Projects:

• Sustainable
  Regional
  Development
  • Fellowship for Regional Sustainable Development (Rd I)
  • Greater Boston Economic Development Strategy
  • Portland (OR) Economic Development Strategy
  • Economic Development Toolbox Envision Utah
  • Regional Business Civic Initiative (Minding Their Civic Business)
  • Double Bottom Line Handbook
  • MetroBusinessNet
  • Economic Development Strategy for Northern Pennsylvania
  • Northern New England Family Economic Success
  • Other ED Projects & Initiatives
• Workforce Development & Postsecondary Education
  • Wine Industry Skills Assessment
  • Building a 21st Century Community College (Indiana)
  • Seattle Regional Skill Building Collaborative
  • Greater Washington DC Health Care Assessment
  • CSH Employment Toolkit
  • High Skills for High Growth Careers
  • Pathways to Advancement
  • Other WD Projects and Initiatives

Other Workforce Development Projects & Initiatives

The Indiana Employer-Driven Workforce Literacy Project
FutureWorks was commissioned by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation to research the state of workforce literacy in Indiana. This research was part of Phase I of the Chambers three-phase "Employer-Driven Workforce Literacy Project" funded by the Lilly Endowment. Specifically, FutureWorks conducted a literature and expert review, scanned national and state innovative practices, documented and analyzed Indiana's current workforce literacy programs and resources, and implemented a business survey.

The major findings in the final report were: (1) There is significant need for incumbent workforce literacy education in Indiana; however, awareness is limited and demand is muted; (2) Current public resources in adult education and workforce development to address the Indiana incumbent workforce literacy challenge are inadequate to meet the need; (3) Other public, private and non-profit resources may be positioned to help address this challenge; however, their current capacity is limited; and (4) Employers are critical to addressing the workforce literacy challenge and are prepared to play a central role.

FutureWorks proposed five key recommendations: (1) Build awareness and organize demand for workforce basic skill development; (2) Establish a demand-driven delivery system with programs and providers that work for working adults and their employers; (3) Promote continuous innovation in program design and delivery; (4) Establish new financial incentives for increased investment by employers and workers; and (5) Create a public-private partnership to provide consistent leadership, strong management and rigorous accountability.

The Advisory Committee convened by the Chamber for this project has established working groups for each of these recommendations to further develop and implement the activities under each.

Click to read the Executive Summary or the Full Report from this project. Additionally, see this study's coverage in the Indianapolis Star or the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette..


Massachusetts Workforce Development Technical Assistance Guide
To assist Community Action Agencies (CAAs) and other community-based organizations (CBOs) in their quest to establish smart and effective partnerships with other CBOs, postsecondary educational institutions, employers, and other stakeholders to assist individuals in moving toward self-sufficiency, this guide presents ideas, examples, promising practices, and technical information. Each state, region, city, and neighborhood in which CAAs/CBOs operate are unique and require customized workforce strategies to best meet identified needs. For this reason, this guide is designed to provide resources for achieving this vision. While CAAs operating in Massachusetts represent the primary audience for the guide, the expectation is that the wealth of information provided will be useful to other CBOs operating in the workforce development arena across the country.

The guide offers information gleaned from reviews of other organizations, summative reports and evaluations, and a survey of CAAs/CBOs conducted specifically for this project. It addresses planning for workforce development; working with the workforce development system and establishing partnerships; and operating a workforce development program. Additionally, it provides definitions of key concepts; case studies that demonstrate promising practices; and appendices with extensive resource and program contact information.

Please click to read this Technical Assistance Guide.


Evaluation of the Massachusetts' BEST Initiative
FutureWorks evaluated the Massachusetts Building Essential Skills through Training (BEST) Initiative from 2002 to 2004, under contract with the Commonwealth Corporation. The BEST Initiative is a state-funded, innovative approach to incumbent worker training and career development. The industry-driven, sector-focused nature of BEST demonstrates a clear commitment among state partners to building an education and training system that meets the real needs of firms and individuals. The system reform goals contained in BEST reflect the state's ongoing commitment to reduce fragmentation and improve both the efficiency and quality of its lifelong learning system. This evaluation assessed the impact of BEST on incumbent workers, their employers, and the state and regional workforce development systems.

Click to read the Baseline Report for this project. Click to read the final report.


