Sec. 3. Evaluation of the reentry projects
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Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chief Evaluation Officer shall evaluate the effectiveness of direct grants and intermediary grants used by the Department of Labor to support offender reentry and recidivism reduction through reentry projects at the Federal, State, local, and tribal levels. The Chief Evaluation Officer shall evaluate each of the following: The effectiveness of such projects in relation to their cost, including the extent to which the projects improve reentry outcomes, including employment, education, housing, and reductions in recidivism, of participants in comparison to comparably situated individuals who did not participate in such projects.
The effectiveness of project structures and mechanisms for delivery of services. The impact of such projects on the communities and participants involved. The impact of such projects on related programs and activities. The extent to which such projects meet the needs of various demographic groups. The quality and effectiveness of technical assistance provided by the Department of Labor to grantees for implementing such projects. Such other factors as may be appropriate. Not more than 2.5 percent of any amounts appropriated for a fiscal year to carry out the reentry projects shall be reserved and made available to the Chief Evaluation Officer for such evaluation, including evaluating the processes, implementation, outcomes, costs, and effectiveness of the reentry projects in improving reentry and reducing recidivism.
Such reserved funding may be used to provide support to recipients of direct grants and intermediary grants for reentry projects for supplemental data collection, analysis, and coordination associated with evaluation activities. Evaluations conducted under this section shall use appropriate methodology and research designs. Impact evaluations conducted under this section shall include the use of intervention and control groups chosen by random assignment methods, to the extent possible.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chief Evaluation Officer shall consult with relevant stakeholders and identify outcome measures, including measures for employment, housing, education, and public safety, that are to be achieved by reentry projects and the metrics by which the achievement of such outcomes shall be determined. Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Chief Evaluation Officer identifies metrics and outcomes under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall publish such metrics and outcomes identified.
As a condition of receiving a direct grant or intermediary grant for a reentry project, grantees shall be required to collect and report to the Department of Labor data based upon the metrics identified under subsection (d). In accordance with applicable law, collection of individual-level data under a pledge of confidentiality shall be protected by the Chief Evaluation Officer in accordance with such pledge. Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chief Evaluation Officer shall— make data collected during the course of evaluation under this section available in de-identified form in such a manner that reasonably protects a pledge of confidentiality to participants under subsection (e); and make identifiable data collected during the course of evaluation under this section available to qualified researchers for future research and evaluation, in accordance with applicable law.
The Chief Evaluation Officer shall— not later than 365 days after the date on which the enrollment of participants in an impact evaluation is completed under this section, publish an interim report on such evaluation; not later than 90 days after the date on which any evaluation is completed under this section, publish and make publicly available such evaluation; and not later than 60 days after the completion date described in paragraph (2), submit a report to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate on such evaluation.
In this section: The term Chief Evaluation Officer means the head of the independent evaluation office located organizationally in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy of the Department of Labor. The term reentry project means a project funded under the reentry employment opportunities program carried out under section 172 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act.