Does Coordination of Welfare Services' Delivery Make a Difference for Extremely Disadvantaged Jobseekers? Evidence from the 'YP4' Trial

Jeff Borland, Yi-Ping Tseng and Roger Wilkins ()

Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

Abstract: Fragmented welfare service delivery has been identified as a significant barrier to improving outcomes for highly disadvantaged individuals. The ‘YP4’ trial, conducted from 2005 to 2009, sought to evaluate, by randomised control method, an approach proposed by Campbell et al. (2003) for integrating delivery of employment, housing, health and other services for young homeless jobseekers. Rather than providing extra access to services or utilisation of different services, the YP4 trial involved assignment of a case manager to help tailor and coordinate available services to reflect the specific circumstances of young homeless jobseekers. We find that the YP4 program did not have a significant effect on economic or psychological wellbeing, a finding that is robust to application of experimental and quasi-experimental methods. It is argued that our study contributes to knowledge on program design, particularly in relation to the importance of the scale of intervention and program administration.

Keywords: Welfare programs; disadvantaged jobseekers; randomised controlled trials; program evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D04 I38 J08 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2013-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp and nep-ure
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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