In the Driver's Seat - christopher reardon

9challenges by expanding and continually refining their recruitment strategies. In the end, thefour random assignment sites enrolled a total of 2,360 people, or 74 percent of their originalgoal. Chicago enrolled 845 participants—56 percent of its original goal.At some sites, staff realized early on that the applicants coming to the program were not qualifiedfor the jobs they had developed. At all sites, staff found that many applicants were lackingsome of the basic skills needed to obtain and retain a job. The Bridges programs respondedby providing limited job preparation services, such as workshops on attitudes, dress, communicationin the workplace and interviewing techniques. At the random assignment sites,760, or 64 percent of the 1,183 people eligible to receive Bridges services, obtained employmentthrough the Bridges to Work program. At Chicago, 607 people, or 72 percent of those enrolled,obtained employment through the program.Four sites continued to provide transportation, placement and retention services to Bridgesto Work participants through January 2001. The demonstration ended in Milwaukee at theend of May 2000. Sites offered re-placement services to participants who either lost a job orwanted to find a better opportunity at another company. The five sites made 389 re-placements.Some of the Bridges sites saw many participants leave their suburban jobs. Three reasonsfor this appear to be that jobs of similar quality were available in some central cities,some sites had to curtail their transportation services to reduce costs, and the participantswho remained unemployed lacked basic employment skills and the resources needed toretain a job. Retention in suburban jobs was highest in Baltimore where the wage differentialbetween city and suburban jobs appeared to be greater; transportation services were available24 hours a day, seven days a week; and the program had developed a network of socialservice providers that offered support to the participants.The Bridges to Work demonstration concluded at the end of January 2001. Data collectionon the follow-up survey will continue through Spring 2001. Two of the five sites, Baltimore andSt. Louis, have secured funding to continue providing employment and transportation servicesto link city residents to suburban jobs.