| Principal Investigator: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Goodwill Industries International |
| Project Duration: | February 2008 – June 2008 |
| Description: | The purpose of this research program is to assist Goodwill Industries International (GII) in developing a broader and deeper understanding of the employment and earnings outcomes, both short-term and long-term, of workforce development clients of Goodwill Industries of Central Texas. The goals of this research are to (1) develop a partnership between the Ray Marshall Center and GII in conducting joint research that will extend and enhance our knowledge of the earnings and employment experiences of workforce development clients over periods of several years after program service, and how these experiences differ from their earnings and employment experiences prior to program service and/or among different groups of clients; (2) provide relevant and useful information for management decision-making; (3) provide useful aggregate information that can be shared with other Goodwill members and workforce development service providers regarding the design of workforce development programs; and (4) demonstrate cost-effective data sources and analysis methods for providing information on client outcomes. |
TANF, Unemployment Insurance, and the Safety Net
| Principal Investigator: | Daniel Schroeder, PhD |
| Sponsor: | W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research |
| Project Duration: | June 2007 – April 2008 |
| Description: | This project presents a revised analysis plan to investigate linkages between Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Unemployment Insurance (UI). Using administrative data from a group of four large states, this study extends our understanding about the use of UI by recent TANF leavers. Data from the following states are analyzed: Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Texas. Samples from all four states will be analyzed for 2000 TANF receipt cohorts. These samples include TANF recipients in calendar year 2000 who exit from TANF for employment by the first calendar quarter of 2001. Analysis will be conducted on earlier and later TANF exit cohorts as data is available for other states. The two alternative TANF exit time frames are: (1) TANF receipt 1997Q2 to 1998Q1 and exit by 1998Q2, and (2) TANF receipt 2002Q1 to 2002Q4 and exit by 2003Q1. Based on data for the Florida 2000 cohort, this report presents a blueprint for analysis of all cohorts by presenting tables and charts to answer questions posed in the draft analysis plan. The sections and sub-sections of this revised analysis plan correspond to the overview of research questions listed in Table 1. An overview of data available to investigate these research questions is given in Table 2.
Analysis of UI and TANF use is primarily based on data provided through the Administrative Data Analysis and Research (ADARE) consortium. Additional data for this project was provided directly to the Upjohn Institute by some states. Data for Michigan was provided to the Institute outside ADARE. |
Manufacturing Skills Initiative
| Principal Investigators: | Robert W. Glover, PhD, Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | WorkSource: The Greater Austin Workforce Development Board |
| Research Partners: | CommunitySync, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce |
| Project Duration: | March 2007 – December 2007 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center is conducting research on the future of manufacturing in the Greater Austin Area, in collaboration with industry and community representatives. The goal of the project is to facilitate economic development and to alleviate any identified critical skills shortages in Austin’s manufacturing industries. A key focus of the project is skilled and technician occupations.
The project collaborates with interested employers in the selected manufacturing industries to verify the shortages, examine root causes, and seek practical solutions to alleviate the potential shortages. Project results will be documented in a Critical Skills report for three selected manufacturing industries, including sections on contributing factors and root causes of the shortages, and solutions tailored for each manufacturing industry as well as cross-industry recommendations for action. The solutions analysis will also assess the applicability of existing E-learning systems in training delivery. The end result for Central Texas should be improved productivity for employers, as well as enhanced labor market success for area residents. |
| Reports Available: | Manufacturing Skills Initiative Authors: Robert W. Glover and Suzanne Hershey Date: December 2007 Publication Type: Report, 87pp. |
Project SOS: Supporting Optimal Scholarship Advanced Placement Incentive Program
| Principal Investigator: | Deanna T. Schexnayder, MBA |
| Sponsor: | Austin Independent School District |
| Project Duration: | October 2003 – September 2007 |
| Description: | This three-year demonstration project, operating in five high schools and seven middle schools in the Austin Independent School District, will identify and eliminate variables which prevent high-ability, low-income students from enrolling in pre-advanced placement (AP) and AP courses. The project goals are to increase the proportion of low-income students who: (1) are enrolled in AP classes, and (2) score 3 or higher on AP exams. |
| Reports Available: | Project SOS (Supporting Optimal Scholarship) Evaluation: Final Impact Report Authors: Deanna Schexnayder, Daniel Schroeder, Greg Cumpton, and Kelly Stewart Nichols Date: August 2007 Publication Type: Report, 42pp. |
An Evaluation of Local Investments in Workforce Development for Austin
| Principal Investigators: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | City of Austin, Health and Human Services Department |
| Project Duration: | July 2006 – April 2007 |
| Description: | The City of Austin makes numerous investments in workforce development activities each year with local tax dollars, primarily emphasizing longer-term training and support services, offerings that have typically been constrained under federal program rules. The City has asked the Ray Marshall Center to conduct an evaluation of these activities. The evaluation is organized into two areas of focus: (1) the Rapid Employment Model project, and (2) other workforce development services.
