WIOA Section 169

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WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2014, SECTION 169

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OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: ATTACHMENT 1

Public Law 113-128—July 22, 2014

128 STAT. 1568

Public Law 113–128
113th Congress
An Act
To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to strengthen the United States
workforce development system through innovation in, and alignment and improvement
of, employment, training, and education programs in the United States,
and to promote individual and national economic growth, and for other purposes.
(EXCERPT: SECTION 169)
SEC. 169. EVALUATIONS AND RESEARCH.
(a) EVALUATIONS.—
(1) EVALUATIONS OF PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES CARRIED
OUT UNDER THIS TITLE.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of improving the
management and effectiveness of programs and activities
carried out under this title, the Secretary, through grants,
contracts, or cooperative agreements, shall provide for the
continuing evaluation of the programs and activities under
this title, including those programs and activities carried
out under this section.
(B) PERIODIC INDEPENDENT EVALUATION.—The evaluations
carried out under this paragraph shall include an
independent evaluation, at least once every 4 years, of
the programs and activities carried out under this title.
(2) EVALUATION SUBJECTS.—Each evaluation carried out
under paragraph (1) shall address—
(A) the general effectiveness of such programs and
activities in relation to their cost, including the extent
to which the programs and activities—
(i) improve the employment competencies of

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participants in comparison to comparably-situated
individuals who did not participate in such programs
and activities; and
(ii) to the extent feasible, increase the level of
total employment over the level that would have
existed in the absence of such programs and activities;
(B) the effectiveness of the performance accountability
measures relating to such programs and activities;
(C) the effectiveness of the structure and mechanisms
for delivery of services through such programs and activities,
including the coordination and integration of services
through such programs and activities;
(D) the impact of such programs and activities on
the community, businesses, and participants involved;
(E) the impact of such programs and activities on
related programs and activities;
(F) the extent to which such programs and activities
meet the needs of various demographic groups; and
(G) such other factors as may be appropriate.
(3) EVALUATIONS OF OTHER PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.—
The Secretary may conduct evaluations of other federally
funded employment-related programs and activities under other
provisions of law.
(4) TECHNIQUES.—Evaluations conducted under this subsection
shall utilize appropriate and rigorous methodology and
research designs, including the use of control groups chosen
by scientific random assignment methodologies. The Secretary
shall conduct at least 1 multisite control group evaluation under
this subsection by the end of fiscal year 2019, and thereafter
shall ensure that such an analysis is included in the independent
evaluation described in paragraph (1)(B) that is conducted
at least once every 4 years.
(5) REPORTS.—The entity carrying out an evaluation
described in paragraph (1) or (2) shall prepare and submit
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to the Secretary a draft report and a final report containing
the results of the evaluation.
(6) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 days after
the completion of a draft report under paragraph (5), the Secretary
shall transmit the draft report to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
of the Senate. Not later than 60 days after the completion
of a final report under such paragraph, the Secretary shall
transmit the final report to such committees.
(7) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 30 days after
the date the Secretary transmits the final report as described
in paragraph (6), the Secretary shall make that final report
available to the general public on the Internet, on the Web
site of the Department of Labor.
(8) PUBLICATION OF REPORTS.—If an entity that enters into
a contract or other arrangement with the Secretary to conduct
an evaluation of a program or activity under this subsection
requests permission from the Secretary to publish a report
resulting from the evaluation, such entity may publish the
report unless the Secretary denies the request during the 90day period beginning on the date the Secretary receives such
request.
(9) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall ensure the
coordination of evaluations carried out by States pursuant to
section 116(e) with the evaluations carried out under this subsection.
(b) RESEARCH, STUDIES, AND MULTISTATE PROJECTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—After consultation with States, localities,
and other interested parties, the Secretary shall, every 2 years,
publish in the Federal Register, a plan that describes the
research, studies, and multistate project priorities of the
Department of Labor concerning employment and training for
