies continue implementing the JOBS program and assessment 

activities, some external factors are more likely to affect decision-makng than other 

factors. Because of the very nature of the program, local and regional economic 

conditions greatly influence the degree of its success. The strategies employed to manage 

these sets of conditions var from one local agency to another. For example, given the 

economic conditions of seasonal work and limited diversity in community or regional 

industres, a local agency might choose the strategy of implementing a more " streamined" 

JOBS program and assessment process (i. , very limited use of formal assessment 

activities and staff time). In a few Florida locales, the majority of JOBS parcipants are 

diected into jobs supporting the seasonal tourism industr, e. , food service, maitenance 

and repair, domestic service, clerical and sales jobs. 

Another example of economic conditions influencing decisions about the JOBS program 

and the extent of assessment activities is the case of Yuba County, Californa. The county 

has among the highest unemployment (=14%) and povert (=16%) rates in the State. 

Although seasonal agrcultural work is available, there are also available positions from 

year-round employers in retail sales, service industres and government. Rather than focus 

on seasonal jobs, the administrator has chosen the strategy of increasing the 

competitiveness of JOBS paricipants for the scarce, above-minimum-wage jobs in the 

area. For this welfare agency, the strategy has had the effect of emphasizing the 

importce of the assessment process in detecting the skill proficiencies and deficiencies of 

paricipants, identifying and dealing with barers to employment, and tracking progress as 

paricipants prepare for employment. The agency s commitment to this parcular strategy 
, 

, 

of dealing with rather adverse economic conditions is reflected in the allocation of two 

staff positions devoted to formal assessment of JOBS paricipants. 

Federal and Stae Commitment and Financial Support Are Crucial 

Along with economic circumstances, the degree of Federal and State commtment and 

financial support for welfare-to-work programs also strongly affects the JOBS program and 

skills assessment. Theoretically, the JOBS program has immense potential for helping 

individuals overcome barers generated by poverty and for giving communities incentives 

to offer opportunities. Providing job training and educational opportunities to welfare 

recipients now in order to recoup the investment later in the form of more productive 

taxpaying citizens makes sense to nearly everyone. But the investment in a new program 

with such an ambitious goal has to be fairly sizable in the fIrst few years in order to 

receive significant returns in the future. The Federal governent and most State and 

local governments are currently in a cycle of fiscal belt-tightening which is likely to last 

for years. Thus, if JOBS is to realize its potential, efficient use of limted resources and 

a long-term commitment to the program at all levels of governent are necessar. 

At the State level, Californa s GAIN and Massachusetts' ET Choices, prototypes for 

JOBS, are examples of two "mature" welfare-to-work programs which have received a high 

degree of commitment and financial support from their State legislatures years before 

JOBS was created. In contrast, some States' legislatures have treated welfare- to-work 

programs with neglect and minimal funding. The priorities of State-level decision makers 

often are mirrored at the local level in the willngness of local businesses, and education 

and training facilities to accommodate welfare recipients as new employees, students and 

trainees. 

The Internal Environment 

The quality and extent of assessment activities are also affected by a varety of factors 

inside the local agency. These include budget constraints, the degree of staf commtment 

to implement JOBS and effective assessment, having case management and specialed 

JOBS units, and access to an information storage, retreval and processing system. 

Agency Commitment to JOBS Is Importnt 

Among all the agency staffs we interviewed, we found a commendably high degree of 

8 Connors, Kathleen A. The Gathering Storm: Welfare in a Depressed Economy, Public Welfare, Winter 

1991; Sherwood, Kay E. and David A. Long, "JOBS Implementation in an Uncenain Environment Public 

Welfare, Winter 1991. 

9 Hass, Lawrence J. Spreading the Pain National Journal, June 22, 1991. 
commitment to JOBS and to the use of every community resource in meeting the goals 

and challenges of the program. The administrators, supervisors and case managers who 

were also supervisors or caseworkers during the now defunct WI program (most of our 

interviewees) viewed the JOBS program as a substative change for the better. All of 

them had witnessed positive changes in paricipants' lives as a result of the program 

which, in turn, strengthened their commitment. However, they were concerned that the 

JOBS program and their work with recipients were being thwared by shrnkng budgets 

for support services (e. , child care and transporttion) and other contracted services, and 

by heavy caseloads (the average is =100 JOBS clients per case manager), resulting in less 

time to spend with each paricipant. 

Case Management and Specialized JOBS Units Strengthen Program Performance 

Staff concerns about tight budgets and heavy caseloads seemed to be mitigated somewhat 

by two staff arangements working in tandem: a specialized JOBS unit and case 

management. Not all the agencies we visited had organized a special JOBS unit, and not 

all had case management. In agencies which had both, the arangement seemed to promote 

consistency in JOBS policy and procedures, case managers who were efficient information 

and community services specialists, and consistency and continuity of paricipants' contacts 

with the agency.


A Data Processing System Saves Time and Effort for All Agency Staff 

Adequate data collection and information synthesis appeared to be vital for identifying, 

documenting and managing parcipants' employment barers and strengths. We noted 

that most local agencies in our sample had installed data processing systems to help case 

managers and supervisors organize the bulk of the information about parcipants. 

Agencies with more basic systems could produce "caned" reports (e. , quarerly reports 

which have a fixed format the same varables and the same data manpulations for 

every report), while agencies with more sophisticated (and more expensive) systems could 

produce reports talored to fit the parcular needs of different staf members. 

A user-friendly, readily available data processing system seemed to be a valuable tool for 

saving case managers, supervisors and administrators significant time and effort in 

compiling and aggregating data about parcipants. It also greatly assisted in monitoring 

parcipants' progress through JOBS components and activities, cutting down on the "paper 

shuffle. " 
INITIAL ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES


Typically, within the week after the JOBS orientation session, the parcipant met with the 

case manager to begin the initial assessment. Using a mixture of formal and informal 

tools and practices, the case manager collected and examined a body of data about the 

participant in order to judge the extent of "job readiness. " This included assessing 

whether the paricipant had adequate basic education skills (especially language and math 

skills) to satisfy potential employers' requirements; the extent to which the parcipant's 

vocational interests and aptitudes, employment history, work experiences and current skills 

matched labor market demand; whether likely jobs would adequately support the 

parcipant's family; whether the paricipant had appropriate work attitudes and behavior; 

and the type and extent of support services needed. 

