Students Work and Service Program (SWASP) - Newfoundland and Labrador - February 1996

Students Work and Service Program (SWASP) - Newfoundland and Labrador

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• Introduction
• Project description
• Evaluation approach
• Key findings Project delivery
• Conclusion

This brief summarizes the findings from an evaluation study of the Student Work and Service Program, a Strategic Initiative funded by the governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador. The evaluation was jointly managed by a Federal-Provincial Committee with representation from the Newfoundland and Labrador Departments of Employment and Labour Relations, Education and Training, and Social Services as well as representatives form HRDC, Newfoundland Region and HRDC, Evaluation and Data Development at National Headquarters.

The Strategic Initiatives Program, announced in the Federal Budget of February 1994, is a five-year Federal-Provincial cost-shared program to test innovative ideas about social security reform. Pilots considered for funding include those that are intended to improve job opportunities for Canadians and help individuals adjust to the demands of the labour market. The evaluation of these pilots will provide important information on what works and what doesn't work for specific target groups.

SWASP, one component of a series of projects called ""Transitions: the Changes Within"", is funded under an agreement between the Minister of Human Resources Development Canada, and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, represented by the Ministers of three provincial departments: Employment and Labour Relations, Education and Training, and Social Services.

Youth in Newfoundland and Labrador have more difficulty in finding summer jobs and getting career-related work experience than youth in other parts of Canada. The SWASP Strategic Initiative was developed to respond to the particular difficulties faced by youth in trying to make the transition from school to work and had the following objectives:

• to test the use of a tuition voucher to help individuals to attend full-time post-secondary studies;
• to assist participants in getting career-related experience;
• to assist socially disadvantaged youth to participate in education and training; and
• to develop partnerships as a means to improve service to clients.

The budget for SWASP was $4.4 million over 2 years. It has two components: Paid Employment (PE) and Community Service (CS). PE had a target of 875 participants and CS, a target of 1,800 of which 1,000 were to be social assistance recipients (SARs).

Paid Employment had been used as an approach by the Provincial Department of Employment and Labour Relations but was revised so that, under SWASP, employers would receive a wage subsidy of $2.00 per hour (compared to a maximum of $3.00 per hour under the old program) to hire a student for up to 40 hours per week. The work period ranged from five weeks to eighteen weeks with the average being eight weeks. At the end of the work period, the student would receive a $50 tuition credit for each week worked in the form of a tuition voucher. The tuition voucher could be used at any recognized post-secondary education institution in Canada.

The Community Service component was targeted to both SAR and non-SAR students and designed to provide them with career-related experience within community agencies. Responsibility for delivering this part of the program was contracted to the Community Services Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. CSC is an organization that advocates on issues of social policy in Newfoundland, as well as coordinating volunteer services and providing youth training programs. Students were placed for a maximum of eight weeks (or 280 hours) in community agencies. They received $50 per week as a stipend and a tuition credit up to a maximum of $1200 once they completed their placement. SARs continued to receive social assistance throughout their placement.

The project began in June 1994 with most of the individuals completing their participation by September 1995. The evaluation examined issues of program delivery and short-term results; it was not possible to assess longer-term impacts. Information sources included: interviews; focus groups; a review of the literature; departmental information systems; and, a follow-up survey of 1,007 participants and 460 sponsors.

Originally it was intended to compare program results of participants with a group of non-participants; however, there were difficulties in selecting a valid and useful comparison sample so the Evaluation Committee decided against it.

The project was designed and operating within a very short time frame. This was a remarkable achievement, particularly in the case of Community Service which is a new component. The CS component was innovative in that it allowed SARs to ""earn tuition"" toward their future education costs without reducing current social assistance levels. However, in the PE component, participants were paid wages. There was some anecdotal evidence that DOSS regulations (which require that if wages are greater than a base level of income, social assistance is reduced), possible employer discrimination, and the practice of allowing employers to select participants, acted as barriers to increased participation by SARs in the PE Component.

Areas where program delivery could be improved include actively promoting the program, making sure that the needs of sponsors and participants are being met, and providing career counselling for participants.

Partnership building

New partnerships played a limited role in the delivery of the PE component given that ELR was responsible for service delivery and a previous provincial program provided an effective model. In the Community Service Component, the development of a partnership between Human Resources Development Canada, three departments of the provincial government, and the Community Services Council helped to put in place a program which met the needs of the target group. The partnership approach was largely responsible for the success of the Community Service component and also made it easier to solve problems as they occurred.

However, many of the sponsoring employers from the private sector and community organizations were not made aware of project objectives and their own responsibilities in providing meaningful work assignments. This limited the extent to which the program could assist in the transition from school to work. For future initiatives, the evaluation identified a need for better definitions of sponsor roles, responsibilities, and information about partnerships. The evaluation process itself resulted in developing new federal-provincial partnerships to foster a common understanding of each other's perspectives and concerns.

Success

It was not possible, at this early stage, to say how successful the program was in assisting individuals to complete their post-secondary education and easing school-to-work difficulties. Nevertheless, the study offered signs of encouragement and identified opportunities to increase the likelihood of success. In summary,

• almost all participants are attending or intend to attend post-secondary education;

• the impact of the program was good for SARs. About one-third of those who currently attend school say that they would not have done so without SWASP;

• the Program did not appear to have an incremental impact on the participation of non-SARs in post-secondary studies. About 90% who are currently attending school indicated that they would be attending school even if they had not been involved in SWASP;

• overall, a much greater focus on the quality of the work experience is necessary. This can be done by counselling student clients and bringing employers into the partnership. Employers should be informed of the part they are expected to play in preparing students for future jobs and be given help as required.

Cost effectiveness

Measures of cost-effectiveness were limited in that the program had been in place such a short time. Program officials and others interviewed for this study considered the investment under SWASP to be modest and worthwhile. They pointed out that, due to the tuition voucher, government expenditures were more targeted than they had been with alternate and past programs.

The impact of the program is greater for SARs because, without the tuition voucher, they are less likely to attend post-secondary education and consequently, less likely to get a good job. Even for non-SARs, program officials and others interviewed thought that the Program was worth the money spent and a better approach than current programs which are targeted at post-secondary students. However, it should be noted that the tuition voucher did not play a large part in the decision of non-SARs attending post-secondary education.

An important issue to be considered in the evaluation of pilot projects under the Strategic Initiatives Program is the suitability of the program to other target groups and areas in Canada. In the case of SWASP, the study found that SARs are an appropriate target group for this type of program. Expansion to non SARs in Newfoundland could be justified, given the limited number of summer employment opportunities and the difficulty for post-secondary graduates to make the transition from school-to-work. In other parts of Canada, the needs of post-secondary students may be less severe than that of other groups in society. However, the use of the tuition voucher could be considered as a cost-effective modification to existing summer student programs.