the 5-year period following the submission of the plan. The
plan shall be consistent with the purposes of this title, including
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the purpose of aligning and coordinating core programs with
other one-stop partner programs. Copies of the plan shall be
transmitted to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Department
of Education, and other relevant Federal agencies.
(2) FACTORS.—The plan published under paragraph (1)
shall contain strategies to address national employment and
training problems and take into account factors such as—
(A) the availability of existing research (as of the date
of the publication);
(B) the need to ensure results that have interstate
validity;
(C) the benefits of economies of scale and the efficiency
of proposed projects; and
(D) the likelihood that the results of the projects will
be useful to policymakers and stakeholders in addressing
employment and training problems.
(3) RESEARCH PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall, through
grants or contracts, carry out research projects that will contribute
to the solution of employment and training problems
in the United States and that are consistent with the priorities
specified in the plan published under paragraph (1).
(4) STUDIES AND REPORTS.—
(A) NET IMPACT STUDIES AND REPORTS.—The Secretary
of Labor, in coordination with the Secretary of Education
and other relevant Federal agencies, may conduct studies
to determine the net impact and best practices of programs,
services, and activities carried out under this Act.
(B) STUDY ON RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO ASSIST DISCONNECTED
YOUTH.—The Secretary of Labor, in coordination
with the Secretary of Education, may conduct a study
examining the characteristics of eligible youth that result
in such youth being significantly disconnected from education
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and workforce participation, the ways in which such
youth could have greater opportunities for education attainment
and obtaining employment, and the resources available
to assist such youth in obtaining the skills, credentials,
and work experience necessary to become economically selfsufficient.
(C) STUDY OF EFFECTIVENESS OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
SYSTEM IN MEETING BUSINESS NEEDS.—Using funds
available to carry out this subsection jointly with funds
available to the Secretary of Commerce, the Administrator
of the Small Business Administration, and the Secretary
of Education, the Secretary of Labor, in coordination with
the Secretary of Commerce, the Administrator of the Small
Business Administration, and the Secretary of Education,
may conduct a study of the effectiveness of the workforce
development system in meeting the needs of business, such
as through the use of industry or sector partnerships, with
particular attention to the needs of small business,
including in assisting workers to obtain the skills needed
to utilize emerging technologies.
(D) STUDY ON PARTICIPANTS ENTERING NONTRADITIONAL
OCCUPATIONS.—The Secretary of Labor, in coordination
with the Secretary of Education, may conduct a study
examining the number and percentage of individuals who
receive employment and training activities and who enter
nontraditional occupations, successful strategies to place
and support the retention of individuals in nontraditional
employment (such as by providing post-placement assistance
to participants in the form of exit interviews, mentoring,
networking, and leadership development), and the
degree to which recipients of employment and training
activities are informed of the possibility of, or directed
to begin, training or education needed for entrance into
nontraditional occupations.
(E) STUDY ON PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.—The Secretary
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of Labor, in coordination with the Secretary of Education,
may conduct studies to determine the feasibility
of, and potential means to replicate, measuring the compensation,
including the wages, benefits, and other incentives
provided by an employer, received by program participants
by using data other than or in addition to data
available through wage records, for potential use as a
performance indicator.
(F) STUDY ON JOB TRAINING FOR RECIPIENTS OF PUBLIC
HOUSING ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Labor, in coordination
with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,
may conduct studies to assist public housing authorities
to provide, to recipients of public housing assistance,
job training programs that successfully upgrade job skills
and employment in, and access to, jobs with opportunity
for advancement and economic self-sufficiency for such
recipients.
(G) STUDY ON IMPROVING EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS FOR
OLDER INDIVIDUALS.—The Secretary of Labor, in coordination
with the Secretary of Education and the Secretary
of Health and Human Services, may conduct studies that
lead to better design and implementation of, in conjunction
with employers, local boards or State boards, community
colleges or area career and technical education schools,
and other organizations, effective evidence-based strategies
to provide services to workers who are low-income, lowskilled
older individuals that increase the workers’ skills
and employment prospects.
