Job Clubs in the US – Evaluations of FBO/CBO-sponsored clubs

Over the past several decades, job search support groups, commonly referred to as “job clubs,” have evolved into one of several important activities used by the public workforce system and faith- and community-based organizations (FBOs/CBOs) to enhance worker readiness and employability, as well as to provide ongoing support to unemployed and underemployed individuals as they search for jobs. In 2011, the Department of Labor’s Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships launched the Job Clubs Initiative to reach out to FBO/CBO job clubs and better connect them and their job seeker members to the public workforce system. Activities in job clubs, which often meet weekly or bi-weekly, include sharing information, job leads, knowledge, networking possibilities, and other job search-related activities. While there have been past experimental evaluations of the impacts of participation in public sector-operated job clubs, there have been few formal evaluations or assessments of FBO/CBO-sponsored job clubs.

Findings from the Stakeholder Interviews.

As part of the environmental scan, the research team conducted telephone interviews with seven stakeholders knowledgeable about the operation of job clubs, including those sponsored by FBOs/CBOs. These interviews provided an opportunity to question each stakeholder on a range of topics related to job clubs operated by FBO/CBOs. Among the study findings that emerged from these interviews were the following:

• According to several stakeholders, the steep downturn of the U.S. economy in 2007-08 and surging numbers of unemployed and underemployed workers created a strong demand for job search assistance, providing an impetus for FBOs/CBOs to form job clubs to meet urgent needs within their communities. Stakeholders cited several other contributing factors for the apparent expansion of FBO/CBO-sponsored job clubs, including the desire of churches/congregations to help unemployed individuals within their own congregations as well as the surrounding communities and the relatively low costs for establishing and maintaining job clubs. However, despite an apparent surge in numbers of FBO/CBO- sponsored job clubs, stakeholders observed that there was little empirical data to support this apparent trend.

• Stakeholders maintained that there is substantial diversity across FBOs and CBOs in the format, content, and operation of job clubs. Several stakeholders noted that while some faith-based organizations might begin and end their job clubs with a prayer, the job club session itself might have little or no faith-based/religious content. Even those FBO-sponsored job clubs infused with religious/spiritual references tend to focus the bulk of their job club meetings on many of the same principles and instructional techniques as those covered in secular job clubs operated by CBOs and public sector organizations – e.g., the importance of networking, developing/practicing “elevator speeches,” basics of developing an effective resume, job interviewing techniques, and effective job search approaches. Several stakeholders noted that compared to the public sector, faith-based job clubs often place more emphasis on personal encouragement, raising self-esteem, providing time for peer group discussions related to job search challenges, and generally responding to emotional needs of participants.• None of the stakeholders interviewed were able to identify past or ongoing evaluations of FBO/CBO job clubs. According to stakeholders, many of the FBOs operate their programs with only volunteer staff and on a shoestring budget and, consequently, lack computer equipment and/or the technical knowledge or staffing to set-up and manage an automated participant-level data system. None of the stakeholders felt it would be feasible to apply a random assignment-type experimental design to explore FBO/CBO-sponsored job club impacts (in part, because of concerns over denial of services to control group members and data collection burden/ complexity associated with random assignment-type studies).

Findings from the Site Visits.

The second component of the environmental scan focused on site visits conducted in Fall 2013 to six localities across the country where job clubs are operated by FBOs and CBOs: (1) Northern New Jersey; (2) Cleveland/Akron, OH; (3) Atlanta, GA; (4) Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN; (5) Washington, DC Metro (MD/VA); and (6) San Francisco/Bay Area (CA). Within these six areas selected for visits, the site visit team observed regularly-scheduled job clubs and conducted in-depth interviews with staff in 16 organizations – eight FBOs, four CBOs, and four public workforce agencies – selected purposively to represent the range of characteristics, formats, and activities of job clubs currently operated by FBOs, CBOs, and public workforce agencies. Key findings that emerged from the site visits included the following:

• Most of the 16 organizations visited as part of this study had no eligibility criteria for attendance at their job club sessions, with an overall aim of serving any and all unemployed job seekers within their service area or community. The group of workers most represented in the FBO/CBO job clubs visited was middle- and upper-aged, white collar technical/professional workers. Job clubs also sought to serve new entrants to the labor market (such as recent college graduates) and employed individuals looking to change careers, increase earnings, or move from part- to full-time work (though typically, these individuals made up a very small share of job seekers attending job clubs). Most often, FBOs/CBOs simply indicated in their brochures and outreach efforts that “all job seekers are welcome.”

• The job clubs operated by FBOs and CBOs were held at community locations made available free-of-charge by either the sponsoring organization or other neighborhood institutions, thereby eliminating any operating costs for meeting rooms but also making the sessions convenient for participants to attend. All the FBO-sponsored job clubs held their main sessions in meeting/conference rooms or fellowship halls in the church or on the church’s campus. Job clubs sponsored by CBOs met in a variety of rent-free locations; for example two of the CBO job clubs (Career Transition Group for Women and Neighbors-helping-Neighbors) held sessions in community meeting rooms in local public libraries.

• Most typically, FBOs/CBOs visited as part of this study had between 10 and 30 attendees at job club sessions, though all the job clubs visited indicated that there was variability in the numbers of attendees from session to session. Among the 12 FBO/CBO job clubs visited, there were three outliers in terms of attendance at job club sessions: (1) Roswell United Methodist Church’s Job Networking typically had up to 300 participants at their regular bi-monthly meeting, although they often saw from 350 to 375 attendees when they included job fairs in the program; (2) the McLean Bible Church averaged 150 attendees each week at its Career Network Ministry job clubs (ranging from 125 to 160 each week); and (3) ProMatch, often had over 100 attendees (including around 45 first-time participants) at General Membership meetings.

