1. CEIP The Community Employment Innovation Project
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CEIP The Community Employment Innovation Project
David Gyarmati, CEIP Deputy Project Director, SRDC
Darrell Kyte, Researcher, SRDC
Angus Gillis, Chair, New Waterford Community Board

2. Session Outline Community Employment Innovation Project
Part 1
Community Employment Innovation Project
Program Model, Research Design, and Implementation
Part 2
Social Capital and CEIP
A Clear and Measurable Definition
Part 3
CEIP in New Waterford
Implementation Challenges and Project Highlights
Discussion

3. Community Employment Innovation Project
1. Introduction: What is CEIP?
2. The Program Model: What does CEIP offer?
The offer to Individuals
The offer to Communities
3. The Research: What are we trying to Learn?
Research Questions
Research Design
4. Implementing CEIP
Recruiting Participants
Community Engagement and Mobilization
Types of Projects and Work Placements Created
5. Project Milestones and Research Timelines

4. Introduction: What is CEIP?
A research and demonstration project studying the effects of community-based employment as an alternative to welfare and employment insurance
Test of an approach which aims to enhance the employability of participants while supporting community development
Focus on enhancing skills through work experience, strengthening of social capital, and improving community capacity in areas of chronic high unemployment
Gives communities control of projects and job creation

5. Introduction: What is CEIP?
Sponsored by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and Nova Scotia Department of Community Services (NS-DCS)
Managed by the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) a non-profit social policy research organization
Long-term study that began in 1999 and continues until 2008

6. The Program Model: The offer to Individuals
Transfer recipients of EI and IA are offered 3 years of full-time employment on a variety of community projects
$312 per week (insurable) plus medical benefits
35 hours work per week plus 15 days personal leave
Limited training (basic job readiness, core vocational)
Matched to jobs by skills, preferences, and location
Portfolio-building and Job search assistance
Must stop receiving regular EI or welfare benefits as their primary source of income

7. The Program Model: The offer to Communities
6 communities offered a workforce for up to five years (total of 750 workers)
$30,000 planning grant provided to each community
Access to community development expertise
Referral of CEIP workers to community projects and participant payroll are managed for the communities through central office
Each community must elect representative board and develop strategic plans through community consultation
Control over project priorities and approval process lies with communities – only limited guidelines provided

8. The Research: What are we trying to Learn?
Will a significant number of unemployed workers accept the offer of a stable period of community service employment at relatively low wages?
Will taking part in community projects provide useful skills, work experience, and enhance social networks in a way that improves individuals’ employability?
Will this lead to improvements in post-program labour market outcomes and quality of life (e.g. increased employment, income, and reduced transfers and hardship)?

9. The Research: What are we trying to Learn?
Can communities in Cape Breton generate worthwhile projects for the community which also provide meaningful work opportunities for unemployed workers?
Will planning for and operating these projects enhance community capacity and longer-run community development by strengthening both the social and market economy?
Is CEIP a cost-effective way to achieve these dual goals of increasing the employment prospects of individuals and contributing to community development?

10. The Research Design Individual Impact Study Random assignment design
Participant Surveys at Baseline, 18, 40, and 54 months
Administrative Data on Transfer Receipt
Community Effects
Theory of Change and quasi-experimental comparison communities design
3-Wave Longitudinal Community Survey
Key Informant Interviews, Focus Groups, Administrative Indicators, Audit of the Community Organizations
Implementation Research
Documentation of all phases of CEIP to evaluate implementation and extract best practices and lessons learned
Interviews, Process Observations, Document Analyses

11. Recruitment of Participants
Successful Recruitment of study participants over a planned year intake period from July 2000 to June 2002
Random Selection from EI and welfare caseloads
Information Sessions and Informed Consent
1006 EI beneficiaries and 516 IA recipients volunteered
Volunteers were well informed about the main features of CEIP and made an informed choice to join the study
Reasons given for rejecting the CEIP offer varied:
Among EI non-volunteers: mainly due to recall expectations or because CEIP wages were too low
Among IA non-volunteers: most common reasons for rejecting the CEIP offer were related to personal, family, or health problems

12. Recruitment of Participants
Half of the volunteers were randomly assigned to the program group (761) eligible for CEIP while the other half serves as a counterfactual
There were no systematic differences between program and control group members for either the EI or IA study samples
Of 761 Program Group members who accepted the offer, 662 completed their enrolment and became eligible for CEIP community work placements
Size of the available CEIP workforce varies, with participants on inactive status at various times throughout the year
Currently 521 Active Participants

13. Community Engagement
The offer was made in 1998/99 to 6 communities in CBRM through community consultation meetings
Following acceptance of the offer, communities formed steering committees to guide their involvement
5 communities went on to elect representative boards and develop strategic plans through community consultation:
New Waterford, Sydney Mines, Glace Bay, North Sydney, District 7
Communities proceeded to solicit and approve projects from community sponsors, leading to the first set of CEIP work placements in September 2000

14. Total Number of Projects
Types of Projects
Total Number of Projects
227
(March 2003)

15. Types of Placements
Total
Number of Placements
883
(March 2003)

16. Project Milestones and Research Timelines
Beginning in early 2004, the available CEIP workforce for communities begins to decrease steadily, with between 25 and 40 participants exiting the project each month
By July 2005, all participants will have exited the project, bringing formal project operations to an end
Research with participants and communities will continue until 2008
December 2003: First CEIP Implementation Report
Summer 2004: Implementation research continues with communities leading to follow-up Implementation Report on best practices
Spring 2005: First report on Community Effects drawing on data from two waves of longitudinal community survey
Fall 2005: First report on Individual Impacts using 18-month follow-up interviews with participants and administrative data