Rapid Employment Model The Rapid Employment Model (REM), a collaborative effort of Travis County, the City, WorkSource-The Greater Austin Workforce Board, and area workforce service providers, aims to decrease the time that disadvantaged/indigent residents are out of work through partnerships with employment and training providers to connect these individuals to jobs and opportunities for career advancement. Process Evaluation: The process evaluation will document REM implementation. Service and training providers will be profiled to provide an overall picture of who they serve; what services/training they provide; typical client flows; and other information deemed relevant to the study. Outcomes Evaluation: The outcomes evaluation will document the results of participation, including the number of clients served; the number completing training and related services; the number placed in employment; wages earned; and other outputs/outcomes determined largely through linked administrative data. It also seeks to validate outcomes data now reported by individual service providers to WorkSource and the City. Other Workforce Development Services As resources allow, the evaluation will also examine the impact of the City’s investments in other workforce development services, including: services to youth, support services such as child care, and collaborative activities. |
| Reports Available: | Local Investments in Workforce Development: Initial Evaluation Findings Authors: Tara Carter Smith, Christopher T. King, Daniel G. Schroeder. Date: December 2007 Publication Type: Report, 43pp. |
Outcomes for Low-Income Families Receiving Child Care Subsidies in IL, MD, TX
| Principal Investigator: | Deanna T. Schexnayder, MBA |
| Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Care Bureau |
| Research Partners: | Chapin Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago; U.S. Census Bureau; National Center for Children in Poverty; The Jacob France Institute, University of Baltimore |
| Project Duration: | October 2004 – March 2007 |
| Description: | Although billions of dollars are spent each year on child care subsidies to help low-income, working families, researchers are only beginning to understand whether and how child care subsidies influence employment. Recent research, funded by the Child Care Bureau and conducted by the principal investigators in this study, has demonstrated that the child care subsidy (CCS) plays an important role in supporting family self-sufficiency by increasing employment duration among current and former Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients. The project proposes to extend this work by analyzing subsidy use and employment and welfare outcomes among all low-income families in Illinois, Maryland, and Texas—not just those with TANF histories. The primary questions are how employment and welfare outcomes differ between those who use child care subsidies and those who do not, and how these outcomes differ for different groups of low-income families. The researchers will also use the fact that child care subsidy policies vary by state to explore how outcomes vary by policies and practices, thereby advancing our understanding of the contexts that promote family well-being. By collaborating with the U.S. Census Bureau and using individual-level census records, the researchers will be able to overcome past data restrictions that have impeded study of the entire low-income population in a state. The project will result in a more comprehensive model of CCS use that will allow policymakers to better estimate CCS need and to understand the relation between take-up and outcomes. The researchers will share the model and benchmarks with interested states at a roundtable discussion hosted by Child Care and Early Education Research Connections. |
Industry Competency Scan
| Principal Investigator: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration |
| Research Partner: | Planmatics, Inc. |
| Project Duration: | June 2006 – March 2007 |
| Description: | Industry competency models, which specify the knowledge, skills and performance needed by high performing workers, are key to guiding education and training institutions in developing curricula to meet the demands of businesses. The Department of Labor‘s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has identified two key roles in promoting industry developed competency models that drive curricula, assessments and certifications:
