The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy. CEO’s research development process includes extensive technical review at the design, data collection and analysis stage, including: external contractor review and OMB review and approval of data collection methods and instruments per the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Institutional Review Board (IRB) review to ensure studies adhere to the highest ethical standards, review by academic peers (e.g., Technical Working Groups), and inputs from relevant DOL agency and program officials and CEO technical staff. Final reports undergo an additional independent expert technical review and a review for Section 508 compliance prior to publication. The resulting reports represent findings from this independent research and do not represent DOL positions or policies.
| Project Name | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Advancing Behavioral Interventions in Labor Programs | The purpose of the project is to advance the application of behavioral sciences - or understanding how people realistically make and act on decisions - to improve the design of public policies and programs in ways that reflect a deeper understanding of human nature. |
| Administrative Data Research and Analysis (ADRA) | Studies undertaken under this project will analyze administrative data sets from agencies within the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). |
| America’s Promise Job-Driven Grant Program Evaluation | The purpose of this study is to rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of promising and innovative practices for strengthening the pipeline of skilled workers who are prepared to gain or advance in employment in H-1B industries, and to examine program implementation including the use of various funding streams to create sector strategies and develop regional workforce partnerships. |
| Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio | The primary purpose of the project is to design and conduct analysis to build and expand the evidence portfolio on apprenticeships, including models, components, partnerships, and strategies. |
| Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Study | This project will build evidence on career pathways employment and training strategies and inform further career pathways systems and program development. |
| Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research (CLEAR) Advancement, Reviews, Innovations, and Syntheses of Evidence (ARISE) | This project will conduct evidence reviews, review studies and interventions, synthesize bodies of evidence, and disseminate findings and information about the reviews on CLEAR’s website and through other means. |
| Department of Labor Capacity Assessment | The assessment of the Department of Labor and its agencies will broadly address factors related to the coverage, quality, methods, effectiveness, independence, and resources of agencies’ efforts for using and producing evidence. |
| Equitable Transition Models (ETM) Evaluation | This study aims to build the evidence of strategies to enable low-income youth and young adults with disabilities (Y&YAD) ages 16-24, including those experiencing homelessness, leaving foster care, or involved in the justice system, to successfully transition into the workforce. |
| Evaluation Technical Support | This project will provide evaluation technical support to CEO in leveraging data and expertise to assemble knowledge and answer questions of interest to DOL. |
| Evidence to Action (E2A) at DOL: Portfolio Project & Process Study | The purpose of the project is to translate, increase access to, and drive use of evidence through a set of projects, syntheses, and related activities, which will help meet Evidence Act/OMB requirements for evidence use and related needs identified in the Capacity Assessment. It will be informed by and build on existing studies and related efforts to grow the culture of evidence and evaluation at DOL, and the slate of projects and syntheses will be strongly informed by the learning agendas and emerging learning needs. |
| The Great Recession: Lessons Learned for the Unemployment Insurance System | This study will examine critical policy issues and lessons learned regarding the Unemployment Insurance (UI) system’s response to the Great Recession that began in 2007, and the economic recovery that followed. |
| Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program Impact Evaluation | The goals for this study are to evaluate the effectiveness of Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program on participants’ employment outcomes, using the most rigorous design feasible (experimental or quasi-experimental methods); and to conduct an implementation evaluation to understand program models and variations, partnerships, and the homeless Veterans served. |
| Information on Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED) Paycheck Plus Site | The purpose of this project is to study the impact of an enhanced Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-income individuals without dependent children in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. This project will build on and leverage research being conducted for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in its collaboration with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), on HHS’s Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED) Paycheck Plus site. |
| Job Corps Evidence-Building Portfolio | The goals for the project are to (1) develop research and evaluation framework options that will support DOL in ensuring a strategic, continuous learning process responsive to Job Corps’ evidence-building needs, and (2) evaluate innovations in Job Corps services, particularly in demonstration pilots and other service model variations. |
| National Worker Survey | This survey is intended to gather data to understand the prevalence and nature of violations of workers’ rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), with a focus on wages, pay, and hours worked, as well as other topics. |
