This U.S. Department of Labor-funded study examined the structures used by local workforce development areas to deliver services to clients under the Workforce Investment Act. BPA studied the types of organizations playing intermediary roles, their relationships with other organizations in supplying services, the contracting and reimbursement structures being used, and the implications of intermediary use for publicly funded employment and training programs. BPA evaluators visited 16 local areas, interviewed key respondents representing a variety of perspectives, and analyzed information on program participants and outcomes.

Publications:

Creating Partnerships for Workforce Investment: How Services Are Provided Under WIA Final Report (Sep, 2003) (PDF:1710KB)
This report presents the findings from case studies of sixteen local boards across eight states. Discusses the structures and partnerships being used in local areas, the effectiveness of site-specific strategies for strengthening local partnerships, and common lessons learned across diverse sites.

The report also contains several appendices, including profiles of the sixteen study sites; the study's hypotheses and research questions, as well as findings organized by hypothesis; summary of intermediaries used by type of organization for providers of core, intensive, and training services; information about training providers used in each site; and references cited in the literature review.