CEO Library

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 state-Federal system of Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs has existed for 80 years. The programs in the states are financed by employer payroll taxes paid into state trust fund accounts maintained at the U.S. Treasury. These accounts are the source for benefit payments made to eligible unemployed workers.

The report includes findings from a 2-year implementation study of the Urban Employment Demonstration Grants for Youth and Young Adults, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Chief Evaluation Office (CEO). In 2015, DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) awarded seven urban cities with 2-year grants to develop projects to address the workforce needs of disconnected youth and young adults (ages 16–29) in U.S.

The issue brief series explores emerging findings from a 2-year implementation study of the Urban Employment Demonstration Grants for Youth and Young Adults, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Chief Evaluation Office (CEO). In 2015, DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) awarded seven urban cities with 2-year grants to develop projects to address the workforce needs of disconnected youth and young adults (ages 16–29) in U.S. cities and communities experiencing high unemployment, crime, and poverty rates, and low high school graduation rates.

The purpose of the report is to explore implementation of Youth CareerConnect (YCC) about two years after funding began. This report draws information from five sources: (1) a grantee survey describing YCC as it was implemented in one of its schools, (2) grantees’ quarterly progress report narratives, (3) visits to 10 grantees, (4) YCC’s Participant Tracking System, and (5) a survey of parents and students in YCC in 8 of the grantees visited.

Short-time compensation (STC), also known as work sharing, is an optional program within some state unemployment insurance systems. Under STC, employers experiencing a temporary reduction in business lower the average hours of employees in lieu of laying off workers. Employees whose hours are lowered receive Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits in proportion to the reduction in their hours, while businesses retain valued employees and avoid future recruitment and training costs.

The brief presents findings on the effects of 12-month information campaigns designed to increase employer awareness of Short-Time Compensation (STC) programs in Iowa and Oregon. The states ran their campaigns starting in mid-September 2014 in Iowa and late October 2014 in Oregon, and researchers tested the effects of this outreach using a random controlled trial (RCT) design in Iowa and the Portland metropolitan area of Oregon and a quasi-experimental design (QED) in Oregon outside of Portland.

Finding a job after becoming unemployed can be challenging for many individuals. Even as the unemployment rate has decreased during the recovery from the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the average duration of regular unemployment insurance (UI) benefits remains high (15.6 weeks as of January 2017). In response, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) helps UI claimants find, apply for, and obtain new employment. DOL has long sought effective ways to encourage unemployed workers to engage in services that can help them get reemployed.

Finding a job after becoming unemployed can be challenging for many individuals. Even as the unemployment rate has decreased during the recovery from the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the average duration of regular unemployment insurance benefits remains high (15.6 weeks as of January 2017). The Department of Labor (DOL) has long sought effective ways to encourage unemployed workers to engage in services that can help them get reemployed.

The brief presents initial findings on the effects of an intervention designed to encourage Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants to participate in their state’s Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) pilot program and persist in their job search. For the study, selected Michigan Works! agencies and the W.E. Upjohn Institute partnered with the U.S.

Infographic depicting high-level results of the Using Behavioral Interventions to Improve Take-Up of a Reemployment Program Technical Report.

Webinar describing the high-level results of the Using Behavioral Interventions to Improve Take-Up of a Reemployment Program Technical Report.

The nature of the employer-employee relationship is drastically changing in the United States, with lead employers employing fewer workers directly and instead relying on intermediaries and contracting firms for providing labor services. In the paper researchers investigate the incidence and effects of outsourcing labor service jobs in food, cleaning, security and logistics (FCSL) to business service firms. They first provide long time series using Census and ACS data documenting large movements of FCSL jobs to business service firms, with an accelerating trend since the Great Recession.

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) contracted with IMPAQ International, LLC and its partners, the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) and Universal Designers and Consultants (UD&C), to measure the accessibility of American Job Centers (AJC) for people with disabilities. The bulk of previous research on AJC accessibility involved case studies or limited surveys focused on specific issues. Prior to this study, there had been no comprehensive survey of AJCs.

The report of the Evaluation of the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Program, and as a precursor to an impact study analysis, describes the implementation of the REA program in the four states in which the evaluation study was conducted: Indiana, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin. This report and its analysis support the broader impact evaluation in two distinct ways. Most important, this report describes in detail the REA program as it was implemented across the four participating states during the study period.

The report compares MSHA Part 50 program data to mining-related claims filed with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC). Illinois was chosen because it is an important mining state which collects substantial data on workers’ compensation claims. The research group at the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health has full access to this data set and obtained access to Illinois MSHA Part 50 data in order to perform this analysis.