Sponsoring Agency: U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration
Project Officer: Steve Wandner
Performance Period: September 2003 – September 2006
Project Summary:
The purpose of this task order project was to develop updated, valid estimates for the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) – primarily for budget purposes, but also useful in other areas such as performance measurement — of unit (per participant) costs of Adult and Dislocated Worker Services under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). These cost estimates were disaggregated for the two WIA programs’ three primary levels of services — Training Services, Intensive Services, and Core Services. Training services include occupational skills training, on-the-job training, skill upgrading and retraining, job readiness training, and customized training. Intensive services include comprehensive assessments, development of individual employment plans, short-term pre-vocational training, work experience, and case management for participants seeking training. Core services — available to all adults who seek services from the One-Stop Career Centers sponsored by WIA — include initial assessments, basic job search assistance and provision of labor-market information, access to information about job openings, and supportive services. A team of researchers from Capital Research Corporation, the Lewin Group, and Johns Hopkins University visited local WIBs and one-stops in four states to collect per-participant cost data. Reports: J. Heinberg, J. Trutko, B. Barnow, M. Farrell, and A. Glosser, Unit Costs of Intensive And Training Services for WIA Adults and Dislocated Workers: An Exploratory Study of Methodologies and Estimates in Selected States and Localities: Final Report, Capital Research Corporation, prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 2005.