Evaluation of the Aging Worker Initiative - ETA Advisories

240 Pages·2013·2.45 MB·English

S O C I A L P O L I C Y R E S E A R C H
A S S O C I A T E S
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Evaluation of the Aging
Worker Initiative
Final Report
March 29, 2013
Prepared by:
Social Policy Research Associates
Deborah Kogan
Deanna Khemani
Tyler Moazed
Jill Leufgen
Mathematica Policy Research

Prepared for:
Elizabeth Laird
Michelle Derr
The U.S. Department of Labor Kathleen Keefe
Employment and Training
Administration
Office of Policy Development
and Research
200 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20210
DOL Contract No.
DOLF091A20954
SPR Project No. 1380
1330 Broadway, Suite 1426
Oakland, CA 94612
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
http://www.spra.com

Disclaimer
This report has been funded, either wholly or in part, with Federal funds from the U.S.
Department of Labor (USDOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Office of
Policy Development and Research (OPDR) under Contract Number DOLF091A20954. The
contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of
Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply
endorsement of same by the U.S. Government.
i
ii
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the many people whose cooperation and efforts have made this report
possible. We particularly thank the AWI grantees, project managers, and staff at each of the
funded projects who coordinated case study site visits from the members of the evaluation team
during the fall of 2010 and again during the spring of 2012. We appreciate the time they spent
talking with us about their projects and allowing us to observe the projects in operation. They
provided detailed information about local project operations and talked frankly with us about
project challenges and accomplishments. We would also like to express our sincere thanks to the
AWI participants, participating employers, and business intermediaries who participated in focus
groups to share their stories with us and describe their experiences with the local projects.
We would also like to thank the many people at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment
and Training Administration (ETA) who supported this study in many ways. Special thanks are
due to our Project Officer, Charlotte (Sande) Schifferes, of ETA’s Office of Policy Development
and Research, who has been supportive of the project throughout the evaluation period.
We would like to thank the many members of the project team whose contributions along the
way were indispensable to the project. At Social Policy Research Associates, we thank Kim
Foley and Brittany Tate, who, in addition to the authors of the report, visited local sites and
brought back detailed information about projects’ key features and operational details. We also
thank Ron D’Amico for his guidance and contributions to the study effort, Eric Engles, for his
editorial assistance, and Michael Fang, for his contributions to the formatting of the report.
At Mathematica Policy Research, we also thank Elizabeth Clary and Jody Schimmel, who
conducted initial site visits to several AWI projects, and Gretchen Kirby for her support in
preparing this report.

