| 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 2023 |
| 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: 2022 Update Authors: Cynthia Juniper, Patty Rodriguez, Heath Prince (Principal Investigator), David McCoy, and Thomas Boswell Date: March 2023 Publication Type: Report, 181pp. 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. |
Central Texas Student Futures Project
| Principal Investigator: | Greg Cumpton, PhD |
| Sponsors: | Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, TG, Texas Education Agency, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Surveys: | Central Texas Student Futures Project 2021 Surveys Hays CISD 2021 Surveys |
| Project Duration: | September 2004 – December 2022 |
| Participating Districts: | Austin ISD, Bastrop ISD, Del Valle ISD, Eanes ISD, Elgin ISD, Hays CISD, Hutto ISD, Lake Travis ISD, Leander ISD, Liberty Hill ISD, Lockhart ISD, Manor ISD, Pflugerville ISD, Round Rock ISD, San Marcos CISD |
| Description: | The Student Futures Project—formerly known as Creating a Central Texas High School Data Center—is a research partnership of the Ray Marshall Center, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Skillpoint Alliance, and a growing number of Central Texas independent school districts (ISDs). The project is documenting and analyzing the progress of Central Texas high school students as they move onto colleges and careers. It relies on a combination of student surveys and linked administrative records to improve feedback and policy and program alignment for Central Texas ISDs in preparing students for the demands of adulthood and for success in the workplace. The purpose of the Student Futures Project is two-fold: 1) To provide ISDs, postsecondary institutions, and employers with comprehensive, longitudinal research on what high school students are doing after graduation, why they are making these decisions, and how a variety of educational, personal, and financial factors are related to their success in higher education and the workforce; and 2) To offer workshops, seminars, and applied research on best practices and applied research that will assist ISDs, the Education Service Center, and postsecondary institutions to increase the number of regional youth who obtain postsecondary academic and workforce credentials.
Each year the Student Futures Project issues reports on area high school graduates to allow districts and schools to see exactly how their preparation has helped high school students move on to the next phase of their development either in college, training, or the workplace. The reports address the following questions, among others: • Who is and is not going to college and why? These reports will trace each graduating class as they move through work, postsecondary education and training, and other options for up to four years after graduation. The focus of these reports is to identify trends and practices that best enable students to capitalize on the opportunities they meet after graduation and to ensure that schools have a process for evaluating how they prepare their students for what lies beyond graduation. |
| Reports Available: | Findings from the 2014 Senior Surveys Authors: Carinne Deeds and Greg Cumpton Date: January 2015 Publication Type: Report, 88pp. Findings from the 2013 Senior Surveys Initial Postsecondary Enrollment Statistics through December 2011 for Class of 2011 Central Texas Graduates Trends in Low-Income Enrollment and Outcomes in Central Texas for School Districts and Campuses, 2008 through 2012 The Influence of Activities and Coursework on Postsecondary Enrollment and One-Year Persistence for the Class of 2010 FAFSA Filling Patterns and Direct to College Outcomes for Class of 2012 Central Texas Graduates Initial Postsecondary Enrollment Statistics through December 2012 Findings from the 2012 Senior Surveys Factors Associated with Education and Work after High School for the Classes of 2008 and 2009 Initial Postsecondary Enrollment Statistics for 2010 Central Texas Graduates through December 2010 Findings from the 2010 Senior Surveys Initial Postsecondary Enrollment Statistics through December 2009 for Class of 2009 Central Texas Graduates Findings from the 2009 Senior Surveys Central Texas Student Futures Project Conceptual Model Education and Work After High School: Central Texas Outcomes through December 2008 Education and Work after High School: Findings from Multi-Methods Research in Central Texas Findings from the 2008 Senior Surveys Education and Work after High School: A First Look at the Class of 2007 Student Futures Project 2007 Research Brief Findings from the 2007 Senior Surveys Community Briefing: Education and Work After High School: A First Look Outcomes One Year Later: An Update on the Class of 2006 Education and Work After High School: A First Look at the Class of 2006 Central Texas High School Graduate Data Center: Findings from the 2006 Senior Surveys Central Texas High School Graduate Data Center: Year One Report Brief Central Texas High School Graduate Data Center: Year One Final Report Beyond the Numbers: Improving Post-Secondary Success through a Central Texas High School Data Center Preliminary Year One Findings: January 2006 |
Texas Child Care Market Rate Survey
| Principal Investigators: | Daniel Schroeder, Ph.D. (Ray Marshall Center) Monica Faulkner Ph.D. LMSW, Jim Schwab, and D’nika Travis (Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing) |
| Sponsor: | Texas Workforce Commission |
| Research Partners: | Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing |
| Project Duration: | April 2003 – August 2022 |
| Description: | This project conducts a child care market rate survey to be used by 28 Local Workforce Development Boards that manage the federal child care program in Texas. The goal is to produce up-to-date, reliable data and information to use in setting maximum reimbursements rates that ensure equal access to child care, thereby maximizing public resources. |
| 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.
2021 Texas Child Care Market Rate Survey For reports prior to 2012, copies may be obtained from Texas Workforce Commission. The following reports are available. 2011 Texas Child Care Market Rate Survey |
