11/10/98

CONSULTATION PAPER ON PLANNING GUIDANCE

This Consultation Paper provides a framework for discussion regarding the approach and process that States and localities should use when developing the five-year strategic plan required by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The purpose of this paper is to solicit comments for consideration by the Department in the preparation of planning guidance, to be made available in draft by the end of November.

INTRODUCTION

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 represents the nation's resolve to replace a group of overlapping programs with a workforce investment system that better responds to the needs of its customers. Its purpose is to create a national network of Statewide, locally-driven workforce investment systems that increase the employment, retention, earnings and occupational skill attainment of participants, and the productivity and competitiveness of national, State and local economies.

WIA reflects a strong commitment to fundamentally redirect our approach to emphasize responsiveness to customer needs and accountability for results. This commitment is characterized by several key principles that should be reflected in the State's strategic plan:

• Streamlining services through an integration of multiple programs, including Wagner-Peyser and WIA, at the "service level" through One-Stop service centers;



• Empowering individuals with the information and resources they need to manage their own careers;



• Universal access for all job seekers to a core set of career decision-making and job search tools;



• Increased accountability of the delivery system to achieve improved results regarding skills gains, credentials earned, job placement rates, earnings, and retention in employment.



• Improved youth programs that provide a strong connection for both boys and girls between academic and occupational learning and other youth development activities;



• State and local flexibility to ensure that delivery systems are responsive to the needs of individual communities;



• Strong role for local boards and the private sector to impact the design and operation of delivery systems.

While many States have already taken great strides in this direction, the WIA planning process -- which also integrates the Wagner-Peyser planning process -- becomes the critical time for States and local stakeholders to develop a shared vision and strategy that will move their systems forward.

PLANNING UNDER WIA

The system building process that began with the One-Stop and Welfare to Work grants continues with the implementation of WIA. The Department expects to provide a broad vision, guiding principles, and policy parameters, while allowing States and localities the flexibility to design their workforce investment systems in a way that will meet overall WIA objectives.

With this emphasis on performance, the federal responsibility shifts -- from a focus on process compliance to performance results. The planning process, spearheaded by the State Board, then becomes the way to create consensus around and commitment to a strategic vision, desired level of performance, and the critical strategies needed to attain it. The plan document describes the destination, lays out the strategic roadmap, and identifies the key landmarks that will let the system know it is on track. This five-year strategic plan -- with vision, goals, strategies and measures -- becomes a living document, a management tool that federal, State, and local partners will use to guide the evolution of the workforce investment system.

The strategic document will be invaluable because it will allow a State Board to continually check its progress against its long-term goals and vision and make adjustments as needed. In this way, the Department expects that the five-year strategic plan will prove more useful than the short-term annual and bi-annual plan development and review processes that were required under Wagner-Peyser and JTPA. However, for the Plan to be a true management tool, it will also require modification over its life. Strategies and visions, after all, are dynamic. Accordingly, the various system partners must view the Plan as more than simply a one time event that ends with the submittal and approval of the Plan.

The strategy outlined in the State Plan should lead to continuously improving results for the statewide workforce investment system. Achieving continuous improvements in performance will be a function of:

• Leadership: The ability of State and local Boards to establish a clear vision of where they want to go, to develop critical partnerships, and to mobilize sufficient resources;
• Services: The responsiveness of the services provided to customer needs;
• System Infrastructure: The effectiveness of service and management support systems to achieve quality results; and
• Performance Management: The ability to track key measures of success and to utilize that data to improve performance.

The State Plan should focus on these critical areas, with the leadership, services, system infrastructure, and performance management system all supporting continuous progress toward the State's vision. The State Plan must also address all WIA and Wagner-Peyser statutory requirements.

Modifications will likely be needed in any number of areas to keep the Plan a viable, living document over its five-year life. The Act gives States authority to modify WIA Plans based on unanticipated circumstances, and the Department expects that States will modify their Plans whenever changes in the economic or governmental landscape, or changes in federal law or policy reduce the Strategic Plan's viability. States should submit a modification whenever State law, the statewide vision, strategies, performance measures or goals, under either Title I or Wagner-Peyser, change significantly. For instance, reorganizations which change the working relationships with system employees or changes in the method of substate allocation will require a modification. States will also be required to submit a modification describing changes to improve performance if goals are not met.

