CEO Library

The Chief Evaluation Office of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL CEO) is committed to using innovative tools to meet the Department’s research, evaluation, and data analytics needs. In December 2021, DOL CEO commissioned the Westat Insight and American Institutes for Research® (AIR®) study team to explore potential opportunities to use machine learning methods to facilitate the automated data collection of labor-relevant data.

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 how the rates of utilization for women and people of color differ between onsite construction (i.e., boilermakers, brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, carpenters, carpet installers, etc.), and similar occupations (i.e., forest and conservation technicians, landscaping and groundskeeping work

Employment in the construction industry continues to grow as legislation, such as the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act1 (IJA), and overall economic trends create increased demand for construction workers (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2023). This anticipated growth and ongoing expansion of the construction industry may serve as an opportunity to build a more representative and equitable construction workforce.

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

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.

The discussion paper explores issues related to research on application or user fees in programs administered by U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Employment and Training Administration (ETA), based on a review of regulations, guidance, and selected research concerning such fees. The paper reviews available literature from those sources; briefly covers the purposes, general principles and practices related to application or user fees; summarizes possible factors related to research on such fees; and suggests some possible research activities on use of fees in an ETA program.

The Navajo Nation Research Brief of the Black Lung Incidence Study identifies the current state of knowledge on black lung disease as it relates to coal mining and residential coal use in the Navajo Nation. It identifies prevalence rates in the U.S. counties that overlap with the Navajo Nation borders, estimates prevalence rates in those counties, and discusses data limitations specific to the Navajo Nation.

One component of the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA’s) mission to “prevent death, illness, and injury from mining and promote safe and healthful workplaces for U.S. miners” is protecting coal miners and coal mining communities from black lung disease (“Mission”). In support of that mission, the literature review expands the U.S.

The report presents the findings of a literature review ad quantitative analysis conducted under the Black Lung Incidence Study. The study was designed to examine black lung incidence in the United States, exploring both cases and deaths. Within this scope, the study examined whether black lung incidence is higher among specific subpopulations of interest, including miners, mining communities, the Navajo Nation, and residents of Appalachia.

The report provides analysis of intermediate impacts on participation in and completion of TechHire and Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) programs training, receipt of credentials, and use of child care and other services, as well as on longer-term outcomes such as employment and earnings, advancement and job quality, and other, exploratory outcomes such as overall well-being, health, and housing status at about 2 years following random assignment. 

In 2023, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration to fund contractor Westat Insight to conduct the Bridging the Gap for New Americans Study under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolio of studies.

In 2019, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractors Urban Institute, Mathematica Policy Research, and Capital Research Corporation to design and conduct analysis to build and expand the evidence portfolio on apprenticeships, including models, components, partnerships, and strategies that often include the work of community colleges. 

Specific studies include:

In 2023 the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and funded contractors Insight Policy Research and Urban Institute to conduct a series of analyses presented in Building an Equitable Construction Workforce: Understanding and Increasing the Proportion of Women and People of Color in Construction under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis and

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and commissioned contractor Summit Consulting, LLC (Summit) to conduct the Black Lung Incidence Study under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolio of studies.

In 2019, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration, Office of Unemployment Insurance (OUI) to conduct the Behavioral Interventions to Improve Work Search Among Unemployment Insurance Claimants project. The unemployment insurance (UI) program requires claimants to be actively looking for work while they receive benefits to encourage a rapid return to work.

In 2016, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor Abt Associates to conduct the Evaluation of the Cascades Job Corps College and Career Academy (CCCA) Pilot. The program evaluation aims to document the implementation and assess the impact of the CCCA pilot program.

Technical appendix to the Evaluation of the Cascades Job Corps College and Career Academy (CCCA) Final Report: Appendix A: Theoretical Roots of the Cascades Job Corps Model, Appendix B: Cascades Pilot Evaluation Data Sources, Appendix C: Survey Methods for the 18-Month Follow-Up Survey, Appendix D: Additional Technical Information on Methodology, Appendix E: Definitions of Outcomes, Appendix F: Definitions of Baseline Measures, Appendix G.

The brief is based on lessons from an evaluation: a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a small subset of the 53 TechHire and Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) programs—three TechHire programs and two SWFI programs—that explored the implementation and short-term impacts of TechHire and SWFI. In particular, this brief focuses on findings from the implementation analysis that was part of the RCT; data sources for the implementation analysis included observations of TechHire and SWFI programs, interviews with staff members, and a review of program participation data.

The report from a Job Corps pilot focused on enrolling students in college to prepare for a career in healthcare or information technology, conducted February 2017 through June 2019 with 488 students from the Pacific Northwest (ages 16-21) with at least a sixth-grade level of competency in reading and math) enrolled in Job Corps’ Cascades College and Career Academy (CCCA).

The brief describes how Job Corps and community colleges serve young people, how Job Corps currently works with colleges, and how partnerships between Job Corps and colleges could benefit students, Job Corps, and the colleges. The brief also describes the evaluation’s methods and shares what the Job Corps centers identified as the core principles and practices undergirding their successful college partnerships. These core principles and practices include shared goals, clear roles and responsibilities, constant communication, and accommodating each organization’s different requirements.

The report from a Job Corps pilot focused on enrolling students in college to prepare for a career in healthcare or information technology (IT), conducted February 2017 through June 2019 with 488 students from the Pacific Northwest (ages 16-21) with at least a sixth-grade level of competency in reading and math) enrolled in Job Corps’ Cascades College and Career Academy (CCCA). This report describes the pilot vision and the pilot contract, summarizes the findings of the evaluation, and considers some discussion.

The brief describes the challenges associated with helping low-income parents with children under the age of 13 pursuing training and employment to access affordable child care. It also proposes solutions that programs may undertake to increase their effectiveness in assisting parents with accessing and paying for appropriate child care. Further, it identifies barriers that remain to be addressed at the systems level.