Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

This paper presents results from a collection of five issue briefs about planning and early implementation lessons as local workforce investments boards established satellite American Job Centers (AJCs) within local jail facilities. Supported by funding through the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s Employment and Training Administration, the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-release (LEAP) grant program funds local community efforts to establish and implement AJCs in local jails, with the goal of ensuring continuity of service upon release to the community-based AJCs. The briefs will share findings from an early-stage implementation study of the first round of LEAP grantees. This analysis is part of a larger implementation evaluation funded by DOL’s Chief Evaluation Office.

The main goals of the early-stage study were (1) to provide timely feedback to DOL about areas where grantees had successes or faced challenges with key planning and infrastructure issues, (2) to share these early findings in a timely way and facilitate learning among current grantees who are still establishing infrastructure and programming, and (3) to inform DOL as it considers future grant programming.

Data were collected from January to March 2016 through telephone calls and site visits with 20 grantees while they were in the nine-month planning period. The study examined six critical issues that LEAP grantees identified as facilitating and challenging factors: 

1. Internet access, particularly the need to create new infrastructure, and policies for participants and staff to have internet access;
2. Jail space and scheduling, including design, suitability, and location of the space; logistics of access; and integration with existing programming;
3. Navigating workforce and corrections cultures, with a focus on the differences in priorities of WIB, AJC, and jail staff; and concerns of potential employers;
4. Staffing, including staffing structure and the hiring process for LEAP staff, key qualifications of staff, and challenges in finding suitable candidates;
5. Quick launch, including factors facilitating quick start up such as leveraging existing capacity, networks, data systems, and knowledge; and
6. Partnerships, including how sites built upon existing relationships; communication between partners; and the role of program champions.

The presenter, Mathematica’s area leader for labor evaluations, is the Project Director for the LEAP Evaluation being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and Social Policy Research Associates.