Workforce development: Contrasting implementation in Boston, Philadelphia and New York City.
Item
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Title
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Workforce development: Contrasting implementation in Boston, Philadelphia and New York City.
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Identifier
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AAI3187472
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identifier
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3187472
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Creator
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Kleiman, Neil Scott.
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Contributor
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Adviser: John H. Mollenkopf
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Date
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2005
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Political Science, General
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Abstract
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Like the majority of federal programs in the United States, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is administered by local government agencies entrusted to carry out federal objectives. In implementing WIA, localities may structure their workforce development programs using social service policy objectives, economic development policy objectives, or a mix of the two. Three Northeastern cities provide three different implementation models: as an extension of welfare reform, New York initially focused its programs solely on low-income residents and then reoriented them around business services; Philadelphia, focused on economic development objectives, using its funds in large part to support customized training to meet business needs; and Boston employed a blended model combining economic development and social service policy objectives. This dissertation will investigate the local conditions that led to varying models of WIA implementation and assess the implications of implementing a federal law in either a social service or economic development direction when its framework may be interpreted as permitting either.;Particular attention is paid to the general consensus in the Political Science literature that local political leaders are inclined to use federal programs to meet economic development goals rather than focus service delivery on the poor or low-income residents. The study conducted for this dissertation focused on the critical role played by local institutions in shaping implementation and program structure. While local elected leaders had tremendous influence and local producer groups had some degree of influence, this study found that independent agencies were able to shape policy outcomes more than any other actor. This was the case in all three cities. The independence of implementing institutions thus becomes a critical variable for how federal objectives are interpreted at the municipal or county level.;Finally, this study found that a blended approach to policy implementation---one that integrates an orientation to business and low-income residents---is far more feasible and even preferable to local employers and bureaucrats than has been previously thought. This is of particular interest to Political Scientists who have long advocated for such an approach to address both social and economic goals.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