iii
iv
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ ES-1
I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ I-1
The Context for AWI ................................................................................................ I-2
AWI Grant Awards ................................................................................................... I-5
The AWI Evaluation ................................................................................................. I-6
II. OVERVIEW OF GRANTEES AND THEIR APPROACHES TO
SERVING AGING WORKERS .................................................................................. II-1
Grantee Characteristics .......................................................................................... II-1
Community Contexts of the AWI Projects ............................................................... II-6
Industry Sectors Targeted By AWI Projects .......................................................... II-10
Types of Older Workers Targeted......................................................................... II-12
Proposed Project Budgets .................................................................................... II-16
Summary of Findings ............................................................................................ II-20
III. PROJECT ORGANIZATION AND PARTNERSHIPS ............................................... III-1
Project Management ............................................................................................. III-1
Project Guidance and Oversight ............................................................................ III-6
Partnerships ........................................................................................................ III-12
Leveraged Resources—In-house and From Project Partners ............................. III-18
Summary of Findings ........................................................................................... III-20
IV. PARTICIPANT OUTREACH, ENROLLMENT, AND
CHARACTERISTICS ............................................................................................... IV-1
Connecting Older Workers to AWI ......................................................................... IV-1
Characteristics of Participants Served ................................................................... IV-8
Summary of Findings ........................................................................................... IV-14
V. SERVICES AND STRATEGIES ................................................................................ V-1
Common Needs and Themes ................................................................................. V-1
Case Management ................................................................................................. V-4
v
Training ................................................................................................................ V-11
Community Outreach Activities ............................................................................. V-25
Outreach to Employers and Services for Incumbent Workers .............................. V-25
Summary of Findings ............................................................................................ V-32
VI. DATA COLLECTION, REPORTING, AND OUTCOMES ......................................... VI-1
Data Collection and Reporting ............................................................................... VI-1
Outcomes .............................................................................................................. VI-5
Summary of Findings ........................................................................................... VI-19
VII. CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................... VII-1
Services and Strategies ........................................................................................ VII-1
Plans to Sustain and Replicate Improved Services to Older Workers ................... VII-5
Recommended Features of Services for Older Workers ..................................... VII-10
Concluding Thoughts .......................................................................................... VII-12
APPENDIX A: PROJECT PROFILES ............................................................................... A-1
Aging Worker Initiative Tecumseh Area Partnership, Inc. Indiana ......................... A-3
“The Silver Force Project” Quad Area Community Action Agency,
Inc. Louisiana ........................................................................................................ A-7
“Maturity Works: Tapping Older Workers for High Growth
Healthcare Careers” Baltimore County, Maryland, Department of
Economic Development, Division of Workforce Development ............................. A-11
“Seasoned Worker Opportunity Project” Coastal Counties
Workforce Inc. Maine ............................................................................................ A-15
“Aging Worker Initiative” Macomb/St. Clair Workforce Development
Board Inc. Michigan .............................................................................................. A-19
“Older Worker Demonstration Project” South Central Workforce
Investment Board, Inc. Pennsylvania .................................................................... A-23
“Aging Worker Initiative” Goodwill Industries of Houston, Inc. Texas ................... A-27
“Vermont Older Worker Demonstration” Vermont Associates
Training and Development, Inc. Vermont ............................................................. A-31
“Reinvesting in Older Workers (ROW)” Workforce Development
Council of Seattle-King County Washington ......................................................... A-35
“Paths to Older Worker Employment Readiness (POWER)” Fox
Valley Workforce Development Board, Inc. Wisconsin ......................................... A-39
APPENDIX B. ROUND 2 SITE VISIT PROTOCOL .......................................................... B-1
APPENDIX C. PROJECT MANAGER FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE .............. C-1
vi
EXHIBITS
Exhibit ES-1:The Aging Worker Initiative Grantees ............................................................... ES-3
Exhibit ES-2: AWI Grant Award Amounts and Service Areas by Grantee.............................. ES-6
Exhibit I-1:The Aging Worker Inititiative Grantees .................................................................... I-5
Exhibit II-1 Organizational Characteristics of AWI Grantees .....................................................II-2
Exhibit II-2 Service Area: Number of Jurisdictions and Total Population, by Grantee ..............II-5
Exhibit II-3 Racial and Demographic Composition of Demonstration Communities
(Percentages) ..........................................................................................................................II-7
Exhibit II-4 Unemployment Rates by Grantee During the AWI Project Period ..........................II-9
Exhibit II-5 Industry Sectors Targeted, By Grantee ................................................................I I-11
Exhibit II-6 Groups Targeted for Participation, by Grantee .....................................................I I-15
Exhibit II-7: AWI Grant Award Amounts and Service Areas by Grantee ................................ II-17
Exhibit II-8: Proposed Average Budgeted Costs by Activity ...................................................I I-18
Exhibit II-9: Proposed Percent of Budget by Activity by Project ..............................................I I-19
Exhibit III-1: Number of Paid Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) Devoted to AWI, by Grantee ........III-3
Exhibit III-2: AWI Administrative and Direct Service Staff Turnover ........................................III-5
Exhibit III-3: AWI Direct Service Staffing Arrangements and Roles and Responsibilities ........III-9
Exhibit III-4: AWI Project Partners ........................................................................................I II-14
Exhibit III-5: AWI Leveraged Resources In-House and From Project Partners ..................... III-19
Exhibit IV-1: Outreach and Referral Strategies, by Grantee ................................................... IV-2
Exhibit IV-2: Selected Co-Enrollments, by Granteea .............................................................. IV-4
Exhibit IV-3: Participant Reasons for Enrollment, by Granteea ............................................... IV-7
Exhibit IV-4: Participant Characteristics, by Grantee ............................................................ IV-10
Exhibit IV-5: Age and Education of Participants, by Grantee ................................................ IV-11
Exhibit IV-6: Participant Employment Status, by Grantee ..................................................... IV-12
Exhibit IV-7: Participant Previous Occupations, by Grantee ................................................. IV-13
Exhibit IV-8 Participant Barriers to Employment, by Grantee1 .............................................. IV-14
vii
Exhibit V-1: How AWI Services are Designed to Benefit Older Workers ................................. V-3
Exhibit V-2: Case Management Services ................................................................................ V-5
Exhibit V-3: Career Counseling and Employment Planning Services ..................................... V-8
Exhibit V-4: Job Readiness Activities .................................................................................... V-10
Exhibit V-5: Participation in Training Programs, by Grantee .................................................. V-13
Exhibit V-6: Basic Computer Training ................................................................................... V-15
Exhibit V-7: Grant-supported Occupational Skills Training for Individuals ............................. V-17
Exhibit V-8: Job Placement Assistance Services ................................................................... V-22
Exhibit V-9: Strategies for Serving Employers ....................................................................... V-26
Exhibit V-10: Incumbent Worker Training, by Grantee ........................................................... V-31
Exhibit VI-1: Exhibit VI-1: AWI Grantee Data Systems ........................................................... VI-3
Exhibit VI-2: AWI Grantee Project Completion Dates ............................................................ VI-7
Exhibit VI-3: Enrollment Outcomes, by Grantee (Spring 2012) .............................................. VI-8
Exhibit VI-4: Program Participation Parameters, by Granteea ................................................ VI-9
Exhibit VI-5: Employment Outcomes, by Grantee ................................................................ VI-11
Exhibit VI-6: Employment by Participant and Training Characteristics .................................. VI-14
Exhibit VI-7: Standard Occupational Codes of Employed Participants, by Grantee .............. VI-15
Exhibit VI-8: Industry Codes for Training-Related Employment Obtained by Participants,by
Grantee ................................................................................................................................ VI-16
Exhibit VI-9: Common Measures Outcomes, by Grantee ..................................................... VI-18
Exhibit VII-1: List of Planned Project Deliverables by Grantee .............................................. VII-8

viii