Testing Rapid Connections to Subsidized Private Sector Jobs for Low-Income Individuals in San Francisco: Implementation and Early Impacts of the STEP Forward Program.

The STEP Forward program attempted to address issues facing low-income job seekers by offering them opportunities to interview for jobs with private sector employers at weekly job fairs, and by offering employers temporary wage subsidies to encourage them to try out job seekers whom they might not otherwise hire, with the goal of ultimately hiring these workers into permanent unsubsidized employment. A diverse group of low-income job seekers enrolled in the program, the vast majority of whom were either CalWORKs (California’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program) clients, individuals who had exhausted their unemployment insurance benefits, or CalFresh (California’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) recipients. This report presents implementation findings and interim impact results (with a one-year follow-up) from a random assignment evaluation of STEP Forward. (Author abstract modified)