The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program aimed to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other adults with low incomes for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and were expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand. OPRE oversees a robust evaluation portfolio focused on the HPOG Program, which includes the HPOG 2.0 National Evaluation. The evaluation is being conducted by Abt Associates and its partners the Urban Institute, MEF Associates, Insight Policy Research, and NORC at the University of Chicago.
The National Evaluation includes an impact evaluation to examine the collective impact of the 38 local programs designed and implemented by the 27 non-Tribal HPOG 2.0 grantees at 15, 36, and 66 months after random assignment. In the short-term (primarily data collected about 15 months after study entry), the study examined impacts of access to a local HPOG 2.0 program on receipt of training (in general and for healthcare professions) and support services, on employment and earnings (in general and for healthcare professions), and on broader measures of well-being. The study also looked at how impacts varied by study members’ baseline characteristics.
OPRE recently published the Short-Term Impact Report, which shares that collectively HPOG 2.0 programs:
- Substantially increase educational progress—defined as having completed training by earning a credential or having been continuously enrolled in training.
- Lead to large relative increases across a range of other training measures, including the percentage earning any new credential; the percentage earning exam-based certifications or licenses; the percentage completing six or more months of training; and the number of months of training.
- Increase career connectedness—defined as being employed full-time, in training full-time, or at least part-time in both employment and training.
- Increase employment in healthcare occupations.
- Do not have detectable impacts on earnings, on any employment, or on employment with health insurance benefits.
The large collective impacts on healthcare training completed and the moderate impact on healthcare employment mean that the HPOG 2.0 programs contributed to the program’s goal of expanding the skilled healthcare workforce.
The new report also discusses possible explanations for the lack of short-term earnings or employment impacts. While this analysis does not find impacts on short-term earnings, it may be too early to expect substantial earnings changes. The programs did, however, improve two potential precursors to future earnings: career connectedness and perceptions of progress towards career goals. Later reports will include follow-up at about three and five and a half years after randomization and provide additional data on impacts that may arise later, including earnings. In 2021, we also launched the COVID-Cohort Study, which will examine the short-term impacts of HPOG before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
We look forward to continuing to share findings from HPOG with you and to better understand how the program impacts participants over time.
To learn more about the HPOG 2.0 National Evaluation, including other reports and briefs from the Impact Evaluation, Descriptive Evaluation, and Cost-Benefit Analysis, please visit: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/national-evaluation-2nd-generation-health-profession-opportunity-grants-hpog-20.
Lisa Zingman is a Social Science Research Analyst in OPRE’s Division of Economic Independence. Her work focuses on building the research evidence for programs aimed at improving the lives of low-income children, individuals, and families.
Mina Addo is a National Poverty Fellow in OPRE. Her work focuses on education and training programs and financial capability interventions. She has a particular interest in precarious work and the intersection between economic insecurity and well-being.
Nicole Constance is the Deputy Director of OPRE’s Division of Economic Independence. Her work in OPRE has focused on employment and training, career pathways programs, parents involved in the child support program, and justice-involved parents. She is especially interested in improving employment opportunities for low-income populations, particularly young men, noncustodial parents, and parents who have been incarcerated.