New Orleans Career Pathway Training RCT

The U.S. Department of Labor gave a grant to the City of New Orleans Office of Workforce Diversity through the Workforce Innovation Fund. This funded a randomized controlled trial and evaluation of the same for 2-4 month, prescreened job training for low-income residents in New Orleans. Individuals were recruited from the local population and provided with information about the training. Those that were interested were then screened for eligibility, based on a test of basic education (literacy and numeracy) as well as a structured, scored interview assessing availability and dependability. Those that did not pass this screening received other services and benefits from the government, but were ineligible for the training. Those that passed the screening were entered into a lottery for assignment to the treatment arm, training. Stratified randomization occurred within each of the 25 cohorts that were part of the study, and were directed towards several job skill areas contained in one of three industries: advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and information technology. Those assigned treatment were allowed to attend a cost-free training program for 20 hours per week that lasted two months and culminated in testing for an industry based credential. Most cohorts had an additional round of training offered to all completers, lasting another two months. The evaluation team performed three separate arms of research: an implementation and fidelity analysis, an outcome analysis, and a cost-benefit analysis. The data came from several sources, such as interviews and focus groups, surveys, administrative data on employment, industry, and earnings, and police records for criminal justice outcomes. While some follow-on research is ongoing, the main report of the findings are completed and freely available in the external link.