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America Forward joined more than 30 Coalition Members and partners in support of the Better Jobs Through Evidence and Innovation Act, introduced by Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO).

“We write to express our enthusiastic support for the Better Jobs Through Evidence and Innovation Act, and to thank you for your vision and leadership in introducing this critical legislation,” wrote the co-signers of a letter to Sen. Bennet. 

“Over the past decade, social innovators have developed a growing list of evidence-based workforce development programs that have proven to work, strengthen the economy, and increase economic mobility and opportunities for people nationwide. The most effective programs, such as sectoral training programs and employment social enterprises, are successful because they partner with employers and local stakeholders, provide targeted support services, produce industry-recognized credentials, and place workers in high-opportunity positions. While we now have a number of evidence funds across federal programs, workforce development is a major exception. As a result, there is little funding from the workforce system for these practical and evidence-based organizations to continue improving and scaling up their approaches as well as to develop new models that address emerging labor market needs. 

The Better Jobs Through Evidence and Innovation Act is transformative legislation that creates a Workforce Development Innovation Fund that the workforce development system urgently needs. The bill provides three tiers of funding to support the development, evaluation, and scale-up of evidence-based employment and training programs that generate demonstrated, long-term economic improvements for job seekers and employers. It would enable various eligible entities to participate, such as State or local workforce boards, non-governmental organizations, tribal organizations, and higher education institutions. It also allows the most proven programs to focus their resources on continuous improvement and scale-up when additional experimental evaluation is no longer necessary.”

The letter urged lawmakers to include the Better Jobs through Evidence and Innovation Act as part of the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

Along with America Forward, the letter was signed by Results for America, ActivateWork, AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, Big Thought, Braven, Center for Employment Opportunities, Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative (CEEMI), Education Leaders of Color, Exalt, FutureFit AI, GreenLight Fund, Jobs for the Future, i.c.stars, Knowledge Alliance, Landforce, LIFT Inc., Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), National Association of Workforce Boards, National Skills Coalition, One Million Degrees, Opportunity@Work, Per Scholas, Progressive Policy Institute, Project Evident, Project QUEST, Propel America, REDF, Social Finance, Third Sector Capital Partners, Third Way, Vehicles for Change, Year Up, and Kathy Stack, Senior Fellow, Yale University Tobin Center for Economic Policy and Federation of American Scientists.