Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

This paper will share the results of an evaluation of the sector programs operated by industry partnerships affiliated with the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, then an initiative of Jobs for the Future, Inc., and funded by the federal Social Innovation Fund (SIF) grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) as well national and local funders. The National Fund and JFF used the $15 million five-year grant to expand and scale up the National Fund ‘s model which is built on the idea that worker training programs are more effective when they are designed with the partnership and leadership of employers and deploy career pathways. The National Fund leveraged the SIF grant to expand to over thirty regions of the US which continue to operate over 70 industry partnerships.

 The evaluation completed by IMPAQ International, LLC, was a quasi-experimental study to estimate effects on the employment, employment retention and earnings of individuals entering selected programs of six industry partnerships in Ohio and Wisconsin. The labor market outcomes for the individuals in these programs were compared to similar individuals served by the public workforce systems in the same geography.

The results show that five of the six programs had significant overall effects on employment, retention and earnings for unemployed individuals entering the program. Results for the three Wisconsin-based programs (WRTP Manufacturing, WRTP Construction, Milwaukee Healthcare Alliance) show that all three programs were effective in improving participant outcomes following program entry. In Ohio, the healthcare and Advanced Manufacturing programs had significant effects, while the Construction program had small effects. The program impacts for five of the six partnership programs compared favorably with impact estimates for other training programs studied to date.

This evaluation was part of a broader evaluation and learning framework for the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. The National Fund has been able to leverage over $300 million from local and national funders since 2007, and has published a report on systems change in the National Fund, and has measures of engagement of employers, and learnings about the characteristics of effective industry partnerships.