CEO Library

In 2020, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund Abt Associates to conduct the Support to Communities Grant Program Evaluation. This implementation study aims to provide new and critical information on promising practices and implementation challenges in providing services that address both employment and treatment needs for those with opioid use disorders (OUDs) and substance use disorders (SUDs).

The Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) and commissioned contractor ICF Incorporated to conduct the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) Impact Evaluation and TAP Employment Navigator and Partnership Pilot (ENPP) Formative Evaluation.

In 2020, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor Mathematica Policy Research to conduct the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Research Portfolio Project.

The report, the second of the Youth CareerConnect (YCC) project’s implementation study, examines the evolution of YCC program implementation, and focuses on the third and fourth years of the grant, when grant funding was scheduled to end. It also examines grantee approaches to sustainability of YCC activities and services as they approached the end of grant funding.

In July 2012, Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, Kansas, received a grant totaling $1.5 million to develop and implement the water technologies training program for residents of the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex (KJCC) in Topeka. The goal of the training program was to increase incarcerated youth’s employment and earnings potential and reduce their recidivism rates after release from the correctional facility. Obtaining good job placements in high-demand occupations could help youth develop economic stability and, ultimately, self sufficiency.

Youth from low-income neighborhoods are at risk of poor outcomes throughout their lives. Many will drop out of school, which can lead to economic hardship and a greater chance of getting involved in the criminal justice system—making their lives even more difficult.

In 2014, law enforcement agencies made about 1 million juvenile arrests, each of which generated a record. Having a juvenile record reduces a youth’s prospects in life by limiting employment, educational, and housing opportunities long after the incident’s resolution. Yet a juvenile record does not have to permanently restrict a youth’s opportunities. Youth with juvenile records can reduce or completely bar public access to their records by expunging or sealing them.

In 2014, law enforcement agencies in the United States made nearly 1 million juvenile arrests. Roughly half of the cases formally processed resulted in youth being adjudicated delinquent. Youth with convictions face lasting collateral consequences such as decreased access to education, employment opportunities, and certain social welfare benefits, like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), aside from more direct consequences like fines, fees, or imprisonment. Recognizing this, the U.S.

Using data collected throughout the implementation of the Youth CareerConnect (YCC) grant, the final report describes how grantees recruited employer partners and maintained employer and workforce agency partnerships; the services and activities partners provided; and plans for sustaining partnerships after the grant ended. The report draws on a mix of quantitative and qualitative data from three sources that bring together information at different time points. Appendix B provides details on each of these data collection efforts relevant to this report.

In 2020, Chief Evaluation Office, in collaboration with VETS, commissioned an implementation evaluation of the VETS Transition Assistance Program (TAP) Apprenticeship Pilot Evaluation under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio of studies. Results of the study are intended to inform future efforts by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the U.S.

In 2020, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor Urban Institute and its partner the Capital Research Corporation to conduct the Implementation Evaluation of the Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grants (YARG) under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio of studies.

In 2020, Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office of Apprenticeship (OA) and the Office of Policy Development and Research (OPDR) within the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractors Urban Institute and Mathematica to conduct the State Apprenticeship Capacity Assessment under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio of studies.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Women’s Bureau and funded contractor Urban Institute to conduct the Descriptive Study of the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Grants under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio of studies. The descriptive study aimed to understand how WANTO grantees provided technical assistance, supportive services, and training opportunities to help women access nontraditional jobs.

The report summarizes the evidence on program models for serving justice-involved adults and young adults through connection to employment, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and case management services. The primary evidence of the effectiveness of these models comes from a review of experimental and quasi-experimental impact evaluations. Information about factors that may contribute to the successful implementation of the models comes from a review of outcome evaluations and implementation studies.

To make good decisions about investing in themselves—in the form of additional education or training—American workers need pertinent, reliable information on how the skills developed in a particular program translate into job opportunities and earnings potential. To provide this kind of information to the public, some states have created websites (termed scorecards) that allow users to browse education and training opportunities. These sites may provide information about the organizations offering education and training programs, program cost, and other information.

The Self-Employment Training (SET) pilot program was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to test strategies for supporting dislocated workers interested in starting their own businesses. Unemployed and underemployed workers who proposed businesses in their fields of expertise were eligible to participate. SET participants received free access to 12 months of case management, customized training and technical assistance, and up to $1,000 in seed capital microgrant funds for business start-up costs.

The Self-Employment Training (SET) pilot program served unemployed and underemployed workers who proposed businesses in their fields of expertise. Participants had access to 12 months of case management services, customized training and technical assistance, and seed capital microgrants of up to $1,000. In two sites, SET participants who received unemployment insurance (UI) benefits could also get waivers exempting them from work search requirements.

The Self-Employment Training (SET) pilot program served unemployed and underemployed workers who proposed businesses in their fields of expertise. Participants had access to 12 months of case management services, customized training and technical assistance, and seed capital microgrants of up to $1,000. In two sites, SET participants who received unemployment insurance (UI) benefits could also get waivers exempting them from work search requirements.

Appendices to the Self-Employment Training (SET) Pilot Program Evaluation Final Impact Report that include design and implementation of the set pilot program, impact study methodology, descriptive tables of study enrollee characteristics and site-level implementation measures, tables of results from main the impact analysis, and tables of results from sensitivity analyses for primary impact measures.

As of January 2017, 1.9 million people remained in the ranks of the long-term unemployed (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2017). Starting a business, or self-employment, may offer a path for some of these people to return to work. The Self-Employment Training (SET) pilot program, which operated from 2013–2017, was funded by the Employment Training Administration (ETA) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to test and evaluate strategies to support dislocated workers who wanted to start their own businesses.

Appendices to the Self-Employment Training (SET) Pilot Program Evaluation Final Implementation Report that include SET program design, evaluation, findings from analysis of set baseline application, findings from analysis of MIS data, analysis of survey and interview data on implementation, and analysis of interview data on participant perspectives on SET.

In an effort to spur regional economic growth, five Federal agencies collaborated to award grants in 2011 and 2012 to 30 self-identified regional innovation clusters focused on specific high-growth sectors through the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge (JIAC) and Advanced Manufacturing JIAC (AM-JIAC) initiatives. Participating agencies included the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA); U.S.

In 2015, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) and funded contractor IMPAQ International to conduct the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) Livelihoods Services Evaluation. The mixed methods evaluation aims to assess whether evidence supports the OCFT theory of change and gather evidence on the outcomes of four different types of livelihoods services projects, particularly with respect to reducing child and/or forced labor, to inform future project design.

The report focuses on the results of the evaluation phase of the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) Livelihoods Services Evaluation study and is organized to highlight the key findings across projects. Section 2 provides background on OCFT’s efforts to combat child and forced labor and an overview of the research questions addressed in this study. Section 3 provides details on the mixed-methods research methodology used for this evaluation.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA), the Young Parents Demonstration (YPD) was a federal grant initiative to enhance the Department’s existing programs to better serve at-risk and disadvantaged young parents and expectant parents, ages 16 to 24. Through two grant competitions, DOL/ETA issued three rounds of awards to 17 organizations, including both local public workforce agencies and non-profit community-based organizations.