| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Texas Workforce Commission |
| Project Duration: | December 2021 – November 2024 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources has partnered with the Texas Workforce Commission to conduct an evaluation of the Building Construction Trades Grantees Program, including assessing participant outcomes, program implementation, and participant and employer feedback on the programs. |
| Reports Available: |
Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth in San Antonio (UP)
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | UP Partnership |
| Project Duration: | October 2021 – August 2026 |
| Description: | Through a partnership with the UP Partnership and the Aspen Institute, the RMC will engage in a data-driven longitudinal study following Opportunity Youth (OY) in San Antonio into either the labor market or postsecondary education (or both) between Fall 2021 and Summer 2026 to map out the pathways taken by OY. This study will begin tracking OY at the point that they exit OY programs. In addition, and in order to gain a fuller understanding of the entire OY population, we will identify the total population of OY in an area (based on high school of graduation) through data collected from the Education Research Center (ERC). We will also submit a request to the ERC to upload participant data we collect from OY programs in order to compare the difference in the relative size of the OY population receiving and not receiving services. This partnership is motivated by several research questions:
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| Associated Projects: | Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth in San Antonio (Aspen) |
| Reports Available: |
Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth in San Antonio (Aspen)
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Aspen Institute |
| Project Duration: | September 2021 – March 2023 |
| Description: | Through a partnership with the Aspen Institute, the RMC will engage in a data-driven longitudinal study following Opportunity Youth (OY) in San Antonio into either the labor market or postsecondary education (or both) between Fall 2021 and Summer 2026 to map out the pathways taken by OY. This study will use UI wage and National Student Clearinghouse data to monitor the progress at the individual level. This partnership is motivated by several research questions:
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| Associated Projects: | Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth in San Antonio (UP) |
| Reports Available: |
Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | JPMorgan Chase |
| Project Duration: | August 2021 – August 2026 |
| Description: | With the support of JPMorgan Chase, the Ray Marshall Center will study the pathways taken by Opportunity Youth in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. This five-year grant represents one of the largest efforts undertaken in Texas to date to study the systems that serve, and the trajectories taken by, disconnected young adults (between the ages of 18 and 24 who are neither enrolled in school nor working) after participation in a youth-serving program. The study aims to determine the size of the OY population in each of these cities, as well as measure programmatic impact in terms of employment and/or enrollment in postsecondary education. In addition to providing a clearer picture of the OY landscape, it is our expectation that the study findings will inform OY policy for the state. |
| Associated Projects: | Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth in San Antonio (Aspen) Pathways Taken By Opportunity Youth in San Antonio (UP) |
| Reports Available: |
Data Linkage for LEO’s Texas Research Study
| Principal Investigator: | Ashweeta Patnaik, MPH |
| Sponsor: | Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities, University of Notre Dame |
| Project Duration: | June 2021 – June 2023 |
| Description: | The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame conducts impact evaluations in partnership with non-profit and government agencies focused on reducing poverty by creating evidence based programs that move people from poverty to self-sufficiency. LEO is currently conducting a large research study in Texas to test assumptions about self-sufficiency programs. The research examines the impact of multiple self-sufficiency programs being implemented in locations across the state of Texas. Partners include Catholic Charities of Galveston-Houston, the Goodwill Excel Center in Austin, Catholic Charities of Dallas, Jewish Family Services, NPower, Combined Arms, and Lubbock County, and the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition. This research will help in understanding the impact of anti-poverty programs on populations ranging from school age children, to elderly, to veterans to people and families at low-income levels.