Case Managers Perform Critical Tasks 

We found the case manager s principal tasks during the initial assessment were 1) to 

identify and document barers to employability, as well as the individual' s parcular 

strengths, 2) to decide which barers can be managed withn the strctures of agency 

resources and the individual's life circumstances, and 3) to create a workable strategy of 

agency service delivery and parcipation by the individual. Withn the operational 

framework of these principal tasks, the case managers performed several ongoing roles as 

needed, such as: 

CASE MANAGER' S ROLES VIS- VIS THE PARTICIPANT DURG THE INITL ASSESSMENT 

Establishing a "parership" with the parcipant, and ensuring the individual knows the rules


of the parership, i. , the rights and the responsibilities of parcipation in the program;


Giving the parcipant as much control as possible over decisions afecting herlhs life;


Building the parcipant s self-confidence and urging herlhm to make the most of the


opportunities offered by the program;


Makng the paricipant aware of the skills and employabilty strengths shele aleady has;


Discussing employment possibilties with the parcipant while considerig the parcipant


expressed vocational interests and labor market demands;


Encouraging the paricipant to set employment goals which are realstic, i.e., appropriate to


the parcipant s abilities and famly financial responsibilties;


Requesting the parcipant to investigate specific vocational choices before deciding on


education and/or work training goals and activities in the parcipant s employabilty plan;


Working with the parcipant to determne support services;


Creating the employability plan with the parcipant in the spirt of the JOBS parership.


In performng these tasks, the case manager built crucial rapport with parcipants, helping 

to anchor their commtment to the program and motivating them to complete it. 
Identifying Barriers to Employment Is Central to the Initil Assessment 

The case manager s first major task in the assessment process was identifying and 

documenting barrers to employability. The JOBS program targets AFDC grantees, aged 

16 to 59, who historically have had diffculty gaining employment. Included are those 

with a history of welfare receipt, parents under the age of 24 without a high school 

diploma or without current work experience, and adult famly members whose youngest 

dependent is within two years of being ineligible for AFDC. These recipients generally 

experience multiple barers to employment involving varous combinations of individual 

and community-level problems as summarzed below. 

BARRRS TO EMPLOYABILIT 

Lack of education and communication skills (including language barers) to meet employers


requirements;


Lack of training CUlTent or transferable iob skills work experience, or work maturity skills


meet employers ' requirements;


Self-esteem problems, lack of self-confidence in the abilty to lear and adapt to new situations;


Lack of access to safe and affordable 
 public transporttion in the community; 

Lack of a pennanent address and/or lack of adequate, safe and affordable community housing 

Lack of adequate, safe and affordable child care in the community; 

Acute and chronic physical and menta health problems due to inadequate nutrtion, drg 

addiction, stress, lack of access to adequate health care in the community, etc. 

Problems with the 
 criminal iustice system and having a crinal record; 

Discrimination by employers, health care facilities, landlords and others in the community on 

the basis of being poor, old, female, black or Hispanic, disabled, having a crinal record; 

Famly circumstaces such as the presence of violence and abuse in the home, chaotic or crisisoriented famly life, lack of parenting skills and knowledge, lack of chid support from absent 

parents, carng for special-needs children, or sick or disabled adults in the home. 

Because some barrers are so deeply-rooted in the community, famly or individual, they 

have more severe, enduring consequences for the long-term employabilty of the poor. 

Barers such as years of substandard public education, the presence of violence and abuse 

in the home, chronic health problems, and carng for an incapacitated child or adult in the 

home decrease a person s chances for maintaining employment. For these tenacious 

barers, the JOBS program is not a panacea, although it can ameliorate the effects of some 

barers in the lives of individuals though its cumulative impact. For the less difficult 

barers, JOBS does offer assistance and opportunities to diminish their effects. 
Tailoring Service Strategies for Special Target Groups Has Intended and 

Unintended Benefits 

The case manager s second and third tasks, determning affordable and workable service 

strategies, can be diffcult for paricipants with multiple barers. In some instaces, these 

tasks have been made less arduous by recognizing that distinct groups of AFDC grantees 

each have their own cluster of barers requiring a fairly predictable aray of services. 

Young parents are an apt ilustration. Because of their inexperience in the world of work 

parenting and adult relationships, the strategy for young parents (under the age of 24) 

typically involves a combination of the following services. 

SERVICE STRATEGY FOR YOUNG PARENT 

Assistace in obtaining child support from absent parents;


Treatment for a drg or alcohol addiction, if needed;


Finishing the high school degree;


Vocational interests and aptitude testing, and career counseling;


Obtaning child care and transporttion assistace;


Vocational education and/or job training;


Receiving instrction in social skills and instrmenta tasks, e.g., how to parent, household


management and budgeting, increasing self-esteem and self-confidence, realstic plang and


goal settng, problem solving, managing stress, building and maintaning heathy relationships


with adults, work maturity skills and other pre-employment prepartion.


JOBS programs in States as diverse as Nebraska and Massachusetts have made it one of 

their priorities to address the specific cluster of barers faced by AFDC recipients who are 

young parents. They have contracted to develop and implement special programs such as 

Operation Bridge in the Omaha distrct (NE), the Young Parent Program in the Southeast 

distrct (N), and the Pregnant and Parenting Youth Program in Hampden County (MA). 

These programs usually furnished individual and group instrction and counseling for 

several weeks on a varety of problems and issues faced by young parents and workers. 

Though case notes, formal reports, telephone contact and in-person meetings, contractors 

provided input to case managers about identified barers, progress made by each 

parcipant, and any recommendations for furter action or specific services. 

