TWIST

E. The Workforce Information System of Texas (TWIST)
The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is currently constructing a data system that will
combine the separate data systems currently being used for JTPA, Employment Services, the
Child Care Subsidy, Food Stamp, Employment and Training, and CHOICES (the JOBS
successor) programs. This data system, The Workforce Information System of Texas (TWIST),
is being implemented in three phases, scheduled to be completed in the next two years. Since its
initial implementation in 1996, data for the JTPA and Employment Services have been converted
into the system. TWIST carries out a number of major functions, including case management,
following participant outcomes, and program reporting and evaluation.
TWIST was developed to assist the implementation of a new model for delivering employment
services in Texas, referred to as "One Stop." This model allows a person seeking services to
obtain assistance from a single caseworker, no matter for which program they are (or become)
eligible. TWIST facilitates the use of the One Stop model by allowing caseworkers to use one
system (rather than six) for managing clients in each of the different employment services
programs. TWIST was constructed using Sybase and, at the time of the interview, was
approximately six gigabytes in size. All historical data from the previous systems are converted
and maintained in TWIST.
TWIST uses Social Security number as the primary individual identifier. In addition, TWIST
assigns a case number for each program in which an individual participates. The system
routinely and consistently collects a number of other pieces of identifying information including:
first and last name, date of birth, sex, race, and mailing and residential address with county and
zip code.
Some demographic data fields (such as address) are overwritten when data for the field change.
However, TWIST does maintain a record of who changed the information and when the change
took place. No participation or services tracking data are ever overwritten. Because the system
is so new, no data have been purged from TWIST. However, TWC does plan to eventually
implement a purging process. Similarly, although there are plans to archive data, at the time of
the interview, no TWIST information had been archived.
There are some data from other state information systems that are automatically entered into
TWIST. Both the TANF and Food Stamp (SAVERR) and the JOBS successor (CHOICES) data
systems have nightly interfaces through which TWIST extracts demographic and case
participation data for clients listed in the TWIST system. In addition, these interfaces populate
the TWIST system with data for other individuals who might be eligible for TWIST-related
services. TWC plans to also extract Unemployment Insurance wage records for TWIST clients.
The only sharing of data from TWIST is with the SAVERR system. Through the automated
interface, TWIST passes information regarding employment program participation and suggested
case actions to TANF administrators.
F. Automated Student and Adult Learner Follow-Up System
The Automated Student and Adult Learner Follow-Up System, implemented by the Texas State
Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (SOICC), is a service that facilitates the
evaluation of a number of Texas job training and education programs. Through the Automated
Student and Adult Learner Follow-Up System, the Texas SOICC routinely provides data to a
number of private and government agencies on the post-exit results achieved by their former
education and job training participants. The Follow-Up System facilitates linkages of records
from a variety of data systems to state Unemployment Insurance wage records. In addition, the
Follow-Up System obtains data from a number of other federal and state databases likely to
contain information on the post-exit experiences of former education and job training
participants. While responsible for carrying out the data linkages, the Texas SOICC typically
turns the linked data back to the requesting agencies for evaluation and analysis.
The Texas SOICC has collaborated with (among others):
• the Texas Workforce Commission to generate follow-up data for JTPA, Food Stamp,
Employment and Training, Job Corps, and JOBS/CHOICES participants
• the Texas Education Agency to follow-up on senior high school exit cohorts and on exit
cohorts from a variety of specialty schools
• the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to follow-up on exit cohorts from all the
state's technical and community colleges as well as a large number of volunteer four-year
colleges and universities, and
• the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to follow-up on prison-based vocational
education participants.
These organizations provide administrative data on cohorts of participants to the Texas SOICC.
Using Social Security numbers, the Texas SOICC links the individual participant records to the
state's Unemployment Insurance wage record files. The Unemployment Insurance wage records
provide data on a number of items, listed below.
• Employment status
• Industry of employment
• Quarterly earnings
• Employer contact information
Data from the Unemployment Insurance wage records are supplemented with data from other
systems to more completely determine the post-exit status of former program participants. Texas
Department of Criminal Justice records are searched to identify former participants who have
been incarcerated. Federal employment records are used to identify former participants who
have found federal employment (which is not included in Unemployment Insurance wage
records). Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board records are searched to identify program
participants who have enrolled in public postsecondary education in Texas. GED files from the
Texas Education Agency are used to identify former participants who complete the GED
requirements.
In addition, the Texas SOICC is negotiating with other agencies to gain access to more data
systems. Vital statistics would allow the Texas SOICC to identify former participants who are
deceased. Education and Unemployment Insurance wage records from other states or federal
data sets would allow the Follow-Up System to determine the post-exit status of participants who
have moved from Texas.
