The Workforce Investment Act in Eight States: Overview of Findings from a Field Network Study
Researchers: Burt S. Barnow and Christopher T. King.
Date: July 2003
Publisher: Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, Albany, NY.
Publication Type: Report. 30pp.
Researcher(s):Burt S. Barnow and Christopher T. King
Date: July 2003
Publisher: Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, Albany, NY
Publication Type: Full Report (PDF)
Return-on-Investment (ROI) Estimates for Workforce Services in Texas, State Fiscal Year 2000-2001: Composite Workforce Development Board
Researcher(s):Christopher T. King, Dan O’Shea, Sarah E. Looney, C. Andrew Redman and W. Lee Holcombe
Date: April 2003
Publication Type: Full Report (PDF); Executive Summary (PDF)
Abstract: This report outlines the approach used to estimate returns on investment (ROI) for workforce services delivered in 18 of the 28 local workforce areas in Texas. It also presents ROI estimates for the Composite Workforce Development Board, one that illustrates the “average” experience of the participating boards. The Workforce Leadership of Texas, the statewide association of workforce board chairs and directors, initiated this ROI effort—the first to attempt estimation of ROI across many of the important workforce funding streams—contracting with researchers at the University of Texas at Austin’s Ray Marshall Center to develop these estimates. This ROI project builds upon an earlier phase of the project that developed and recommended systemic outcome measures for Texas workforce services (Workforce Leadership of Texas, 2001).
Researcher(s):Laura Lein, Julie Beausoleil, Sara Trott, Deanna Schexnayder, Daniel Schroeder, Ying Tang, and Matthew Randazzo
Date Published: April 2003
Publisher(s): Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources, The University of Texas at Austin
Abstract: Researchers from the Ray Marshall Center and Center for Social Work Research at the University of Texas at Austin have completed the first year of a three-year study on the devolution of child care in Texas, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Child Care Bureau. Two reports were completed in the first year of the study. Texas Child Care Profiles for Local Workforce Development Areas for Fiscal Year 1998-Fiscal Year 2001 provides an overview of child care policies, funding, subsidy utilization patterns and client characteristics across all of the 28 local workforce development boards. Preliminary Findings from Interviews With Child Care Program Managers is a summary of interviews conducted with local board child care program managers during the period of April to June 2002 regarding the evolution, operation and management of child care programs in local workforce areas.
Executive Summary (PDF). 29pp.
Full Report (PDF, black and white)
Full Report (PDF, color)
Printed Copies:
Contact: rmcpubs@raymarshallcenter.org
Researcher(s): Daniel Schroeder, Trish Norman, Ying Tang, Matthew Randazzo, Deanna Schexnayder, Laura Lein, Julie Beausoleil, and Sara Trott
Date: April 2003
Publication Types: Full Report (in color or black and white). 92pp. Executive Summary.
Preliminary Findings from Interviews with Child Care Program Managers: A Product of the Study of Devolution of Subsidized Child Care in Texas (PDF).
Contact rmcpubs@raymarshallcenter.org for printed copies of reports.
Abstract: Researchers from the Ray Marshall Center and Center for Social Work Research at the University of Texas at Austin have completed the first year of a three-year study on the devolution of child care in Texas, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Child Care Bureau. Two reports were completed in the first year of the study. Texas Child Care Profiles for Local Workforce Development Areas for Fiscal Year 1998-Fiscal Year 2001 provides an overview of child care policies, funding, subsidy utilization patterns and client characteristics across all of the 28 local workforce development boards. Preliminary Findings from Interviews With Child Care Program Managers is a summary of interviews conducted with local board child care program managers during the period of April to June 2002 regarding the evolution, operation and management of child care programs in local workforce areas.
Estimating Return-on-Investment (ROI) for Texas Workforce Development Boards: Lessons Learned and Next Steps
Researcher(s):Christopher T. King and Dan O’Shea
Date Published: March 2003
Publication Type: Report (prepared for Workforce Leadership of Texas)
Abstract: This report describes challenges faced and offers lessons learned from an initial attempt to estimate the returns on investment (ROI) in workforce services in Texas (King et al.2003). It also suggests a number of possible next steps for enhancing and improving upon our initial effort. The Workforce Leadership of Texas, the statewide association of workforce board chairs and directors, initiated this project to estimate workforce services ROI, contracting with researchers at the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources, a research center of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. This project builds directly upon an earlier phase of the project (Workforce Leadership of Texas, 2001).