Beyond the intended, formal purposes of specialized service programs for taget groups, 

some unintended benefits also may occur as a result of these programs. For example, 

some Nebraska staff members noted that a positive by-product for parcipants who 

attended meetings for young parents was their furter empowerment as a result of creating 

their own information networks, informal support groups, and friendships. These 

informal groups tended to acquire a life of their own, enduring beyond the confnes of the 

program. 
Informal groups/networks can provide


valuable support for parents who are Informal support groups can reinforce JOBS


finishing the high school degree, for messges by convincing members to adopt certin


those tang vocational education values and expectations, such as:


courses, and for those in a job training VALVES EXPECTATIONS FOR BEHAVIOR 

regimen or looking for work. Very 

often, these groups can help members Education get the GED at least 

develop a feeling of community or Work get training learn as many belonging with persons similarly skils as time permits secure
 circumstanced and struggling for a the best available job do the


better life. They also may strengthen best you can and always strive 

certain constrctive ideas and behavior for improvement 

and can help members overcome a 

sense of alienation from the Self-suffciency don t depend on government 

mainstream. (See text box. programs for financial support ­

be personally responsible for


supporting your family 

Although the Initil Assessment Is Usually an In-House Activity, Some Agencies 

Utilize Contractors 

Although case managers in most agencies performed the initial assessment in-house, some 

agencies contracted with a business or an outside agency for these services. For example 

the local agency in Kent County, Michigan, contracted with the Career Development 

Center to provide initial assessment activities. In the initial assessment, a battery of tests 

was administered to all paricipants, such as the T ABE (Tests of Adult Basic Education), 

specially normed for adults, used by the Center to measure reading and math skills; the 

GATB (General Aptitude Test Battery) for general learng abilty and dexterity; the Hall 

Occupational Orientation Inventory for value priorities; USES Interest Inventory for work 

interests; and explorations of the individual' s current skills, employment barers, personal 

strengths, and career goals. Results were reported to the agency and to a ITP A (Job 

Traing Parership Act) vocational counselor who then worked with the JOBS parcipant to develop an employabilty plan. 

Most Agencies Limit or Omit Formal Testing During the Initil Assessment 

In contrast to Kent County, Michigan, other local agencies either elected not to conduct 

formal testing in the initial assessment, or they did so to a lesser extent by choice or by 

requirement. The State of California, for example, required counties to administer a 

reading test and a math test from the criterion-referenced CASAS (Comprehensive Adult 

Student Assessment System). In Yuba and San Bernardino counties, CASAS tests were 

administered and scored during the JOBS orientation session. Test results added 
objective" measurements to the body of information collected about the parcipant, and


were subsequently used as bench marks to make decisions and set short-term goals.


If the score for each test was above 215 and the paricipant had a high school diploma or 

had worked in the last two years, the Californa case manager usually directed the 

paricipant to the job search component. If scores were at or below 215, the case manager 

generally recommended remediation, pursuing the General Education Degree (GED) or 

takng an ESL course (English as a second language) before sending paricipants to the job 

search component. Paricipants who were jobless after completing the activities in the job 

search component (the preliminary labor market sort) were given an extended 

assessment, and a more or less permanent plan of employability was then created. 

Formal Testing During the Initil Assessment Has Advantages and Disadvantages 

The chief advantage of formal testing in the initial assessment stage is the inclusion of 

objective" standards in the evaluation of the parcipant's literacy, learng ability, work 

interests and skills. By using the test results along with other available information, the 

case manager may generate more informed and timely decisions about the parcipant. 

Another advantage is that some formal testing at this point may eliminate the need for an 

extended assessment later. If we operate on the principle that decisions made about the 

parcipant in the initial assessment should be based on more information rather than less, 

then it is useful to do at least some formal testing at this point. 

On the other hand, formal testing in the initial assessment can be costly in several ways. 

Tests usually must be purchased. They must be administered under certn conditions, 

, a moderately spacious, fairly quiet, well-lighted and ventilated area, in order to 

control for extraneous factors. Many norm-referenced tests and criterion-referenced tests 

must be administered, scored and/or interpreted by specially trained people. In addition, 

several caveats must be remembered in using test results, e. , avoiding the temptation to 

make decisions about a parcipant based almost solely on test results, and realzing that 

tests are not always accurate and reliable indicators of future performance.lo As a rule 

then, local agencies relegated most or all of the formal testing to the extended assessment 

stage in which some paricipants were tested on an "as needed" basis by outside providers 

qualified to administer and interpret test results. 

10 Auspon, Patrcia and Kay Sherwood, Assessing JOBS Parcipants: Issues and Tradeoffs, New York: 

Manpower Demonstration Research Corpration, 1992x. 
The Conclusion of Initil Assessment Activities 

At the end of the initial assessment stage, either a temporar or permanent employability 

plan was created to guide the diverse paths of JOBS paricipants. Some paricipants went 

on to an extended assessment. Others began education component activities by pursuing 

education remediation, an ESL course, the GED certficate, an Associate s degree or 

series of vocational education courses. Some paricipants entered the job training 

component. Certain paricipants were directed into a specialized service program 

address specific employment barers. Parcipants judged as "job ready" were sent to the 

job search component (a "labor market sort 

Other agencies used an assessment-like practice, which we call the preliminary labor 

market sort, wherein all or most paricipants were required to go though an individual 

group job search immediately upon entering the JOBS program, sometimes without an 

initial meeting with a case manager. Only parcipants remaining jobless after completing 

these activities were allowed to take par in other JOBS components. The advantages and 

disadvantages of this paricular labor market sort are discussed next. 
THE PRELIMINARY LABOR MARKET SORT


We found that the preliminar labor market sort (our term) to be a mandatory, front-end 

job search which sifts those who are "job ready" from those who are not. In agencies 

employing ths practice, all or most JOBS parcipants are given job-search training and are 

required to search for employment as either their first formal activity after an initial 

meeting with a case manager, or their second formal activity after completing a remedial 

course in adult basic education, an ESL course or the GED. Varously named Job Club 

Job Workshop, Group (or Individual) Job Search, and so on, it functions as an assessment 

practice by testing parcipants' current abilities and skills against labor market demand 

very soon after their entrance into the JOBS program. 

The Preliminary Sort Is an Assessment Practice Having Advantages and 

Disadvantages for the Agency and Partcipants 

Because of its mandatory nature and early placement in JOBS, some controversy surounds 

ths fitering technique. Similar to its operation in the former welfare-to-work program 

(W), the preliminar sort works to the advantage of the local agency and "job ready 

parcipants having work skills competitive enough to ear wages above the minimum. 

However, it seems to further disadvantage those who are not "job ready" and those with 

less competitive work skills the most needy of all JOBS paricipants. The advantages 

and disadvantages are as follows. 