LEO is partnering with the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) at The University of Texas at Austin to utilize state administrative data to support this research. LEO and RMC researchers will use the data to demonstrate the impact of these self-sufficiency programs on outcomes such as earnings, employment and public benefit usage. By testing what works to move people to self-sufficiency, LEO and RMC will inform and improve poverty programming across the state and inform policymakers as they make decisions about funding and programming. |
| Reports Available: |
Nuru Ethiopia, Nuru Kenya, and Nuru Nigeria Impact
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Nuru International |
| Project Duration: | April 2021 – February 2023 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center will assist Nuru International’s M&E team with analyzing and reporting Nuru Ethiopia, Nuru Kenya, and Nuru Nigeria’s impact. |
| Reports Available: | Nuru Ethiopia 2021 Impact Report Authors: Ashweeta Patnaik and Heath Prince (Ray Marshall Center); Tatek Amataw (Nuru Ethiopia); and Casey Harrison, Matt Lineal, and Ian Schwenke (Nuru International) Date: June 2022 Publication Type: Report, 20pp. This report is commissioned by Nuru International. Nuru Nigeria 2022 Short-Term Impacts Nuru Nigeria: 2021 Midpoint Impact Report |
Belmont Forum Collaborative Research: Protection Resilience Efficiency and Prevention for Workers in Industrial Agriculture in Changing Climate
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | National Science Foundation, Belmont Forum |
| Consortium Lead: | University of Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Project Duration: | January 2020 – December 2022 |
| Description: | Chronic kidney disease of undetermined cause (CKDu), affects millions of workers in Latin America and Asia. Treatment is expensive, resulting in early death for those affected. Strenuous work in extreme heat without sufficient rest and hydration is considered a main driver. Industrial agriculture is the most affected, especially the sugarcane sector. Without prevention, this epidemic is likely to accelerate due to climate change. Increasing temperatures, coupled with decreasing precipitation in drier agricultural regions, is also causing pesticides and other toxins to concentrate at higher levels.
As a response to this heat stress related disease, we have collectively implemented the Adelante Initiative, a workplace intervention with focus on adequate water, and rest in shade together with improved ergonomics, designed to prevent CKDu among workers at a sugarcane mill in Nicaragua. Due to the high prevalence of CKDu among sugarcane workers, we are concentrating our efforts in this sector; from there we will adapt the program to other geographies and industries. Our proposed project builds on current efforts and investigates the following: 1) the immediate and long-term impact the intervention has on workforce health (kidney health and heat related injuries) and productivity; 2) the economic and social impacts on those affected by the disease and whether our intervention aids in resilience, including mitigating migration pressures; 3) the economic burden on health systems treating CKDu; and 4) an analysis of public health policies to understand what policies, or absence of policy, have contributed to the disease while investigating what policies are required to effectively address it. The knowledge gained will create the groundwork to expand to other sugarcane mills and eventually other industries at-risk for heat stress and CKDu. As climate change means more extreme temperatures in already impacted regions, and the likelihood that regions further north and south of the equator will also be impacted by CKDu, it is essential a model to protect worker health and productivity is developed. |
| Reports Available: | A Measure of the Return on Ingenio San Antonio’s Investment in the Adelante Initiative: An Initial Estimate of Costs and Benefits of a Water, Rest, and Shade Intervention Author: Heath Prince, PhD Date: May 2020 Publication Type: Report, 7 pp. Prepared for the La Isla Network, with funding from the Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) The Economic Impact of CKDnt on Households: Survey Findings from a Pilot Study of a Workers’ Association, Asochivida, and of the Communities of La Isla, Manhattan, and Candalaria, Nicaragua |
Pursuit of Advanced Training in High-Demand Skills (PATHS) for Texas
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas |
| Project Duration: | January 2020 – March 2022 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center will provide research support to the PATHS (Pursuit of Advanced Training in High-Demand Skills) for Texas project in partnership with Workforce Solutions Dallas. The goal of the PATHS project is to implement a statewide retail sector incumbent worker career advancement strategy. The RMC’s primary role under this grant will be to evaluate outcomes in order to provide evidence of success and efficacy for expansion and regional replication. Specifically, the RMC will undertake the following tasks related to (1) performing an independent evaluation of quantitative outcomes for PATHS; (2) conduct an end-of-grant cost-benefit analysis; and (3) the RMC will conduct the final evaluation report. |
| Reports Available: |
Data Linkage for Padua™ Project Evaluation
| Principal Investigator: | Ashweeta Patnaik, MPH |
| Sponsor: | Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities, University of Notre Dame |
| Project Duration: | April 2018 – December 2024 |
| Description: | The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame is examining the impact of an innovative comprehensive case management program, the Padua™ Program, created by Catholic Charities Fort Worth (CCFW). The program is designed to permanently lift people out of poverty. It addresses the fact that the disadvantaged face complex, multifaceted, and interrelated challenges by offering a new approach that considers the whole person and his or her environment by providing (a) detailed needs assessment, (b) wrap-around case management, and (c) financial resources. LEO is conducting a study to examine through a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluation whether this innovative intervention improves the well-being of low-income individuals.
