Coordinated Needs-Assessment One-Stop Model for Welfare Recipients
RCTReview
Working-age beneficiaries of minimum income schemes often underutilize available public social programs due to fragmented administrative navigation and complex application requirements.
Picture this
Navigating municipal social assistance without guidance is like trying to find specific goods in a giant, unlabeled warehouse without an information desk. A coordinated one-stop shop provides a dedicated guide who evaluates an individual's overall needs and directly connects them to available social benefits and municipal programs.
What the evidence says
The one-stop shop model significantly increased the take-up of municipal social support programs and enhanced participants' mental health, but produced no statistically significant impacts on employment status, days worked, job search ability, or take-up of employment and training programs.
- Who was studied
- 1,183 working-age minimum income beneficiaries in Barcelona, Spain (750 treatment, 433 comparison).
- How
- Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluating a 10-month intervention by the social services of the Ayuntamiento de Barcelona involving needs assessment, personalized planning, and coordinated casework.
What to do
Assign specialized municipal caseworkers to conduct holistic intake assessments for minimum income recipients to streamline access and increase take-up of auxiliary social support programs.
From the source
"Results showed that this approach increased the take-up of social support programs offered by public social services but it did not increase the take-up of employment and training programs. ... The program did not impact life satisfaction or self-reported health, but it enhanced participants' mental health."
promoting-labor-market-inclusion-policy-publication.pdf