ADVANTAGES OF THE PRELIMINARY LABOR MARKT SORT 

To the benefit of the local agency, it has the potential of puttng a signifcant proporton of 

parcipants to work immedately. To the extent that ths occur, it can initialy (1) decreae the 

program costs of investing in education and training for those JOBS parcipants who fmd jobs, 

(2) decrease or eliminate AFC payments for those same parcipants, and (3) increae the "success 

rate" of the JOBS Progr. 

For parcipants who get jobs, it has the potential of increasing self-esteem, reinforcing the positive 

aspects of being self-sufficient, thus mitigating the "welfare stigma. 

It educates all or most JOBS parcipants ealy in the progr in tehniques for fmding a job and 

getting hired, and in the atttudes and behaviors valued by employers. 
g. 

DISADVANTAGES OF THE PRELIMARY LABOR MARKET SORT 

The initial success of the preliminar sort in achieving job placements may be offset by the extent 

to which the "revolving-door" syndrome (or recidivism) exists. Those who are not adequately 

g., parcipants who obtan minimum-wage service jobs 

prepared to compete in the marketplace (e. program at a later date. as a result of the sort) may return to the JOBS 

One of the effects of this early labor market sort is to even out or reduce the number of JOBS at anyone time. The caveat for the agency, however, is that expenditures parcipants being served 


may be reduced over the short term, but not necessarly over the long term. 

Going though ths early job seach may mean that receiving needed services, e. fuer education 

and vocational training, is delayed for weeks or months. 

For those who fail the preliminar sort, the experience can have negative psychological 

consequences. It may reinforce a sense of failure about gettng and keeping a job, and a sense of 

resignation about being dependent on welfare It doesn t matter how hard I tr, I don t get 

anywhere. " In turn, this sense of failure can decrease motivation to paricipate in the program. 

parcipants who are not 

An alternative for avoiding the disadvantages of this practice for 

job ready is to taget this device to volunteers and those exhibiting a high degree of job 

readiness. The case manager and/or employment expert would playa critical role in 

determning the job readiness of new parcipants by carefully considering the body of 

information collected during the initial assessment. For the agency, advantages of

parcipants who go preselection might translate into higher placement rates for those 

though the preliminar sort. 

Paricipants who were jobless after the conclusion of these early job search activities either 

completed initial assessment activities with their case manager and/or were given an


extended assessment, after which a more or less permanent employabilty plan was


created.

EXTENDED ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES


Typical Extended Assessment Activities 

Formal testing tools, i. , mostly norm-referenced (or stadardized) and some criterionreferenced tests, were used extensively by assessment providers, but not to the exclusion of 

informal assessment tools and practices. Based upon the formal and informal assessment 

results, providers recommended a range of jobs or, more often, specified two or more jobs 

on which the parcipant should concentrate herlhis future job search. Providers usually 

furnished case managers with a written summar of each paricipant's extended assessment 

activities and experiences withn 10- 15 working days after clients were assigned to 

extended assessment. 

A Subset of Partcipants Usually Those With Serious Employability ProblemsReceives Extended Assessment Services 

Paricipants engaged in extended assessment due to one of two conditions. One condition 

was a high degree of uncertainty regarding the partcipant s achievement levels, aptitudes 

occupational interest areas, and/or having an iregular, par-time or nonexistent work 

history. The other condition was that the parcipant had failed to satisfactorily accomplish 

activities in one or more JOBS components. Failure to secure employment durig the 

preliminar labor market sort or subsequent labor market sorts, and the failure to perform 

acceptably in an education or a training component activity, often trggered the agency to 

send the paricipant for additional assessment or a tota reassessment. Hence, only a subset 

of paricipants received furter testing, a subset which predictably experienced severe 

employment bariers. As one supervisor in Massachusetts stated, providers of extended 

assessment services must expect and be equipped to deal with these problems because 

there is no reservoir of 'problem-less' paricipants. 

Most Agencies Contract for Extended Assessment Services 

Among agencies using extended assessment as par of their JOBS programs, most preferred 

to rely on the competence and experience of outside providers to deliver these services 

rather than conduct them in-house. Agencies hired providers of extended assessment 

services who met their criteria for effective service delivery, usually some varation of the 

thee " s: expertise, experience and economy. Thus, agencies often utilized the 

assessment services offered by JTP A and local community colleges because of their long 

experience with vocational education and job training programs, their expertse in assessing 

job skills, and their faily reasonable costs for providing these services. 
Career Research by Partcipants Builds Skills and Yields Other Benefits 

As one of the paricipant's final activities in the extended assessment, we found providers 

usually requested each client to research several careers pinpointed by assessment results. 

Beyond the obvious goal of educating the paricipant about these paricular careers, the 

process of researching career information seemed to yield other benefits for the paricipant. 

We inferred the participant gained (or sharened) some very valuable skills such as 

learning to use a librar and its resources, learnng to access computerized career 

infonnation in " canned" databases (e. , information similar to that contained in the 

Deparment of Labor Dictionar of Occupational Titles has been packaged in computer 

programs for easy access to users), and learng to summarze and synthesize information. 

This exercise also seemed to give the parcipant a feeling of more control over some 

choices and decisions. While it required somewhat more time than other activities, the 

skills acquired and the reinforcement of the value of self-sufficiency made it time wellspent. 

Providers Are Expected to "Match" the Case Manager in Knowledge and Skills 

When asked to talk about the keys and problems to successful coordination with providers 

of extended assessment services as well as lessons they have leared, agency stafs offered 

what amounted to a list of qualifications their providers either do have or should have in 

order to work effectively with agency personnel and JOBS parcipants. We found that 

assessment providers did much more than test and interpret results. More often than not 

many of the roles and tasks of the provider staff matched those of agency case managers. 

The two greatest differences were that the provider staf works with parcipants on a more 

time-limited basis , and their main focus was assessment. 