Since the start of the Follow-Up System, the Texas SOICC staff have linked over 2 million
Social Security numbers to post-program achievement data. The Texas SOICC has created
annual databases with linked data since 1991 for JTPA participants, since 1996 for JOBS
participants, and since 1996 for Food Stamp Employment and Training participants. The
databases are created when, at the end of each program year, the administering agencies provide
exit cohort seed records to the Texas SOICC. These seed records contain information on the
entire population of program exiters from the previous program year (typically July through
June). The Texas SOICC insists that data on all exiters (including those who successfully
completed programs as well as those who did not) be contained in the seed records. For each
exiter, the seed records include Social Security number, an identifier for the program in which
the client participated, information about any occupational-specific training or education, exit
status, reason for exit, and exit date. In addition, the data provided by the administering agencies
also include relevant program-specific information. For example, the JOBS seed records include
fields from which length of time the exiter has received public assistance can be constructed.
With the Automated Student and Adult Learner Follow-Up System, the Texas SOICC uses
Social Security numbers to link these seed records to the Unemployment Insurance wage records
and other databases described above. Wage record data are added to the data set for two
quarters: the quarter prior to receipt of services and the final quarter of the calendar year in
which the program year ended. The "quarter prior to receipt of services" is identified for each
exiter using individuals' program start dates. When program start dates are not included in the
seed records, they are imputed using exit date and program guidelines that describe the expected
length of service.
JTPA Title III participants are the only ones for whom additional wage record data are linked.
Because this program specifically targets dislocated workers, wage record data are collected for
the entire year prior to receipt of services, rather than for just one quarter. This ensures that data
on wages prior to dislocation can be compared in more meaningful ways with wages after receipt
of services.
There is typically a lag of several months before each set of linked data is ready for use. The
Texas SOICC usually gains access to the fourth quarter wage record data in May of the
following year. Ultimately, the linked data are used by the requesting agencies to answer a
number of important client follow-up status questions.
The data have been used to study (among other things) earnings gains that result from program
participation, employment retention of program exiters, and job mobility (specifically the
distance participants must travel to find a job in the field in which they received training). In
addition, aggregate data that compare the achievements of exiters across training and education
programs are included in career planning software produced by the Texas SOICC.
In some cases, the linked records are supplemented with data from employer surveys. The
Survey Research Center at the University North Texas identifies the employers to be surveyed
using data from relevant Unemployment Insurance wage records and obtains data from the
employers about the occupations of former participants. This information is used by service
providers to assess how closely related specific types of training /education are to actual post-exit
occupations.
The Texas SOICC will continue generating data sets for new exit cohorts in all of the programs
described above. In addition, the Texas SOICC has a number of planned enhancements to the
data sets generated using the Automated Student and Adult Learning Follow-Up System.
Reduced welfare dependency will be explored as the "flipside" of employment. This will be
done by linking welfare payment data from a Texas Workforce Commission data warehouse
(under construction) to the other data routinely linked by the Texas SOICC. In addition, the
Texas SOICC is working on a number of pilot data sets that will assess the feasibility, usefulness
and costs of linking wage record data three and five years after program exit.
The Texas SOICC maintains the data sets on servers running the Windows NT operating system.
The data management architecture is a relational database constructed using Visual Fox Pro
software. There are plans to move to Oracle software for database management. Statistical
analyses are carried out using SPSS, although there are plans to move to SAS for statistical
analyses.
The data sets are jointly owned by the Texas SOICC and the agency that requests the data. The
data sets are not accessible to anyone, under any circumstance, who is not duly authorized.
According to the Texas SOICC, the innovative collaboration between agencies that administer
training and education and the agency that maintains Unemployment Insurance wage records is
based on strict understanding and adherence to privacy laws. The data are shared among
government agencies according to formal data exchange agreements that specify that the data
may only be used by public officials in carrying out their official duties leading to program
improvement. The agreements prohibit any participating agency from doing secondary releases
of the exchanged data.
The Automated Student and Adult Learner Follow-Up System was initiated in the early 1990s
with follow-up for graduates of one community college. The community college was facing
accreditation by an agency which wanted to know if there was a connection between fees
charged and wages in occupations for which the community college provided training. The
college had been conducting alumni surveys to collect these data but the surveys were expensive
and had a low (20%) response rate. As a result, the college approached the Texas Employment
Commission (now the Texas Workforce Commission) and asked them to link student and
Unemployment Insurance wage records. The success of this work led to the expansion of the
project to all community colleges in the state.
Expanding the use of wage records for follow-up of JTPA and other job training programs came
about as program funders (primarily legislators) demanded more rigorous accountability studies,
carried out by objective, neutral, third-party investigators. Success of the project can be
attributed to the commitment of the legislature to ask for and fund this type of follow-up study as
well as to the desire of various government entities to create a system that standardizes core
performance measures and research methods. In addition, the importance of adherence to the
data confidentiality rules cannot be overemphasized. The misuse of linked data by any