An Institutional Analysis of American Job Centers: AJC Service Delivery in Rural Areas

To systematically document key characteristics and features of American Job Centers (AJCs), Mathematica and its partners—Social Policy Research Associates, The George Washington University, and Capital Research Corporation—conducted the Institutional Analysis of AJCs for the U.S. Department of Labor. This paper discusses key features and experiences of 12 AJCs that are located in rural areas. The research focuses on AJCs as the unit of service delivery, which is a narrower focus than prior studies of the rural workforce system as a whole. Therefore, the findings offer insight into frontline service delivery and system-wide planning in addition to an update on the persistence of previously-identified challenges in rural service delivery.