Below is a list of qualifications which agency staffs said their assessment providers 

currently demonstrate or should demonstrate. To ilustrate the convergence of knowledge 

tasks and skills between assessment providers and agency case managers, providers 

qualifications which "match" case managers' roles and tasks are identified by asterisks (* 

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS 

The assessment provider staff must have: 

professional credentials, knowledge and experience in setting up assessment processes, using 

assessment tools, and evaluating test results; 

the knowledge and flexibility to operate an assessment process in which parcipants are assured 

they cannot fail the "sense of failure is the greatest barer" for parcipants to overcome; 

a testing protocol in which a varety of tests are administered (e. , aptitudes, achievement 

career/vocational interests), assessment is geared to the specifics of the local labor market, and 

overtesting and using tests known to be biased (e. , GATB) are avoided. 
CLIENT -ORINTED SKILLS 

The assessment provider staff must have:


extensive knowledge about the poor and their life circumstaces;


realistic expectations of what parcipants can accomplish during their brief tenure in the program; 

empathy and sensitivity to parcipants' nees and problems; 

the skills to effectively communicate and work with parcipants;


the ability to personalze assessment and spend as much time with each parcipant as feasible;


the skills to build paricipants' self-esteem; 

necessar


the flexibility to experiment with new ideas and ways of doing things, makng changes as 


to better accommodate paricipants' needs.


COMM RESOURCES KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND 

The assessment provider staff must have:


knowledge about the JOBS program s philosophy, policy and procedures, and agency assessment;


knowledge about the roles, responsibilities and expectations of both the assessment expert and 

the agency case manager; 

knowledge about, and productive contacts with, coinunity resources helpful to parcipants, 

the local labor market and employment prospects. 

COMMCATION SKILLS FOR WORKING WIH AGENCY STAF 

The assessment provider staff must have: parcipants;
 regular contact with agency sta, giving timely progress reports on 


assessmentthe skills to work with the case manager to iron out parcipant-related problems and 

related issues;


the ability to wrte timely, clea, concise, and comprehensive report for agency sta which 

summarze parcipants' assessment experiences and recommendations. 

Because agency case managers and assessment experts share many roles and tasks, it stafs. The
 makes sense for agencies and providers to conduct joint training for their procedures, topics of joint training sessions could include: provider and agency policies, staf; and assessment processes; responsibilties of case managers and provider understading the needs of philosophical orientation to JOBS and the assessment process; , maintaning realistic expectations of parcipants and

varous paricipant subgroups; and


craftng practical strategies for handling barers. 
); 

Extended Assessment Can Be Done In-House 

The agency in Yuba County, California, offered an alternative to the usual practice of 

hiring an outside provider of extended assessment. In March of 1989, the agency 

streamlined the externally-located extended assessment process, originally designed and 

implemented by Yuba College, and instituted the current in-house process with two fulltraining and experience in assessment time assessment counselors. Both counselors had 


prior to being hired at the agency, one at the local community college and the other at the 

local ITP A offce. Like their external counterpars, the assessment counselors were 

expected to have the same knowledge bases and skills as noted above, and to perform ll to all who 

several major tasks for the agency: 1) to administer several formal tests 

failed the preliminar labor market sort, 2) to interpret test results, 3) to guide paricipants 

in selecting thee career choices based on interest, test results and labor market demand 

4) to prepare an assessment profie of each client, and 5) to work with each paricipant and 

respective case manager in recommending courses of action. 

Another factor playing an important par in the success of Yuba County s in-house 

extended assessment was the leadership of the agency administrator. The admnistrator 

maintained an open-door policy, encouraging staf to talk about what they thnk is working 

and what is not. The administrator viewed change as a fact of life, somethng to be 

welcomed when it improves the lives of paricipants and makes the work of the staff more 

efficient and rewarding. In fact, the agency had a reputation beyond the county lies for 

practicing innovation" and regularly was asked for advice by other counties. 

11 Admnistered tests in Yuba County s in-house extended assessment process are: 

. Career Abilty Placement Survey (CAPS) meaures abilty in eight areas (mechancal reasoning, 

spatial relations, verbal reasoning, numerical ability, language usage, word knowledge, perceptual spee and 

accuracy, manual speed and dexterity); 

. Career Occupational Preference Survey (COPS) measures degree of interest in 14 clusters of 

occupations; 

APTICOM has thee test batteries Interest Battery measures the degree of interest in perfonnng 

Aptitude Battery measures aptitudes in ten areas of functioning (e. , general learing ability, 

verbal aptitude, numerical aptitude, etc. Education Skills Battery measures competency in reading and 

mathematics; 

. Myers-Briggs is a personality type indicator and measures tendencies in eight modes of perception and 

varous tasks; 


judgment. Approximately half of the parcipants are administered this test. (Only one of the assessment 

counselors uses the Myers-Briggs. 

12 The State has supported innovation here and has summoned the agency to do several special projects and 

pilot programs. One of these is the creation of an automated infonnation system, GAI Employment 

Management System (GEMS). A case manager worked with Digita Equipment Corporation and PriceWaterhouse to set up the system which came on-line in September of 1988. Twenty of Calorna s fiftyfour counties are now in the GEMS consortum. 
.. 

Advantages of In-House Extended Assessment 

process inside the For Yuba County, the advantages of placing the extended assessment 

agency were unmatched by external assessment providers: 

the agency had direct control over the process changes or modifications in the 

form or content of the extended assessment could be effected immediately 

and cooperation existed between case managers and 

counselors 

a significant amount of personal attention could be given to each parcipant during 

tremendous esprit de corps 

assessment and afterwards 

counselors were available to case managers and paricipants without delay for 

consultations and problem solving 

after the extended assessment, the counselors retained some responsibilty for 

guiding the progress of parcipants thoughout their tenure in the program. 

The high degree of satisfaction expressed by all the agency interviewees with the in-house 

assessment process (" (Every agency should) have one like ours!") and the negligible 

number of paricipants who were reassessed spoke well for the efficacy of the assessment 

process. It also affrmed one counselor s philosophy: "Do it well the fIrst time to avoid 

problems later." For those agencies which might have some interest in moving the 

extended assessment in-house, Yuba County s experience deserves serious consideration. 
EMPLOY ABILITY PLAN


, affliated Typical elements of the employability plan are an overall employment goalachieve the education and/or job training goals, and any support services necessar to 

designated goals. Each of the affiiated goals may have specific activities which the 

participant must accomplish in a "satisfactory" manner as defined by the service provider. 

