| 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. |
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. |
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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Critical Skill Shortages Initiative
| Principal Investigators: | Robert Glover, PhD and Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | WorkSource – Greater Austin Area Workforce Board |
| Project Duration: | April 2005 – August 2006 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center will collaborate with industry and community representatives to work with two industrial sectors to alleviate critical skills shortages in key occupations. The two targeted industrial sectors will have high job growth, pay higher than average wages and benefits, and be experiencing critical skill shortages in key occupations. The project will examine root causes for these critical shortages and propose practical solutions. The researchers anticipate that the first target sector will be health care. Abundant information is already available regarding this industry in Central Texas, as well as existing activities and institutions that can be built on. Researchers will do a quick verification to confirm this choice. This strategy of selecting health care on the front end will allow researchers to accelerate the project rapidly into the second (root causes) and third (solutions) phases for this sector. Key representatives from this sector have indicated that while much is known about it already, much more needs to be done to understand and effectively respond to its needs.
The second industry sector will be selected on the basis of findings from the data analysis and discussions with representatives from industry and the community regarding their responsiveness to work with this initiative. Researchers will build on existing efforts and make best use of available data and programs underway. They will collaborate with interested employers in the selected industries to verify the shortages, examine root causes, and seek practical solutions to alleviate the shortages. The project will be documented in a series of reports, including a Critical Skills Report, for each of the two industry sectors selected, a report on Root Causes of the shortages, and a report on Solutions tailored for each sector. Each of the solutions reports will include a work plan, with endorsements that could be used as the basis of a proposal to be submitted to an external funding agency or organization. The researchers view this project as a means to establish a more effective collaborative process in Central Texas – not merely a research project designed to develop a series of written reports. They aim to put into placed a catalytic process that will generate and facilitate activities by key actors. Success will require strong input and meaningful participation by the firms and industries involved, as well as by training providers and the community. The end result for Central Texas should be improved productivity for employers in key sectors, as well as enhanced labor market success for area residents. |
| Reports Available: | Critical Skill Shortages Project: Recommendations for Selection of Two Key Industry Clusters for Further Work Authors: Robert W. Glover, Suzanne Hershey, Christopher T. King, and Deepshikha Roychowdhury Date: June 2005 Publication Type: Report, 48pp. Critical Skill Shortages Project: An Assessment of Root Causes for Skill Shortages in Biosciences and Biotechnology in Greater Austin Critical Skill Shortages Project: An Assessment of Root Causes for Skill Shortages in the Wireless Industry in Greater Austin Critical Skill Shortages Project: Addressing Potential Skill Shortages in Biosciences and Biotechnology in Greater Austin Critical Skill Shortages Project: Addressing Potential Skill Shortages in Wireless Technology in Greater Austin |
An Evaluation of Workforce Development Services in Travis County
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Travis County, Texas |
| Project Duration: | January 2006 – September 2024 |
| Description: | For more than fifteen years, Travis County has invested between $1-2.5 million in workforce development programs for disadvantaged residents. The purpose of the evaluation is to examine outcomes and impacts for participants in Travis County-funded community-based workforce programs over time and to provide recommendations and support for County and provider staff based on data analysis and best practice research. Seven providers with long standing County contracts have been the focus of an ongoing evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of local workforce services investments led by the Ray Marshall Center since 2006:
Researchers at the Ray Marshall Center have produced a series of reports documenting the employment outcomes and impacts for participants from these programs over time. Findings from this evaluation have also been presented to the local workforce board, the County Commissioners Court, and at Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) fall research conferences. Other Social Services Recently, the evaluation has expanded to include an analysis of other County-funded social services for disadvantaged residents. The first phase of this evaluation component focuses on analysis of historical Family Support Services (FSS) program data. Specifically, Travis County HHS has asked the RMC to review the evaluation design and methods implemented by BSS (Best Single Source), to create a parallel evaluation of the standard delivery of services (EACO or Emergency Assistance County Only), to help implement the evaluation, and to analyze and report on the results. The second phase of the evaluation will benchmark Travis County’s program with support programs offered by similar counties in Texas and beyond. |