Achieving Change for Texans: Evaluation of the Texas Welfare Reform Waiver: Final Impact Report
Authors: Deanna T. Schexnayder, Daniel G. Schroeder, Jerome A. Olson, and Hyunsub Kum
Date: January 2003
Publication Type: Report, 127pp.
Abstract: In 1995, the Texas Legislature enacted H. B. 1863, which formed the basis for Texas’ waiver from existing Federal laws governing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. The Texas waiver, officially known as the Achieving Change for Texans (ACT) demonstration, aimed to assist participants to achieve independence from welfare through an increased emphasis on employment, training, temporary assistance and support services. The random- assignment net impact evaluation measured the effectiveness of two major components of this legislation: time-limited benefits and use of a personal responsibility agreement for recipients of public cash assistance.
This is the final impact report from this evaluation. It includes net impacts of the ACT demonstration from its inception in June 1996 through September 2001, and measures impacts of state time limits and the Texas personal responsibility agreement on welfare dynamics, client self-sufficiency, participation in workforce development programs, and several family and child indicators.
Also Available: Appendix
Printed Copies: Contact Debora Morris, Texas Department of Human Services, (512) 438-3353
Parent Satisfaction with School Quality: Evidence from One Texas District
Authors: Toni Falbo, Robert W. Glover, S. Lynne Stokes, W. Lee Holcombe, Wei Na Lee, Veronica Inchauste, O’Neil Provost, Deanna Schexnayder, and others
Date: January 2003
Publication Type: Report. 33pp.
Abstract: In order to examine parents’ satisfaction with the quality of their children’s schools, a telephone survey was conducted on a stratified random sample of parents. The results indicated that the mean of the parents’ satisfaction scores was similar to the national mean for customer satisfaction. Hispanic parents indicated the greatest satisfaction, while non-Hispanic, White and African American parents indicated the least satisfaction. Low-income parents expressed greater satisfaction than did other parents, and parents of elementary school students reported greater satisfaction than did parents of secondary school students. These differences are interpreted in terms of meeting expectations, parent involvement, and school success.
Technology-Based Solutions to Workforce Service Delivery
Project Directors: Robert W. Glover, Christopher T. King, Francis Dummer Fisher, and Lodis Rhodes
Date: October 2002
Publication Type: Policy Research Project Report, 243pp.
The New Economy, characterized by globalization, technological innovation, and rapid labor market change, has challenged employers and public institutions to educate, train, and place workers more quickly and efficiently. These forces have also led to important changes in training content. If workers are to succeed in today’s labor market, they must possess broad-based competencies, including the ability to communicate, learn, and work in teams, as well as technical skills, especially the ability to use computers. This report, prepared for the Texas State Comptroller’s e-Texas initiative and the Entertech Project at IC2 Institute, investigates various applications of information technology to improve the delivery of workforce services. The workforce system plays vital roles in assisting employers and job seekers by providing key services, such as job-matching, assessment, career counseling and case management, training and retraining, and placement services. As the report demonstrates, in all of these areas, information technology can be a resource for enhancing equity, effectiveness, and efficiency. From a review of innovations and best practices across Texas, in other states, and in the U.S. military, the report highlights recurrent themes of success, including promoting universal access to the technology, paying careful attention to pedagogy in e-learning, and working through partnerships.
The Dynamics of Child Care Subsidy Use: A Collaborative Study of Five States
Authors: Marcia K. Myers, Laura R. Peck, Elizabeth E. Davis, Ann Collins, J. Lee Kreader, Annie Georges, Roberta Weber, Deanna T. Schexnayder, Daniel G. Schroeder and Jerry A. Olson
Publication Date: July 2002
Publisher: National Center for Children in Poverty (New York, NY)
Availability: Available on National Center for Children in Poverty website: Executive Summary ; Full Report. 60pp.
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Phone: (512) 471-7891
Email: rmcinfo@raymarshallcenter.org