• Nearly all the 16 job clubs observed held group job club sessions either weekly or twice a month. The majority (nine) of the job clubs observed held sessions that met for approximately two hours. Most of the FBO, CBO, and public workforce agency job clubs observed followed an “open entry, open exit” format for participation in their job club sessions. Because their job clubs were designed to be open-entry, open-exit sessions (rather than a set number of meetings covering a specific list of instructional topics and issues), most of the FBO/CBO job clubs (as well as those operated by the public workforce agencies) visited did not use a formal curriculum or facilitator’s guide to structure the sequence or the content of the activities and/or the instructional material presented in their job club sessions. However, most of the job clubs observed followed a standard format, and, in some cases, a fixed agenda, to guide and structure their sessions.

• One critical difference between the job clubs sponsored by FBOs and CBOs and those operated by public workforce agencies is the staffing arrangements. Job clubs held at AJC/One-Stop Centers are led by paid professional staff, often with the help of support staff and an array of equipment and tools (e.g., computers, printers) to support the job search. Although a few of the FBO-sponsored job clubs received limited assistance from paid church staff, the vast majority of these clubs were organized, managed, and facilitated solely by unpaid volunteers. Most of the FBO/CBO job clubs rotated a small group of volunteer facilitators or used two or three facilitators to lead each meeting. Larger job clubs such as the McLean Bible Church’s Career Network Ministry needed up to 30 volunteers to operate multiple sessions and breakout groups at a single meeting.

• The FBO/CBO job clubs visited operated with little or no external funding, and most functioned with only a limited budget, particularly when compared to job clubs operated by professional staff in a public workforce center. Because they were able to keep their expenses to a minimum, FBOs/CBOs did not require grants or fellowship halls in the church or on the church’s campus. Job clubs sponsored by CBOs met in a variety of rent-free locations; for example two of the CBO job clubs (Career Transition Group for Women and Neighbors-helping-Neighbors) held sessions in community meeting rooms in local public libraries.

• Most typically, FBOs/CBOs visited as part of this study had between 10 and 30 attendees at job club sessions, though all the job clubs visited indicated that there was variability in the numbers of attendees from session to session. Among the 12 FBO/CBO job clubs visited, there were three outliers in terms of attendance at job club sessions: (1) Roswell United Methodist Church’s Job Networking typically had up to 300 participants at their regular bi-monthly meeting, although they often saw from 350 to 375 attendees when they included job fairs in the program; (2) the McLean Bible Church averaged 150 attendees each week at its Career Network Ministry job clubs (ranging from 125 to 160 each week); and (3) ProMatch, often had over 100 attendees (including around 45 first-time participants) at General Membership meetings.

• Nearly all the 16 job clubs observed held group job club sessions either weekly or twice a month. The majority (nine) of the job clubs observed held sessions that met for approximately two hours. Most of the FBO, CBO, and public workforce agency job clubs observed followed an “open entry, open exit” format for participation in their job club sessions. Because their job clubs were designed to be open-entry, open-exit sessions (rather than a set number of meetings covering a specific list of instructional topics and issues), most of the FBO/CBO job clubs (as well as those operated by the public workforce agencies) visited did not use a formal curriculum or facilitator’s guide to structure the sequence or the content of the activities and/or the instructional material presented in their job club sessions. However, most of the job clubs observed followed a standard format, and, in some cases, a fixed agenda, to guide and structure their sessions.

• One critical difference between the job clubs sponsored by FBOs and CBOs and those operated by public workforce agencies is the staffing arrangements. Job clubs held at AJC/One-Stop Centers are led by paid professional staff, often with the help of support staff and an array of equipment and tools (e.g., computers, printers) to support the job search. Although a few of the FBO-sponsored job clubs received limited assistance from paid church staff, the vast majority of these clubs were organized, managed, and facilitated solely by unpaid volunteers. Most of the FBO/CBO job clubs rotated a small group of volunteer facilitators or used two or three facilitators to lead each meeting. Larger job clubs such as the McLean Bible Church’s Career Network Ministry needed up to 30 volunteers to operate multiple sessions and breakout groups at a single meeting.

• The FBO/CBO job clubs visited operated with little or no external funding, and most functioned with only a limited budget, particularly when compared to job clubs operated by professional staff in a public workforce center. Because they were able to keep their expenses to a minimum, FBOs/CBOs did not require grants or major funders to initiate or maintain their job clubs – and most of the administrators/staff preferred structuring and operating their job clubs so that they would not require outside fund raising or solicitation of government/foundation grants.

• FBO/CBO-sponsored job clubs rarely collect in-depth information on participants, activities, and outcomes; in addition, they have not participated in evaluations in the past and would likely have deep reservations about participation in future evaluation efforts. While collecting name and other contact information, CBOs and FBOs do not typically collect other identifying information, such as Social Security numbers, that would enable an evaluator to link individual data to administrative data such as the Unemployment Insurance (UI) wage records. Many FBOs/CBOs (and all those visited as part of this study) do not maintain automated management information systems that provide information about participants’ background characteristics, services received, and outcomes. Finally, FBOs and CBOs are generally opposed to participating in an evaluation that involves random assignment and typically do not have excess demand for their services – hence, for most FBOs/CBOs, random assignment would mean turning away job seekers who could have been served.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Formative Evaluation Of Job Clubs Operated By Faith- And Community-Based Organizations: Findings From Site Visits And Options For Future Evaluation