The Community Employment Innovation Project Design and Implementation John Greenwood Claudia Nicholson David Gyarmati Darrell Kyte Melanie MacInnis Reuben Ford SOCIAL RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION CORPORATION December 2003 The Community Employment Innovation Project is funded by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services (NS-DCS). The findings and conclusions stated in this report do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of HRDC or NS-DCS. The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation is a non-profit organization and registered charity with offices in Ottawa, Vancouver, and Sydney, Nova Scotia. SRDC was created specifically to develop, field test, and rigorously evaluate social programs. SRDC’s two-part mission is to help policy-makers and practitioners identify social policies and programs that improve the well-being of all Canadians, with a special concern for the effects on the disadvantaged, and to raise the standards of evidence that are used in assessing social policies. As an intermediary organization, SRDC attempts to bridge the worlds of academic researchers, government policy-makers, and on-the-ground program operators. Providing a vehicle for the development and management of complex demonstration projects, SRDC seeks to work in close partnership with provinces, the federal government, local programs, and private philanthropies. Copyright © 2003 by the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation Contents Tables and Figures v Acknowledgements ix Executive Summary ES-1 1 Introduction 1 2 Background and Theory 5 Employment Insurance 5 Income Assistance 7 The Social Economy and Social Capital 9 Why CEIP Might Make a Difference 11 Research Hypotheses 12 Why a Test Is Needed 13 3 The CEIP Design 15 The Offer to Individuals 15 The Role of Communities 19 The Evaluation Design 20 Summary 33 4 The CEIP Communities 35 Why Cape Breton? 35 Why the CBRM? 36 The Project Communities 37 The Process of Community Engagement 41 5 Enrolling Participants 51 Defining the Eligible Population 51 Selecting Potential Participants 54 Sample Enrolment 56 6 Characteristics of the Research Sample 63 The Enrolled Sample of EI Beneficiaries 64 The Enrolled Sample of IA Recipients 73 How Representative Is the Sample of Enrollees? 81 Did Random Assignment Work? 83 7 CEIP Take-Up 85 Summary of Findings 85 The ISFUS Survey 86 The Non-volunteer Survey 91 Conclusion 98 8 The CEIP Office 99 Engaging Local Organizations 99 Building the CEIP Office Consortium 100 The CEIP Office 101 CEIP Office Operations 101 Systems and Payroll 112 Conclusion 114 -iii- 9 Assessing Intake and Early Program Operations 115 Sample Selection 116 Outreach and Information Sessions 118 Random Assignment 121 Orientation 123 Employability Assessments and Job-Readiness Training 125 PMIS and CEIP Payroll 129 Lessons Learned: Intake and Early Program Operations 133 10 Talking With Program Group Members 137 Findings in Brief 137 Topics of Discussion 138 Recruiting the Participants 138 Experiences With Work Placements 139 Experiences With CEIP Staff and Program Services 143 Views Toward Aspects of the Program Model 144 Supplementary Benefits of Program Participation 145 Expectations of CEIP 147 Conclusion 148 Appendices A The EI Program 149 B The Income Assistance Program in Nova Scotia 153 C The Analysis of Minimum Detectable Effects 159 D Selecting Comparison Communities 163 E Socio-economic Profile of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality 169 F The CEIP Communities 179 G Characteristics of CEIP Volunteers at Baseline, by Assistance Type 193 H Characteristics of CEIP Volunteers at Baseline, by Assistance Type and Research Group 199 References 205 -iv- Tables and Figures Table Page 3.1 Summary of a Theory of Change for Community Effects 26 3.2 Benefit-Cost Analysis Accounting Framework 30 4.1 The CEIP Communities 40 5.1 Information Session Attendance and Enrolment in CEIP 58 6.1 Employment History of EI Sample Members 67 6.2 Reasons for Job Loss and Recall Expectations of EI Sample Members 68 6.3 Willingness to Take Different Action Towards Finding a Job, EI Sample Members 69 6.4 Social Network of EI Sample Members 70 6.5 Health Status of EI Sample Members 72 6.6 Employment History IA Sample Members 76 6.7 Reasons for Job Loss and Recall Expectations, IA Sample Members 77 6.8 Willingness to Take Different Action Towards Finding a Job, IA Sample Members 78 6.9 Social Network of IA Sample Members 79 6.10 Health Status of IA Sample Members 81 6.11 Selected Characteristics of EI Sample Members at the Time of Sample Selection 82 6.12 Selected Characteristics of IA Sample Members at the Time of Sample Selection 83 7.1 ISFUS Sample Size and Response Rate 86 7.2 Comparison of ISFUS Respondents With the Study Sample 87 7.3 Knowledge About CEIP 89 7.4 Non-volunteer Sample