Equity Considerations for Evidence Frameworks
Using evidence and data without an equity lens can perpetuate disparities despite our best intentions. Simply delivering more services to historically underserved populations does not necessarily address the ongoing gap in available evidence about what works within these populations. Applying an equity lens within an evidence framework requires building evidence and investing in programs that work for specific populations. While the explicit incorporation of an equity lens into the development and use of a framework is newer in its application, it is no less critical to ensuring that high-quality solutions not only have the necessary data to demonstrate that they are successful, but also that data is disaggregated to identify disparities in outcomes. Below are three ways workforce development agencies can build equity into their evidence frameworks.
Prioritize research and evaluation
Prioritize and fund research and evaluation approaches that empower workers and communities to be full partners in the research, from designing the research and interpreting data to shaping how findings are used. Funding evidence building through impact and implementation evaluations can help to reduce the gap between evidence that is currently available and more comprehensive evidence that will enable workforce agencies to understand what works, for whom, and under what circumstances.
Community-Based Participatory Action Research (PAR) is an umbrella term for research approaches that engage community members as full partners at every stage of the research process, including shaping research questions and empowering community members to collect and analyze data. PAR disrupts historical power imbalances between researchers and communities, generating better research and knowledge. This approach recognizes that deep expertise lies within each community, making research done without community input incomplete and inaccurate. The Conservation Law Foundation’s PAR Field Guide includes guidance on setting up a PAR project, developing research questions and tools, and collecting and analyzing data. The Healthy Neighborhoods Study is a PAR project examining the impact of gentrification on the health of residents in nine communities in the metropolitan Boston area. Residents and community groups drive the study in partnership with researchers and regional planners.
The Urban Institute’s Community Voice and Power Sharing Guidebook offers practical advice on partnership building, community advisory boards, community-engaged survey development, and youth engagement. Urban also has a guide for holding Data Walks, in which program administrators and service providers empower program participants and community members by sharing program outcome data or research findings with them. Data Walks give community members an opportunity to ground the data in their lived experiences, shedding light on how and why programs and services are serving their community well or not. The guide includes detailed descriptions of how the Urban Institute used Data Walks to share data with public housing residents in Chicago, Illinois and Portland, Oregon as part of a demonstration project testing innovative wraparound services for those residents.
Compensate community input
Embed equity in the evidence frameworks by seeking out and compensating the input of those who will be most impacted by programs, such as jobseekers (particularly jobseekers from historically marginalized groups), neighborhood groups in historically disadvantaged areas, community-based organizations, and community-based training providers.
In Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 21-22, Increasing Equitable Service Access and Employment Outcomes for All Jobseekers in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs, the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA) encourages workforce development agencies to create partnerships with existing community groups that work in underserved communities, as they are well known by the community and are valuable sources of feedback for the workforce system. ETA encourages workforce agencies to invite these organizations to share concerns to ensure services are responsive to community needs, and to budget funds to compensate organizations for this expertise. The Urban Institute has helpful guidance for building community partnerships.
Workforce practitioners can seek input from jobseekers, compensating them for their time, on whether a program helped them by administering surveys or focus groups. Additionally, listening sessions with community-based organizations can shed light on whether a program was effective in their community and how they define evidence of effectiveness for their community. The Community Toolbox, a compilation of community development tools, guides, and resources hosted by the Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas, has guidance for gathering community input through focus groups and surveys. Racial Equity Tools also offers a number of resources on equitable data collection methods. Worker boards can be a useful source of information on the perceived equity of a given policy. See this case study on worker boards from Harris County, Texas.
Apply evidence to everyone
Ensure “evidence of effectiveness” applies to everyone. Workforce agencies can encourage applicants to highlight service delivery approaches that have been shown to be effective for participants from marginalized communities or who belong to certain demographic groups. Knowing that an approach was effective overall, but was less effective for a high-priority subgroup, or that an evaluation omitted certain subgroups from data disaggregation, will be helpful in fully assessing the evidence behind an approach and guiding where new, more equitable evidence needs to be built. This report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has more information on the importance of data disaggregation in evaluating workforce development programs.
The Local and Regional Government Alliance on Race & Equity and Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington have a number of equity tools and resources geared toward local governments.
Prioritize and fund research and evaluation approaches that empower workers and communities to be full partners in the research, from designing the research and interpreting data to shaping how findings are used. Funding evidence building through impact and implementation evaluations can help to reduce the gap between evidence that is currently available and more comprehensive evidence that will enable workforce agencies to understand what works, for whom, and under what circumstances.
Community-Based Participatory Action Research (PAR) is an umbrella term for research approaches that engage community members as full partners at every stage of the research process, including shaping research questions and empowering community members to collect and analyze data. PAR disrupts historical power imbalances between researchers and communities, generating better research and knowledge. This approach recognizes that deep expertise lies within each community, making research done without community input incomplete and inaccurate. The Conservation Law Foundation’s PAR Field Guide includes guidance on setting up a PAR project, developing research questions and tools, and collecting and analyzing data. The Healthy Neighborhoods Study is a PAR project examining the impact of gentrification on the health of residents in nine communities in the metropolitan Boston area. Residents and community groups drive the study in partnership with researchers and regional planners.
The Urban Institute’s Community Voice and Power Sharing Guidebook offers practical advice on partnership building, community advisory boards, community-engaged survey development, and youth engagement. Urban also has a guide for holding Data Walks, in which program administrators and service providers empower program participants and community members by sharing program outcome data or research findings with them. Data Walks give community members an opportunity to ground the data in their lived experiences, shedding light on how and why programs and services are serving their community well or not. The guide includes detailed descriptions of how the Urban Institute used Data Walks to share data with public housing residents in Chicago, Illinois and Portland, Oregon as part of a demonstration project testing innovative wraparound services for those residents.
Embed equity in the evidence frameworks by seeking out and compensating the input of those who will be most impacted by programs, such as jobseekers (particularly jobseekers from historically marginalized groups), neighborhood groups in historically disadvantaged areas, community-based organizations, and community-based training providers.
In Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 21-22, Increasing Equitable Service Access and Employment Outcomes for All Jobseekers in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs, the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA) encourages workforce development agencies to create partnerships with existing community groups that work in underserved communities, as they are well known by the community and are valuable sources of feedback for the workforce system. ETA encourages workforce agencies to invite these organizations to share concerns to ensure services are responsive to community needs, and to budget funds to compensate organizations for this expertise. The Urban Institute has helpful guidance for building community partnerships.
Workforce practitioners can seek input from jobseekers, compensating them for their time, on whether a program helped them by administering surveys or focus groups. Additionally, listening sessions with community-based organizations can shed light on whether a program was effective in their community and how they define evidence of effectiveness for their community. The Community Toolbox, a compilation of community development tools, guides, and resources hosted by the Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas, has guidance for gathering community input through focus groups and surveys. Racial Equity Tools also offers a number of resources on equitable data collection methods. Worker boards can be a useful source of information on the perceived equity of a given policy. See this case study on worker boards from Harris County, Texas.
Ensure “evidence of effectiveness” applies to everyone. Workforce agencies can encourage applicants to highlight service delivery approaches that have been shown to be effective for participants from marginalized communities or who belong to certain demographic groups. Knowing that an approach was effective overall, but was less effective for a high-priority subgroup, or that an evaluation omitted certain subgroups from data disaggregation, will be helpful in fully assessing the evidence behind an approach and guiding where new, more equitable evidence needs to be built. This report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has more information on the importance of data disaggregation in evaluating workforce development programs.
The Local and Regional Government Alliance on Race & Equity and Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington have a number of equity tools and resources geared toward local governments.