To fulfill the information-brokering role, ETA is developing an electronic clearinghouse of existing industry recognized skill standards, competency models, and competency-based curriculum. This competency clearinghouse is intended to link to and be used in conjunction with two existing electronic resources in America’s Career InfoNet where users currently can search for skill certifications by occupation and industry and State occupational license requirements. The goal is to create an Internet site that will provide industry a means to publicize their emerging skill needs and where businesses, both small and large, educators, and individuals can go to ascertain the emerging skill demands in the U.S. workplace. It will be a tool for businesses and human resource professionals to develop job requirements; for educational institutions to use in curriculum development; and for career exploration and guidance. Planmatics, Inc., working with its subcontractor the Ray Marshall Center, will support ETA’s efforts in this arena by carrying out a scan of selected industries that are part of the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative in order to identify and catalogue the major competency models in use within these sectors. While our focus will be on industry-wide technical competencies, we also will report on competencies we find that address other levels in ETA’s building-block framework, for example, industry-specific and occupation-specific competencies. This task will review existing national, state, and industry skills standards and competency models for 4 to 5 individual industry groups. Summary descriptions, commonalities and gap analyses will be forwarded to ETA as they are completed during this time. |
The Economic and Workforce Impacts of Hurricane Katrina and Ongoing Demographic Changes on the Space Shuttle Program
| Principal Investigators: | Christopher T. King, PhD and Bruce Kellison |
| Sponsor: | National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center |
| Research Partners: | IC2 Institute, Bureau of Business Research |
| Project Duration: | June 2006 – March 2007 |
| Description: | In 2004 and 2005, a series of eight major and minor hurricanes wreaked havoc all along the U.S. Gulf Coast, resulting in scores of counties being declared Major Disaster Area (MDA) counties. Hurricane Katrina, which bombarded the region in September of 2005, was among the most devastating of these. While not inflicting direct damage on facilities critical to the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Katrina caused considerable adverse effects as it shut down schools and destroyed homes, roads, water treatment plants and other essential components of the region’s infrastructure.
The Space Shuttle Program’s mission is to fly up to four human space flight missions each year between now and September 2010, referred to as the SSP “fly-out” date. Each of these missions is estimated to require intensive months of planning and subsequent implementation effort by highly skilled teams of engineers and related technical and support staff in two key facilities that lay in Hurricane Katrina’s path:
Together, these vital SSP facilities employ around 2,000 workers. Many of these employees are highly educated engineers and technical staff with skills that will be costly to replace, both in terms of the time it would take to recruit, screen, hire and train them and the lost productivity for the Space Shuttle Program. Of these employees, more than 1,500 are employed by Lockheed Martin to work n the external tank assembly and related operations and almost 400 work at Stennis Flight Center on rocket engine testing. It is also important to note that both of these facilities are also facing serious internal workforce challenges as a result of ongoing demographic changes, primarily their aging workforce. According to officials at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, a substantial share of the engineers and technical/support staff at these two facilities are fast approaching retirement age and, given the added “push” from Katrina and its aftermath, may leave their jobs at some point in the near future. Both of these forces — Katrina and its associated effects on the region’s infrastructure, plus the aging of its workforce — have the potential to adversely impact the ability of the Space Shuttle Program to accomplish its mission, namely flying up to four human space flight missions each year between now and mission “fly-out” in 2010. This proposal will estimate these potential adverse impacts and then develop recommended strategies for addressing them. Approach The researchers propose to assess the economic and workforce impact on the Space Shuttle Program’s capacity to achieve its mission of flying human space flight missions between now and September 2010 and to develop a series of recommended strategies for countering any adverse impacts that emerge based on this research. Major Research Components. The major components of the proposed research are:
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| Reports Available: | Economic and Workforce Impacts of Hurricane Katrina, Demographic and Related Changes on NASA’s Space Shuttle Program: Findings and Recommendations (Summary Report) Authors: Christopher T. King, J. Bruce Kellison, Tara Smith, Eliza Evans, MaryAnn Anderson, Ara Merjanian, Bryan Hadley, and Andrew Stackhouse Date: March 2007 Publication Type: Report, 52pp. Economic and Workforce Impacts of Hurricane Katrina, Demographic and Related Changes on NASA’s Space Shuttle Program: Findings and Recommendations (Final Report) |