Size and Response Rate 92 7.5 Characteristics of the Non-volunteer Sample 93 7.6 Comparison of Selected Demographic Characteristics of Non-volunteers and Volunteers 97 A.1 Insurable Hours Required 150 A.2 Minimum Divisor by Unemployment Rate 151 A.3 Number of EI Claims and Benefits Paid, 1997–2002 152 A.4 Unemployment Rate 152 B.1 Average Monthly IA Caseload 157 B.2 Income Assistance Payments 157 C.1 Minimum Detectable Effects for CEIP 162 D.1 Candidate List of Comparison Communities 164 D.2 Variables Used for Community Comparison 165 -v- D.3 Community Groupings for Proximity Score Analysis 166 E.1 Labour Market Statistics for Nova Scotia, Halifax, and Cape Breton, 1997–2001 176 F.1 Community Profiles — Community Population, Dwellings, and Residential Assessments, 2001 191 G.1 Characteristics of CEIP Volunteers at Baseline, by Assistance Type 193 H.1 Characteristics of CEIP Volunteers at Baseline, by Assistance Type and Research Group 199 Figure Page 4.1 The Six CEIP Communities 39 4.2 Estimated Timelines and Milestones for CEIP Communities and Key Surveys 42 4.3 CEIP Projects, October 2000 to March 2003, by Type of Community Need Serviced 48 4.4 CEIP Projects, October 2000 to March 2003, by Type 48 4.5 CEIP Placements, October 2000 to March 2003, by Occupation Code 49 5.1 Estimated Timelines and Milestones for CEIP Participants and Key Surveys 53 5.2 Overview of CEIP Intake and the Random Assignment Process 57 5.3 Monthly Enrolment of EI and IA Sample Members in CEIP 60 5.4 Cumulative Enrolment of EI and IA Sample Members in CEIP 61 6.1 Age of CEIP Volunteers From the EI Caseload 64 6.2 Education Credentials of EI Study Sample 65 6.3 Number of People in the Household, EI Sample Members 66 6.4 Contributors to Household Income, EI Sample Members 66 6.5 Household Income of EI Sample Members 66 6.6 Occupation of EI Sample Members in Most Recent Job 67 6.7 Number of Years Lived in Cape Breton, EI Sample Members 69 6.8 Number of Years at Current Address, EI Sample Members 70 6.9 Age of CEIP Volunteers From the IA Caseload 73 6.10 Education Credentials of IA Study Sample 74 6.11 Number of People in the Household, IA Sample Members 74 6.12 Contributors to Household Income, IA Sample Members 75 6.13 Household Income of IA Sample Members 75 6.14 Occupation of IA Sample Members in Most Recent Job 77 6.15 Number of Years Lived in Cape Breton, IA Sample Members 78 6.16 Number of Years at Current Address, IA Sample Members 79 C.1 Standardized Sampling Distributions 160 C.2 Sampling Distributions of the Test Statistic 161 C.3 The Effect of Sample Size on Alpha or Beta Error 162 -vi- D.1 Communities Similar to All Six CEIP Sites 168 E.1 Population Change, 1976–1996 170 E.2 Population by Age Group, 2001 171 E.3 Student Enrolment — Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board 172 E.4 Health Indicators for Canada, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton (Zone 5), 1997 173 E.5 Economic Dependency Ratio (EDR) for Various Nova Scotia Counties, 1998 177 F.1 The CEIP Program and Comparison Communities 179 -vii- Acknowledgements The Community Employment Innovation Project (CEIP) was the result of collaboration among a large number of organizations and individuals. We would like to acknowledge and thank those who have been instrumental to CEIP’s success so far. First and foremost, CEIP would not have been possible without the support of Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), the principal funder of the project and the originator of the idea for the project that eventually became CEIP. In the Applied Research Branch of HRDC, Jean-Pierre Voyer provided the early inspiration and direction for CEIP, and Satya Brink coordinated consultations at the provincial and local level and provided the conceptual framework for using the social economy as a source of employment. Allen Zeesman and Louis Grignon have guided CEIP through its first four years. Initially Margaret Laing and then Jean-François Bertrand provided ongoing advice and served on CEIP’s Project Implementation Committee. At HRDC’s Nova Scotia Regional Office, Howard Green provided advice and made HRDC resources available to meet CEIP’s needs, and Paul McNeill provided information and guidance on early design issues. In Cape Breton Wayne Talbot chairs the Project Implementation Committee, and his management team, especially Bruce Reardon, Alice Almond, and Bernadette Thériault, provided assistance throughout CEIP’s start-up. In addition, Ginger Fillier was seconded from HRDC to join the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) team for the first year of the project, and we are especially grateful for the substantial contribution she made to getting CEIP off the ground. The participation of the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services (NS-DCS), CEIP’s other funder, was initially directed by Ron L’Esperance.