Evaluation of Inter-Tribal Council of Louisiana’s Southcentral Region Free Flowing Workforce Project

The evaluation was intended to be a process study using data from project documents, observations, surveys, and interviews with key stakeholders. However, the final report includes only a series of tabulations from responses to a survey conducted with the staff from the partner organizations with a short discussion of these descriptive statistics. There is no information about the number of participants in the program and it appears the overall goals of the grant were not achieved.

Through the inter-tribal partnership, the aim of the project was to enable job-seekers access to employment opportunities in various job markets across WIOA Section 166 service providers and geographic areas in several states - Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas. Using a Career Pathways model, the project was designed to provide wrap-around, education-based, industry-focused job training services with multiple entry/exit points that aligned with regional employer needs.. A key aspect of the project was to design and build an integrated workforce development tool that would enable the various Councils involved to enter and track participant information.

The authors provide a brief analysis of the findings with an emphasis on survey data and a short written analysis. The primary objectives of this grant do not appear to have been achieved. The most significant issue was the low level or indeterminate number of participants. The evaluation team conducted a survey and provided the following high-level findings:

• Related to the topic of how the Councils were able to target and engage participants, the survey shows that the program infrastructure was put in place, but the program experienced a lack of participants.
• Regarding the types of programs and services provided to participants, the survey shows that very few participants were opting to relocate to other areas.
• With regard to the centralized data system, only one Council fully implemented the system.

The evaluator offered the following recommendations based on their findings:

1. For similar projects, the development of a fully functional database or case management tool that all partners can use is necessary to track participant outcomes;
2. Case workers need sufficient training and knowledge of the available training and supportive services in order to assist participants effectively; and
3. Each sub grantee, partner Council organization should develop a one-day program to showcase and offer services.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2019
• Author(s): Q Marketing Group, LLC
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies