PowerPoint Presentation

Study Overviewfor Illinois staffSNAP E&T Pilot Evaluation

Welcome by Illinois program managerWelcome to this training for this important study.DHS is very excited to be a part of this evaluation that is getting a lot of national attention.Because there is more information than the Research team can cover during the upcoming random assignment training on February 29th (note to presenter: youll need to update this for the date of training in the various regions), they have asked us to provide this overview of the study and our program here in IL. During the upcoming training youll learn how to implement the study procedures, today youll hear an overview of the pilot and the evaluation.

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Session OverviewIllinois role in a high profile national evaluationThe Illinois SNAP E&T PilotRandom assignment: what is it and why is it necessary?

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This Overview will cover three topics:

The national SNAP Employment and Training Pilot evaluation and Illinois role in the evaluation.A overview of Illinois SNAP E & T pilot which we call: Employment Opportunities, Personalized Services, Individualized Training, and Career Planning, or EPIC.And the evaluation methodcalled random assignmentthat the Research Team will use to determine the services that different SNAP E & T clients will be able to receive and to determine how effective epic is, and for whom it works best.

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The National Evaluation

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The Evaluation of the SNAP E&T PilotsWhat is it?Illinois is 1 of 10 states selected from a national competition to be a SNAP E&T Pilot!Each pilot tests strategies to increase SNAP participants employment and earnings and reduce dependence on public assistance.The Farm Bill required an evaluation to determine if the pilot services helped clients.Mathematica is leading the evaluation; MDRC is a subcontractor to Mathematica

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What is the evaluation of the SNAP E & T Pilots?

Illinois is 1 of 10 states that was selected from a national competition to be a SNAP E & T pilot.

Just so you knowthere was a lot of competition across the country for these pilotsso its pretty impressive that Illinois was selected as one of the 10 sites.

Each of the pilot states is developing new SNAP E & T activities that the Research Team will test to see if the strategies help SNAP recipients find work and earn money that will make them less dependent on SNAP and other types of public assistance.

The Farm Bill passed by Congress in 2014 authorized funding for the pilots but Congress also required that an evaluation be conducted of the programs proposed by the statesthey want to know what types of programs work best.

MDRC, a member of the Research Team, has been working closely with staff at DHS and DCEO these past 6 months to get ready for the evaluation launch.

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The 10 SNAP E&T Pilot States

CaliforniaDelawareGeorgiaKansasKentuckyIllinoisMississippiVermontVirginiaWashington

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This slide shows the 10 states that were awarded a grant to implement the pilot services proposed by states.

Each state has proposed different programs, although there are some common elements across various states.5

How Will Information from the Pilots Be Used?Policymakers and administrators are counting on the pilots to tell them what works and for whom.Findings from the Illinois pilot may lead to important policy and program improvements for the state and nationally.

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The Research Team will use the information that is collected from all the pilots about their E & T strategies to understand what strategies work best to help SNAP recipients find good jobs.

Policymakers in Washington DC and throughout the country are eager to learn what works best and whether particular activities work better for some people than others.

Illinois, as one of the pilots, has a huge role to play in providing that information. What the Researchers (and the state) learn as part of the Illinois evaluation may lead to important policy and program improvements in the state and across the country.6

What Do We Hope to Learn?Does participating in the pilot services help clients:Find good jobs?Enable them to support themselves without SNAP or other public assistance?What services are most helpful to the clients?Who are they most helpful for?What can we recommend to other states based on the experiences of the pilots?

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Specifically, the types of questions that Researchers hope to answer through the evaluation are:Does participating in the pilot services help clients find good jobs?Does participating help SNAP recipients to better support themselves, so they dont need to rely on SNAP or other public assistance?Researchers also want to know:

Are there particular services, like demand-driven occupational skills training , that seem to do more to improve clients chances at getting a good paying job? And are those services better able to help some people more than others?For example, the evaluation might find that providing occupational skills training helps SNAP recipients who didnt have a job recently more than those SNAP recipients who were recently employed. Researchers also want to take what we learn from Illinois and the other pilots to make recommendations for other states and programs about the types of employment and training programs they should be providing. This is the ultimate goal telling the policy makers and administrators which programs are most effective so that they can replicate them in their communities.

