This report reviews our findings from two and one-half years of monitoring and evaluating the activities of four alternative staffing organizations (ASOs). ASOs are worker-centered, socialpurpose businesses created by community-based organizations and national nonprofits. These fee-for-service organizations use the model of temporary staffing services to help job seekers who face labor market barriers access work experience and potential employers. They place job seekers in temporary and “temp-to-perm” assignments with customer businesses, charging their customers a wage-based markup fee. This field of practice first emerged in the 1970s and grew rapidly in the 1990s; it now includes over 50 ASOs. Alternative staffing complements other workforce development approaches, including job readiness, training, and sectoral strategies, to successfully connect people to jobs and promote career progression.

We conducted this monitoring and evaluation study between 2009 and 2011. It focuses on outcomes for workers who use ASO services to find employment and on customer businesses that fill jobs through these services. Our study is part of the Alternative Staffing Demonstration (ASDII), an initiative of the C. S. Mott Foundation; it is the second national demonstration sponsored by the Foundation.