DOL longitudinal data systems grants.

U.S. Department of Labor Announces More than $12 Million in Grants for Longitudinal Workforce Data Systems

On May 17, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announced the availability of $12.2 million in competitive Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI) grants to state workforce agencies or consortiums of SWAs. The three-year grants will support the development and implementation of statewide or multistate longitudinal workforce data systems, which collect and track individual-level data across a broad range of employment, training, and postsecondary education programs to help policymakers assess the effectiveness of those programs and improve service delivery options.

Statewide longitudinal workforce systems established or expanded through these grants should collect disaggregated individual data from programs funded under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the Wagner-Peyser Act, and the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, along with unemployment insurance (UI) wage records and benefit data and information from the Federal Employment Data Exchange System (FEDES). In addition, applicants must incorporate existing state education agency data, and establish (or plan to establish) linkages with existing state educational agency longitudinal data systems. Applicants are encouraged to include data from other programs, such as Registered Apprenticeship, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) that could provide useful workforce outcome information. 

Applicants must use grant funds to pursue the following objectives:

• Developing or improving state workforce longitudinal data systems, allowing for the coordination of workforce data sources so that individual records can be tracked across programs and over time.
• Enabling workforce data to be matched to education data, with the long-term goal of tracking individual records from pre-kindergarten through postsecondary and into the workforce system.
• Improving the quality and breadth of data in workforce longitudinal data systems.
• Using longitudinal data to help policymakers analyze the effectiveness of education and training programs.
• Providing information to consumers to help them identify appropriate education and training programs.

The Department of Education recently awarded $245 million in Recovery Act-funded grants under their State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) program, which supports the development of longitudinal data systems primarily focused on individuals in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The WDQI grants are expected to complement these efforts and begin to establish the capacity for comprehensive systems that link education and workforce data across an individual’s lifetime. 

Grant applications must be submitted by August 16, 2010. SWAs applying on an individual basis are eligible to receive up to $1 million, while multistate consortiums may apply for awards of up to $3 million. ETA will post a pre-recorded webinar for prospective applicants at http://www.workforceone.org by June 21, 2010.