For those who find jobs of at least 30 hours per week, it offers wage supplements, where necessary, to bring the family's income above the poverty level, and it pays a portion of the cost on a sliding scale of licensed child care and health insurance for those not covered by Medicaid or employers. For those who cannot find work after eight weeks of searching, New Hope offers six-month community service jobs in nonprofit and public agencies. Participants receive the minimum wage and are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit and the New Hope supplement. After six months, a participant must leave the community service job and seek employment for three weeks before qualifying for an additional community service assignment. An individual is limited to two community service jobs in total.
New Hope is located in two low-income Milwaukee neighborhoods.
Both single and two-parent families, and both men and women, are eligible to participate. There are 682 participants in the program. New Hope is a demonstration program that is designed to provide information about how people respond to this type of offer. MDRC will also examine changes in household composition, income, material well-being, types of jobs held, child development and family functioning. Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, June 1996.