Resource Library

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office of Unemployment Insurance to fund contractor Mathematica to conduct the UI Navigators Implementation Study. The implementation study examines UI Navigator grants to seven states to better understand how UI agencies partnered with community-based organizations (CBOs) to reduce disparities in access to UI benefits and services and to explore barriers in implementation.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance (OTAA) to fund contractor Mathematica, and its partner Social Policy Research Associates, to conduct the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Navigators Formative Study under the Navigator Evidence-Building Portfolio of studies.

In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractor The Urban Institute to design and conduct an evaluation that examines critical policy issues, lessons learned, and challenges states faced administering Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs during the Great Recession that began in 2007 and the economic recovery that followed.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) funded contractor Abt Associates to develop two evaluation reports for projects funded under the Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) initiative: The Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF): A Synthesis Report on Evaluation Findings and Experiences and Process Study of the U.S. Department of Labor’s “Pay for Success” Pilots in Two States. The WIF initiative awarded 45 grants, allowing for the implementation of employment-related interventions.

Appendix to Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) Evaluations: A Synthesis Report on Findings and Experiences Synthesis Report: Appendix A. Summary Briefs of Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) Projects, Appendix B. List of All WIF Projects, Appendix C. WIF Background and Context Materials, and Appendix D. Understanding WIF Evaluation Findings.

The report documents the early efforts of Massachusetts and New York as they designed and implemented the Pay for Success (PFS) pilots funded under the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF). This report examines the seven-month period grantees had to develop their grant applications after the Solicitation for Grant Awards (SGA) was announced, the four months of planning once awards were made, and the initial approximately 10 months of operation.

The report identifies the interventions implemented by the 43 Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) grantees, summarizes findings from the evaluation reports produced between 2015 and 2019, and provides observations regarding the evaluations themselves. Finally, it highlights lessons learned from the experiences with evaluations under WIF and discusses how these lessons might be applied in future initiatives involving grantee-led evaluations.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) sponsored a process study of the two Pay for Success (PFS) pilots, conducted by Abt Associates, to document project implementation and provide information on the PFS approach to policymakers and program administrators. This is the process study’s report. An earlier interim report documented the development of the pilots and their initial implementation. This final report updates information about the implementation of the pilots and includes observations based on the entirety of the DOL supported portion, or first phase, of the PFS grants.

The brief summarizes the state of the evidence about two Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program components: (1) which unemployment insurance (UI) claimants would benefit the most when selected to participate and (2) changes in scheduling practices to increase meeting attendance rates. This brief closes with a discussion of gaps in the current evidence base and implications of evaluating these kinds of RESEA program components.

The brief summarizes the state of the evidence for basic career services—a category of reemployment services—to help unemployment insurance (UI) claimants return to work. The brief closes with a discussion of gaps in the current evidence base and implications of evaluating these kinds of Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program components.