Two other elements results from any formal testing and results from parcipation in 

one or more specialized service programs are included if the employability plan is used 

as a documentation device by the agency. 13 In practice, the employability plan was often 

regarded by agency staffs as an agreement between the paricipant and the agency, caring 

with it the possibility of sanctions (e. , a reduction of the AFDC grant) if the agreement is 

not fulfilled (e. , because of nonparicipation). 

Through The Optimum Effectiveness of the Employability Plan Can Be Achieved 

a "Reasonable Flexibility" Approach 

A vast middle ground exists between the employability plan being extremely rigid and 

extremely flexible. It seemed to us that an optimally effective plan allows the case 

manager and the paricipant jointly to make changes if a course of action does not work. 

Also, because discrete groups of AFDC recipients have distinctive needs, some paricipants 

wil require more guidance and strcture during their tenure in the JOBS program, while


others wil require less. The case manager is the key to developing a plan which is


reasonably flexible" and financially feasible for the agency. In assessing the parcipant's


current and potential employability, the case manager applies herlhs informed judgment to


shape (or reshape, if necessar) the plan to fit the needs of the paricipant.


We found a parcipant's success in requesting changes in employabilty plan goals 

activities depended on the degree to which the local agency views the document as In Californa flexible, the conditions prompting the request and the timing of the request. 

for example, the paricipant could initiate a change withn 30 days after stang education 

or training activities; after 30 days the paricipant must experience extenuating 

circumstaces of consequence (e. , medical reasons) in order to alter the plan. In contrast 

Nebraska s employability plan was a very flexible document. Reasonable modifications 

Whle data were not collected which 

and redirections could be incorporated at any time. 


directly examne the association, we speculated that different ways of viewing and 

managing the plan may be related to economic conditions in the State or local region, the , the extent of available community resources, the extent of agency fiscal resources (e. 

poorer the economic conditions, the more rigid the plan), and/or the perceived nature of 

people in poverty (e. , people in poverty need a lot of guidance and strctue, and thus a 

more rigid employability plan). 

13 See APPENDIX D for an example of the fonnat of an employability plan used as a documentation device. 
Rewards for Interim Successes Motivate Partcipants and Build Their Confulence 

A laudable practice mentioned by agency staffs was to build into the employability plan as 

many successes and rewards as possible. The intended effect was to boost parcipants 

self-esteem and motivation. Completion of a specialized service program, an ESL course 

or an ABE (adult basic education) course were reasons for congratulations. Letters of 

congratulation, tokens (e. , small medals or certificates) or informal gatherings were 

vehicles to recognize these achievements. For more significant successes, such as earing 

the GED or satisfactory completion of a series of vocational training courses or 

assignments, some agencies held periodic formal ceremonies to which community 

dignitaes were invited. These in-house and public observances served s rewards and 

further encouragement for JOBS paricipants and their case managers, and also had a 

tremendous public relations value for the JOBS program. 
JOB READINESS 

Job Readiness Is Determined By a Combination of Objective and Intuitive Factors 

Determning the "job readiness " of a parcipant is a process that combines objective

factors and intuitive considerations. As the case manager monitored the paricipant's progress in JOBS education and training components, shelhe received faily regular oral 

and/or written reports from the service provider evaluating the paricipant's progress. 
If a 

provider indicated progress was "not satisfactory, "14 the case manager consulted with the 

paricipant and made adjustments to the goals and activities specified in the employability 

plan. Otherwise, the paricipant proceeded to complete the activities as specified in the 

original plan. Thus, the most often mentioned objective indicator used by case managers 

and supervisors to determne the participant's job readiness was "meeting the goals of the 

employability plan" or, in other words, the satisfactory completion of courses and activities 

in the education and training components designated in the plan. 

Yet, completing these activities was only a necessary-but-not-suffcient condition for 

success in finding employment. Other objective indicators reported by case managers and supervisors to judge job readiness were: the reduction in the number and severity of 

barers (e. , child care, transporttion, substance abuse and other health problems); 

meeting the minimum qualifications of chosen employers in terms of education, work experience and current job skills; whether the parcipant's career choice was adequate to support herlhis famly and reflects labor market availabilty; adequate job maturity skills; learng job finding skills; and appearance (e. , appropriate clothes and groomig). More intuitive factors mentioned by case managers and supervisors were the parcipant's attitude toward work and maturity (i. , being positive, enthusiastic, self-confdent, reliable and responsible), degree of wilingness or motivation to work, emotional stability, whether the parcipant herselflhimself felt ready, and whether the case manager "sensed" the 

parcipant was ready. 

Checklists Assist Case Managers in Determining Job Readiness 

Some agency staffs used a checklist during the assessment process to track the progress of 

paricipants in reducing barers to employability and in acquirng job skills. These 

instrments were used as assessment tools to help the case manager determe job readiness. For example, the agency in Omaha, Nebraska, had a checklist comprised of 

seven major categories with 3 to 18 items under each one which case managers used to 

monitor progress and to determne job readiness. 15 

14 An education provider, for example, usually defines "unsatisfactory" as a grade below C or a grade point
 average below 2.00.


15 See APPENDIX E for this checklist. 
APPENDIXES

, 

, , 

APPENDIX A


LITERATURE SOURCES AND INTERVIEWS 

Data for the conceptual work on assessment were gathered from discussions with experts and a review of existing literature. The primary sources are: 

(I) Pre-research discussions with: 

Dr. Gerri Fiala, Office of Policy and Legislation, Deparment of Labor Washington, D. C.; 

Ms. Lori Strumpf, Director of the Center for Remediation Design (a project of the S. Conference of Mayors, National Association of Private Industry Councils National Job Training Partnership, and the National Association of Counties), 

Washington, D.C.; 

Dr. Bertha King, Dr. Carroll Towey, Dr. Sarah Newcomb, Dr. James Parker Dr. Ron Pugsley, Office of Vocational and Adult Education , and

Education, Washington, D.C.; , Deparment of 

Ms. Patricia Rickard, Director of the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System, San Diego, California; 

(2) The following written sources: 

Auspon, Patricia and Kay Sherwood Assessin.Q JOBS Participants: Issues and
 Tradeoffs, New York: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, 


(forthcoming publication). 1992x


Curnan, Susan P. and Gerard F. Fiala Assessing Employabilty for Results " paper for the National Governors ' Association , Washington, D. , March 1986. 

