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The mission of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is “to enforce, for the benefit of job seekers and wage earners, the contractual promise of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity required of those who do business with the Federal government.” Accordingly, OFCCP is dedicated to promoting diversity and protecting workers, ensuring that workers are treated fairly and equitably in their current jobs and that those seeking employment do not face discrimination in the hiring process. Specific goals of OFCCP’s include increasing the access of hard-to-reach populations to employment opportunities with federal contractors, providing mechanisms to inform workers of their rights, increasing awareness of violations of these rights, and enforcing compliance with federal contractor regulations.

Since FY2012, OFCCP’s strategic plan has called for expanding engagement with community-based organizations as stakeholders to support the Office’s mission. In this capacity they could potentially serve as channels of communication to reach protected classes as well as partners in activities that increase the likelihood of contract compliance and employment opportunities. The evolution of this community stakeholder strategy gave rise to a number of questions about the current state of the effort as well as the organizational challenges facing OFCCP in solidifying its business model. As described in the report, in 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) contracted with Abt Associates to gather and analyze data to address several related questions. One of the first tasks under the contract was to design, administer, and analyze the results of a Needs Assessment and Feedback (NA/F) to assess how well these stakeholders currently are positioned to support the mission and efforts of OFCCP.

Key Takeaways

In examining the survey results across all of the variables, the data very broadly suggest that two groups of stakeholders have emerged:

• Those who are not fully familiar with and have yet to form a solid relationship with OFCCP. While not a precisely defined group, the presence of these stakeholders is reflected in several empirical findings from the survey:
  • The 10 percent of respondents who were not at all familiar with OFCCP
  • The 9 percent of respondents familiar with OFFCP who claimed to have no relationship with the Office
  • Specifically, among those who have a relationship with the Office:
    • The 35 percent who responded “don’t know” or did not answer, when asked about what services OFCCP provides
    • The 31 percent that have not engaged in any activities that directly or indirectly support the mission of OFCCP
    • The 7 percent who receive communications from OFCCP that report they never read them
  • Those who are engaged with OFCCP and poised to strengthen that partnership moving forward. While not a precisely defined group, the presence of these stakeholders is reflected in several empirical findings from the survey:
    • The 26 percent who met the most restrictive definition of partnership “breadth”
    • The 64 percent who state a willingness to engage in over four activities in the coming year that directly or indirectly support the mission of OFCCP
    • The 29 percent who report that they engage in some type of active dialogue with OFCCP more than four times a year
    • The 37 percent of those who receive communications from OFCCP that report they always read them

Citation

Epstein, Z., Minzner, A., Schneider, G. (2015). Abt Associates. OFCCP Community Based Organization Outreach Evaluation: Results from the Needs Assessment and Feedback Survey. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.