| Navigator Evidence-Building Portfolio | The purpose of the project is to build the evidence base about the potential of Navigators to improve outcomes and equity in workforce programs. |
| Older Workers Study | The study will evaluate the implementation of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) and other select DOL workforce programs for older workers to identify future research options that address knowledge gaps. |
| Partners for Reentry Opportunities in Workforce Development (PROWD) Grants Evaluation | The evaluation aims to establish foundational knowledge about promising reentry employment programs for people exiting federal prisons, including those pre- and post-release, and develop insights from the early implementation efforts of the First Step Act Initiative grantees. |
| Pathway Home Reentry Evaluation | The study aims to develop design options for an impact and implementation evaluation to assess the feasibility of conducting an impact evaluation and examine the implementation of the Pathway Home Reentry Grant program. Based on the results from the feasibility analysis, CEO plans to conduct the most rigorous impact evaluation feasible of the Pathway Home program. As part of the feasibility assessment, the evaluation will include a review of Pathway Home grants and the design of cross-site impact and implementation evaluation options to examine Pathway Home. |
| Pell Grant Experiments (with U.S. Department of Education) | To test the impact of 1) expanding eligibility for Pell Grants to students who already have bachelor’s degrees and 2) expanding eligibility for Pell Grants to students who enroll in certain short-term vocational or career training programs on educational attainment, employment, and earnings. |
| Ready to Work Partnership Grants Technical Skills Training Evaluation | This project seeks to understand the implementation and effectiveness of select training and related services in the Ready to Work (RTW) Partnership grant program. It includes an implementation study to understand how the programs were designed and implemented and an impact study to measure the effectiveness of these programs in improving participants’ short and long-term outcomes. |
| Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) Evidence Building Portfolio Project | This project will provide RESEA evaluation technical assistance and conduct evidence-building activities to support and complement states’ evaluations. |
| Reentry Projects Grant Evaluation | This evaluation will include an implementation and an impact study among select Reentry Employment Opportunities grantees to understand their effectiveness in achieving the goals of improving participant outcomes such as employment, earning, and recidivism. |
| Registered Apprenticeship Initiatives Evaluation | The purpose of the study is to evaluate strategies implemented under the Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) grants and conduct an impact and cost-benefit evaluability assessments of pre-apprenticeships programs that lead to registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs). |
| Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network (RETAIN) Impact Evaluation | The impact evaluation aims to assess the effectiveness of intervention strategies from RETAIN demonstration projects in Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio, and Vermont. |
| Sectoral Strategies and Employer Engagement Portfolio (SSEEP) | This Portfolio’s objectives are to build evidence on how sectoral strategies can engage employers, promote job quality, and diversify and support the workforce, especially from populations that have historically been excluded from high quality jobs. |
| Strengthening Community Colleges (SCC) Training Grants Study | The implementation study and impact evaluability assessment aim to understand the implementation of SCC grantees—community college-based workforce development and career pathways programs in partnership with local employers—as they address disparities in workforce outcomes and build institutional capacity. Further, the purpose of the impact evaluation assessment is to identify SCC grantee programs that are primed for more rigorous effectiveness research. |
| Support to Communities Grant Program Evaluation | The 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). |
| TechHire and Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) | The purpose of this study is to identify effective approaches for preparing workers for middle- and high-skilled jobs in H-1B industries, with specific focus on individuals who have traditionally faced barriers to training and employment opportunities including youth and young adults, parents with childcare needs, individuals with disabilities, individuals with limited English proficiency, and individuals with criminal records. |
| Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Study: Behavioral Interventions Evaluation and Design Options for Long-Term TAA Evaluation | This project will test the application of a behavioral intervention in improving the administration of the TAA program, as well as develop evaluation design options for a rigorous long-term impact evaluation of the TAA program. |
| VETS Employment Navigator and Partnership Pilot Evaluation | The implementation and outcomes study aims to understand and build evidence on the use of VETS employment navigators to improve outcomes for transitioning service members (TSMs) and military spouses. |
| Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Evaluation | This project is an implementation study intent on better understanding WOTC, including how it is administered by state workforce agencies, how it serves job seekers and employers, the effectiveness and efficiency of its current design, potential improvements in structure and operations, and potential future research in this area. |
| Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Research Portfolio Project | The project is generating a wide range of short and long-term research options for the Department of Labor to consider as it seeks to strategically build rigorous evidence to support the continuous improvement of the Employment and Training Administration’s programs and services. |