About the Literature Review

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The literature review aims to examine the roles and activities of navigator programs in workforce development and related fields as well as the outcomes and impacts of such programs. To address these goals, researchers identified and reviewed relevant literature published between 2010 and 2021. They also reviewed the bibliographic references of the identified articles for additional materials.

Key Takeaways

• Navigators serve both recipient-facing and system-facing roles, depending on the specific program. Recipient-facing activities incorporate a wide variety of direct service functions, including making referrals, coaching recipients, and providing case manager services. System-facing activities are internal to the program, including addressing policies and procedures that could create barriers for users, cultivating closer and more effective inter-system partnerships, leading teams, and providing capacity development and knowledge to those who perform the service delivery.
• Navigator activities can be grouped into seven areas: recruitment and uptake, engagement, direct service, referral and direction, partner and system coordination, policy and procedural improvement, and capacity building. Each program described in the review emphasized a different combination of these roles and responsibilities for its navigators.
• Five causal studies included in the review indicated that programs offering navigator support had mixed to positive impacts on participant outcomes. In postsecondary education, participants receiving navigator services and more direct contact with their navigators had higher semester-to-semester persistence and higher weighted grade point averages. In workforce programs, navigator services were associated with higher employment rates, and higher likelihood of receiving federal disability benefits but had limited or no impact on earnings or housing stability. These five studies all examined navigator programs, which often included other resources and support in addition to navigator services.

Citation

Di Biase, C., Mochel, M. (2021). Manhattan Strategy Group. Navigators in Social Service Delivery Settings: A Review of the Literature with Relevance to Workforce Development Programs. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.