Overview

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) launched round one of Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI) grants to fund the development, or enhancement, of state workforce longitudinal administrative databases. These state longitudinal databases will, at a minimum, include information on programs that provide training and employment services and will be linked longitudinally at the individual level to allow for analysis leading to enhanced opportunity for program evaluation and better information for customers and stakeholders of the workforce system.

WDQI funding is made available through competitive grants administered by DOL in support of a parallel and much larger effort, the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) grants administered by the U.S. Department of Education. These two programs encourage the development of state education and workforce longitudinal administrative databases. Ultimately, databases developed through WDQI should be linked to education data at the individual level. Collecting these and other data sources longitudinally will provide a comprehensive picture of workers' earnings throughout their careers. Through analysis, these data will demonstrate the relationship between education and training programs, as well as the additional contribution of the provision of other employment services.

What Outcome or Outputs are Expected of the Grantees?

Each WDQI grantee is expected to fully develop (or expand in the case where states have a database underway) their workforce longitudinal database in addition to using that database to conduct analysis of state workforce and education systems. Additionally, WQDI grantees are expected to use this data analysis to create materials (i.e., scorecards) on state workforce performance to share with workforce system stakeholders and the public.

Current WDQI Grantees