Congressman Smith (WA-09) today congratulated the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) for being awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration to build or expand longitudinal databases and link them to education data.

The ESD will be expected to use the advanced databases to determine the effectiveness of workforce and educational programs and to better inform customers of training opportunities, employment services and unemployment insurance.

“This award will support improvements in data collection and analysis that will help move us in the direction of ensuring workers and job seekers are getting the employment training they need,” said Rep. Smith. “It will also help to make sure workers in our state have access to highest quality employment services available. I commend the ESD on this achievement.”

For more information on services provided by the Washington State Employment Security Department, including the application for unemployment insurance and job search tools, click here.