Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

In the US, interest is growing in the potential for improving the effectiveness of workforce programmes by applying lessons from emerging research in the fields of behavioural psychology and neuroscience that focus on adults’ execute function skills – the skills needed to “execute tasks.”  MDRC, NYC-based policy research organization, has launched a new demonstration project that will offer one of the first rigorous tests of an employment coaching strategy that is directly informed by this research. Temporarily called “Family Self-Sufficiency-X” (or “FSS-X”), the programme targets recipients of government housing subsidies, but it has relevance for other employment and self-sufficiency initiatives in both the UK and the US, particularly for harder-to-help individuals.  

Inspired by innovations pioneered by Boston-based Crittenton Women’s Union’s Mobility Mentoring programme, FSS-X combines a highly structured coaching model with a new set of financial incentives to support participants in making step-by-step progress toward better labour market outcomes over a three-year period. The model incorporates lessons from cognitive research showing that just coping with the stress of poverty and its associated day-to-day problems consumes cognitive resources and can weaken the application of executive functioning skills. Roughly speaking (there are many nuances), such skills involve the ability to plan, organize, stay focused, and follow through on goals. This is not to imply that poor individuals necessarily lack executive skills; rather, living under conditions of poverty can make it very difficult to apply those skills in ways needed to succeed in school, training, and work, and to meet the complex demands of economic mobility in today’s labour market.

In contrast to traditional case management and short-term “soft-skills” training classes, the new coaching process aims to help participants apply executive skills more effectively in setting and completing self-sufficiency goals over several years.  The overall approach also recognizes that big economic strides often require sustained efforts across multiple fronts, not only in navigating the labour market, but also in acquiring education and training credentials, adopting good financial practices, and addressing family issues and relationships that may affect getting a job, staying employed, and progressing in work.  Thus, FSS-X will aim to help participants set and achieve goals across these domains. 

The three-year programme also incorporates an innovative financial incentives component to encourage sustained engagement with the coaching process and to encourage and support increased work effort. Staff and participants will also be trained to use real-time labour market information to identify the occupations that offer the best opportunities given participants’ skill levels, and to guide their selection of education and training goals.

The effectiveness of the FSS-X intervention will be assessed with a three-city random assignment research trial (Baltimore, New York, and Houston). 

The paper will summarize the core features of FSS-X, and, in particular, the ways in which an executive skills lens and emphasis are expected to shape the ways in which frontline staff approach the coaching role, and how this differs from more typical case management support normally offered by employment programmes.