Individuals who are unemployed, underemployed, or have less developed human capital can benefit from receiving employment-related training through publicly-financed programs. These programs provide vocational services, job skill development, education, access to resources, and other services for youth and adults interested in improving their vocational opportunities, and often involve coordination at the federal, state, and local levels. This panel includes four papers that assess three such programs to identify ways to improve their processes and outcomes, using a range of primary and secondary analytic methods. Two papers examine the programs and services available though the Department of Labor’s Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which provides funding for a variety of state and local programs. The first paper reviews the programs available for persons with disabilities, with an emphasis on the extent this population uses waivers to access relevant services. A second paper relies on a mixed-methods evaluation to understand how variation in specific WIA programs promotes access to college education, focusing on how local communities pursue different approaches toward the same goal. A third paper presents initial implementation results of a random assignment study involving four green energy and health care sector training programs, which are funded by DOL though the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. A final paper uses administrative data to examine how state vocational rehabilitation agencies vary in the services they deliver to transition-age youth with disabilities, and presents information on long-term outcomes for this population related to the receipt of Social Security Administration disability benefits. The results from this panel will inform policy and practice at the federal, state, and local levels, as participants learn more about the structure, effectiveness, and outcomes of employment and training programs.