Central Texas Workforce Intermediary Initiative Pilot
| Principal Investigator: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | The Rockefeller Foundation |
| Research Partners: | Skillpoint Alliance and Capital IDEA |
| Project Duration: | October 2005 – March 2007 |
| Description: | The Central Texas Workforce Intermediary Initiative (CTWII) will build and strengthen support among Central Texas stakeholders for a major workforce intermediary initiative linked to long-term economic growth and regional vitality. Specifically, the initiative will result in increased training and job creation, especially high-skilled jobs offering high wages, improved job retention, and career advancement for area residents, new business and industry development, greater productivity for the Central Texas business community, and greater economic and social equity across the community. The initiative will focus its efforts on nursing and allied health careers in the region’s steadily growing healthcare industry sector.
The CTWII coalition will utilize a two-phase approach as it transitions from the planning stage to implementation. Phase I will focus on systems and capacity building. It will continue to solidify and expand accomplishments from the planning grant phase, including promoting ongoing stakeholder engagement, bolstering funding, finding additional ways to align funding streams, and continuing to work for improved public policies and political support. This phase will allow the group to implement and test select strategies in one initial industry sector — healthcare — then make adjustments as necessary before full-scale implementation. Phase II will include the continued expansion of the initial industry sector initiative and planning for the expansion of the initiative into at least one and possibly two additional industry sectors. This phase will also focus on long-term planning and sustainability of the efforts launched in Phases I and II. The overarching goal of our work in the healthcare industry sector will be to address the human resources needs of Central Texas healthcare employers by increasing the capacity of leading education and training institutions locally — especially Austin Community College and University of Texas’s School of Nursing — to connect low-income workers with job and career advancement opportunities in the healthcare industry. Through our efforts, we will:
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Food Stamps, Unemployment Insurance, and the Safety Net
| Principal Investigator: | Daniel Schroeder, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Joint Center for Poverty Research, Food Assistance Research Small Grants Program |
| Project Duration: | July 2005 – December 2006 |
| Description: | Legislative reforms in the food stamp and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs in the 1990s, together with a booming economy and the Earned Income Tax Credit, led to dramatic increases in employment among single mothers and smaller increases among other low-income families. The deterioration of the economy after 2000, however, has raised again the question of the adequacy of the safety net for nonworking families. This study will examine the extent of support from government programs, especially food stamps, among nonworking families, but with a focus on a program that has not received much research attention: the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. The UI program is of interest because the increases in employment among disadvantaged families in the 1990s should have been expected to increase eligibility for benefits. This, in turn, may have led to greater receipt of UI in the recent downturn and to less reliance on food stamps, given that the latter program is also aimed, in part, at serving unemployed families during downturns. The researchers will use an administrative data set from the state of Texas containing information on food stamp, TANF, and UI recipients over the period 1996 to 2005 to investigate these questions.
The study will document the incidence of different kinds of assistance receipt, especially during the downturn, giving particular attention to the relationship between food stamps and UI benefits (how many individuals receive one but not the other, both, neither); will estimate event history models to determine whether receipt of UI leads to reduced entry and increased exit from the food stamp program; will examine how the nature of food stamp and UI spells changed as the Texas economy moved from expansion to recession to recovery; and will estimate the effects of such receipts on income from earnings, UI, and welfare. |
| Reports Available: | Food Stamps, Unemployment Insurance, and the Safety Net Author: Daniel Schroeder Date: May 2007 Publisher: The Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago Publication Type: Report, 43pp. (Harris School Working Paper Series 07.15) |
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