29 U.S. Code § 3224

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29 U.S. Code § 3224 - Evaluations and research | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute

29 U.S. Code § 3224. Evaluations and research
U.S. Code

Notes

(a) E
(1) E
(A) In general
For the purpose of improving the management and effectiveness of
programs and activities carried out under this subchapter, the
Secretary, through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements,
shall provide for the continuing evaluation of the programs and
activities under this subchapter, 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 subchapter.
(2) E

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 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
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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) E
The Secretary may conduct evaluations of other federally funded
employment-related programs and activities under other provisions of
law.
(4) T
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) R
The entity carrying out an evaluation described in paragraph (1) or (2)
shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a draft report and a final
report containing the results of the evaluation.
(6) R

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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) P
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) P
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 90-day period beginning on
the date the Secretary receives such request.
(9) C
The Secretary shall ensure the coordination of evaluations carried out
by States pursuant to section 3141(e) of this title with the evaluations
carried out under this subsection.
(b) R

,

,

(1) I
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 subchapter, including
the purpose of aligning and coordinating core programs with other onestop partner programs. Copies of the plan shall be transmitted to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of

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Representatives, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate, the Department of Education, and other
relevant Federal agencies.
(2) F
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) R
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) S
(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 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 self-sufficient.
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(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 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

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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, low-skilled 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 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 3152(d) of this title 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
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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 highwage, 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) M
(A) Authority
The Secretary may, through grants or contracts, carry out multistate
projects that require demonstrated expertise that is available at the
national level 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) L
(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
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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 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) D
Of the amount made available pursuant to section 3172(a)(2)(A) of this
title 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
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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.
(Pub. L. 113–128, title I, § 169, July 22, 2014, 128 Stat. 1568.)

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