EDC-7 Pilot Evaluation of Strategic Workforce Development for Justice-Challenged Youth

The $1 trillion-dollar Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents a historic investment in infrastructure with the potential to revolutionize construction, transportation, energy and other critical sectors nationwide while generating millions of new jobs [1]. A healthy transportation workforce is critical to meeting these goals and to meeting the growing supply chain demand nationwide. A 2021 survey found that 89% of construction firms in America struggled with finding qualified workers [2], while the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the construction industry will grow by 4% from 2021 to 2031 [3]. Simultaneously, there has been an increased focus on building and developing equitable training pathways for infrastructure jobs [4], including programs supporting justice-impacted youth entering the transportation field [5]. In this proposal, utilizing frameworks developed by the National Institute of Corrections and the Annie Casey Foundation [6], researchers will conduct a survey of existing workforce development programs, and programs focused on aiding justice-impacted youth, to develop a set of nationwide best practices for strategic workforce development in the transportation and infrastructure fields. This area of research addresses the current labor shortage felt across the transportation sector, while also supporting more equitable pathways to employment. A healthy and skilled workforce is critical to maintaining infrastructure durability and resilience, and ensuring that federal investments in transportation can be implemented at the state and local levels.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $535482
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552344813

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  National Center for Infrastructure Transformation

  Prairie View A&M University
  Prairie View, TX  United States  77446
• Performing Organizations:

  Rutgers University, New Brunswick

  New Brunswick, NJ  United States  08901

  Prairie View A&M University

  Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
  P.O. Box 519
  Prairie View, TX  United States  77446
• Principal Investigators:

  Pisani, Todd

  Bellam, Kiranmai

  Szary, Patrick

• Start Date: 20230901
• Expected Completion Date: 20250831
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program
• Source Data: 01-12-RU

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; Education and training; Transportation careers; Workforce development
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Policy; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01893169
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Center for Infrastructure Transformation
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552344813
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Sep 13 2023 1:28PM