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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 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 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 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.

The report for the Evaluation of the Pathway Home Grant Program. Individuals released from incarceration face substantial obstacles to successful reentry and self-sufficiency once in the community. The Pathway Home Grant program seeks to help mitigate these obstacles by providing linked pre- and post-release employment services to improve individuals’ chances of finding meaningful employment and avoiding recidivism.

The purpose of the Older Workers Implementation and Descriptive Study is to build evidence about the implementation of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) and other U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) workforce programs serving older workers to inform the continuous improvement of SCSEP. To inform evaluation activities, the report reviews the literature and identifies the state of the evidence on workforce programs, including those that serve older workers and populations with similar employment barriers.

In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractor The Urban Institute to design and conduct an evaluation that examines critical policy issues, lessons learned, and challenges states faced administering Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs during the Great Recession that began in 2007 and the economic recovery that followed.

The report identifies the interventions implemented by the 43 Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) grantees, summarizes findings from the evaluation reports produced between 2015 and 2019, and provides observations regarding the evaluations themselves. Finally, it highlights lessons learned from the experiences with evaluations under WIF and discusses how these lessons might be applied in future initiatives involving grantee-led evaluations.

Appendix to Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) Evaluations: A Synthesis Report on Findings and Experiences Synthesis Report: Appendix A. Summary Briefs of Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) Projects, Appendix B. List of All WIF Projects, Appendix C. WIF Background and Context Materials, and Appendix D. Understanding WIF Evaluation Findings.

The report documents the early efforts of Massachusetts and New York as they designed and implemented the Pay for Success (PFS) pilots funded under the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF). This report examines the seven-month period grantees had to develop their grant applications after the Solicitation for Grant Awards (SGA) was announced, the four months of planning once awards were made, and the initial approximately 10 months of operation.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) sponsored a process study of the two Pay for Success (PFS) pilots, conducted by Abt Associates, to document project implementation and provide information on the PFS approach to policymakers and program administrators. This is the process study’s report. An earlier interim report documented the development of the pilots and their initial implementation. This final report updates information about the implementation of the pilots and includes observations based on the entirety of the DOL supported portion, or first phase, of the PFS grants.

The brief summarizes the state of the evidence for basic career services—a category of reemployment services—to help unemployment insurance (UI) claimants return to work. The brief closes with a discussion of gaps in the current evidence base and implications of evaluating these kinds of Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program components.

The brief summarizes the state of the evidence about two Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program components: (1) which unemployment insurance (UI) claimants would benefit the most when selected to participate and (2) changes in scheduling practices to increase meeting attendance rates. This brief closes with a discussion of gaps in the current evidence base and implications of evaluating these kinds of RESEA program components.

The briefs aim to inform states about the current status of evidence on Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) programs and strategies. These briefs are intended to be useful to states as they refine their programs and build evidence in response to the legislative and administrative requirements. These briefs describe findings from research on the effectiveness of elements frequently used in RESEA programs. Each of the three briefs reviews and considers the evidence and gaps in one of three subject areas:

The brief explores how the pandemic affected the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program, including how extensively the pandemic interrupted RESEA operations, how states changed service delivery strategies to maintain or restore program operations, and the extent to which those changes could continue post-COVID.

The report presents the results of the evaluation’s implementation study, a multi-method effort intended to provide an up-to-date understanding of states’ current Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) programs, their evaluation plans, and recent programmatic changes in response to new statutory requirements for RESEA established through amendments to the Social Security Act (SSA) and related U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) guidance. Program changes in the wake of the COVID-pandemic are also examined.

The brief summarizes the state of the evidence for individualized career services—a category of reemployment services—to help unemployment insurance (UI) claimants return to work. This brief closes with a discussion of gaps in the current evidence base and implications of evaluating these kinds of Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program components.

The 2018 amendments to the Social Security Act (hereafter “the Statute”) permanently authorized the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program, required that states’ programs be supported by evidence, and allowed states to use up to 10 percent of their RESEA grant for evaluations. Developed as part of the Evaluation to Advance RESEA Program Evidence, the evidence-building options report aims to serve as a resource for decision makers to understand and weigh options for developing evidence of various types.

The report presents findings on American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) grantee program operations from fall 2017 (approximately two years into the grant when data were first available) through summer 2021, when most grantees had concluded their grant activities and others were close to finishing. The report documents the degree to which grantees collectively met their apprenticeship program registration targets, their apprentice registration targets, and their pre-apprentice program implementation and enrollment targets. It also describes variation on these among grantees.

The report documents the interim findings from the impact study of the Ready to Work (RTW) grant program. This report describes interim program impacts on service and credential receipt, earnings and employment, public benefits receipt, and a range of other employment-related outcomes through approximately 18 months after random assignment of participants into the study. The evaluation also estimates impacts for subgroups based on age, education level, employment status and gender.

The technical appendices to The Ready to Work Partnership Grant Evaluation: Findings from the Interim Impact Study of Four Employment Services Programs for the Long-Term Unemployed Report (Klerman, Herr, Martinson, and Copson 2022): Appendix A: Additional Technical Information on Methodology, Appendix B: Data Sources, Appendix C: Survey Methods for the 18-Month Follow-Up Survey, Appendix D: Definitions of Outcomes, Appendix E: Definitions of Base

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.

The report of impact evaluations aimed to assess the effectiveness of behaviorally-informed communications – such as a pop-up alert and emails – in increasing unemployment insurance (UI) claimants’ compliance with work search requirements.

States participating in the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program use evaluation evidence to continually improve their RESEA programs. The list is an array of resources that states can draw on to support their efforts to grow their capacity, to use existing evaluation evidence, and to develop new evidence. This list is organized by resource type. Some resources are narrowly targeted to a single topic while others cover a multitude of topics.