Kate Dempsey of CEO will give an overview of Jobs-Plus performance management and will discuss lessons learned about municipal scale-up of community-based initiatives over the life of the program. 

Jobs-Plus is a program designed to help public housing residents enhance their skills and obtain jobs so that participants can increase their short and long-term earnings. The model has three main components: employment services located in the community; financial education, rent-based and other financial incentives that help “make work pay;” and community support for work that organizes neighbors to promote the benefits of working and serve as a support network for overcoming barriers.  

Since 2009, NYC has been expanding Jobs-Plus from one to nine sites to serve a total of twenty-four public housing developments. Prior to implementation in NYC, MDRC conducted a rigorous, seven-year evaluation of Jobs-Plus in a national demonstration.  The findings show that, when the model is implemented properly, Jobs-Plus increased residents’ average annual earnings by $1,300 per year (a 16 percent gain relative to the comparison group) over seven years.  The cumulative gain over that entire period was $9,099.  

The implementation of this evidence-based initiative in NYC has been led by the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO), part of the Office of the Mayor, in collaboration with the New York City Housing Authority, the Human Resources Administration, and other city agencies.  As these partners have worked together they have developed a collaborative board that oversees and supports community-based providers with Jobs-Plus contracts.  A robust performance management system has emerged that includes real-time outcomes tracking, monthly and quarterly reports among partners, and weekly “Jobs-Plus Stat” meetings among providers and partners to review individual sites’ progress and to troubleshoot issues.  Many of the practices and contract structures are suitable for replication by other partnerships and programs.