(H) STUDY ON PRIOR LEARNING.—The Secretary of
Labor, in coordination with other heads of Federal agencies,
as appropriate, may conduct studies that, through convening
stakeholders from the fields of education, workforce,
business, labor, defense, and veterans services, and experts
in such fields, develop guidelines for assessing, accounting
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for, and utilizing the prior learning of individuals, including
dislocated workers and veterans, in order to provide the
individuals with postsecondary educational credit for such
prior learning that leads to the attainment of a recognized
postsecondary credential identified under section 122(d)
and employment.
(I) STUDY ON CAREER PATHWAYS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
AND PROVIDERS OF EARLY EDUCATION AND CHILD
CARE.—The Secretary of Labor, in coordination with the
Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and
Human Services, shall conduct a multistate study to
develop, implement, and build upon career advancement
models and practices for low-wage health care providers
or providers of early education and child care, including
faculty education and distance education programs.
(J) STUDY ON EQUIVALENT PAY.—The Secretary shall
conduct a multistate study to develop and disseminate
strategies for ensuring that programs and activities carried
out under this Act are placing individuals in jobs, education,
and training that lead to equivalent pay for men
and women, including strategies to increase the participation
of women in high-wage, high-demand occupations in
which women are underrepresented.
(K) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall prepare and
disseminate to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education
and the Workforce of the House of Representatives,
and to the public, including through electronic means,
reports containing the results of the studies conducted
under this paragraph.
(5) MULTISTATE PROJECTS.—
(A) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may, through grants
or contracts, carry out multistate projects that require demonstrated
expertise that is available at the national level
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to effectively disseminate best practices and models for
implementing employment and training services, address
the specialized employment and training needs of particular
service populations, or address industry-wide skill
shortages, to the extent such projects are consistent with
the priorities specified in the plan published under paragraph
(1).
(B) DESIGN OF GRANTS.—Agreements for grants or contracts
awarded under this paragraph shall be designed
to obtain information relating to the provision of services
under different economic conditions or to various demographic
groups in order to provide guidance at the national
and State levels about how best to administer specific
employment and training services.
(6) LIMITATIONS.—
(A) COMPETITIVE AWARDS.—A grant or contract
awarded for carrying out a project under this subsection
in an amount that exceeds $100,000 shall be awarded
only on a competitive basis, except that a noncompetitive
award may be made in the case of a project that is funded
jointly with other public or private sector entities that
provide a substantial portion of assistance under the grant
or contract for the project.
(B) TIME LIMITS.—A grant or contract shall not be
awarded under this subsection to the same organization
for more than 3 consecutive years unless such grant or
contract is competitively reevaluated within such period.
(C) PEER REVIEW.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall utilize a peer
review process—
(I) to review and evaluate all applications for
grants in amounts that exceed $500,000 that are
submitted under this section; and
(II) to review and designate exemplary and
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promising programs under this section.
(ii) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The Secretary is
authorized to use funds provided under this section
to carry out peer review activities under this subparagraph.
(D) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants or contracts under
this subsection, priority shall be provided to entities with
recognized expertise in the methods, techniques, and
knowledge of workforce investment activities. The Secretary
shall establish appropriate time limits for the duration
of such projects.
(c) DISLOCATED WORKER PROJECTS.—Of the amount made available
pursuant to section 132(a)(2)(A) for any program year, the
Secretary shall use not more than 10 percent of such amount
to carry out demonstration and pilot projects, multiservice projects,
and multistate projects relating to the employment and training
needs of dislocated workers. Of the requirements of this section,
such projects shall be subject only to the provisions relating to
review and evaluation of applications under subsection (b)(6)(C).
Such projects may include demonstration and pilot projects relating
to promoting self-employment, promoting job creation, averting dislocations,
assisting dislocated farmers, assisting dislocated fishermen,
and promoting public works. Such projects shall be administered
by the Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary
for Employment and Training.

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