1. Collaborative Strategies to Meet Business Sector Needs in Six States
“All In … to Win”
Thursday, May 17, 2018

2. Presenters Doug Keast WINTAC Doug.keast@wintac.org
Lou Adams WINTAC

3. Learning Objectives WIOA vision for customer service
Leadership contributions of the VR agency as a core partner
Experiences in other states in meeting the needs of business sectors collaboratively
Activity that will support stronger business service integration in Delaware

4. An Act
“To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to strengthen the United States workforce development system through innovation in, and alignment and improvement of, employment, training and education programs in the United States, and to promote individual and national economic growth, and for other purposes.”

5. Common Vision
Three agencies published the same vision at the same time:
Agency
Publication
Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)
TAC-15-01
Department of Labor (DOL)
TEGL 04-15
Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE)
OCTAE 15-3
We just wanted to share this information with you to show you that we learned our lessons with the WIA implementation, where we all had the sense that not everyone got the same memo on the Act’s vision. With WIOA, everyone did get the same memo. On August 13, 2015, the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the Department of Labor, and the Office of Career Technical and Adult Education all release the same identical guidance on the WIOA vision.

6. Characteristics of a High Quality One-Stop Center
Improve the skills of job seeker and worker customers. One-Stop Centers offer access to education and training leading to industry-recognized credentials through the use of career pathways, apprenticeships and other strategies that enable customers, including those with disabilities, to compete successfully in today’s global economy. The Centers provide businesses with access to the quantity and quality of talent they need, and support upskill/backfill strategies that expand job opportunities in the community.
TAC RSA, pages 5 and 6
TEGL DOL, page 5
OCTAE DOE, page 5
On page 5 of each of these Vision documents, our Federal Partners describe the Characteristics of a High Quality One-Stop Center. One of those characteristics are that they “improve the skills of job seeker and worker customers”.
One-Stop Centers offer access to education and training leading to industry-recognized credentials through the use of career pathways, apprenticeships and other strategies that enable customers, including those with disabilities, to compete successfully in today’s global economy. The Centers provide businesses with access to the quantity and quality of talent they need, and support upskill/backfill strategies that expand job opportunities in the community.

7. Implementing Business Services
To Support area employers and industry sectors most effectively, American Job Center staff, including designated partner program staff, must …
… incorporate an integrated and aligned business services strategy among American Job Center Partners to present a unified voice for the American Job Centers in communications with employers.
RSA TAC (p. 15 & 16)
OCTAE Program Memorandum (p. 15 & 16)
DOL TEGL (p. 17)
Later on – January 18, 2017, our Federal Partners simultaneously rolled out matching guidance on the “Implementation” of WIOA. On page 15 of RSA and OCTAE’s version and page 17 of labor’s version, our partners tell us: (read)

8. Guidance Shift: Considering Customer Service
Changes within guidance to reflect customer service interests:
Career Pathways
Common Performance Measures
Branding
Integrated Services
While the vision of customer service has not changed much from WIA to WIOA, there are 4 significant things of note in WIOA’s guidance to strengthen that vision:
Career Pathways – in WIA, “Labor Exchange” was the framework around which the diverse expertise of the workforce partners were to coalesce to create a common service flow for job seekers to meet the needs of businesses. Discussion of career pathways in WIOA guidance expands that partnership structure to include the locally developed opportunities to upgrade job seeker skills to meet the needs of the “targeted business sectors” determined by each local workforce board.
Common performance measures – separated accountability for performance for each partner agency in the workforce system can create a “disconnect” between agencies – especially if each agency is evaluated along different lines. Creating alignment in in performance measurement for agencies is done with deliberate intent to make service alignment easier for partner agencies.
Branding – establishing a common “brand” for the service system is also an intentional effort to make service access simpler and easier for our customers. In the early 1990’s, many of us in the disability community worked hard to try to teach our customers to be “savvy customers” by being knowledgeable of the 14 or so employment and service agencies in their communities. We learned that this doesn’t work very well from a customer service perspective, and more is required of the service system partners to make service friendlier by operating as a single entity from a customer perspective.
Integration – guidance in the Act, regs and instruction to the field by our 3 Federal partners mention “integration” frequently when describing WIOA’s vision for customer service.

9. Contributions to Business Services from Vocational Rehabilitation as a Core Partner
Accessibility expertise
Career Pathways for individuals with disabilities
Sector-specific training efforts for consumers
Business engagement
WIOA’s vision for customer service in an integrated system calls for a common service flow which is fully inclusive of – and responsive to – all individuals. In this vision, the word disability is mentioned many times. In fact, disability or disabilities is mentioned over 300 times in the act itself. In another change with WIOA, the Act has established Vocational Rehabilitation as a Core partner to work with the other core partners with the Governor and the State Workforce Board to create a system that meets the acts vision in addressing the unique workforce objectives of each state. This places the VR agency in a role of leadership among their workforce partners in addressing:
AJC service accessibility, including
Section 188 compliance
Including individuals with disabilities effectively in the locally developed career pathway models, including,
Development of sector specific training that is inclusive, and
Contribution to business services that will support successful inclusion of qualified individuals with disabilities in employment.