Federal Re.Qister, October 13, 1989, Part II, DHHS/FSA, 45 CPR Part 205 et seq.. 

Goldman, Leo Qualitative Assessment The Counselin.Q Psvcholo.Qist 

no. 2, April 1990. vol. 18 

Complexity: The Status of Coordination Among Vocational Education

Grubb, W. Norton, Cynthia Brown, Philip Kaufman, and John Lederer Order Amid

, Job Training Partnership Act, and Welfare-to-Work Programs " a paper for the U.S. Congress, the Secretar of Education, and the Secretar of Labor, Januar 1990. 
), , 

, , 

Gueron, Judith M., "Reformng Welfare with Work " occasional paper #2, Ford 

Foundation Project on Social Welfare and the American Future, 1987. 

Gueron, Judith M. Work-Welfare Programs " in H.S. Bloom, D.S. Cordray and RJ. 

Light (eds. Lessons from Selected Program and Policy Areas, New Directions for 

Program Evaluation (series), no. 37, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988. 

Healy, Charles c. Reformng Career Appraisals to Meet the Needs of Clients in the 

1990s The Counseling Psychologist, vol. 18, no. 2, April 1990. 

Morrs, Robin, Lori Strmpf, and Susan Curnan, "Using Basic Skills Testing to 

Improve the Effectiveness of Remediation in Employment and Training Programs for 

Youth " a paper for the National Commssion for Employment Policy, RR-88- , May 

1988. 

Strumpf, Lori Assessment Parameters " one-page handout at the National Governors 

Association Conference, Washington, D.C., Januar 1990. 

Strmpf, Lori, Pamela Friedman, Patrcia Rickard, and Jane Equez, "Improving 

Workplace Skills: Lessons from ITP A, " a white paper presented at the Sixth Annual 

Conference of the Parership for Training and Employment Careers, Phoenix, Arzona, 

April 1989.


United States General Accounting Office, 
 Job Training Parership Act: Services and 

Outcomes for Participants with Differing Needs, HR-89-52, June 1989. 

United States General Accounting Office Work and Welfare: Analysis of AFC 

Employment Programs in Four States, HR-88-33FS, Januar 1988. 

United States General Accounting Office Work and Welfare: CUITent AFDC Work 

Programs and Implications for Federal Policy, HRD-87- , Januar 1987. 

A - 2

APPENDIX B


FORMAL & INFORMAL


TOOLS AND PRACTICES


Assessment is conceptualized broadly as the formal and informal evaluative processes 

decisions and events occurrng from the paricipants' entrance into the JOBS program to 

herlhis exit from the program. Although the focus of this study is chiefly on activities 

occurrng inside the welfare agency, this definition is inclusive of all evaluative activities 

which occur in the welfare agency and in organizations which provide contracted services. 

The judicious reliance on both types of assessment tools and practices forms the basis for 

an effective assessment process in the agency. Formal assessment is any offcial (i. 

endorsed by the agency in policy or procedures) tools (i. , devices used for 

documentation) and practices (i. , patterned, recurrng events or routines), occurrng on a 

regular basis , in which information is collected and used to make decisions about 

paricipants, such as: 

offcial agency tools and practices involving all or most JOBS participants, 

, the use of agency forms and/or data processing system (tools) to document 

paricipants' current life circumstaces, work and educational histories, parcipants 

education and work training goals, etc. ; and ongoing practices like mandatory 

interviews with paricipants, maintenance of case notes, the management of the 

employability plan, labor market sorts; 

norm-referenced or criterion-referenced tests (tools) to describe and evaluate 

academic skill levels, work skill competencies, vocational interests, capabilties; 

offcial reports (practices) written by skilled evaluators and/or case managers on 

the performance and capabilities of JOBS parcipants; and 

any officially prescribed career research by parcipants. 

Likewise, informal assessment includes unoffcial tools and practices, which mayor 

may not occur on a regular basis, to collect information and to make decisions about 

paricipants, such as: 

direct or reported observations of parcipants;


conversations with paricipants;


nonmandatory self-evaluations by parcipants , e. , in the form of journals about


their experiences in the JOBS program; and


career research by parcipants. 
AGENCY ASSESSMENT


FORMAL 

INFORMAL 

TOOLS 

Agency forms to document the 

paricipant' s circumstances 

Norm-referenced (standardized) 

and criterion-referenced tests 

Case notes 

Employability Plan (EP)


Data processing system 

Job Readiness checklist 

Self-evaluation instrments 

, self-progress journal 

PRACTICES 

Interviews with Paricipant 

Career research by paricipant


Labor market sorts


Maintenance of case notes


Maintenance of the EP


Reports on parcipant's


capabilties & performance 

Conversations 

Observations 

Self-evaluation 

Career research 
APPENDIX C


ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE ASSESSMENT


GENERAL PRINCIPLES


16 Our interviews with Dr. Gerr Fiala, Deparent of Labor, and Ms. Lori Strmpf Design, were instrmental in fonnulating this , Center for Remediation conceptual framework of assessment. 

c - 1

POLICY GUIDELINES


C - 2

ADMINSTRATIVE GUIDELINS


C - 3

. : 

. . . . .. . .. . :. . ... / . . . . . . , . . .. . .. .. . . . . . , . , . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . , ... . . . ., ,... . . , ,. . .. . . . .., . . . .. .. .. . . ... . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . , . .()...

