Assessing Your Progress at the Mid-Point of Your America’s Promise Grant: Part 2   High Impact Partners on behalf of the Employment and Training Administration, DOL March 7, 2019

Greg Scheib America’s Promise Federal Lead U.S. DOL/OWI/Division of Strategic Investment Bruce Rankin America’s Promise Coach American Association of Community Colleges

Review the Mid-Grant Assessment Process How are we using this information? Present high-level observations about the process and outcomes Hear Directly from the Grantees The challenges they faced and strategies implemented to stay on track Lessons Learned/Next Steps Feedback from the Project Directors Q&A

America’s Promise Grantees Presenting Today The following grantees will share their insights on modifying their projects: Lexi Mason - America’s Promise (City of Springfield, MO) Addressing a projected shortfall in their participant numbers Gary Sulski - Brevard Workforce Development Board, Inc. (FL) Addressing better inter-staff engagement Greg Goloborodko - Worksystems, Inc. (OR) Addressing current program design to increase degree/credential attainment

The Self-Assessment Process The intent of this exercise was to: Capture quantitative and qualitative data to observe how your grant is progressing against your goals Use these observations to develop a gap analysis/needs assessment How can we assist our grantees? Fine-tune the TA provided by DSI and the HIP Team to align with these needs

Summary of Quantitative Progress Aggregate Quantitative Metrics – What did we learn? First 2 years: Participants Served Target Population Other Populations Served Participants Enrolled in Training Participants Completing Training Credentials Awarded Employment Placements

Summary of Qualitative Success Success Factor Challenge Promising Practice Strong Organizational Management Monitoring efforts (tracker for career counselors that has weekly/monthly targets, updates, and success) Improved the sharing of success stories by leveraging support from other college departments Strong Operational Systems Best indicators to improve grant performance Regularly assess training and feedback from students and employers Sustainability Thinking Co-investment strategy with employers to ensure that businesses are on board in hiring our participants and continuing partnerships beyond the grant An extensive history of trust built with all project partners, CBOs, and employers will support the consortium after the grant

Summary of Qualitative Success Success Factor Challenge Promising Practice Effective Employer Engagement Employer engagement is high, but employer commitment is low Use a "heat map" to identify hot jobs and employers Effective Partner Engagement Strategies for youth agency partners to offer more input to our programming Hired a liaison to coordinate activities with other partnership colleges. The position also collects and reports on best practices Effective Participant Engagement Along a Career Pathway Enrollment is difficult in a strong economy as people are more interested in job placement than training Create a lifelong learning mentality to encourage students to continue their education, gain new skills, and attain a college degree

America’s Promise, City of Springfield, MO Lexi Mason Outreach Specialist and Project Lead Industry: Healthcare Challenge: Address Projected Shortfall in Program Participants and Training Completions

America’s Promise, City of Springfield, MO Goals Incorporate short-term training programs to expand participant pool Identify and recruit new participants from targeted populations Implement new programs under a tight deadline Aligns with Success Factors: Strong Organizational Management, Effective Employer, Partner & Participant Engagement

Brevard Workforce Development Board, Inc. Gary Sulski I.T. Sector Strategy Program Manager Industry: Information Technologies Challenge: Addressing how to create better inter-staff engagement

Brevard Workforce Development Board, Inc. Goals Improve Intake process (participant assessments) Conduct Group Role Playing Have One-on-Ones with staff to address personal needs (Career Counselors vs. Business Liaisons) Provide monthly update meetings on performance goals and IT industry trends Aligns with Success Factor: Strong Organizational Management

WorkSystems Inc. Greg Goloborodko Sr. Project Manager Industry: Health Care Challenge: Addressing current program design to increase degree/credential attainment

Worksystems Inc. Goals: Aligns with Success Factor: Review how best to serve the right candidates and aligning our program design to account for some shorter-term trainings that will directly lead to employment outcomes and industry recognized credentials. Provide better communication to the system, around the alternative (shorter-term) training options that would be available to participants in order to reach outcomes while still progressing on their career pathway. Aligns with Success Factor: Effective Participant Engagement along a Career Pathway

What Did We Learn? Technical Assistance Priorities TA Priority 1 – Outreach and Recruitment TA Priority 2 – Management Systems and Structure TA Priority 3 – Partner Engagement

Feedback Did this process help uncover an issue or challenge that might affect the success of your grant? If so, please share the challenge faced in the chat box?

Next Steps HIP Team Coaches will leverage these observations to fine tune Technical Assistance products and services Including the upcoming Data Driven Decision Making Webinar in April Grantees can use this information to make decisions about their activities and guide their efforts in Years 3 and 4

Data Driven Decision Making Webinar Grantee Infographic Template April 2019 Grantee Infographic Template Released to each Grantee Community of Practice https://h1bap.workforcegps.org/

AmericasPromise @dol.gov U.S. Department of Labor AmericasPromise @dol.gov 202.693.3949