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Illinois SNAP E&T:Employment Opportunities, Personalized Services, Individualized Training, Career Planning (EPIC)

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The 10 SNAP E&T Pilots are very different. They focus on different SNAP recipients and are trying out different types of services to help SNAP recipients find good jobs.Lets talk about whats unique about Illinois SNAP E&T Pilot.

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Preparing SNAP Recipients for Good JobsThe goal of the Illinois pilot is to prepare SNAP recipients for jobs in demand. Services include:Adult basic education to upgrade education and basic skillsCareer technical education, leading to industry- recognized credentialsPaid work experience needed for jobs that offer career opportunitiesPersonalized assistanceAssistance with job placement

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The Illinois team developed a pilot to test new strategies to help prepare SNAP recipients for jobs 9

EPIC Pilot ServicesEPIC Services; Model 1: Bridge program for reading/math and English as a second language Model 2: Adult Basic Education and Career Technical Education for those who need to earn high school equivalency, industry-recognized certificate or other training credentialModel 3: Short-term skills training for those who dont lack basic educational skills, but need skills upgrade to obtain a better paying job in a high demand career track Paid work experience, for those who need it90 day post-placement servicesSupportive services Service Duration: depends on skills training but could range from 3 months to 1 year

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Through its pilot, Illinois is implementing and testing a set of services that will be offered through community-based organizations.The EPIC services offered through CBOs are based on 3 different models:

Model 1: Adult Education or a ESL bridge program for individuals with lower reading and math levelsModel 2: Career technical education for those who need additional education to earn high school equivalency, an industry recognized certificate or other training credentialsModel 3: Short-term training for clients who are under employed without basic skills barriers.

If a SNAP recipient is randomly assigned to the EPIC service group, he or she will be referred to a community based organization that offers one of the program models that is best suited to his or her education and skill level and industry interests.The program also will pay for work-related expenses and transportation as well as paid work experience, if needed. In addition, career navigators based at the CBOs will continue to provide services for a period of 90 days after job placement.

The service period will depend on the length of the skills training but could last from 3 months to 1 year.

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Who is Eligible to Participate? Eligible individuals reside in one of the 33 counties in the study and are:SNAP recipients who are work registrants (85 percent of 5,000 study participants) Employed SNAP recipients, (this is a voluntary population, and will make up 15 percent of the study participants); exempt from work requirementParticipation may be mandatory or voluntary, depending on county and work registration status Clients must consent to participate in the pilot after learning:About E&T services available to them in their regionsWhat participating means for them

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Not all SNAP recipients will be offered the chance to participate in the pilot.

Eligible individuals are those who are:

SNAP recipients who reside in one of the 33 counties that are participating in the pilot and are:unemployed mandatory work registrants, or employed SNAP recipients, working 30 hours a week or more and exempt from the work requirement.

Also, in order to participate, SNAP recipients need to volunteer and consent to participate. They can only consent after they understand what their options are and what they are agreeing to participate in.

For mandatory work registrants, E&T options for meeting the work requirement include participating in:EPIC services (but only if they participate in the study)Core SNAP E&T services, in counties where offered, orNo services, in counties where there are no Core SNAP E & T services

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Enrollment Goals for EPIC-SNAP Pilot Study166 / 166LWIA 3LWIA 71,784/ 1,784LWIA 15197/ 197LWIA 19 61/61LWIA 2598/ 98

StatewideEPIC = 2,500Control = 2,5005,000 Total12

62/62LWIA 14132/132LWIA 24

Our goal in Illinois is to enroll 5,000 SNAP recipients IN THE STUDY over a 14 month periodroughly March 2016 through May 2017.

50 percent or 2,500 SNAP recipients will be randomly assigned to the EPIC service group, and the remaining50 percent will be randomly assigned to the traditional or core SNAP E & T service group, or if in counties with no core SNAP E & T, to the community services group.

