Framing the Future of Workforce and Social Policy Through Data

The Enrollment-to-Employment Applied Data Analytics Training Report shares findings from a groundbreaking training initiative that brought together agency staff from 27 states to learn how to use integrated, administrative data to inform smarter policy decisions. Led by the Coleridge Initiative, in partnership with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), and the State of Arkansas, the program trained more than 160 analysts and policymakers on how to work securely with complex data sets. The report highlights how these participants leveraged data tools to explore the link between enrollment in public programs—like SNAP, TANF, and WIOA—and long-term employment outcomes.

Through a modular training model, participants developed real-world analytics projects using linked, de-identified microdata from Arkansas. These projects offered new insights into co-enrollment strategies, apprenticeship outcomes, workforce training effectiveness, and systemic barriers to quality jobs. The training not only improved individual skills and team capacity, but also strengthened the infrastructure for data-informed decision-making within and across state governments.

One of the program’s most significant outcomes was the cultivation of a multi-state community of practice—a collaborative network of data, policy, and program experts equipped to advance evidence-based policymaking. The training also produced replicable tools, shared code, and data models that states can adopt and adapt in their own systems. In some cases, states have already begun extending their projects into new dashboards, policy briefs, and data-sharing agreements to fuel long-term change.

Read the Report: Evaluating Enrollment-to-Employment Pathways: Applied Data Analytics Training Summary Report