| Reports Available | Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development 2023 Update Authors: Cynthia Juniper, Patty Rodriguez, David McCoy, Heath Prince (Principal Investigator), and Thomas Boswell Date: November 2023 Publication Type: Report, 173pp. Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2022 Update Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2021 Update Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2020 Update Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2019 Update Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2018 Update Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2017 Update Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2016 Update Improving the Measurement and Effectiveness of Family Support Services: A Comparative Review of County Practices Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2015 Update An Evaluation of Local Investments in Workforce Development: 2014 Update An Evaluation of Local Investments in Workforce Development: 2013 Update The Local Investment in Workforce Development Evaluation: Travis County-Funded 2009/2010 Participant Plus Longer-Term Outcomes for Capital IDEA Local Investments in Workforce Development: 2012 Evaluation Update Evaluation of Local Workforce Demonstration Projects – Travis County’s REM and GEM Projects Exploratory Return on Investment Analysis of Local Workforce Investments Local Investments in Workforce Development: 2011 Evaluation Update Rapid Employment Model Evaluation – 2011 Update Rapid Employment Model Evaluation: Update #2 Evaluating Local Workforce Investments: Results for Short- and Long-Term Training in Austin (TX) Local Investments in Workforce Development: Evaluation Update Rapid Employment Model Evaluation: Update Local Investments in Workforce Development: Initial Evaluation Findings Rapid Employment Model Evaluation: Initial Findings |
Workforce Intermediaries
| Principal Investigator: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | The Rockefeller Foundation |
| Research Partners: | Skillpoint Alliance and Capital IDEA |
| Project Duration: | October 2004 – August 2005 |
| Description: | Central Texas has a robust, dynamic, and unique set of workforce institutions — including Skillpoint Alliance (formerly Capital Area Training Foundation), Capital IDEA, and Austin Community College — that are the envy of other communities across the nation. These organizations, as well as Central Texas’ two workforce development boards, embody key features of leading-edge workforce intermediaries. The region is also unique in a number of other respects that make it a particularly attractive site for developing and operating a major workforce intermediary initiative, including: unusually high levels of public and private support for its workforce development services; its pursuit of a cluster-based approach to workforce services; and the level of grass-roots action and public concern over skills gaps and income disparities among its residents. The Ray Marshall Center is coordinating a nine-month planning process to design a workforce intermediary initiative for all of Central Texas, working in partnership with two of Austin’s premier workforce intermediaries: the Skillpoint Alliance and the Capital IDEA. The researchers will also engage a broad array of local stakeholders in this process, including employer groups, community organizations, and philanthropic institutions. The principal outcome of this planning process will be the design and funding plan for a uniquely Central Texas workforce intermediary initiative, based in its own set of institutions, traditions and context.
During the planning process the research will focus on addressing several core questions:
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| Reports Available: | Approaches to Adjusting Workforce Development Performance Measures Authors: Joe Siedlecki and Christopher T. King Date: August 2005 Publication Type: Policy Brief, 7pp.Proposed Approaches to Workforce Development Performance Measurement Authors: Sarah Looney and Christopher T. King Date: February 2005 Publication Type: Policy Brief, 6pp. Expanding Opportunities for Business and Workers: Promising Practices for Workforce Intermediary Initiatives Mapping and Improving State Workforce Development Systems: Lessons from Five States |
NCP Choices: Providing Workforce Development Services to Non-Custodial Parents
| Principal Investigators: | Daniel G. Schroeder, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Office of the Attorney General of Texas and Texas Workforce Commission |
| Project Duration: | July 2005 – August 2011 |
| Description: | The goal of the Non-Custodial Parent Choices (NCP Choices) demonstration is to get unemployed and/or underemployed non-custodial parents (NCPs) with unpaid child support orders into workforce development services so that they can better meet their financial obligations to their children. Child support can be one of the most important sources of income in assisting single parent households to escape from poverty. Despite significant gains over the last decade or so, receipt of child support among public assistance families remains low. Many NCPs are unable to meet their financial obligations due to unemployment or underemployment. Previous attempts to engage low-income NCPs in workforce development services have had success for some participants, but typically have problems meeting enrollment goals. NCP Choices solves this in a straightforward manner: noncompliant NCPs are given the choice of paying their child support, participating in workforce services, or going to jail.
