CEO Library

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.

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 2019, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration to fund contractors MDRC and Abt Associates to develop research and evaluation framework options that will support the Department of Labor’s efforts to ensure a strategic, continuous learning process responsive to Job Corps’ evidence-building needs.

The report presents interim findings of the Pathways evaluation consisting of an implementation study and a descriptive outcomes study. The purpose of the outcomes study is to document program outputs and participant outcomes. The purpose of the implementation study is to:

The brief presents an overview of key institutional features of the AJC service delivery system across the country that shape day-to-day operations and customer experiences. To do this, researchers identify common patterns and variations in (1) administrative One-Stop Operator structure and AJC management, (2) AJC partner programs and staffing, (3) funding and resource sharing, (4) data systems and sharing, and (5) AJC services.

The brief describes the role and activities of One-Stop Operators in 40 comprehensive American Job Centers (AJCs). It provides an overview of the types of entities that served as Operators, the roles that Operators played, common supervision models, and the key activities of AJC managers in day-to-day center operations. It concludes with a description of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) One-Stop Operator requirements and identifies some general concerns raised about these changes as local areas prepared for their implementation.

The brief describes how 40 comprehensive American Job Centers (AJCs) selected to participate in the Institutional Analysis of AJCs shared resources. It opens by reviewing resource sharing requirements under Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and then outlines the extent to which the study AJCs shared resources at the time of the study's data collection.

The brief discusses key features and experiences of 12 America Job Centers (AJCs) in the America Job Centers Institutional Analysis study that were located in rural areas. It focuses on AJCs as the unit of service delivery, which is a narrower focus than prior studies of the rural workforce system as a whole. Therefore, the findings offer insight into frontline service delivery and system-wide planning in addition to an update on the persistence of previously-identified challenges in rural service delivery.

To systematically document key characteristics and features of American Job Centers (AJCs), Mathematica and its partners—Social Policy Research Associates, The George Washington University, and Capital Research Corporation—conducted the America Job Centers’ Institutional Analysis for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

The compendium presents a summary of findings from the planning and implementation phases of the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release (LEAP) pilots, and includes 10 issue briefs organized around key themes that emerged during the evaluation of LEAP.

To help individuals successfully reenter society after time in jail, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) awarded $10 million in grants to 20 local workforce development boards (LWDBs) in June 2015 for the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release (LEAP) initiative. Central to the LEAP initiative was creating jail-based American Job Centers (AJCs) with direct linkages to community-based AJCs. A complex array of factors including jail and local community characteristics influenced the development and operations of jail-based AJCs as well as the experiences and outcomes of participants.

Executive summary of the Developing American Job Centers in Jails: Implementation of the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release (LEAP) Grants Final Report.

The brief discusses how jail-based American Job Center (AJC) staff assessed inmates’ needs and goals, prepared employment and service plans, and delivered services to address participants’ barriers before their transition to the community and the workforce.

The brief describes Linking to Employment Activities Pre-Release (LEAP) participants’ experiences, their impressions of the staff they encountered, and their suggestions for improvement, based on data from 18 pre-release and 9 post-release focus groups. Of the 3,110 LEAP participants enrolled as of June 2017, 104 attended the focus groups.

The Linking to Employment Activities Pre-release (LEAP) grants sought to create a stronger linkage between pre- and post-release employment services for justice-involved individuals. Case management—coordinating services for and working directly with clients—is an important aspect of that linkage. In the LEAP sites, interactions with case managers played a role in shaping participants’ experiences with employment services in the jail, and their engagement.

Reentering the community is a challenging transition for justice-involved individuals who often face numerous barriers in restarting their lives outside of jail. It is similarly challenging for service providers who aid them during this transition—recently released individuals become difficult to contact once outside, are spread over a larger geographic area, and face competing demands on their time.

The rapid rise of career pathways strategies nationally, including an emphasis on them in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), creates a critical need for sound evidence that shows what works well, why, under what circumstances and for whom. The WIOA legislation requires the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to “conduct a multistate study to develop, implement, and build upon career advancement models and practices for low-wage health care providers or providers of early education and child care” (29 U.S. Code § 3224(b)(4)(I)).

Synthesis Matrix to the Career Pathways Implementation Synthesis Report.

In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractor Mathematica to conduct the National Health Emergency (NHE) Demonstration Grants to Address the Opioid Crisis: Implementation Evaluation.

In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and funded contractor Mathematica to conduct the OFCCP Compliance Officer Training Study. OFCCP protects workers employed by federal contractors and promotes equal employment opportunities. Well-trained Compliance Officers (COs) who understand the importance of OFCCP’s mission and the complexity of the work are critical to its ability to evaluate contractor compliance and investigate complaints of discrimination appropriately.

In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractor Abt Associates to conduct the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) Evidence Building and Implementation Study. This project's objectives are to work with DOL to develop strategies to support the evidence requirements in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 that relate to the RESEA.

In 2015, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor 2M Research Services to conduct the Urban Employment for Youth and Young Adults Demonstration Grants Implementation Evaluation. The implementation study aims to document how the seven Urban Youth Employment Demonstration grantee communities implemented their programs, describe perceived challenges and successes, and identify emerging lessons.