View Research by Author - Heidi Johnson

Publications

This report presents the final results for the evaluation of the New Americans Centers (NACs) demonstration project in Arkansas and Iowa. This demonstration was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA). Through the project, ETA provided a three-year grant to Arkansas and Iowa to develop NACs within One-Stop Career Centers in high immigrant population areas. The purposes of the grant were to promote stability and rapid employment with living wages for individuals or family members who were without work or were in need of new work, speed the transition of new immigrants into their communities, assist employers, and enhance the economic development opportunities of these communities.

This series examines youth vulnerability and risk-taking behaviors on several outcomes for young adults, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort. Notable results suggest youth follow one of four patterns in connecting to the labor market and school in the transition to adulthood: consistently-connected, later-connected, initially-connected, or never-connected. Second generation Latinos make a fairly smooth transition to young adulthood, but are less likely to engage in post-secondary schooling than whites. Youth from low-income families, distressed neighborhoods, and youth with poor mental health engage in relatively higher levels of adolescent risk behaviors and have relatively lower earnings and levels of connectedness in early adulthood.

The Minnesota Integrated Services Projects (ISP) focus on improving the delivery of employment, health, and social services to families who receive cash assistance and have serious or multiple barriers to employment. Operating in eight sites, the project seeks to improve access to services that address multiple needs and coordinate services provided by multiple service systems. As part of a larger evaluation of ISP, this report presents results from focus groups with ISP participants in four sites. The report discusses the characteristics of focus group participants, how they were referred to ISP, the services they received, and participants' views of the benefits of ISP.

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