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Giving Compass' Take:
• MDRC released a report on how New York municipalities, community, and workforce development organizations can now access state UI wage data and what opportunities and challenges come along with this information.
• How will wage data help inform certain organizations and their programming?
• Read the workforce development guide for donors.
Workforce development organizations often find it challenging to assess how former program participants are faring in the labor market, since they need to rely on participants’ willingness to report and verify their job placements after they either leave or complete their programs.
The 2013 Unemployment Insurance Data Sharing Bill (S5773A) amended the New York State Labor Law to make it easier for government agencies to obtain state unemployment insurance (UI) wage data for program monitoring, improvement, and evaluation purposes. In 2016, the Change Capital Fund (CCF) and the New York City Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYCOpportunity) identified the law as a chance to invest in a demonstration with four community development organizations that were already CCF grantees, aiming to expand their ability to collect and use data to improve their programs in coordination with the city government.
This report describes that two-year demonstration and is meant to serve as a guide for other New York municipalities and community organizations that may consider requesting access to state UI wage data. It illustrates some of the challenges and opportunities involved in accessing UI data on program participants and offers some practical lessons for organizations in New York State.
The contract development process with the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) took over a year, during which MDRC served as the data intermediary and provided technical assistance to the community organizations. Once the agreement was executed, MDRC received, processed, and analyzed the data, sharing the findings with each organization. Following are some of the important lessons that emerged from the demonstration:
- Contract structure is important in securing data access.
- Identifiable data are preferred over deidentified or aggregate data, but aggregate data are still informative and valuable.
- Preparation is crucial to benefiting from the data access.
- Wage data can guide program improvements.
Read the full report about wage data by Edith Yang, Aurelia De La Rosa Aceves, Gloria Tomlinson at MDRC.
Since 2014, CCF, a collaborative of 15 funders, including NYC Opportunity, has been investing in community development corporations to increase economic mobility in persistently low-income neighborhoods. The four organizations participating in the first four-year cycle of CCF’s economic mobility initiative were Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (CHLDC), Fifth Avenue Committee, New Settlement Apartments, and St. Nicks Alliance. These organizations offer a combination of services for local residents, including housing, education, and community-led planning. All four organizations offer workforce development services, and all track job placement and retention data.