US Department of Labor announces approximately $6 million in grants available to states to improve workforce data quality

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of approximately $6 million in grants for the third round of the Workforce Data Quality Initiative. These funds will enable up to six additional states to build or expand longitudinal databases that link workforce and education data, enabling them to improve the performance of workforce programs.

"These grants will provide access to high quality data, which will help improve how the workforce system serves those who need assistance most," said Jane Oates, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training. "Better data means better guidance for consumers, practitioners and policymakers. Better guidance means stronger workforce programs and a stronger U.S. workforce."

Grantees will be expected to use these longitudinal databases to conduct research and analysis aimed at determining the effectiveness of workforce and education programs, and to develop tools to inform customers of the publicly funded workforce system. This grant opportunity stems from the Obama administration's focus on access to high-quality data and is related to the U.S. Department of Education's Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems grants to build longitudinal education databases.

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, improving the quality and breadth of 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 help consumers select the training and education programs that best suit their needs.

To find out more about the Workforce Data Quality Initiative, visit http://www.doleta.gov/performance/workforcedatagrant09.cfm.