Providing public workforce services to job seekers: 15-month impact findings on the WIA adult and dislocated worker programs

First authorized by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in 1998 and reauthorized in 2014 by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the Adult and Dislocated Worker programs are two of the nation’s largest publicly funded employment and training programs. To rigorously assess the impact of these programs on job seekers’ employment and earnings, the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor contracted with Mathematica Policy Research and our partners at Social Policy Research Associates, MDRC, and the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce to conduct a national evaluation. This report includes interim impact findings from this evaluation of 28 randomly selected local workforce investment areas from across the country.