Six state and local governments were recently awarded a combined $1.1 million to study the development and implementation of paid leave programs, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced.

DOL’s Women’s Bureau awarded the grants for research and analysis on paid leave programs. At the state level, Hawaii, Indiana, Pennsylvania received grants. Three local governments did as well: Denver, Colorado; Franklin County, Ohio; and Madison, Wisconsin.

DOL said the grants are just the latest step in its ongoing paid leave initiative. Only 12% of private-sector workers have access to paid family leave, according to the department. The grants “will help innovative state and local officials design paid-leave policies that work for their citizens,” said Thomas E. Perez, secretary of labor, in a statement.

According to DOL, this is the third round of such grants, bringing the total to more than $3 million awarded since 2014. Previous grants have revealed important findings, according to Pronita Gupta, the Women’s Bureau’s deputy director.

In a blog post, Gupta offered the example of Massachusetts, a previous recipient that found that a proposed paid leave program for its state would need $495 million per year for replacement wages; that would cover, on average, a weekly wage of $665. If the cost was distributed among all employees covered by the program, it would cost each worker $160 annually, or about $3 per week, Massachusetts found.

Rhode Island, another awardee, conducted a survey and found that awareness of its existing caregiver leave program was low. Only about half of the respondents even knew it was available. “Rhode Island’s findings highlight the importance of outreach even after paid leave legislation is passed,” Gupta said. “Continued research and analysis is critical as states, cities and municipalities consider different paid leave programs and funding mechanisms.”