| Principal Investigators: | Greg Cumpton, PhD |
| Sponsor: | City of Austin |
| Project Duration: | March 2023 – December 2026 |
| Description: | The purpose of this study is to identify within the City of Austin funded workforce development training ecosystem, programmatic or strategic elements that impact participant outcomes. Research findings will be used to guide strategic planning for the City’s workforce development efforts. |
| Reports Available: |
Dr. Cumpton Interview on Growing Labor Movement and Unionization in Central Texas
Yesterday Dr. Greg Cumpton provided his input to Will Dupree at KXAN on the growing labor movement and unionization in the Central Texas region in response to Ascension Seton nurses voting to unionize. He notes in his follow-up LinkedIn post:
“With high demands from employers, a tight labor market, and inflation eating away at American’s pocket books, employees are hoping to use collective power to increase access to better benefits and pay. Historically positive attitudes from workers around unions have recently increased. According to Gallup, 71% of Americans view unions favorably, the highest measure since 1965.*
With a particularly tight labor market, employers have been offering signing bonuses, higher salaries, and generous benefits to draw new employees. But sometimes existing workers do not receive these same incentives. Unionizing and speaking collectively is one way existing employees might work with employers to seek similar supports. From October 2021 through March of 2022, union representation petitions filed at the National Labor Relations Board have increased 57%.
*Interesting fact, the only year since tracking began that approval dipped below 50% was in 2009.”
Child Care Market Rate/Cost of Quality Studies
| Principal Investigators: | Daniel G. Schroeder, PhD (Principal Investigator) – Ray Marshall Center Monica Faulkner (Principal Investigator), Laura Marra (Co-Principal Investigator) – Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing |
| Sponsor: | Texas Workforce Commission |
| Project Duration: | July 2022 – June 2024 |
| Description: | Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin will provide services in order to complete two annual studies for the Texas Workforce Commission. The Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work will manage data collection from child care providers. The Ray Marshall Center at the LBJ School of Public Affairs manages the data analysis and reporting.
The purpose of the Child Care Market Rate Study is to create statistical summaries of market rates for child care for the entire state of Texas and for each of the 28 Local Workforce Development Areas. The purpose of the Cost of Quality Study is to understand the cost of providing quality child care in the state of Texas. The purpose is to provide estimates of how much more additional funding, in terms of daily rates, should be paid to providers who meet quality standards to care for children, relative to how much providers who meet minimal standards are paid. |
| Reports Available: | The reports for this project are published through the Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing at the University of Texas at Austin’s Steve Hicks School of Social Work. The following reports are available on their website. |
Hire Local Evaluation
| Principal Investigator: | Greg Cumpton, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Workforce Solutions Capital Area |
| Project Duration: | April 2022 – December 2023 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center has partnered with Workforce Solutions Capital Area to provide services to collect, analyze, and report data outcomes under the Hire Local Plan. |
| Reports Available: |
CAREER Project Evaluation
| Principal Investigator: | Greg Cumpton, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce |
| Project Duration: | February 2022 – May 2024 |
| Description: | The CAREER Project (Trellis Foundation’s Regional Ecosystem Innovation for Reskilling/Upskilling in Texas) aims to create a network of postsecondary and employment support for individuals in the Central Texas community impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic by building out widescale infrastructure like a referral map and integrated marketing and data efforts. The Ray Marshall Center has partnered with the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce to evaluate the CAREER Project. |
| Reports Available: |
Evaluation of the Building Construction Trades Grantees
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Texas Workforce Commission |
| Project Duration: | December 2021 – November 2024 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources has partnered with the Texas Workforce Commission to conduct an evaluation of the Building Construction Trades Grantees Program, including assessing participant outcomes, program implementation, and participant and employer feedback on the programs. |
| Reports Available: |
American Graduate video explainer: HS students training to be EMTs upon graduation
Looking for a career that can help others, Lauren entered the Pflugerville ISD Fire/EMT Academy, which trains high school students to become certified EMTs. Now she’s a sophomore at Texas A&M Commerce in a pre-med course with hopes of becoming a nurse practitioner in the ER.
*The Ray Marshall Center is proud to be one of the local partners, joining Austin Community College, the Office of the Mayor of the City of Austin, Travis County Judge’s Office, and Workforce Solutions Capital Area in the grant.
To read more about the initiative and see updates, please visit the dedicated website.
