Motivation for Applying to the State IMPACT Collaborative

The Mississippi team’s focus when beginning the State IMPACT Collaborative was to evaluate prison industry workforce training programs amid ongoing concerns about the state's high recidivism rates. It applied to the State IMPACT Collaborative, a partnership between MDRC and Coleridge, to strengthen analytics capacity across departments and be part of a broader multistate group using data to address complex policy challenges. Its team had staff from Accelerate Mississippi, which funds or studies workforce training, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, and MAGCOR, a Mississippi-based correctional industries and workforce development organization

For its final project, the Mississippi team plans to evaluate workforce training programs offered through the Department of Corrections to better understand their impact on employment outcomes and recidivism.

Applied Data Analytics Project: Design and Findings

State IMPACT Collaborative participants complete an applied research project using Arkansas state data. For the Applied Data Analytics (ADA) project, the Mississippi team examined whether participation in Wagner-Peyser services was associated with improved post-exit employment outcomes for unemployment insurance claimants in Mississippi.

The team linked PROMIS UI claims data, WIOA PIRL data, and UI wage records. They used regression adjusted comparisons with covariates including age, gender, education, and prior wages, and evaluated outcomes at the second, fourth, and eighth quarters after exit.

Their research showed Wagner Peyser participation was associated with improved employment outcomes for UI claimants. Wage gains, while positive, were modest and not statistically significant. In addition, they identified selection bias, missing data, and time constraints as major study limitations, and recommended future use of propensity score matching and improved data quality to build on these findings.

Lessons Learned from Cross-State Collaboration

Through the State IMPACT Collaborative, the Mississippi team recognized that states across the country are often confronting many of the same institutional, programmatic, and policy challenges. In Mississippi, recruiting and retaining staff with strong data analytics and research skills is difficult, particularly because universities and the private sector often offer more competitive opportunities. Through engagement with states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas, the team learned that these staffing challenges are widespread. Even larger states frequently rely on partnerships with universities or external organizations to supplement technical capacity. For example, Ohio partners with The Ohio State University to support analytical work.

The program also highlighted how states are grappling with many of the same programmatic and policy issues, but a community of learning established during the 2025 Coleridge Annual National Conference and ADA training sessions created opportunities for states to share approaches, compare experiences, and learn from one another in real time. For the Mississippi team, this collaborative “think tank” environment was one of the program’s most valuable aspects.

ADA Training Benefits

The ADA training strengthened the Mississippi team’s analytical skills, improved cross-stakeholder communication, and enhanced the credibility and practical application of its research and policy analysis work.

●      The ADA training has influenced how the Mississippi team approaches research and policy analysis. It exposed them to more advanced concepts in coding, data structure, and methods such as propensity score matching. For some staff, the experience provided an introduction to the full research lifecycle, demystifying how rigorous analysis is conducted and how data can be used to inform policy decisions.

●      The coaching support was a very valuable aspect of the training. The Mississippi team worked with coaches who each contributed different expertise. Early guidance from subject matter experts in corrections research was particularly helpful in grounding the project.

●      The training has strengthened the team’s ability to communicate across technical and policy partners, resulting in more thoughtful engagement. Its conversations are now more detailed and focused on the broader analytical picture, including data completeness and methodological constraints, improving its engagement with the state longitudinal system.

●      It has also improved their ability to explain complex analytical questions more clearly to legislators, helping set realistic expectations about what the analysis can and cannot show.

●      Beyond technical skills, the credibility of producing work through a vetted, collaborative process has been particularly important. Findings carry more weight when they are supported by external partners and shared methodologies.

Future Goals for Analytical Work

Looking ahead, the Mississippi team sees significant opportunities to expand this work. Future projects will likely extend beyond short-term outcome windows to examine longer-term impacts on employment and recidivism.

The team is also interested in exploring geographic and industry-specific differences in outcomes. For example, there is interest in understanding whether the effectiveness of specific training programs varies depending on where individuals return after release or the type of occupation they enter.

More broadly, this experience has helped strengthen analytical approaches, build a network of experts across states, and generate interest from additional stakeholders. With strong legislative support and growing demand for evidence, there is a clear opportunity to continue building on this work and using data to inform meaningful policy change.