CEO Library

This report describes findings from an implementation study of 2022 FARE grants administered in California, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, and Oregon.

Interest and participation in short-term training programs have increased in recent years, highlighting the need to understand how program participants’ employment and earnings change over time. Looking only at participants’ average outcomes at specific points in time overlooks the potential variation in people’s experiences over time.

In 2016, the Chief Evaluation Office of the Department of Labor (DOL) contracted with Westat and its partner MDRC (the evaluation team) to conduct an evaluation of the strategies used in the H-1B TechHire Partnership (TechHire) and Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) grant programs and measure the programs’ impacts. This short paper describes the labor market outcomes of participants in the grant programs, combining data from two administrative sources.

In 2016, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office, in partnership with the Employment and Training Administration, contracted with Westat and its partner MDRC (the evaluation team) to conduct an evaluation of the strategies used in the H-1B TechHire Partnership (TechHire) and Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) grant programs and measure the programs’ impacts on participants’ outcomes. DOL and the evaluation team selected five of the 53 TechHire and SWFI programs to participate in a randomized controlled trial, or impact study.

Program developers and program staff need to understand how participant characteristics relate to training completion so that they can identify strategies and services needed for success and design programs to encourage training completion. The H-1B TechHire Partnership Grants (TechHire) and the Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) were designed to provide funding for programs that would make training more accessible to individuals who might otherwise experience barriers to training and employment.

This report summarizes findings from the literature on UI administrative funding and costs, including information about 1) the sources for and methods of distributing UI administrative funding, (2) patterns in UI administrative funding and costs, (3) implications of inadequate UI administrative funding, and (4) recommendations in the literature.

Registered apprenticeship provides an opportunity to help strengthen rural workforce development and labor markets by training the rural workforce for local industry needs. This brief describes approaches to promoting rural apprenticeship expansion based on discussion with state apprenticeship administrators, local apprenticeship partners, and employers in seven states.

Employers are an indispensable part of registered apprenticeship (RA) programs. Because they hire and train apprentices on the job and sponsor apprenticeship programs, state efforts to expand apprenticeship depend on outreach to and recruitment of employers. This brief describes seven states’ efforts to expand the number of employers engaging in apprenticeship programs.

Registered apprenticeships are increasingly a focus for state systems that support workforce development and can provide an opportunity to enhance diversity. The brief highlights challenges and promising strategies that state and local partners have used to support the recruitment, placement, and retention of underrepresented populations into registered apprenticeship programs. Strategies for recruitment included tailoring outreach to support diversity, addressing misconceptions about apprenticeships, and developing strong partnerships that help recruit and support apprentices.

Registered apprenticeship (RA) data and statistics, such as data on apprentice retention, demographics, wages, and credential attainment, can be used for reporting purposes, ongoing program monitoring and improvement efforts, and assessing apprenticeship expansion strategies. The purpose of this brief is to describe the current state approaches to apprenticeship data collection, identify promising practices and opportunity areas to improve data systems, and share ideas to support apprenticeship expansion.

This report describes findings from a formative study of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Navigators to better understand the implementation of Navigator positions across states. The study team collected data from TAA programs between November 2022 and October 2023 via three primary data collection activities: phone interviews with nine states; a web survey of TAA Coordinators in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico; and site visits with six states (three in-person and three virtual).

The impact study estimated the impacts Reentry Project (RP) program participation had on employment, earnings, and criminal justice system involvement. It did so by comparing the outcomes of RP program participants to a comparison group of people with prior criminal justice involvement who received light-touch employment services from the Wagner-Peyser program.

The impact study estimated the impacts Reentry Project (RP) program participation had on employment, earnings, and criminal justice system involvement. It did so by comparing the outcomes of RP program participants to a comparison group of people with prior criminal justice involvement who received light-touch employment services from the Wagner-Peyser program.

In 2024, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration to fund Mathematica and its partners, American Institutes for Research and MEF Associates, to conduct the Evaluation of Wagner Peyser Act Employment Service Operations. The impact and implementation studies of the evaluation aim to provide critical information to DOL, state workforce agencies, and other stakeholders about how the Employment Service is implemented across the nation and the effectiveness of the state merit staffing model and alternate staffing arrangements.

This report synthesizes findings from recent evaluations of employment-focused reentry programs to inform the Partners for Reentry Opportunities in Workforce Development (PROWD) Grants Evaluation. Building on a prior literature review of employment-focused reentry programs (Lacoe & Betesh, 2019), the PROWD Grants Evaluation synthesized recent evidence from rigorous research (randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs) published between 2018 and 2023 that examined impacts on recidivism, employment, and earnings.

In 2023, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and commissioned contractor Westat Insight to conduct a study to explore approaches to measure and increase equity in ETA’s discretionary grantmaking programs. This study sought to explore how grantmakers – such as Federal agencies, State and local government agencies, and philanthropic organizations – define, assess, and increase equity in their grantmaking process.

In 2023, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractor Westat Insight to explore approaches to measure and increase equity in ETA’s discretionary grantmaking programs under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolio of studies.

The 2024 Veteran Employment Data Catalog is a document-based catalog of existing datasets that could be used to answer research questions related to veterans’ employment outcomes. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) collaborated with the Veterans’ Employment and Training Services (VETS) to commission Insight Policy Research (now Westat) to identify both public and restricted datasets that align with topic areas derived from VETS’ mission.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Veteran Employment and Training Service (VETS) to fund contractor Westat to conduct the 2024 Veteran Employment Data Catalog under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolio of studies. The data catalog aims to assist researchers by identifying existing public and restricted datasets related to the post-separation civilian transition, racial equity, and support for underserved veteran communities.

The report synthesizes findings from third-party evaluator (TPE)-conducted implementation evaluations and subsequent interim reports, supplemented by submitted quarterly narrative reports (QNRs) from March 2023. The synthesis aims to provide an overarching description of the first round of SCC (SCC1) grantees’ progress in implementing their workforce development and career pathways programming and highlight promising practices, implementation barriers, and lessons learned across the grantees.

The Bridging the Gap for New Americans Act, Pub. L. No. 117–210, enacted in October 2022, required the Department of Labor (DOL) to conduct a study about New Americans, defined as lawfully present immigrants and refugees admitted to the United States during the 5-year period prior to the law (October 2017– October 2022) with occupational and professional credentials and academic degrees obtained outside the United States.

The Bridging the Gap for New Americans Act, Pub. L. No. 117–210, enacted in October 2022, required the Department of Labor (DOL) to conduct a study about New Americans, defined as lawfully present immigrants and refugees admitted to the United States during the 5-year period prior to the law (October 2017– October 2022) with occupational and professional credentials and academic degrees obtained outside the United States.

The report presents the findings from a review of existing research to address topics identified in the Bridging the Gap for New Americans Act,1 Pub. L. No. 117-210, enacted in October 2022. The Act asks the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to conduct a study about lawfully present immigrants and refugees admitted to the United States during the 5-year period prior to the law (October 2017–October 2022).

This brief, produced under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building and Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolios of studies, examines the participation of women and people of color (i.e., people who are not white) in construction apprenticeships to understand whether the underrepresentation of these groups in construction is reproduced in the apprenticeship system.

Theses appendices to the Onsite Construction Workforce Utilization by Sex and Race/Ethnicity Research Brief, produced under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building and Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolios of studies, summarize the methodology the study team used to estimate the pro