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The report provides analysis of intermediate impacts on participation in and completion of TechHire and Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) programs training, receipt of credentials, and use of child care and other services, as well as on longer-term outcomes such as employment and earnings, advancement and job quality, and other, exploratory outcomes such as overall well-being, health, and housing status at about 2 years following random assignment.

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Key Takeaways

• At 2 years after random assignment, more TechHire/SWFI participants had completed training than would have without the program. The program also had impacts on receipt of credentials and a variety of pre-employment services
• SWFI had impacts on receiving help finding child care in a convenient location (12 percentage points more than the control group) and receiving help finding an alternative to regular child care in an emergency (7 percentage points more than the control group). However, this offered support did not translate into increases in child care use or a reduction in child care barriers to training and employment.
• The impact on training completion did not translate into impacts on employment and earnings or other life domains through two years of follow-up.
• While the TechHire/SWFI participants were more likely than the control group to work in jobs that were related to their education or training (46 percent of TechHire/SWFI respondents vs. 37 percent of the control group), participants in TechHire/SWFI were as likely as control group members to indicate that they had regular jobs and that they were receiving many different types of benefits including paid sick days, health insurance, dental benefits, a retirement plan or 401k, or tuition reimbursement.
• The one subgroup for which the programs had an impact on employment was the long-term unemployed—those who had never worked and those who had been out of work for 7 or more months at study entry. Compared with the control group, more long-term unemployed participants (67 percent) reported being employed during at least one-quarter in Year 2, compared to the control group (51 percent).
• The COVID-19 pandemic does not appear to have had an effect on the employment and earnings impacts. Average quarterly employment and earnings fell for both the TechHire/SWFI and control groups in the first year after the start of the pandemic and rose in the second year.
• Findings from the previously completed implementation study suggest that there were challenges with employer engagement and providing job development. Taken alongside the modest impacts on training completion seen in this report, the authors hypothesize that may be associated with the lack of impact on employment and earnings at 2 years.

Citation

Gasper, J., Baier, K., Schaberg, K., Vermette, J., Hendra, R. (2023). Westat. Evaluation of the TechHire and Strengthening Working Families Initiative Grant Programs: Two-Year Impacts Report. 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. CEO’s research development process includes extensive technical review at the design, data collection and analysis stage, including: external contractor review and OMB review and approval of data collection methods and instruments per the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Institutional Review Board (IRB) review to ensure studies adhere to the highest ethical standards, review by academic peers (e.g., Technical Working Groups), and inputs from relevant DOL agency and program officials and CEO technical staff. Final reports undergo an additional independent expert technical review and a review for Section 508 compliance prior to publication. The resulting reports represent findings from this independent research and do not represent DOL positions or policies.