US Department of Labor announces more than $12 million in grants available to states to improve workforce data quality

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced that $12 million is available for grants through the Workforce Data Quality Initiative, which will enable states to build or expand longitudinal databases that link workforce and education data to improve understanding about the performance of workforce development programs among those who benefit from and make decisions about them.

"The grants awarded through this initiative will result in high-quality, long term data that will provide consumers, practitioners and policymakers with comprehensive information about the relationship between education and workforce development programs," said Secretary Solis.

The U.S. Department of Labor anticipates awarding approximately 12 grants of up to $1 million each for a 36 month period of performance. This opportunity stems from the Obama Administration's focus on access to high-quality data and is a sister initiative to the U.S. Department of Education's Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems project.

Grantees will be expected to achieve multiple goals during the three-year grant period. These include developing or improving state workforce longitudinal data systems with individual-level information; enabling workforce data to be matched with education data to create longitudinal data systems, consistent with all federal and state privacy laws; improving the quality and breadth of the data in the workforce data systems; using longitudinal data to provide useful information about program operations; analyzing the performance of education and employment training programs; and providing user-friendly information to consumers to help them make more informed decisions on the selection of training and education programs.

Current Workforce Data Quality Initiative grantees are ineligible for this round of funding. To view information on the current grantees, visit http://www.doleta.gov/Performance/workforcedatagrant09.cfm.

For information on applying for a grant, visit http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm.