This spring and early summer, Dr. Chris King, Tara C. Smith, and Dan O’Shea are conducting field research in the states of Washington, Nebraska, Arizona and Texas as part of a national research team conducting a two-year study for the National Association of State Workforce Agencies under a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration to assess the implementation of the workforce and unemployment insurance provisions of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act).
The study examines the effects of Recovery Act on workforce programs that provide income support to the unemployed and employment and training services designed to speed reemployment through improved job search techniques, better information about job openings, job training, and other aspects of upgrading worker skills. The study focuses primarily upon the activities states and local areas have undertaken as a result of the Recovery Act. The programs investigated include the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title I programs (adult and dislocated worker only), Unemployment Insurance (UI), Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), the Wagner-Peyser Act/Employment Services program, and Reemployment Services for UI recipients, as well as system-wide issues such as green jobs, workforce staffing, and the use of labor market information affected by the Recovery Act provisions.
The ARRA study began in July 2009, and the Department of Labor recently released the first year’s report on April 25. The ongoing second round, state/local studies will contribute to a final national report next year synthesizing findings from the twenty states involved in the project. For more information about RMC’s work in the ARRA study, please click here.
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