“Extremely impressive” is how Arnold Ventures describes Abt’s new findings on Year Up, a workforce training program for low-income young adults. The forthcoming report shows gains of nearly $8,000 in annual earnings (33 percent more than a control group) after five years. Year Up generated $1.66 in benefits for every $1 spent. The study is part of Abt’s Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) project for the Administration on Children and Families.
The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant program provided $1.9 billion to enhance college career training. An Abt evaluation for the Department of Labor of the final round of grants found that after 15 months, half of participants in programs selected for an outcomes study completed training, three quarters were employed, earnings improved, and the percentage in poverty declined.
Family and medical leave has taken on increasing importance under the COVID-19 pandemic. A new Abt study for the Department of Labor finds women need, and take, more family and medical leave than men but receive less pay for it. Low-wage workers are more likely to receive no pay, and to lose their job, when they take leave compared to other workers. The study was conducted prior to the pandemic, and these inequities have likely worsened as it has disproportionately affected women and low-wage workers.
To improve the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments program’s success in helping unemployment insurance claimants return to work, Congress introduced requirements that RESEA programs be supported by evidence of effectiveness. To help, Abt developed a large suite of general evaluation technical assistance (TA) products, including webinars and a toolkit, and is providing customized one-on-one TA to states.
Workers who experience an injury or illness may be at risk of dropping out of the labor force. Abt helped the US Department of Labor build evidence for effective approaches to Stay-at-Work/Return-to-Work models and strategies. We reviewed programs, evidence, and potential target populations, all of which informed the development of five intervention and evaluation designs to expand the evidence base.
Recent Findings from Abt Associates
From career pathways to innovative job search strategies, check out our latest reports!
Abt is evaluating four state workforce agencies’ efforts to address the workforce development needs of communities hardest hit by the opioid epidemic. The evaluation of the Department of Labor’s Support to Communities: Fostering Opioid Recovery Through Workforce Development grants will include a comprehensive implementation study, assessment of the feasibility of an impact study, and a series of rapid analysis memos and reports to provide continuous documentation of grant activities.
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