Inside the Black Box - Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

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members in program-related activities and supportive services, and direct employment services to families—has implications for participants’ well-being and access to resources (King & Elliot, 2000). Programs that include and assist family members, especially programs that support other family members becoming wage earners, may have more success in helping their participants overcome poverty (Shore & Shore, 2009; Jackson, Brooks-Gunn, Huang, & Glassman, 2000). Job Quality. A program that focuses on the quality of job placement may help participants achieve long-term employment success and self-sufficiency. Determinants of job quality have been defined in the literature as including wages and earnings as well as benefits, job security, advancement opportunities, work schedule, access to child care, and fairness (Lower-Basch, 2007; Shore & Shore, 2009). Once placed in a job, inflexible work arrangements, insufficient benefits, and the workplace environment can influence retention outcomes (Abt Associates, 2009; Richman, 2006; Cohen & Single, 2001). Organization Elements Diverse Funding Sources. A number of sources in the literature describe how organizations with diverse funding sources are able to maximize their ability to address individual participant goals, and allow decisions to be made based on the best design of service to the participants instead of following a one-size fits all plan (Harris, 2006; Nightingale, 2008). Yet, this diversity in funding sources presents multiple challenges to program practice and measurement. Each funder may differ in required performance measurements, and performance standards that funders request are, at times, not attainable by all programs. Staff, Leadership, and Size. Additional organizational characteristics that may influence program outcomes include organizations’ staff and leadership characteristics as well as the size of the organization. Staff influences include staff continuity and dedication, staff experience with the program participants and the industries with which they aim to connect their participants, staff expressing cultural competency, and staff training (Abrazaldo, et al., 2009; Shore & Shore, 2009; Clymer, 2003; Nightingale, 2008). In addition, strong and stable leadership within the organization and on its board may be linked to successful outcomes (Abrazaldo, et al., 2009; Social Policy Research Associates and TATC Consulting, 2004; Clymer, 2003; Tate & Klein-Collins, 2004). Lastly, two studies found that the size of an organization, including smaller program enrollment, class size, and the staff-to-participant ratio, can lead to better outcomes (Abrazaldo, et al., 2009; Miles et al., 2010). External Elements Employer Engagement. Employer engagement permeates the literature as another factor that likely influences success in workforce development and training programs Employer engagement is credited Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 14
for contributing to program success and programs’ abilities to improve participants’ short and longterm outcomes (Gibson, 2000; Klein-Collins, 2002; CAEL, 2006; Clymer, 2003; Bellotti, et al., 2010). Several examples exist of employers being involved in the development of program curriculum, which can help programs ensure their training is tailored to the needs of the employers they hope to place their participants with upon graduation (Nightingale, 2008; Uhalde & Kazis, 2010; Brown, Maxwell, DeJesus, & Schiraldi, 2002; Strawn & Martinson, 2000). Partnerships. The literature identifies the strength of organizations’ partnerships with community organizations and programs—including employers, workforce development intermediaries, and other agents in the community—as a factor influencing success in programs. Using a dual-customer approach, where the organization seeks to serve program participants and employers, leads to strong employer partnerships, which are commonly referenced as being critical to workforce development programs (Klein-Collins, 2002; Hoops & Wilson, 2010; Gibson, 2000; Maguire, Freely, Clumer, Conway, & Schwartz, 2010). External Contexts. Neighborhood and community contextual factors, such as crime rates, poverty levels, and access to education, appear underexplored in the literature. Yet, the availability of employment within the community is described as highly influential on program success. A metaanalysis of 73 randomized control trials of mandatory and voluntary welfare-to-work interventions found strong evidence suggesting that the availability of jobs in an area accounts for most contextual outcome variability (Gorey, 2009). Other authors discussed the importance of programs’ responses to the environment, including unemployment statistics, labor market information, and the changing needs of employers (Holm, Bergman, & Prince, 2010; Nightingale, 2008; Painter & Aldinger, 2011). Despite these promising practices, the scarcity in workforce development literature of the measures of these inputs, and the program and participant processes that lead to various outcomes, suggests that an opportunity exists to define helpful measures for program assessment and improvement, especially when considering the multiple influences on workforce development program service delivery and outcomes. Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 15
Page 1 and 2: Inside the Black Box: What Makes Wo
Page 3 and 4: Acknowledgments We would like to th
Page 5 and 6: Policy and Advocacy Efforts .......
Page 7 and 8: Executive Summary The workforce dev
Page 9 and 10: 1. Interface with other required da
Page 11 and 12: While acknowledging funding as a pr
Page 13 and 14: Introduction The workforce developm
Page 15 and 16: Figure 1: Interaction of Influences
Page 17 and 18: Review of Recent Literature A revie
Page 19: development system and found that i
Page 23 and 24: capture all of the participants’
Page 25 and 26: The organizations also reported tha
Page 27 and 28: that needs to be collected. Another
Page 29 and 30: Recommendation 2: Develop longitudi
Page 31 and 32: seldom systematically collected by
Page 33 and 34: With regard to the planning and dev
Page 35 and 36: models in order to best serve their
Page 37 and 38: organizations are interested in col
Page 39 and 40: Poor attitude, poor work history, o
Page 41 and 42: Organizations often use a wide rang
Page 43 and 44: …a more holistic approach to work
Page 45 and 46: in the industry. Professional crede
Page 47 and 48: Success Factors: Workforce Provider
Page 49 and 50: education or no work experience. Ot
Page 51 and 52: equirements. As part of these effor
Page 53 and 54: given as the reason organizations d
Page 55 and 56: passion to see, to transform this c
Page 57 and 58: permanent job opportunities. These
Page 59 and 60: Meet the Needs of Participants Many
Page 61 and 62: participant is linked to an opening
Page 63 and 64: Provide Business Services to Engage
Page 65 and 66: The organizations in the study all
Page 67 and 68: community, such as the services the
Page 69 and 70: depend more heavily on other fundin
Page 71 and 72:
Sometimes a legislation that is out
Page 73 and 74:
on the participants they serve. Als
Page 75 and 76:
Community engagement is also essent
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Website Description Length of Progr
Page 79 and 80:
Eligibility Participants Served Par
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Participants Served ninth grade lev
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Length of Program Size of Program E
Page 85 and 86:
Size of Program Eligibility Partici
Page 87 and 88:
Eligibility Participants Served Ind
Page 89 and 90:
Bragg, D.D., Kim, E., & Barnett, E.
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Herr, T., & Wagner, S. L. (2007). B
Page 93 and 94:
NGA Center for Best Practices, Nati
Page 95 and 96:
The Workforce Boards of Metropolita
Page 97 and 98:
The qualitative design of this proj
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1313 East 60th Street Chicago, IL 6
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