STAFF GUIELINS


Effective .assesSme:ntispracticedbystatTmeniberswho:


. ar client -oriented , i.
 ID ways attpt to acun YorP!lCipalS' and goals; 
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gIS .giVingtiIYfe",back' 

eIfuge paiicipants' :J.ftn1e1ftO tI 10BSPiUg.,md;( themaboutthe program; 
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C - 4

APPENDIX D


EMPLOY AB ILITY PLAN AS A DOCUMENT A TION DEVICE 


Participant's Name: 

Social Security # :


Case #:


Social Worker:


Date of Session: 

Date of Exit: 

Assessor: 

PARTICIPANTS BACKGROUND 

Personal History: 

Employment History: 

Educational Background: 

EMPLOYMENT GOAL


Specific Occupational Goal: 

General Occupational Goal: 

Testing Results Which Support Assessment's Authorization of Employment Goal: REQUIRED PARTICIPANTS APTITUDES* SCORE** 

MATH LEVEL: 

LANGUAGE LEVEL: 

(0 ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR) 

(00 AS MEASURED BY THE APTICOM TESTING) 

17 This document is Yuba County s "GAIN Assessment Employment Development Plan. 

D -
TESTING RESULTS SUMMARY (continued) 

. CAPS: Career Ability Placement Survey 

STANINE SCORES - PRIMARY ABILITY SCORE 

1. Mechanical Reasoning 

2. Spatial Relations 

3. Verbal Reasoning 

4. Numerical Ability 

5. Language Usage 

6. Word Knowledge 

7. Perceptual Speed and Accuracy 

8. Manual Speed and Dexterity 

OCCUPATIONAL CLUSTER PREDICTION 

OF SUCCESS 

1. Science Professional 

2. Science Skiled 

3. Technology Professional 

4. Technology Skiled 

5. Consumer Economics 

6. Outdoor 

7. Business Professional 

8. Business Skiled 

9. Clerical 

10. Communication 

11. Art Professional 

12. Art Skiled 

13. Service Professional 

14. Service Skiled 

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES RELATED TO GOAL 

Goal to be Attained Upon Completion of Program: 

Local Labor Market:


Approximate Period of Time Needed for Goal Achievement:


Resources Available to Obtain Training/Education for this Occupation:


R.O.


YUBA COLLEGE


PREP ASSIGNMENT


OJT


CET.


OTHER: ,


D - 3

POTENTIAL OF PARTICIPANT TO ACHIEVE GOAL 

Assessment Supports this Participant's Employment Goal of: 

This Support is Justified by: 

TESTING RESULTS 

OTHER: 

of 
 BARRIERS TO ACHIEVING GOAL


In order for this client to be successful in attaining employment in the occupation

, as well as in obtaining training/education for this career, the following barriers have been identified and need to be considered in order to develop strategies so they can be 

removed and/or minimized. 

PERSONAL: 

child care motivation/procrastination


family responsibilties personal counseling needs
 health personal limitations
 housing problems self-confidence


lack of family support substance abuse


legal problems transporttion
 other:


WORK WORLD: EDUCA TION\TRAINING


lack of occupationaV few academic skils\ career information
 remedial work may be necessary unrealistic view of work world other.


limited work experience


por work attitude


other:


SUPPORTIVE SERVICES NEEDED FOR ACHIEVING GOAL 

child care transporttion ancilary expenses persnal counseling tools leaming disabilty clothing testing (if eligible) boks


supplies other.


Prepared By: Date: Reviewed By: Date: 

D - 4

APPENDIX E


CHECKLIST FOR DETERMINING JOB READINESS 

Is this person job ready? 

Has education or trning in field for which jobs are available Is motivated to do job search 

Has basic job search skills (e. , knows how to prepare resume, resume is written knows how to obtan interviews, knows how to present self during interview Has adequate work experience; previous skills and knowledge transferable , etc. 

Potential barers such as child care, transportation, client health, can be successfully managed 

Is this person s understanding of hisler own strengths and weaknesses and knowledge of employment and/or education opportunities adequate? 

Is able to describe job-related skills or interests 

Is aware of hislher own strengths and weakesses Is able to make decisions about education or training options based on 

skills and interests awareness of 

Is able to identify job possibilities based on information about own 

skills/kow ledge/interests 

Has adequate information about either the current job market or educational 

opportnities 

Knows how to access either the job market or education/traing resources 

Is this person a candidate for education or training? 

Has High School diploma or its equivalent


Has skills required in labor market (skills are developed and current)


Actual work experience is relevant to current job market


18 This document is from Omaha, Nebraska, entitled "Job Support Assessment Tool. 

E-
g., 

Is this person ready to participate in education or training? 

Is already motivated to obtain education/training 

Is currently enrolled and paricipating in education/training program 

Can identify type of education/training program most appropriate for self, e. 

university or college, community college, on-the-job training, correspondence course 

Barers such as child care, transporttion, financial aid for education costs, problems 

experienced by non-traditional students, etc. , can be successfully managed 

Does this person have adequate personal resources? 

Is in good physical health 

Has adequate homemakng skills (e. , budgeting, nutrition, meal preparation 

sanitation) 

Has adequate parenting skills 

Has adequate social and communication skills 

Has adequate problem-solving abilities and personal resourcefulness (history of 

adequate coping) 

Free from drug/alcohol addictions


Has normal intellgence (e.g., is not mentally retarded)


Free from severe psychiatrc disability .


Is coping with "famly development tasks" such as adjustment to parenthood, or single


parenting, or aging, dependent parents, etc.


Is able to read and write 

Is able to control temper 

Has realistic expectations of self and of self-as-worker 

Is wiling to work toward change


Has positive coping style (e.g., does not resort to denial, hostility, apathy)


Does this person have adequate family support/resources? 

Members are physically healthy 

Members have normal intellgence 

Members are free from drug or alcohol addiction 

Members are free from severe psychiatrc disabilty 

Conflct is resolved without resortng to violence 

Members share responsibility for running household 

Adults (if more than one in home) share responsibility for raising children 

E - 2

Expectations of each other are realistic and humane 

Are able to work together to solve problems 

Members coping with "famly development tasks " (e. , adjustment to new baby, or 

divorce, or child leaving home, or grandparent needs) 

Members support each other s efforts to change 

Adults (if more than one in home) share authority 

Roles are flexible (e. , disabled father wiling to run household while mother works 

outside home) 

Are able to use community resources appropriately (. , family is neither isolated 

nor overly dependent)


Members are law-abiding 

Are physicaVcommunity reources adequate?


Job opportunities 

Safe, affordable housing 

A vailable, affordable transporttion 

Adequate child care facilities/providers 

Counseling resources (menta health, drug/alcohol, vocationaljob, educational) 

Educational resources and opportnities


Educational financial aid 

Parenting, budgeting, independent living classes and/or other teaching/support groups 

Medical and denta resources 

Recreational resources


Crisis clinics and hot-lines 

Food and clothng pantres


Emergency housing or shelter care


Teaching homemakng services


Legal services


Special needs financial services (e. , utility deposit)


Job training opportunities


Community members work together to improve community services, etc. 

E - 3