Findings for the Cleveland Achieve Model: Implementation and Early Impacts of an Employer-Based...

"The report presents results from an evaluation of the Achieve program in Cleveland. Run by the organization Towards Employment, Achieve provided on-site services in the workplace to increase retention among low-wage workers.... [Services included] on-site delivery of case management services, where staff met individually with clients to discuss a wide variety of issues, ranging from workplace and housing problems to transportation and child care; weekly information sessions covering such topics as time and stress management, goal-setting, budgeting, and credit repair; and trainings for the supervisors of low-wage workers....   Because of traditionally high turnover rates in the long-term nursing care industry, Towards Employment recruited employers primarily from that sector" (p.iii). Achieve is among 16 models being tested by MDRC in the national Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project. (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

 

Full publication title: Findings for the Cleveland Achieve Model: Implementation and Early Impacts of an Employer-Based Approach to Encourage Employment Retention Among Low-Wage Workers

Key findings on program implementation included: • "Recruiting employers was a major challenge." • "The Achieve program was generally well implemented, although it was difficult to integrate it into the workplace environment. Service integration improved considerably for firms entering the study in 2004." • "A high fraction of employees in the Achieve group firms had some contact with the program, although sustained engagement was difficult to attain. Workers at Achieve group firms were more likely than those at control group firms to receive job retention services." Key findings on program impacts include: • "Achieve had little effect overall on low-wage employee’s retention at their original firms, aside from a small increase in the short term. Although the results are less certain, there is evidence to suggest that the program increased retention for some subgroups of employees." • "Achieve had no effect on firm wide turnover rates." • "Achieve had no effect on workers’ employment and earnings, more generally," (ES, p.3-5). (Abstractor: Author)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2008
• Author(s): Miller, Cynthia; Martin, Vanessa; Hamilton, Gayle; Cates, Lauren, et al.
• Organizational Author(s): MDRC
• Funding Source: Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Labor
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies