CEO Library

This spotlight brief describes technology barriers to accessing the unemployment insurance (UI) program that Navigator staff in New Mexico and Pennsylvania reported some claimants and potential claimants face, especially those who were older (ages 55+), had low incomes, or lived in a rural area. The brief then describes how UI Navigators in both states helped to remove those barriers by providing in-person assistance, technology equipment, and internet access so individuals with technology barriers can access the UI program. This brief is part of a study funded by the U.S.

This spotlight brief describes outreach and engagement strategies that UI Navigators reported using in Maine, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to share information about the UI program and UI Navigation services with underrepresented groups and to address several barriers to UI program access. This brief is part of a study funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Chief Evaluation Office, that explores the implementation of Unemployment Insurance (UI) Navigator Grants, which seven states received in 2022.

This spotlight brief highlights approaches used by three of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Navigator grantees, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, to fill gaps in face-to-face UI services for historically underserved populations, including older adults, rural residents, and potential claimants from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. This brief is part of a study funded by the U.S.

This spotlight brief highlights common barriers faced by migrant and seasonal farmworkers to receiving unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and how UI Navigators in Wisconsin and New Mexico help to remove these barriers. This brief is part of a study funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Chief Evaluation Office, that explores the implementation of Unemployment Insurance (UI) Navigator Grants, which seven states received in 2022.

The America’s Promise Job Driven Grant Program Evaluation Design Pre-Specification Plan follows the template that evaluators must use to meet the pre-specification practices articulated in OMB Memo M-20-12 Phase 4 Implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: Program Evaluation Standards and Practices.

The report presents the findings from the America’s Promise Job-Driven Training Grants implementation study, which included virtual site visits, telephone interviews, a grantee survey, partner network survey, and Workforce Integrated Performance System (WIPS) data analysis, using data from 2017 to Q2 2021 and describes how the 23 America’s Promise partnerships used America’s Promise grants to provide sector-based employment and training services and form regional partnerships, including how the partnerships changed over time to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The evaluation of America’s Promise Job Driven Training (America’s Promise) provided a unique opportunity to hear directly from employers on their collaboration with the workforce development system. The brief draws on 31 interviews with employer representatives to describe why they chose to participate in regional workforce partnerships, how they helped shape partnership activities, what they perceived as successes and areas for improvement, whether they planned to sustain involvement, and what findings might provide insights for employer engagement more broadly.

The toolkit represents successful practices in negotiating agreements to obtain and use administrative data in U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) program evaluations. It includes detailed instructions, recommendations, and lessons learned on how to obtain data from various data providers including state workforce agencies, community colleges, criminal justice agencies, and other DOL grantees, primarily by establishing data use agreements.

The technical appendix to Experiences of America’s Promise Participants During the “COVID-19 Recession”: Examining Gender Differences in Labor Market and Training Program Outcomes (Spitzer et al. 2022): Section A describes the data sources used for this study, Section B describes the approach taken to analyze employment and earnings, and Section C describes the approach taken to analyze program completion and enrollment.

The America’s Promise evaluation explored the strategies that regional partnerships used to engage with employers and the lessons they learned. The brief draws primarily on interviews with grantee and partner administrators and frontline staff collected through virtual site visits with 18 of the 23 America’s Promise partnerships in fall 2020. Across these 18 partnerships, advanced manufacturing was a target industry for 11 grant partnerships, health care for 9 grant partnerships, and information technology (IT) for 10 partnerships.

The paper examines whether gender differences in outcomes emerged following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic among a group of people who recently enrolled in training aimed at preparing workers for careers in “middle- to high-skilled” industries and occupations. These people received training through programs funded by America’s Promise grants, with most programs focusing on advanced manufacturing, health care, or information technology.

The report presents the findings from the implementation evaluation of the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) Apprenticeship Pilot. The results of this descriptive study are intended to inform future efforts by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the U.S. Department of Defense to provide effective support to assist transitioning service members (TSMs) as they leave the military and move into civilian-sector jobs.

The brief uses implementation study data from the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP) Evaluation to discuss four main areas of HVRP with potential gaps and opportunities for improvement. The four areas, which emerged from an analysis of qualitative and grantee survey data, are (1) coordination with other public workforce development programs, (2) expansion of HVRP eligibility to other veterans, (3) emphasis on veterans’ skills and interests for employment opportunities, and (4) coordination with the homeless response system.

The brief describes the types of services Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP) participants received at America's Job Centers and compares the service receipt of HVRP participants with other veterans experiencing homelessness who were not participating in HVRP. The data are from the Workforce Integrated Performance System (WIPS) and include all HVRP participants and other veterans experiencing homelessness across the United States who enrolled in the Wagner-Peyser Employment Service at AJCs during program year 2019 or 2020.

Using data from the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP) grantee survey administered to grantees from program year 2020 and supplemented with interviews with staff from eight site visit grantees and their American Job Center (AJC) partners, the brief addresses three topics: (1) the AJC program in which a majority of HVRP participants were co-enrolled; (2) the percentage of participants receiving services at the AJC; and (3) the processes grantees used to co-enroll participants.

The brief describes the experiences of 54 veterans in Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP), the services they most appreciated, and gaps they perceived in the services. It describes veterans’ pathways to HVRP and their perceptions about the accessibility and responsiveness of HVRP grant staff, the helpfulness of the services, and how they were treated (such as whether they were treated respectfully). It concludes with their suggestions for improving HVRP.

The report provides findings from the implementation study for the Evaluation of the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP), which relied on data from (1) a survey of all program year 2020 HVRP grantees, (2) semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from eight deliberately selected grantees and their community partners, and (3) in-depth interviews with veterans who received services from one of those eight grantees.

The brief examines the recruitment, program experiences, and post-program employment and earnings outcomes of American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) apprentices from underrepresented populations—defined as women and people of color (Black, Hispanic, and Other Races, specifically Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Native American, or multiple races)—relative to all AAI apprentices and historically represented populations—defined as White men. The brief combines data from a number of sources, including U.S.

The brief is part of the the American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) evaluation, and is based on site visits and follow up clarification calls to 6 AAI grantees that constituted 7 State or local workforce development boards. The evaluation team talked primarily with staff in management and leadership positions, although some agencies invited direct-service staff, such as career counselors and business services staff, to join the conversation.

The report presents findings from the American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) demonstration study that examined the impact of employer engagement efforts on employers’ take-up of registered apprenticeship. The primary data source is data collected by the two grantees (MassHire and Philadelphia Works) in the demonstration on their efforts to research, contact, and subsequently develop apprenticeship programs with employers.

The report presents findings from the outcomes study of the American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) evaluation. It examines the characteristics, reasons for enrollment, program experiences, and postprogram outcomes of AAI apprentices and pre-apprentices. The data sources include an AAI Apprentice Survey administered to a sample of approximately 2,600 registered apprentices, program records from grantees, and administrative earnings data from the National Directory of New Hires.

The report presents results from the American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) grant employer return-on-investment (ROI) sub-study. The primary data source is an Employer Survey administered to 68 employers that hired apprentices supported by an AAI grant. Each employer was asked to describe one of their apprenticeship programs in detail; all together, these programs represented 2,854 apprentices. The survey was deployed between March 2020 and October 2020, towards the end of the 5-year AAI grant period.

The brief discusses costs to the American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) grantees of supporting employers and sponsors in their efforts to create apprenticeships. The brief also explores how grantees progressed in setting up apprenticeship programs and how costs varied over time. Practitioners and policymakers, including state and local workforce agencies, can use these findings to plan future public investments in apprenticeship expansion through intermediary organizations like the AAI grantees or direct subsidies to employers. The AAI grantees began operations in October 2015.

The brief discusses the number and value of indirect benefits of American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) registered apprenticeship programs to participating employers. Supporters of apprenticeship, including state and local workforce agencies, can use these findings from the AAI evaluation to promote adoption of apprenticeship by employers. Direct benefits estimates were based on employers’ reports of a reference apprentice’s increased productivity. Indirect benefits were employers’ reported values relative to the value of the reference apprentice’s increased productivity.

The brief examines the earnings growth of American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) apprentices compared to the earnings growth for comparable workers during the same period. Researchers limited the sample to apprentices who started their program by 2018 and had a valid Social Security Number so that they could match their earnings records and follow them for 2.5 years after registration. They define comparable workers as workers with earnings records in the U.S.