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What does Participation Mean for Clients? Participating in the study means that clients have a chance to get the enhanced SNAP E & T pilot (EPIC) servicesBy consenting to participate, clients volunteer to:Be randomly assigned to one of the two groupsHave data about them collected and used for research purposesComply with the requirements of their assigned groupA mandatory work registrants failure to comply WITH E&T ACTIVITIES TO WHICH THEY ARE ASSIGNED IN THEIR GROUP could result in case closure or reduction in benefits. A voluntary participant who fails to comply with the assigned E&T activity cannot be sanctioned for failure to comply

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What will participating in the pilot and study mean for clients? What are they agreeing to?

First, they will need to understand that agreeing to the study means that they will only have the chance to receive the new EPIC SNAP E & T services. By consenting to be in the pilot, SNAP recipients are agreeing to:Be randomly assigned to one of the two study groupsthe EPIC SNAP E & T group or the Traditional or core SNAP E&T group (or in the counties where no core E & T services exist, the second study group is a community services group). Ill explain what it means to be randomly assigned in a minute.SNAP recipients are also agreeing to provide the study with important information, that is, they are allowing the Research Team to collect information about their employment and public assistance receipt to be used only for the purposes of the study, and they are agreeing to participate in surveys about their work and other activities. Agreeing to participate also means that the SNAP recipients understand that they will be expected to participated in the activities of their assigned groupso for the EPIC group, this likely means participating in skills training.Once they are in the study, they WILL need to participate in their assigned groups activities. For mandatory SNAP recipients, failure to comply with their assigned activities means that they will be referred back to the DHS office where their worker will determine whether they can continue to receive SNAP benefits. So being in the study does not represent a change in individuals mandatory participation requirements.

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Pilot and Study Timeline2016March:Orientation beginsMarch: Random Assignment begins April-Dec:Site visits by research staff2017March:Begin administration of 12-month participant surveyMay:Anticipated end of intake / random assignment Jan-Dec:Site visits by research staff2018Jan-Dec:Site visits by research staffDecember 31:Pilot program services LIKELY TO end

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Activities of the pilot and study begin on March 1, 2016. That is the date that you will begin to talk WITH SNAP recipients about the opportunities available to them and go through the procedures to enroll those who agree to be in the study. After completing the first steps in the enrollment process, those who are a good match for the services will be invited back to enroll in the study. The first date for random assignment is March 9th in LWIAs 3 and 7. As part of the study, MDRC will be coming out to Illinois to learn from you all about how the pilot has been going. The Research Team will be conducting visits in each of three years. The Researchers also will be conducting surveys of participants at about 12 months after the date each person entered the study, so starting in march 2017 and going through about may 2019.Other important dates Around May 31, 2017 we expect that enrollment into the study will end but it might be possible that it will be extended for a few more months, depending on whether the study sample size goals are met. Pilot services will likely end by the end of 2018.

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Why Random Assignment?

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Now, Id like to talk about what we mean by random assignment and why it is important to do it in this study.Its important that you understand this because you may need to respond to your clients questions about it. In this presentation, the Research Team has provided a brief overview of random assignment. In the Random Assignment Training, the Research Team will train you on the random assignment procedures and provide you with scripts on how to talk about it with your clients.

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What is Random Assignment?It is like a coin toss or lottery.Clients end up in a group purely by chanceNothing about the person or the worker comes into play in deciding the assignmentIt is conducted automatically by a computer.

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Random assignment is like a coin toss or lottery: participants end up in one of the two groups purely by chance.

Nothing about the person or the worker comes into play when deciding what group the person will end up in.

This is because the persons name is put into a computer and the computer automatically and randomly assigns the client to a group.

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Study Design in IllinoisSNAP recipients interested in participating in EPIC SNAP E & T pilot will be randomized into one of 2 groups:Treatment Group: offered the pilot services in Model 1, 2, or 3, orControl Group: offered core, or existing SNAP E & T services (business as usual).

Exception: In a number of counties, business as usual for controls is no SNAP E & T, so controls will be eligible for whatever services currently exist at large in the community.

