Labor Topics

• Measuring Program Performance
• Finding Out What Works
• Using Vouchers to Deliver Services
• Helping Service Members
• Self-Employment as an Alternative Strategy
• Moving Young People into Productive Careers
• Encouraging Employment for Ex-Offenders
• Addressing Unique Problems of Experienced Workers
• Assisting DOL and Grantees
• Clients

National Evaluation of the Workforce Investment Act

In 1998, Congress replaced the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) with the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to consolidate a fragmented system of employment and training programs and provide universal access to services. The reform stressed customer choice, gave state and local agencies more flexibility in service design, strengthened local accountability for customer outcomes, engaged businesses, and changed services provided to youth.

Mathematica's seven-year, $23 million evaluation of WIA is estimating its effects on employment and earnings—for adults, dislocated workers, youth, and key subgroups. The evaluation addresses the following questions:

• How effective is WIA? Does it increase customers’ education and training, employment and earnings, and self-sufficiency?
• How effective are its components—intensive services and training? 
• Does effectiveness vary by population subgroup? 
• Does effectiveness vary by how WIA is implemented? 
• Is effectiveness commensurate with costs?

To obtain rigorous estimates of WIA’s effectiveness, the evaluation is randomly assigning participants to treatment groups that can receive sets of WIA services or a control group that can only receive WIA core services. To obtain estimates that can be generalized to the program as a whole, the study will be conducted in 30 randomly selected sites. Data will come from the following sources:

• Baseline information forms
• State workforce agencies
• State unemployment insurance agencies
• Two follow-up surveys
• Implementation study site visits