The Ready to Work Partnership Grant Evaluation: Findings from the Interim Impact Study of Four Employment Services Programs for the Long-Term Unemployed

The Ready to Work (RTW) Partnership Grants, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), operated between 2015 and 2019 to establish programs to prepare long-term unemployed and underemployed U.S. workers for middle- and higher-level jobs. The RTW programs were to provide customized services including staff guidance on career and service planning, occupational training, work-based training, employment readiness, and job search assistance. Grantees had considerable discretion designing their programs.

To understand RTW grant program impacts on participants’ earnings and employment, DOL engaged Abt Global in partnership with MEF Associates to evaluate the RTW grant program. The evaluation includes an implementation study and an experimental impact study of four grantees. This report tracks participants for 18 months after random assignment into the study and provides interim estimates of program impacts in several areas. The study found that all four grantees increased participants’ receipt of occupational training, work-based training, and other employment-related services as well as their receipt of credentials . The study did not detect impacts on earnings, employment, or receipt of public benefits.

The forthcoming final impact report will examine the effectiveness of the four programs in increasing participants’ employment and earnings 34 months after study enrollment.

Interim Impact Report

Technical Appendix