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In Illinois, the random assignment process will divide people into two groups:

1. The treatment, or EPIC SNAP E & T pilot service group, or

The control group, who will be offered Core or existing SNAP E & T services, or

In counties with no existing core SNAP E & T services, these individuals will be free to access services at large17

Random AssignmentVoluntarily enrolled in the study Individual assigned to TraditionalSNAP E&T services; or Community ServicesIndividual assigned to EPIC SNAP E & T servicesComputer conducts random assignment

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In this slide, we provide a picture of how random assignment will look. The SNAP recipient who is eligible for the study and who provides her consent is enrolled in the study.she is then randomly assigned to be in one of the two study groups this is why we need to say that she only has the chance of getting the new EPIC SNAP E & T services a 50% chance:So she can end up in:1. The new EPIC SNAP E & T services group 2. The traditional or core SNAP E & T services group

Or if she lives in a county where there are no core SNAP E & T services, she could end up in

3. a Community services group (that is, she is free to seek out services for which she is eligible in the community at large)Its important to note here the only way for a SNAP recipient to receive EPIC services is to enroll in the study and get randomly assigned to the EPIC SNAP E & T service group.

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Why Use Random Assignment?Only method that policymakers really believe.Random assignment is considered the gold standard:Only way to determine whether the new services are responsible for any changes in how clients are doingSince assignment is random, clients in the different groups look the same only their services are different

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We use this random assignment method for the evaluation because its the method that carries the most weight with policymakers and administrators. Its the only method that they really believe.They believe in this gold standard method because it is the most reliable way to determine whether the new services are responsible for any changes in how participants are doing. For example, whether being in one group means youre more likely to eventually get a job than if you were in the other group.This is because since group assignments are random the people in the different groups will look, on average, the same. The only difference between them is their access to the different sets of services.

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Is Random Assignment Fair?Yes, with limited funding, random assignment is actually the fairest way to select clients.Does not let people decide who goes whereFairer than first come, first serveClients volunteer to participate IN THE STUDY after being informed thoroughly about the procedures and providing their informed consent.

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A question that is often asked about this type of study is, Is it fair? Is it fair to randomly assign people?The simple answer is yes. There are not enough funds for everybody to access the new EPIC SNAP E & T services. When theres limited funding, random assignment is a fair way to distribute the funds. It doesnt let a worker decide that this person should go get these new or additional services and that person should go get other services. It can also be a fairer method than first-come, first serve. It gives everybody an equal chance for the extra services when they voluntarily enroll in the study.Another important feature of this study is that all clients who enroll into the study will be thoroughly informed ABOUT the study and what they are agreeing to when they provide their consent to be randomly assigned. This is called providing their informed consent. Youll learn more about how to obtain informed consent during the MDRC random assignment training next week.20

The Eight Key Steps

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Next week, during the random assignment training, youll receive a Random Assignment Procedures Manual that will provide more detail into the 8-step process that well use to conduct random assignment in Illinois.

Today, well discuss the tasks that make up Step 1. This step has a number of tasks that all come before random assignment and where you will have a role in orienting the SNAP recipient to the study and where you will describe the EPIC program. You will be trained on the remaining steps 2-8 next week by MDRC staff. We wont go into those steps now, but we provide the visual here so you can see that this is a multi-step process.21

The Eight Key Steps, contd.

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Today we will review all the tasks that you need to know about prior to Step 3 on this chart.

This chart provides an overview of the various ways SNAP recipients will hear about the study, and the various steps they need to complete in order for DHS to determine if they are good candidates for EPIC services. If the SNAP recipient learns about the study, participates in an orientation, learns more about EPIC services, completes the family assessment and NotCI 21st Century Assessment, and is interested in participating in the study, he/she will be invited back to enroll in the study.

Next week youll hear more details about study enrollment.

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Random AssignmentProgram intake will occur at 21 DHS offices across the stateInterested prospective study participants will:Attend an orientation at DHS officeComplete a Family AssessmentComplete NOTCI 21st Century Skills AssessmentIdentify 3 industries of interestBased on assessments and determination of good fit, eligible SNAP recipients invited back for random assignment

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THANK YOU!

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