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·	From Theory To Practice

• Introduction
• Project Description
• Evaluation Design
• Key Findings
• Conclusion

Introduction

This brief summarizes the findings of the summative evaluation of the Compass Program conducted in the Winter of 1997. The evaluation was managed by a Federal-Provincial Committee with representation from Human Resources Development Canada, the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services, Employment Resource Centres (ERCs), and the Nova Scotia Economic Renewal Agency.

Project Description

The Nova Scotia Compass Program was developed in response to the federal government's Strategic Initiatives Program where federal and provincial partners were to test innovative ideas relating to social security reform. Pilots considered for funding included those addressing priority areas such as learning and education, training, employment, and income security in order to enhance employability and lower social costs.

The Compass Program was funded through a federal-provincial cooperation agreement between Human Resources Development Canada and the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services. Compass operated from October 1994 to October 1996 and served 1,609 participants. Total expenditures were $12.5 million over the two year period.

The overall goal of the Compass Strategic Initiative was to assist individuals at risk of long-term dependency on social assistance gain financial independence through training and employment services. The program targeted unemployed youth, single parents, persons with disabilities and fishery workers displaced from the labour market.

The Compass Program consisted of the following components:

Work Experience Option (WEO): The objective of the WEO option was to provide youth between 18 and 30 years of age on municipal social assistance with work experience to enhance their employability. In the first year of the program, clients were paid a weekly allowance of $160 for up to 26 weeks. Changes were subsequently made and participants placed with employers were paid a minimum wage of $5.15 per hour for up to 16 weeks.

Transitional Training Option (TTO): Under the TTO, a wage subsidy of up to $5.62 per hour was made available to private sector employers and non-profit employers to provide employment opportunities for job-ready social assistance recipients (SARs). The primary target group was single parents in receipt of Family Benefits (FB) referred to the local Employment Resource Centre by employment counsellors. Employers had to contribute a minimum of 25 percent of the total wage and were asked to commit to offer the client permanent employment when the subsidy ended.

Enterprise Development Option (EDO): The EDO assisted social assistance recipients (SARs) to establish and operate a small business. Under Stream I of the EDO, clients developed entrepreneurial skills over a 20 week period and received follow-up support consisting of one-on-one counselling. Under Stream II, qualified clients received loan assistance of up to $2000 for their business, and in exceptional cases, up to $5000 through the Business Service Centres of the Nova Scotia Economic Renewal Agency.

Opportunity Fund: The Opportunity Fund permitted the purchase of speciality items/services such as textbooks, course fees, work boots, and safety equipment which could improve a client's chance of getting employment.

Evaluation Design

The evaluation used a quasi-experimental design to measure the impacts and effects of the Compass Program as well as assess its cost-effectiveness. Outcome measures focused on labour market outcomes of participants as compared to a comparison group. Information sources included: a review and analysis of administrative data, interviews with program officials, focus groups, a survey of Compass participants and a matched sample of non-participants, and an econometric analysis to determine program impact.

Key Findings

Program Relevance

• Compass addressed Strategic Initiative priority areas - employment, learning and education, training and supporting the transition to employability to lower social costs.

• The Job Developer was a key innovative element of the Compass Program design. They were instrumental in securing placements in the employer community by matching SAR clients with employers.

• The Opportunity Fund was also a valuable innovation which provided much needed funds to clients for the purchase of necessary items to enter employment.

Program Design and Delivery

• Approximately 20% of WEO participants were over 30 years of age and therefore not in the planned target group.

• Although TTO was primarily intended for job-ready Family Benefits clients, the level of participation by this group was lower than anticipated. The main reasons for the lower numbers were the lack of suitable referrals as well as clients' willingness to participate in the program. Reasons for FB clients' reluctance to participate included barriers such as child care, transportation and potential loss of medical coverage.

• EDO was generally underutilized by the Employment Resource Centres. The underlying problems included lack of timely communication, a lack of entrepreneurial training in some areas of the province, and a lack of business expertise in the ERCs.

Program Outcomes

The following outcomes were drawn from the participant, non-participant and employer surveys.

Participants and Non-Participants

• At the time of the client survey, more than half of the Compass participants were employed while only about one-third of non-participants were working.

• Approximately 33% of participants were on social assistance at the time of the survey versus 57% of non-participants.

• The program appeared to have no effect on the probability of further education or training.

• Compass participants showed evidence of increased reliance on Employment Insurance as 25% of participants were on EI at the time of the survey compared to only 12% of non-participants.

• Approximately 72% of EDO participants were self-employed, although about half this group were supplementing their income through social assistance.

• Preliminary evidence indicated that the TTO was more effective than the other options at moving individuals from social assistance to employment - 61% of TTO participants were employed at the time of the survey compared to 51% for WEO and 44% for EDO.

• Overall, clients were very satisfied with Compass giving it an average grade of B+. Clients were particularly pleased with the help they got from the Job Developer.

Employers

• Approximately 45% of TTO participants and close to 30% of WEO participants continued to work with the placement employer after the wage subsidy ended.

• There was evidence that Compass resulted in some displacement since half the employers indicated that they would have hired someone in the absence of the program. However, employers stated they would not likely have hired a social assistance recipient.

• Overall, employers were very pleased with Compass assigning it a grade of A- on average. Employers were particularly happy with the service they received from the Job Developer but showed some dissatisfaction with the quality of employees referred and with employees' work attitudes.

Econometric Analysis of Impact

Labour Market History

This section analyzed the relationship between participating in Compass and the time spent in three main activities: working, in school and unemployed. The analysis examined time devoted to these activities from 1992 to 1996.

• Evidence showed that the Compass program increased participants' proportion of time spent working by 12 to 14 percent, decrease their time spent unemployed by 10 to 12 percent and basically leave unchanged their time spent in school. The impact of TTO was greater than that of WEO on labour market participation.

• Compass participants showed reduced reliance on social assistance by 22 to 30 percentage points in the short term. Reliance was reduced by about two and half months per year on average.

• In part because Compass helped qualify participants for EI, the program seemed to increase reliance on EI. Evidence, based on the first 6 months after having participated in Compass, showed an increase of 8 to 11 weeks on an annual basis.

Conclusion

The short-term analysis revealed that Nova Scotia Compass was successful in reaching its primary objective: to reduce reliance on social assistance. The program reached this objective by providing work experience to social assistance recipients, by offering a wage subsidy to employers to hire participants, and providing assistance to clients to establish their own business.

The innovative elements of Compass, in particular the Job Developer function, were cited by employers and participants as being key to their satisfaction with the program.

The evaluation revealed that the use of social assistance fell for Compass participants by over 20 percent, although an increase in the use of E.I. occured in the year partially offsetting this. The net impact was reduced reliance on income support of about 10 percentage points.

Compass also led to an increase in the amount of time spent working and although there were indications of positive earnings impacts, this conclusion could not be supported due to the lack of post-program data availability.