Sample Project Summaries

Evaluation of Dislocated Worker Program. Working jointly with a major university, KEB developed a comprehensive, ongoing evaluation capacity for a state’s dislocated worker program. This project required identifying specific program performance and staff capacity-building goals for the evaluation system, and developing appropriate evaluation mechanisms to meet those goals. The recommended capacity utilized a data warehouse concept to supply needed evaluation information, and an expert system approach to guide staff through a regular and routine set of program analysis and evaluation activities.

Evaluation of Employment and Training Contractors. Under contract to a large human services agency and in partnership with a national research and evaluation firm, KEB conducted a statewide evaluation of nearly 100 contractors providing training and placement services to welfare clients. The evaluation used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to describe the key aspects of contractors’ program designs and operations, and provided a comparison between the employment and earnings outcomes achieved by welfare clients who were served by contractors and those who were not. These efforts led to a series of recommendations (under implementation) on how to improve the effectiveness of their contracted programs.