Maryland’s vision to “increase the earning capacity of Marylanders by maximizing access to employment, skills and credentialing, life management skills, and supportive services” is a direction that all states and regions can consider to adopt.
Setting specific and measurable strategic goals is a key first step down the path toward evaluating performance at a state or regional level. Maryland can now base their research and evaluation efforts around specific metrics, such as:
- Annual percentage of Maryland workforce system customers who obtain employment and earn at least 200% of the federal poverty level from X% to Y%,
- Annual percentage of Maryland’s workforce system customers who obtain an industry-recognized credential from X% to Y%, and
- Annual percentage of Maryland’s workforce system customers who receive needed child care services from X% to Y%.
How it was helpful to an Evaluation and Research Hub (Eval Hub) PLC member: “We all look at the various performance measures of our Department of Labor, Department of Education, Health and Human Services, and the TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] program and SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]. But do they really tell the story about moving the needle for our customers? So we developed a Maryland vision to increase the earning capacity for Marylanders by maximizing access to employment, skills, credentialing, life-management skills, and support services, and set five strategic goals to measure those impacts.”
This is a PLC-recommended resource – an evaluation report, tool, or technical assistance product that a Peer Learning Cohort member identified as being particularly helpful to his or her research and evaluation efforts. See a list of all PLC member-approved resources.