Getting Serious About Lifelong Learning: Improving the Use and Value of the Hope and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits for Working Adults
In 2003, with the support of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, FutureWorks researched the use and value of the federal Hope and Lifetime Learning higher education tax credits for working adults who engaged in postsecondary education. Using data from the Internal Revenue Service, the National Household Education Survey, and the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey, we found that few working adult students have heard about the credits and that the credits more generously benefit tax files who claim them on behalf of dependent students. Tax filers who appear to be working adult students often get very little value from these credits. Based on these findings, we provided four policy recommendations to increase the use and value of the credits by working adult students.

Click to read the Policy Brief or the Full Report from this project.


Research Project for the MASSCAP Technical Assistance Guide to Advancing Workforce Investment Activities and Programs of CAAs in Massachusetts
In January 2004, FutureWorks was commissioned as the chief researcher for this project funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and managed by the Massachusetts Community Action Program Directors' Association (MASSCAP). The partners in this project include MASSCAP, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the Commonwealth Corporation (CommCorp), Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) and the Women's Union (formally WEIU). FutureWorks conducted a literature review to document promising practices of workface development community action programs and other community-based organizations. We also designed, conducted, and analyzed an in-depth survey of 28 organizations from across the nation nominated as exhibiting "best practices" in their internal organizational, programmatic, and/or external strategic practices. The forthcoming results of this research, later this year, will be incorporated into the Technical Assistance Guide.


Title X: A New Federal-State Partnership in Higher Education for Working Adults in the 21st Century
As a result of our 2003 analysis of the issues and opportunities in the upcoming Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization (see Projects Accomplished in 2003), FutureWorks authored a policy concept paper that proposes a new federal strategy for improving access and success in postsecondary education for under-skilled working adults. This policy strategy would be embodied in a new title in HEA and would be aimed at helping states assess and leverage their higher education policies and investments to better serve working adults pursuing their first postsecondary credential. A new title in the HEA - one that focuses explicitly on working adults and state higher education polices - would recognize that state governments and institutions of higher education are key players in meeting the workforce education challenge of the 21st century knowledge economy.

Click to read the Policy Concept Paper for this policy strategy.


Indiana Manufacturing Education and Training Initiative
FutureWorks participated in the research work that led to the final report of the Indiana Manufacturing Education and Training research project (I-MET) released in December 2003.

I-MET was iitiated in March 2003 by the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) as an integral part of its ongoing program to improve the economy of Central Indiana.The goal of this project was to develop and strengthen the strategies and partnerships that would improve education and training for the manufacturing workforce of the region. Toward this objective, CICP contracted with Ball State University's Center for Organizational Resources, which in turn organized a team of researchers and program development specialists, including FutureWorks' team members, to carry out the research and analysis and develop recommendations.

This is the report of the Ball State University-led team. It culminates a six-month dialogue with business and labor leaders, educators, and public officials about the problems and possibilities for manufacturing workforce education and training in Central Indiana.The conclusions and recommendations in this report reflect that dialogue along with the research findings and the team's collective experience in this field.The first section reviews the economic context of dramatic change in the manufacturing economy of the region and presents an overview of the findings and recommendations. Later sections of this report discuss the findings and recommendations in more detail; the appendices included offer a still more detailed summary of the research activities as well as implementation recommendations.

Click to read the Final Report. Below is a listing of the four downloadable appendices from this project.

• Appendix A: Central Indiana Skills Alliance: Regional Skills Alliance for Advancing Manufacturing Skills Business Plan
• Appendix B: Indiana Manufacturing Education and Training Initiative Research Report
• Appendix C: Indiana Manufacturing Education and Training Initiative Advisory/Resource Information
• Appendix D: Promising Practices in Workforce Development: A National Scan

Do You Know the Way to Self-Sufficiency?: Using a Self-Sufficiency Framework to Guide Workforce Development Programs and Policies
In 2003, FutureWorks was commissioned by the Massachusetts Community Action Program Directors' Association (MASSCAP) as the research partner for a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-funded project. The purpose of this project was to review community-based organizations' use of self-sufficiency continuum frameworks to assess client needs for education, training, and wrap-around support services; delivery an appropriate mix of services and case management; track client progress; and measure program performance. FutureWorks conducted a review of promising programs, authored five in-depth case studies on how organizations implement these frameworks, and produced several profiles on programs with promising practices in workforce development.

Click to read the Case Studies Report produced for this project along with its companion Program Profiles document.


Measuring What Matters: State Higher Education Accountability Systems - A Report and Recommendations to Workforce Connections of Southwest Pennsylvania
At the request of Workforce Connections in Pittsburgh, FutureWorks completed a project to research and analyze state higher education accountability systems and provide recommendations for how Pennsylvania might improve the accountability of its institutions of higher education, especially for the education of working adult students. This research looked specifically at accountability indicators to measure student access to higher education, student progress through these institutions, and student occupational outcomes. As part of this project, FutureWorks undertook a national, state-by-state scan to find promising practices in state higher education accountability systems that might be replicated in other states or Pennsylvania. Workforce Connections plans to use this work to influence the higher education agenda in the state to improve accountability to all types of students.

Click to read this project's Final Report.


Money Matters: How Financial Aid Affects Nontraditional Students in Community Colleges
FutureWorks has worked closely with MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization in New York City, on research and policy recommendations for federal student aid policy. Authored in 2003, this white paper examines federal, state, and institutional programs and presents a framework for understanding challenges to securing comprehensive financial assistance for low-income working students. It identifies promising approaches for supplementing student financial aid based on a range of programs implemented in the past and planned for the future. It also raises issues that bear consideration in designing a program that would be both effective in ways that can be measured through random assignment studies and replicable. This paper was produced as part of MDRC's Opening Doors Project.

Click to read the White Paper written for this project.


Issues and Opportunities in the Reauthorization of HEA
Pursuant to FutureWorks' 2002 Held Back report (see Projects Accomplished in 2002), a group of foundations commissioned our firm to undertake a detailed analysis of the issues and opportunities for working adults inherent in the 2004 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. This study also examined how the federal financial aid programs supported by the Higher Education Act might more effectively encourage working adults' postsecondary access, persistence, and completion. The report includes our assessment of issues and opportunities. This work was funded by the Ford, Heinz and KnowledgeWorks foundations.

Click to see this project's Report.


Held Back: How Student Financial Aid Fails Working Adults
With support from the Ford Foundation, in 2001 and 2002, FutureWorks conducted a major research study into federal and state student financial aid programs and policies to analyze how well these programs serve working adult students' postsecondary education and training needs. The principle finding of our research was that conventional student aid programs fail to meet the occupational and technical skill development needs of employed adults with full-time job and family responsibilities. The three most significant barriers were working adults' limited enrollment intensity (usually very part-time), their lower cost of attendance (resulting from attending lower-cost institutions and not being eligible to include expenses outside tuition and fees in student aid formulas); and their full-time earnings (high enough to disqualify them for most aid).

Click to read our Full Report and Executive Summary from this research, which outline the major policy impediments at the federal and state levels and propose recommendations for policy change.


A+ Certification: A Pathway to Good Jobs for Low-Income People?
In 2001 and 2002, FutureWorks undertook an examination of training leading toward the A+ certification for computer service technicians. The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), developer of the A+ certification, cooperated closely with us on this project. The IT industry was chosen for this research because it relies heavily upon skill certifications rather than formal education and thus may prove more accessible to disadvantaged individuals. FutureWorks surveyed A+ training providers and found that this certification is being used primarily by individuals to gain entry to computer-related jobs rather than as originally intended to verify six months of experience in a computer-related job. Although disadvantaged individuals required more support to succeed in A+ training programs, those who did were as likely as the other trainees to find good jobs.

Click to read the Report from this research.


The Georgia Quick Start Program: Analysis and Recommendations for Improvement
In 2001, FutureWorks undertook a detailed analysis of Georgia's job training program for employers providing new jobs. Known as Quick Start, the program is run by the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education. Through 2000, Quick Start has provided training to more than 3,100 companies throughout the state with more than 325,000 workers participating. The analysis concluded that the Quick Start program, although generally seen in Georgia and elsewhere as one of the best state-financed programs of its kind, should be further strengthened. It made specific recommendations toward that objective that were subsequently implemented.


Inter-Firm Cooperation For Workforce Development
In 2001, FutureWorks prepared a research brief for Jobs for the Future which detailed how cooperation among groups of businesses in attacking common workforce development problems can be a powerful force for improving regional workforce development systems. The brief explained the reasons for such cooperation, offered evidence to support them, and explored several examples of inter-firm cooperation for workforce development. It also identified different categories of inter-firm cooperation and provided suggestions for how employer associations and their partners in regional workforce development systems can work together to build effective multi-firm collaboration.