The Ray Marshall Center (RMC) is estimating preliminary impacts of NCP Choices in four demonstration sites. Outcomes of interest include child support collections, workforce development participation, employment and earnings levels of NCPs, and TANF receipt by the custodial parents (CPs). |
| Reports Available: | Non-Custodial Parent Choices PEER Pilot: Impact Report Authors: Daniel Schroeder, Kimberly Walker, and Amna Khan Date: August 2011 Publication Type: Report, 45 pp. Non-Custodial Parent Choices Establishment Pilot: Impact Report Non-Custodial Parent Choices Establishment and PEER Pilots: Preliminary Impact Report Non-Custodial Parent Choices Establishment Pilot: Early Implementation Results Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Program Impact Analysis (2009) Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Program Impact Analysis (2008) Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Program Impact Analysis (2007) Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Preliminary Program Impact Analysis Evaluating the Non-custodial Parent Choices Program in Texas: Literature Review, Early Implementation Results, and Preliminary Impact Analysis Plan |
Urban Welfare-to-Work Transitions Book
| Principal Investigator: | Christopher T. King, PhD and Peter Mueser |
| Sponsor: | W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research |
| Research Partner: | University of Baltimore |
| Project Duration: | 1999-2004 |
| Description: | Christopher T. King and University of Missouri-Columbia economics professor Peter Mueser received a grant from the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in 1999, supplementing funding from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, to prepare a book on welfare-to-work transitions in six, very diverse urban areas around the country: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston and Kansas City (MO). King, director of the Ray Marshall Center and the Hogg Professor of Urban Management at the LBJ School, and Mueser completed their research in 2004. The Upjohn Institute published the book, Welfare and Work: Experiences in Six Cities in February 2005. |
Transforming State and Local Workforce Development Systems
| Principal Investigators: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | National Governors Association, Ford Foundation |
| Project Duration: | April 2000 – December 2004 |
| Description: | Researchers at the Ray Marshall center participate in selecting and convening a Next Generation Initiative Advisory Group. They assist in conducting a competitive process in the spring of 2002 for selecting up to eight states to participate in the academy for planning and implementing policies and strategies to transform the workforce development system in their states. They participate in conducting site visits in each of the selected states in late spring/early summer to meet with the state team regarding their participation in the academy and work with the partners to expand the scope of the Next Generation Initiative throughout the first year by connecting with other related initiatives.
Through research on policies, strategies, and practices, they develop a policy/strategy paper on comprehensive performance management/measurement to inform the Next Generation on workforce development. They will assist in developing papers starting in early fall 2001 as part of the NGA Chair’s Initiative that draws on the knowledge gained from the Next Generation policy/strategy papers. The paper will be finalized in January 2001 and presented to Governors at the NGA Winter Meeting in February 2002. |
Capital Area Training Foundation Construction Gateway Evaluation
| Principal Investigator: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsors: | Capital Area Training Foundation, Jobs for the Future |
| Research Partner: | Capital Area Training Foundation |
| Project Duration: | January 2004 – December 2004 |
| Description: | The Capital Area Training Foundation (CATF) and the Ray Marshall Center have entered into a strategic partnership that will:
The Construction Gateway Evaluation component of this partnership seeks to document results of the Gateway Program, identify practices/policies associated with positive results, and provide options for maintaining and expanding the initiative as well as exploring the possibility of replicating the model in other industry sectors. Moreover, the research feeds back into the larger objective of engaging civic interest and capacity in workforce development and career advancement, validating current investments, and influencing the public policy environment to promote more investment through the example of a “grounded” community program. The evaluation will be available Fall 2004. |
