Reflecting on an independent study of the long-term job training program on which Capital IDEA-Houston is modeled, Houston Chronicle business columnist Chris Tomlinson writes that: 

"Programs to train low-skilled, underemployed adults to move up the economic ladder are notoriously ineffective, but Project Quest in San Antonio has hit on a formula with a now-proven track record....

In a nine-year longitudinal study, Project Quest participants made more money, obtained more skills and worked more hours than a demographically-identical control group."

Marc Elliott, CEO of Economic Mobility Corp, asserts that “to see earning differences this large and for this long is unprecedented in the workforce development field.”  Economic Mobility is the organization that conducted the nine-year evaluation.

Capital IDEA-Houston, which was established by TMO, is modeled on Project QUEST.   In right-side photos above, trainees learn to conduct PERRLA evaluations and cradle newborns.  [Photo Credit: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News]

San Antonio Program Moves Low-Skilled into Middle Class, Houston Chronicle [pdf]

Nine Year Gains: Project QUEST's Continuing Impact, Economic Mobility Corporation [pdf]