About the Report

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The report presents a high-level look at the community engagement (CE) project approach and analysis, and presents options that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Women’s Bureau (WB) may consider for future exploration. It is important to note that this project was not conducted as a rigorous assessment of the impact of the WB’s work overall or the work resulting from its CE approach. Rather, the focus was on understanding the CE activities the WB conducts at the regional level and developing potential options the WB could consider to strengthen its approach in the future.

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Key Takeaways

• The WB leverages current and potential partnerships at the national, regional, and local levels to maximize local resources and amplify the impact of community engagement activities by reaching a wider audience.
• Regional offices focus on a specific topic area to advance WB goals (e.g. Apprenticeship, Paid Leave, Non-traditional Occupations, or Older Workers), and examine outcomes across three main dimensions: (1) strengthening or creating state and local government programs to support a WB goal; (2) increasing individuals’ awareness of and intention to act on a WB goal; and (3) increasing workplace integration of practices supporting a WB goal.
• Staff at regional offices employ six different types of engagement strategies, including connecting state or local government offices with resources, strengthening intermediary organizational connections, directly communicating with workers and other individuals, coordinating community meetings and providing educational programming, educating state or local policymakers, and engaging employers.
• There are a number of external factors that can influence progress toward achieving the WB’s community engagement outcomes, such as state-level program maturity, business economic conditions, regional attitudes, and interests of a new Administration or Departmental leadership.

Citation

Nexight Group. (2017). U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau Community Engagement Strategic Community Outreach Study Overview 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 and CEO’s research development process.