10. Collaborative Business Engagement
JDVTAC and WINTAC outreach to State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies for examples of collaborative activity:
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
New Hampshire
Missouri
Montana

11. Illinois
Core Partners and Economic Development Agencies held two-day regional meetings.
The purpose:
Identify the economic conditions and business sectors unique to each region; and
Identify culture and strategy of regional partnerships to meet business needs.
Following these meetings, the Core and Other partners established an American Job Center Business Service Team in each region. This team includes members from the partners who will continue to work together in addressing the business needs for each region.
This collaboration will create a broader array of services immediately available in business services. It will also increase each region’s capacity to shape its Career Pathway model as a “common pipeline of talent to meet business sector needs.”

12. Indiana
Work at the State Level with two Collaborative WIOA Implementation Committees/Councils that have come together to strengthen Career Pathway development and support:
Indiana Career Council
Workforce Innovation Council
Beginning the process of supporting the local Workforce Development Boards and Partner agencies in responding to business needs effectively together.

13. Iowa
Developed the Employers Disability Resource Network midway through WIA Implementation:
Enhances Regional collaborative state and local business efforts by connecting disability and employment agencies/communities for the purpose of being a resource to employers together
Reverse Job Fair
Diversity Summit
Job Analysis

14. New Hampshire Collaborative Job Fairs Partnership with HR Organization
Business Awards program
Local Collaborative Development of Workforce Coalitions
Efforts to increase skills of VR Counselors as Business Service Representatives

15. Missouri
The State of Missouri maintains a committee to the state Board that focuses on Business Services. This committee is currently chaired by one of the Core Partners, Vocational Rehabilitation, and one of its activities is the facilitation of an annual meeting to bring all partners together to focus on business services.
Many Regions in the State maintain committees to the Local WDB that focus on disability and employment. Partners have begun a structure for collaborative focus on business service and employment for qualified individuals with disabilities called NEXUS.
Workforce Agencies and Vocational Rehabilitation in Missouri have been working together to host business events and to survey business satisfaction and service needs.

16. Montana
Locally, the Partner agencies have been coming together through meetings with the workforce Job Service Employer Council (JSEC) as one point of collaborative business service focus.
Core Partners have supported a common business customer information database -- MWorks. Business Specialists update business needs and contact information, which creates opportunities for partner agencies to work together in meeting business needs.
Work together to provide TA and Training to business customers.

17. Common Approaches from the Six Example States
States have Established Collaborative Business Service Teams at the State level. Focus includes the following:
Addressing business service objectives in State Plan
Developing Career Pathway strategies
Supporting Local Boards and Partnerships with Collaborative Business Service and Career Pathways
Development of Local Business Service teams that includes representatives of partner agencies developing and providing business services together.
Partner Agencies host Business events to strengthen business partnership and increase the engagement of underemployed populations in career pathways.
Agencies are building the capacity and comfort of staff not previously tasked with business services to in this area.

18. Consideration?
How is Delaware meeting business needs collaboratively?

19. Are We Collaborating? Levels of Collaboration
Integration
Intensive collaboration, agencies are interdependent, significant sharing of resources, high level of trust.
Collaboration
Agencies work together on a project-by-project basis, including joint analysis, planning.
Coordination
Staff from different agencies work together on a case-by-case basis to coordinate some support.
Communication
Agencies talk to each other, share some information.
Isolation
Agencies don’t recognize the need to communicate, no attempt to communicate .
Source: Systems of Care, Stages of Integration; based on Burt, Spellman, 2007.

20. Business Services: Isolated
Each placement specialist in each agency makes his/her own business connections; no sharing of business information between agencies beyond the information generated and entered into the Job Center’s search engine by the Wagner-Peyser business representatives.

21. Business Services: Communicating
Placement Specialists meet once a month for coffee and discuss business development strategies; partners share information on their programs, job fairs and similar events.

22. Business Services: Coordinating
Placement Specialists and Business Associates meet every Thursday at 3:30 P.M. and share the skill needs of their business contacts for the purpose of meeting the business needs and sharing placement opportunities. Vocational Rehabilitation and Title I Adult Services coordinate outreach to Veterans.

23. Business Services: Collaborating
Business Service Specialists meet regularly and plan business events together, such as Job Fairs. They host a business event once a quarter to gain information on the needs of specific business sectors and to provide information or training on topics identified as areas of interest by those business sectors. Partner agencies still approach businesses separately but share information with each other to meet business needs.

24. Business Services: Integrated
Cross-agency Business Services Team is created and sets the strategy for business engagement.

25. Discussion
What are activities in which we can engage to increase our service alignment/integration in Business Services?

29. Thank You!
Lou Adams Training and Technical Assistance Manager WINTAC NDI Team
Doug Keast Project Director WINTAC NDI Team