The Better Employment and Training Strategies (BETS) Task Force
The Better Employment and Training Strategies Task Force, or BETS, is a group of more than 40 workforce experts formed in November 2020 by Prof. Stephen Crawford of the George Washington Institute of Public Policy, Stuart Andreason of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and Larry Good of Corporation for a Skilled Workforce to develop recommendations aimed at informing the incoming Biden-Harris administration and the 117th Congress on issues and policy options related to five central workgroups: unemployment insurance, workforce development, job quality, youth employment, and federal jobs initiatives. These five workgroups will provide critically needed input into workforce development policy and programmatic conversations around improving the country’s employment and training system.
Members include:
Steve Crawford (GW Institute of Public Policy, The George Washington University)
Stuart Andreason (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity)
Larry Good (Corporation for a Skilled Workforce)
Burt Barnow (George Washington University)
Kisha Bird (CLASP)
Amanda Cage (National Fund for Workforce Solutions)
Mary Clagett (Jobs For the Future)
Maureen Conway (Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program)
Maria Flynn (Jobs For the Future)
Bob Jones (former Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration/Department of Labor)
Clair Minson (Sandra Grace Consulting)
Todd Greene (WorkRise, Urban Institute)
Annelies Goger (Brookings Institution)
James Haynes (OIC of America)
Chris King (Ray Marshall Center, University of Texas at Austin)
Andy Van Kleunen (National Skills Coalition)
Jeanine LaPrad (Corporation for a Skilled Workforce)
Ann Lichter (New America)
Mary Alice McCarthy (New America)
Sarah Miller (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta)
Jane Oates (former Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration/Department of Labor)
Brent Parton (New America)
Heath Prince (Ray Marshall Center, University of Texas at Austin)
Martha Ross (Brookings Institution)
Bob Sheets (GW Institute of Public Policy, The George Washington University)
Thomas Showalter (National Youth Employment Coalition)
Martin Simon (formerly National Governors Association)
Katie Spiker (National Skills Coalition)
Carl Van Horn (Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers University)
Publications
-Op-ed: ‘Building Back Better’ Means Focusing on the Labor Force & Systems That Support Recovery, The Better Employment and Training Strategies Taskforce, RealClear Policy, January 22, 2021.
-Policy Brief: Building Back Better: A National Jobs Strategy, Mary Alice McCarthy, Carl Van Horn, and Michael Prebil, February 18, 2021.
-Policy Brief: Building a National Unemployment Insurance System, Stephen A. Wandner and Christoper King, February 24, 2021 (revised March 16, 2021).
-Policy Brief: Build Back Better: Creating Infrastructure and Emergency Community Service Jobs Programs, Carl Van Horn and Mary Alice McCarthy, March 3, 2021.
-Policy Brief: Modernizing and Investing in Workforce Development, Larry Good and Earl Buford, March 22, 2021.
-Policy Brief: To Build Back Better, Job Quality Is the Key Maureen Conway, Jeannine LaPrad, Amanda Cage, and Sarah Miller, April 14, 2021.
American Graduate video explainer: Getting Certified for Construction While in High School
Jorge is a senior at Crockett High School in Austin, Texas. As a freshman he was introduced to a Career & Technical Education (CTE) program that will allow him to graduate high school with the knowledge and skills to start an entry level job in construction. Right now, he has his eye on trade school and concrete, and his variety of interests and strong work ethic will ensure he finds success in his chosen field.
*The Ray Marshall Center is proud to be one of the local partners, joining Austin Community College, the Office of the Mayor of the City of Austin, Travis County Judge’s Office, and Workforce Solutions Capital Area in the grant.
To read more about the initiative and see updates, please visit the dedicated website.
America’s Job Center of California Evalutation
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Corporation for a Skilled Workforce |
| Project Duration: | June 2020 – April 2022 |
| Description: | With assistance from the California Workforce Association (CWA), the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) and the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) of the University of Texas are partnering to evaluate the effectiveness of American Job Centers of California (AJCC) system using a mixed-methods and multi-part research design to achieve the objectives below:
– To understand how the four different models of service delivery in use in California affect a) overall access to services and, more importantly, b) the mix of services provided to the client population served. – To understand how investment decisions pertaining to AJCC infrastructure, staffing levels, and number of locations affect a) overall access to services and, more importantly b) the mix of services provided to the client population served. – To understand whether there is any relationship between participant program outcomes and the mix of services provided to the client population served. Do some models of service delivery and some types of investment decisions pertaining to AJCCs appear to be systematically related to participant program outcomes?
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| Reports Available: |
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