The Ray Marshall Center (RMC) is supporting LEO in its research by linking data on Padua™ program participants to administrative data on employment, wages, TANF participation, and SNAP participation. RMC will help LEO evaluate the impact of assignment to the Padua™ intervention on TANF and SNAP participation, as well as on employment and earnings. |
| Reports Available: |
An Evaluation of Workforce Development Services in Travis County
| Principal Investigator: | Heath J. Prince, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Travis County, Texas |
| Project Duration: | January 2006 – September 2022 |
| Description: | For more than fifteen years, Travis County has invested between $1-2.5 million in workforce development programs for disadvantaged residents. The purpose of the evaluation is to examine outcomes and impacts for participants in Travis County-funded community-based workforce programs over time and to provide recommendations and support for County and provider staff based on data analysis and best practice research. Seven providers with long standing County contracts have been the focus of an ongoing evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of local workforce services investments led by the Ray Marshall Center since 2006:
Researchers at the Ray Marshall Center have produced a series of reports documenting the employment outcomes and impacts for participants from these programs over time. Findings from this evaluation have also been presented to the local workforce board, the County Commissioners Court, and at Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) fall research conferences. Other Social Services Recently, the evaluation has expanded to include an analysis of other County-funded social services for disadvantaged residents. The first phase of this evaluation component focuses on analysis of historical Family Support Services (FSS) program data. Specifically, Travis County HHS has asked the RMC to review the evaluation design and methods implemented by BSS (Best Single Source), to create a parallel evaluation of the standard delivery of services (EACO or Emergency Assistance County Only), to help implement the evaluation, and to analyze and report on the results. The second phase of the evaluation will benchmark Travis County’s program with support programs offered by similar counties in Texas and beyond. |
| Reports Available | Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2021 Update Authors: Cynthia Juniper, Patty Rodriguez, and Heath Prince Date: February 2022 Publication Type: Report, 170pp. Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2020 Update Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2019 Update Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2018 Update Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2017 Update Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2016 Update Improving the Measurement and Effectiveness of Family Support Services: A Comparative Review of County Practices Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2015 Update An Evaluation of Local Investments in Workforce Development: 2014 Update An Evaluation of Local Investments in Workforce Development: 2013 Update The Local Investment in Workforce Development Evaluation: Travis County-Funded 2009/2010 Participant Plus Longer-Term Outcomes for Capital IDEA Local Investments in Workforce Development: 2012 Evaluation Update Evaluation of Local Workforce Demonstration Projects – Travis County’s REM and GEM Projects Exploratory Return on Investment Analysis of Local Workforce Investments Local Investments in Workforce Development: 2011 Evaluation Update Rapid Employment Model Evaluation – 2011 Update Rapid Employment Model Evaluation: Update #2 Evaluating Local Workforce Investments: Results for Short- and Long-Term Training in Austin (TX) Local Investments in Workforce Development: Evaluation Update Rapid Employment Model Evaluation: Update Local Investments in Workforce Development: Initial Evaluation Findings Rapid Employment Model Evaluation: Initial Findings |
