DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38427.v3
title: Evaluation of the Second Round of Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 2.0), United States, 2015-2025
title: Version 3

description: The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG), administered by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was created to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and were expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand. Following on a first round of HPOG awards in 2010 ("HPOG 1.0"), a second round of 32 five-year grants across 21 states were funded in 2015 ("HPOG 2.0"). After an additional one-year extension, the HPOG 2.0 grants concluded in 2021.
Local HPOG programs were expected to target skills and competencies demanded by the healthcare industry; support career pathways; result in an employer- or industry-recognized certificate or degree; combine supportive services with education and training services to help participants overcome barriers to employment; and provide services at times and locations that are easily accessible to targeted populations.
HPOG was authorized as a demonstration program with a mandated federal evaluation. The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) is utilizing a multi-pronged evaluation strategy to document the operations and assess the success of the HPOG program. The evaluation strategy for HPOG 2.0 includes several key components:

The <strong>impact evaluation</strong> randomly assigns eligible participants to either a treatment group that has access to HPOG services or a control group that does not have access to HPOG but can receive other services available in the community ("business as usual") to assess the impacts of the HPOG programs. Data from the short-term impact evaluation are DS1-DS5.
The participant and program data includes baseline intake and services data, including data captured in the HPOG 2.0 Participant Accomplishment and Grant Evaluation System (PAGES), a participant tracking and program management system that included data on participant characteristics, engagement in activities and services, and training and employment outcomes. PAGES also included the activities and supports that grantees offered. HPOG 2.0 grantee staff entered data in PAGES. Data from baseline and PAGES are DS6-DS11.
The <strong>descriptive evaluation</strong> includes implementation, outcomes, and local service delivery systems studies of the grants and will help interpret findings from the impact study. The descriptive study also includes in-depth qualitative interviews with a small sample of HPOG study participants. Data from the in-depth interviews are available in ICPSR 38561.
The <strong>cost benefit analyses</strong> will assess the costs and benefits of a standard HPOG program. Data from this component are forthcoming.

For more information, users are encouraged to see the National Evaluation of the 2nd Generation of Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 2.0 National Evaluation) on the OPRE website.
description: The purpose of this study was to provide education and training to
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other low-income individuals for occupations in the
healthcare field that pay well and were expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand.
The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) study's key evaluation questions included:

What impacts do HPOG programs as a group have on outcomes of participants and their families?
To what extent do these impacts vary across selected subpopulations?
Which locally adopted program components influence average impacts?
To what extent does participation in a particular HPOG component(s) change the impact?
To what extent do specific program enhancements have impacts, relative to the "standard" HPOG program?
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Main Formatted Data
DS2: Analysis File Data
DS3: Job Spells Data
DS4: School Spells Data
DS5: Scaffold Data
DS6: Grantee Data
DS7: Eligibility Data
DS8: Employment Data
DS9: Supports Data
DS10: Activities Data
DS11: Participant Data
DS12: Grantee Telephone Interview Data Round 1
DS13: Grantee Telephone Interview Data Round 2
description: Low-income adults in the United States.
description: computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI); computer-assisted self interview (CASI); face-to-face interview; mixed mode; telephone interviewFor additional information on HPOG 2.0, please visit the HPOG Study website.