I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION H. R. 10312 
To authorize workforce development innovation grants for the implementation, 
expansion, and evaluation of evidence-based workforce programs, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 5, 2024 
Ms. SHERRILL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To authorize workforce development innovation grants for 
the implementation, expansion, and evaluation of evi-
dence-based workforce programs, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Better Jobs through 
Evidence and Innovation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. EVALUATIONS AND RESEARCH. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 169 of the Workforce In-
novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3224) is amend-
ed— 
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(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (d); 
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(c) 
WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT
INNOVATION 
FUND.— 
‘‘(1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—From the amount 
made 
available 
pursuant 
to 
section 
132(a)(2)(A) for any program year to carry out 
this subsection, the Secretary may, on a com-
petitive basis and in accordance with subpara-
graph (B), award workforce development inno-
vation grants described in subparagraph (C) to 
eligible entities to enable such entities to— 
‘‘(i) establish, implement, replicate, or 
take to scale evidence-based, field-initiated 
innovation programs or services for im-
proving the design and delivery of employ-
ment and training services that generate 
demonstrated long-term improvements in— 
‘‘(I) the performance or impact 
of the workforce development system; 
‘‘(II) earnings and employment 
outcomes for jobseekers (including in-
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dividuals with barriers to employ-
ment) and earnings for employers; 
and 
‘‘(III) the cost-effectiveness of 
such innovation programs or services, 
particularly for participants and com-
munities not sufficiently served by ex-
isting models such as participants and 
communities in rural areas; and 
‘‘(ii) rigorously evaluate, through a 
partnership with a third-party research or-
ganization or a third-party researcher, 
such innovation programs or services for 
effectiveness 
in 
achieving 
any 
dem-
onstrated long-term improvements in an 
outcome described in subclause (I), (II), or 
(III) of clause (i). 
‘‘(B) GRANT AWARDS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary— 
‘‘(I) shall award grants under 
subparagraph (A) on the basis of po-
tential achievements of the innovation 
program or service proposed by the el-
igible entity with respect to dem-
onstrated, long-term improvements in 
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an outcome described in subclause (I), 
(II), or (III) of subparagraph (A)(i); 
and 
‘‘(II) may award under subpara-
graph (A) different types of grants 
described under subparagraph (C) to 
an eligible entity for separate innova-
tion programs or services that meet 
the relevant criteria for such different 
types of grants. 
‘‘(ii) DURATION OF AWARD.—A grant 
awarded under subparagraph (A) shall be 
awarded for a period determined appro-
priate by the Secretary. 
‘‘(C) 
DESCRIPTION
OF
GRANTS.—The 
grants described in subparagraph (A) shall, to 
the extent feasible, include— 
‘‘(i) early-phase grants for an innova-
tion program or service supported by any 
level of evidence described in clause (i), 
(ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (D), for the 
purposes of funding the development, im-
plementation, and evaluation of such pro-
gram or service; 
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‘‘(ii) mid-phase grants for an innova-
tion program or service supported by a 
moderate level of evidence or a high level 
of evidence (as described in clause (ii) or 
(iii) of subparagraph (D), respectively) for 
the purposes of funding the operation, ex-
pansion, and continued evaluation of such 
innovation program or service at a single 
site; and 
‘‘(iii) expansion grants for an innova-
tion program or service supported by a 
high level of evidence, as described in sub-
paragraph (D)(iii), for the purposes of— 
‘‘(I) funding the operation of 
such innovation program or service at 
a single site; 
‘‘(II) expansion or such innova-
tion program or service to another 
site; and 
‘‘(III) implementation of a multi- 
site evaluation of such innovation pro-
gram or service. 
‘‘(D) LEVEL OF EVIDENCE STANDARDS.— 
The levels of evidence described in this subpara-
graph are the following: 
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to employment) and earnings for employ-
ers, through— 
‘‘(I) a well-designed and well-im-
plemented experimental study of such 
program or service, such as a random-
ized controlled trial; or 
‘‘(II) a rigorous quasi-experi-
mental study of such program or serv-
ice capable of drawing causal conclu-
sions about the effectiveness of such 
program or service. 
‘‘(iii) HIGH LEVEL OF EVIDENCE.— 
An innovation program or service is sup-
ported by a high level of evidence if such 
program or service has demonstrated, 
through replication of studies, the ability 
to achieve a substantial and statistically 
significant, positive impact on earnings 
and employment outcomes for jobseekers 
(including individuals with barriers to em-
ployment) and earnings for employers, 
through 2 or more well-designed and well- 
implemented experimental studies of such 
program or service conducted— 
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‘‘(I) at different implementation 
sites; or 
‘‘(II) through large, multi-site, 
randomized controlled trials. 
‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND EVALUATION 
RESEARCH.—Of the funds made available to carry 
out this subsection for a fiscal year, the Secretary 
shall reserve not more than 10 percent of the funds 
to— 
‘‘(A) provide technical assistance to eligible 
entities, which may include preapplication work-
shops, web-based seminars, support for con-
ducting feasibility studies and other planning 
activities, assistance with methods and require-
ments for purposes of evaluation research under 
subparagraph (D), and support for improving 
grant implementation and the quality and effec-
tiveness of activities and services funded by 
grants awarded under subparagraph (A), in-
cluding the use of administrative data and in-
formation to improve outcomes for participants; 
‘‘(B) disseminate information on low-, 
moderate-, and high-evidence-based practices; 
‘‘(C) fund staffing and other costs related 
to such activities; and 
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‘‘(D) conduct evaluation research regard-
ing activities or services funded by grants 
awarded under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi-
ble entity’ means an entity that is any of the 
following: 
‘‘(i) A State workforce development 
board established under section 101 (29 
U.S.C. 3111). 
‘‘(ii) A local workforce development 
board established under section 107 (29 
U.S.C. 3122). 
‘‘(iii) An Indian tribe, tribal organiza-
tion, Alaska Native entity, Indian-con-
trolled organization serving Indians, or Na-
tive Hawaiian organization that is eligible 
to receive an award under section 166 (29 
U.S.C. 3221). 
‘‘(iv) An institution of higher edu-
cation (as defined in section 101 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1001)). 
‘‘(v) A State workforce agency. 
‘‘(vi) An organization— 
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‘‘(I) that— 
‘‘(aa) is a community-based 
organization, a nonprofit organi-
zation, or a nongovernment orga-
nization; and 
‘‘(bb) serves an underserved 
population; or 
‘‘(II) that is a national or re-
gional organization that intends to 
use funds awarded under this Act to 
make direct grants to an organization 
described in subclause (I). 
‘‘(vii) A consortium of any entities de-
scribed in clause (i) through (vi). 
‘‘(B) FIELD-INITIATED.—The term ‘field- 
initiated’, with respect to a program or service, 
means a program or service in which the ele-
ments of the program or service have been de-
veloped by practitioners or researchers in the 
policy area. 
‘‘(C) INNOVATION
PROGRAM
OR
SERV-
ICE.—The term ‘innovation program or service’ 
means a program or service designed to dem-
onstrate innovative and cost-effective ways to 
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augment and improve employment and training 
services. 
‘‘(D) WELL-DESIGNED AND WELL-IMPLE-
MENTED
EXPERIMENTAL
STUDY.—The term 
‘well-designed and well-implemented experi-
mental study’ means a study that— 
‘‘(i) is replicable; 
‘‘(ii) uses programmatic and control 
groups that are representative of the type 
of population served by the program or 
service that is subject to the study, includ-
ing by avoiding over-selection of partici-
pants who are highly skilled prior to par-
ticipation for such programmatic group; 
‘‘(iii) uses controls for aggregate 
shifts that might affect baseline numbers; 
‘‘(iv) does not have problems with at-
trition of participants from the study; and 
‘‘(v) is conducted in a manner that is 
consistent with applicable evaluation, data, 
and privacy standards and practices de-
scribed in— 
‘‘(I) the guidelines of the Office 
of Management and Budget entitled 
‘Guidelines for Ensuring and Maxi-
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mizing the Quality, Objectivity, Util-
ity, and Integrity of Information Dis-
seminated by Federal Agencies’ (67 
Fed. Reg. 8452 (February 22, 2002)) 
(or successor guidelines); and 
‘‘(II) the Foundations for Evi-
dence-Based 
Policymaking 
Act 
of 
2018 (Public Law 115–435; 132 Stat. 
5529) and the amendments made by 
that Act.’’. 
(b) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
132(a)(2)(A) of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor-
tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3172(a)(2)(A)) is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘169(c) (relating to dislocated worker projects),’’ and 
inserting ‘‘169(c) (relating to the workforce development 
innovation fund), 169(d) (relating to dislocated worker 
projects), and’’. 
Æ 
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