Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program Initial Evaluation Report

B.29
Bridges still provides the 10-week assessment and job seeking skills training, but will place
individuals immediately if the individual must enter the workforce more quickly for financial
or other reasons. Bridges provides limited funds for transportation, purchases interview
clothing or uniforms, and refers individuals to other agencies who fund childcare or other
services.
Problems surfaced early in program implementation. Initially, Bridges had planned to
serve TTW clients aged 17 to 25, and enrolled a few individuals over age 25 as space was
available. However, WIA funding only permits the program to serve persons through age 21
and TTW funding did not cover up-front service costs. After the first six months, Bridges
altered its strategy to restrict service to TTW participants age 18 to 21. Because the Program
Manager website stated that Bridges would serve individuals through age 25, they received a
high volume of calls from individuals who were not eligible for services. Another problem
was the difficulty of promoting TTW to the Marriott Foundation, particularly in light of the
delayed TTW rollout and the low levels of expected revenue.
b. Early Experiences Implementing TTW
Beneficiary Outreach and Enrollment. At initial interview, Bridges’ only marketing
effort was to send fliers and brochures about its services to the SSA FO for distribution to
beneficiaries. The FO explained that the materials had to be approved and Bridges never
heard back from the FO. Bridges generated some of its Ticket assignments from among
former clients whom staff knew to be SSI recipients. Bridges staff instructed these clients to
request their Tickets and assign them to Bridges. At the time of the first interview, staff was
still in the process of identifying SSI recipients from among its WIA participants. Bridges
accepted 12-14 Tickets from outside its caseload. Interviewees believed these referrals came
from the Program Manager, or from other ENs that were not accepting Tickets. At the time
of the first interview, Bridges had stopped accepting Tickets from individuals who were not
eligible for WIA.
In deciding which Tickets to accept, Bridges considered the following:
! Age—the person had to be 18-21 years old,
! Motivation –demonstrated by the individual’s work history. If the beneficiary had
no work history or training, Bridges determined that the client had no marketable
skills for employment and declined the Ticket. Because Bridges was not a jobtraining
program, staff referred these callers to an EN that offered skills training.
Examples of skills and experience considered to be marketable included food
service, janitorial, file clerking, and organizational skills. The program was more
lenient about accepting people under age 21 who did not have work experience.
! Ability to work – Based on information gathered from an initial phone screening,
and through the intake interview, Bridges staff assessed the potential client’s
ability to work. If a potential client appeared to be unable or unwilling to
perform work above SGA, Bridges would not accept the Ticket.
Appendix B: Provider-Specific Case Study Summaries