Long-Term Treatment Effects of Job Search Assistance and Training: A Summary of Recent Evidence

This paper presents a summary of recent evidence on long-term treatment effects from job search assistance and training services on labor market outcomes. The evidence is based on merging program data from three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to administrative tax data. The RCTs are for the following programs: the Nevada Reemployment Eligibility Assessment program, Workforce Investment Act Adult and Dislocated Worker programs, and the Job Corps program.

The Emergence of Local Practices in a Devolved Workforce Investment System: Barriers and Possibilities for Enhancing Degree Completion

Former President Obama’s 2020 Goal for the United States to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world required that both new and disengaged college students attain degrees. The workforce development system could assist the latter by supporting credit-bearing education as training. Its ability to address this need depends on the controlled devolved structure established by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which allows states and local workforce investment areas to set priorities and make a range of choices bounded by federal constraints. Analyzing interview data with frontline staff, case managers, and leadership in workforce systems in four states, the authors identify obstacles and opportunities for supporting degree completion. Three federal Workforce Investment Act mandates are particularly influential: individual training accounts, eligible training provider lists, and emphasis on demand occupations. The authors also model factors such as local partnerships and staff knowledge that can mediate how policy and practice shape local workforce investment area support for college.

Women in Construction and the Workforce Investment Act

This article examines whether women’s representation among senior-level construction jobs increased over time during a long-term, large-scale construction project in Boston, Massachusetts, and whether enactment of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) has fostered support and connection to construction career opportunities for women in this metropolitan area. Results show that the proportion of hours worked by women in senior-level positions on the project was relatively high for a few years, followed by a general decline across all job types, and the WIA did not significantly enhance opportunities for women in construction.