Participant Individual Record Layout (PIRL) Disability Elements: Focus on Data Quality
1:30pm - 3:00pm ET
Access to quality data makes good policy possible and workforce services accessible for everyone. View this U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Policy Development and Research and the Leadership for the Employment and Economic Advancement of People with Disabilities (LEAD) Center discussion on strategies for improving the quality of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) disability-related reporting elements.
Quality data about customers of the public workforce system, their disability status, and their relationships with other WIOA partners can lead to enhanced partnerships between public benefits agencies and contractors, more strategic case management and referral relationships, and improved services for all system users. Analysis of states’ reporting on the disability-related data elements for WIOA participants reveals that for 8 out of 10 data elements, reporting is extremely low and sometimes missing. Reasons for low levels of reporting are often the result of confusion about the disability-related element definitions, at times compounded by data systems that do not support thorough or accurate reporting on participants’ disability status or utilization of partner services. Providing resources to states and local areas and working with data system vendors to ensure systems are set up to support quality reporting are two ways to improve the quality of disability-related data on WIOA participants.
States, WIOA data system administrators, data system vendors, and anyone interested in learning more about how WIOA programs collect information about disability status and services should access this 90-minute webinar archive on the WIOA disability-related elements and strategies for improving data quality.
MODERATOR
Christina Eckenroth, Workforce Analyst, U.S. DOL Employment and Training Administration, Office of Policy Development and Research
PRESENTER(S)
Jessie Oettinger, Senior Associate, Social Policy Research Associates
Rose Warner, Senior Policy Advisor, U.S. DOL Office of Disability Employment Policy
Marian Negoita, Senior Associate, Social Policy Research Associates
Laura Thomas, Senior Research Programmer, Social Policy Research Associates