RMC’s Juniper presents at TNOYS 41st annual conference
RMC’s qualitative research associate, Cynthia Juniper, presented findings from our Evaluating Services for Texas Opportunity Youth (ESTOY) project at the Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS) 41st annual conference held June 4-7, 2024, in Houston, Texas.
The purpose of the ESTOY evaluation is to pursue a deeper understanding of the experience of opportunity youth whose needs were not met by the community’s traditional education systems. The qualitative research method for this evaluation employed a community-based research design to invite voices from the community to collaborate with researchers in the design of the study, an approach that depends upon the knowledge, insights, and experiences of the individuals who are the subject of a study to assist and guide researchers. The ESTOY evaluation engaged youth and young adults currently enrolled in workforce development services to guide the development of a survey tool to be completed by youth and young adults receiving workforce development services in four Texas communities: Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. The presentation highlights key considerations for preparing for this research, engaging the community, and lessons learned from the process.
You can view the presentation slides here.
PATHS for Texas: Interim Descriptive Statistics, Outcomes, Impacts, Survey Results, and Qualitative Summary 2024 Update
PATHS for Texas: Interim Descriptive Statistics, Outcomes, Impacts, Survey Results, and Qualitative Summary 2024 Update
Authors: Thomas Boswell, Patty Rodriguez, and Heath Prince
Date: July 2024
Publication Type: Report, 49pp.
Executive Summary
The data presented in this report represent individuals who participated in PATHS for Texas from its start date in 2020 through June of 2024. As of June 2024, 2,524 individuals registered to participate in the PATHs for Texas program from four Texas Workforce Development Boards (WDB) across the state (Coastal Bend, Gulf Coast, Rural Capital Area, and North Texas). Of the 2,524 individuals who enrolled in PATHS, 2,029 (80%) individuals completed training and earned one or more certificates. When compared to the reference quarter (four quarters prior to earning a certificate through PATHS), on average, PATHS participants increased employment by 5.5 percentage points (from 72.8% to 78.3%), as well as increased their quarterly earnings by $2,574 (from $8,469 to $11,043) eight quarters after earning their certificate. Those who earned certificates in the Business, Hospitality, Information Technology, Medical, Retail, and Transportation and Logistics industries saw increases in employment and earnings compared to the reference period, while those earning certificates in Entrepreneurship, and in the Skilled Trades saw flat or slight decreases in employment, and Insurance, which saw a decline in earnings.
When matched with a comparison group of demographically similar individuals with similar employment histories to determine the impact of program participation, and while there is some variation across the Boards and by outcome measure, it is generally the case that participation in PATHS is associated with a positive, and statistically significant, increase in both unconditional quarterly earnings ($990) and quarterly employment (9.5% percentage points) over the comparison group.
We also report on the outcomes of two surveys completed in the past three years: one survey of active PATHS participants, and one of inactive participants. Responses indicate that flexible training arrangement, follow-up with participants after program completion, and information regarding family counseling services represent growth opportunities for service providers.
Finally, and while it will be expanded upon in next year’s final report, we report preliminary findings from an implementation evaluation of PATHS. Input provided by key stakeholders yielded several lessons learned, including those related to flexibility, collaboration, and leadership. In terms of flexibility, respondents highlighted the value in PATHS ability to pivot its industry focus in response to COVID-19. Regarding collaboration, respondents frequently cited their collaboration between one another throughout the PATHS funding period as a unique experience in the state’s Workforce Solutions space. And, regarding leadership, respondents underscored the importance of an effective and confident managerial presence to the successful implementation of the PATHS for Texas program.
Evaluation of the City of Austin Investment in Workforce Development: 2023 Annual Report
Evaluation of the City of Austin Investment in Workforce Development: 2023 Annual Report
Authors: Cynthia Juniper, Thomas Boswell, and Greg Cumpton, Principal Investigator
Date: December 2023
Publication Type: Report, 41 pp.
The City of Austin has contracted with the Ray Marshall Center (RMC), an organized research unit at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, to conduct an evaluation of the City’s workforce training investments. The purpose of the evaluation is to identify within the City of Austin funded workforce development training ecosystem, programmatic or strategic elements that impact participant outcomes. Research findings will guide strategic planning for the City’s workforce development efforts.
The following report is organized into three sections. The first presents an overview of the evaluation questions and research methods. The quantitative methodology discussion highlights the planned analysis of employment and wage outcomes. The qualitative methodology discussion presents detailed information regarding the development of the participant survey, the survey distribution plan, and participant interviews. The second section presents a brief profile of each service provider and its workforce development program(s). The concluding section outlines lessons learned during this first period of inquiry and additional questions researchers will consider as the evaluation evolves.
Issue 34, May 2024
RMC’s Prince and Boswell present findings at CENCAM International Workshop
Ray Marshall Center’s Dr. Heath Prince and Thomas Boswell presented findings from their study titled “Prevention, Resilience, Efficiency, and Protection for workers in industrial agriculture in a changing climate (PREP): Baseline results from a household panel survey of the socioeconomic conditions experienced by agricultural workers in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua” at the Fourth International Workshop on Chronic Kidney Disease sponsored by Consortium for the Epidemic of Nephropathy in Central America and Mexico (CENCAM) and held February 13th-16th in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala. The workshop was developed as a collaboration between CENCAM, the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic (SE-COMISCA), the Latin American Society for Nephrology and Hypertension (SLANH), and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
Their poster presentation, seen here, summarizes the key research strategies and results from their study, the purpose being to examine the socieoconomic outcomes associated with chronic kidney disease not related to well-known risk factors (CKDnt) in four communities in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua that are home to a substantial number of sugarcane workers. Despite strong similarities in terms of demographic characteristics, and despite residing in the same communities with similar access to the available resources, households experiencing CKDnt exhibit distinct and statistically significant differences in important socioeconomic outcomes when compared to non-CKDnt households. Contributing to the study were Jason Glaser (La Isla Network), Catharina Wesseling (Karolinska Institute, Sweden), Ashweeta Patnaik (RMC), and William Martinez-Cuadra (La Isla Network).
Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development 2023 Update
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.
INTRODUCTION
In FY 2016–FY 2022, Travis County invested over $16 million to support a continuum of adult education, training, and employment services. The adult education programing supported by the County includes English as a second language, basic adult education, high school equivalency and GED classes. Sectoral occupational training includes healthcare professions, information technology, skilled trades, manufacturing, and other occupations in area growth industries with good prospects for career advancement, improved economic stability, and access to employee benefits.
Four of the Travis County workforce development grantees receive county-funded assistance as a consortium, the Workforce Education and Readiness Continuum–Travis County (WERC-TC). WERC-TC providers are Workforce Solutions Capital Area Career Centers, Goodwill of Central Texas, Austin Area Urban League, and American YouthWorks. Four additional community-based organizations maintaining workforce development contracts with Travis County are included in this report: Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, Capital IDEA, LifeWorks, and Skillpoint Alliance. In addition, WERC-TC grantee American YouthWorks also delivers services to participants through Travis County funding that is not WERC-TC.
To understand program participant outcomes and the impact of these services, the county has contracted with the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources (RMC), an organized research unit in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas, to conduct a longitudinal evaluation of its investments. This evaluation report presents findings and analyses of programs funded during a seven-year on-going evaluation (FY 2016–FY 2022).
Nuru Burkina Faso 2023 Impact Report
Nuru Burkina Faso 2023 Impact Report
Authors: Heath Prince and Thomas Boswell (Ray Marshall Center); Souleymane Ouedraogo (Nuru Burkina Faso); and Matt Lineal, Casey Harrison, Ian Schwenke, Bethany Ibrahim (Nuru)
Date: May 2024
Publication Type: Report, 23pp.
This report is commissioned by Nuru.
Executive Summary
Nuru Burkina Faso (NBF) is a locally-led and locally-registered NGO in Burkina Faso. NBF’s mission is to build resilience corridors by eradicating poverty and unlocking economic potential within fragile communities in Burkina Faso to stop the spread of violent extremism by 2030. NBF was founded in 2022, and at the time of this report is in its second year of operation. Since its inception, NBF has created a capable and professional local organization that is engaged across several interventions. Currently, NBF is working with USAID to implement the Tiligre Initiative for Farmer Resilience (TIFR) in the Centre Sud and Plateau-Central regions of Burkina Faso, just outside of the capital Ouagadougou, and receives further support from additional donors to provide support in terms of crop input packages to farmers. Furthermore, NBF has partnered with ignitia to provide two consecutive years of weather forecasting services to nearly 2,000 Nuru-registered farmers.
In 2023, NBF conducted its first input-distribution activity, allowing farmers who are members of the cooperatives that NBF supports to receive crop input packages, consisting of various inputs aimed to improve the yields of soy and groundnut production for individual farmers. Crop loan repayments are made to the cooperative, which becomes a revolving fund at each cooperative. This report examines the results of this 2023 agricultural season, including the yield potential between farmers and demonstration plots. This report also explores baseline gender evaluations aimed at uncovering gender dynamics at the household level.
Findings from RMC’s Jordan/MENA project led by Dr. Prince featured in Policy Press publication
RMC Research Scientist, Dr. Heath Prince, and former RMC Research Associate, Amna Khan (LBJ MPAff, 2012), along with Brandeis University colleague, Dr. Yara Halasa-Rappel, examined post-Arab Spring youth unemployment policies in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia for the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in 2017. Their findings have now been published as a book chapter in the newly released University of Bristol’s Policy Press publication, Emerging Trends in Social Policy from the South: Challenges and Innovations in Emerging Economies (Yi, Kaasch, and Stetter, eds). Their chapter, “Economic Growth, Youth Unemployment and Political and Social Instability: A Study of Policies and Outcomes in Post-Arab Spring Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia,” documents their fieldwork to better understand the multiple policy approaches taken by these countries, as well as the constraints they faced, in addressing the crisis of youth unemployment that contributed to the uprisings between 2010 and 2012. You can read more about the book here.
Nuru Kenya 2023 Dairy Impact Brief
Nuru Kenya 2023 Dairy Impact Brief
Authors: Heath Prince and Thomas Boswell (Ray Marshall Center); Fatuma Nyanjong (Nuru Kenya); and Casey Harrison, Matt Lineal, Ian Schwenke, and Bethany Ibrahim (Nuru International)
Date: December 2023
Publication Type: Research Brief, 6pp.
This report is commissioned by Nuru International
INTRODUCTION
Nuru Kenya (NK) was established in 2008 with the goal of enabling meaningful choices for vulnerable communities to lift themselves out of poverty. Their multifaceted approach addresses food insecurity, ability to cope with shocks, and addressing unnecessary disease and death. NK has since been engaged across the sectors of agriculture, financial inclusion, and healthcare. This report will focus on NK’s impact in the dairy sector as part of an integrated livelihood diversification strategy. This dairy program began in Migori county in 2017, and has since expanded to neighboring Homabay, the second county of operation for NK. This report focuses on the Migori county dairy program after 7 years of impact.
To track data and report on successes, NK’s monitoring, evaluation, and learning team works with Nuru International support, in partnership with the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) at the University of Texas, Austin. Working as a group, Nuru Kenya leads on the collection and cleaning of data, and Nuru International and RMC report on the relevant findings. This the 6th annual report on the dairy program of Nuru Kenya since its inception in 2017. The primary metrics of success for the dairy program encompass improved yields and incomes for farmers, along with improved practices for taking care of the health and production of animals. Additional programs include fodder production, and artificial insemination. The households who are members of the NK dairy program are often also members of farmers cooperatives supported by NK, which assist in training and aggregation activities with the farmers over the course of the year.
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