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF THE BOARDS

As part of the planning process, the State Workforce Investment Board (WIB) is expected to provide leadership by creating the vision for the State workforce system and developing processes for planning, assessing and improving the performance of the statewide system, all of which are articulated in the Plan. Local WIBs, in turn, must develop processes for local planning and assessment to improve local One-Stop performance in a way that is consistent with the State vision and goals. Both Boards take responsibility for making several critical decisions on how to achieve the Plan goals, such as:

• How to best organize the service system to effectively serve all customers, and meet the needs of minorities (including persons with limited English speaking ability), women and persons with disabilities;
• How to best deploy available resources among the components of the service system to achieve desired results and build capacity for continuous improvement of results;
• How to expand the resource base and service capability through the development of strategic alliances, partnerships, and integrated service delivery.

The State Board's actions should increase local WIBs' ability to achieve results in their local areas, just as local WIBs' actions should increase One-Stop providers' results at the front-line with job seeker and employer customers. To do so, local Boards will need significant flexibility to determine what services to make available, how to deliver services, and how to effectively engage local employers.

This emphasis on strategic, not operational, management by the WIBs will be a critical shift in some States and local areas.

ROLE OF WAGNER-PEYSER IN STATE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT SYSTEMS

As envisioned by the legislation, workforce investment systems should be the trusted source for services needed by workers to access quality employment opportunities, and by employers to access quality workers. Programs and funding streams should be aligned to provide a comprehensive menu of demand-driven, high-quality labor market information and services that can be easily accessed by system customers.

The cornerstone of this new workforce investment system is One-Stop service delivery which will unify numerous training, education and employment programs into a single, customer-friendly system. The Employment Service, Unemployment Insurance, and WIA programs all play a critical role in One-Stop systems.

Public labor exchange programs are an essential element in One-Stop systems, especially for critical target populations such as veterans and migrant and seasonal farmworkers. For example, States must assure that veterans are afforded Wagner-Peyser services according to chapter 41 of Title 38 United States Code. Thus, in crafting WIA, Congress maintained the Wagner-Peyser program as a separate funding stream, while requiring full integration of planning and services into the Statewide workforce investment system. This means that funds must remain distinctly accountable to Congress, but appear seamless to customers. Amendments to Wagner-Peyser require that all job search, placement, recruitment, labor employment statistics, and other labor exchange services under Wagner-Peyser must be provided as part of the One-Stop delivery system. Integrated Wagner-Peyser/WIA Title I planning is the first step in achieving this.

The Act identifies numerous additional required and optional One-Stop system partners beyond Wagner-Peyser and WIA. States and local areas should think expansively, working with all partners to develop fully integrated One-Stop centers, with seamless service delivery to all customers -- whether recent graduates, welfare recipients, laid-off workers or businesses. Linking education, skill training, and apprenticeship programs to a range of community-based support services will promote self-sufficiency for women, men and their families. Collaboration between the workforce investment and welfare systems is particularly critical, since the focus of both is helping people--often the same people--find and keep jobs, and move up into progressively better jobs.

While the system has already taken great strides in this direction, completing this transition will not be easy. But with WIA as the catalyst for change, its planning process--which integrates the Wagner-Peyser planning process--becomes the critical opportunity for States and local stakeholders to develop a shared vision and strategy that will move their systems forward.

PERFORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY

WIA allows considerable flexibility in system design, in exchange for accountability for a key set of outcomes as well as improving outcomes over time. To achieve this, the Act requires the Secretary and the Governor of each State to reach agreement on the respective State performance levels for the core indicators of performance and a customer satisfaction indicator that measures employers' and participants' satisfaction with services they receive under this Act. WIA requires that the State performance levels be expressed in an objective, quantifiable, and measurable form, and that the levels show continuously improving performance.

The negotiated performance levels for the first three program years must be included in the State's five-year Plan (with levels for the fourth and fifth years agreed to before the beginning of the fourth program year). These levels of performance become the basis for sanctions for failed performance and, with additional State-adjusted levels of performance under Adult Education and Vocational Rehabilitation, the basis for incentive grants.

Timing such negotiations may be complicated, since the Governor and Secretary must reach agreement but Governors cannot establish realistic goals without the input and buy-in from local WIBs and local elected officials. To aid in this process, the Department will develop and issue guidance on the core performance measures, reporting requirements, and incentives and sanctions policies. Since performance expectations will be tied to national goals established under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the Department will also issue information which will serve as a departure point in negotiating performance levels. Within this broadly-developed framework, the Department will negotiate with the States, and the States will negotiate with their local WIBs, either simultaneously or after reaching agreement on the statewide levels.

Although the Act provides for a ninety-day window after Plan submission to negotiate the performance levels specified in the Plan, the Department expects States to enter into preliminary discussions with the Department's Regional Administrators prior to submission of the State Plan. This will give States and the Department ample time to develop a shared set of goals, and give States and local areas maximum confidence that they can implement WIA ninety days after Plan submission.

An additional aspect of accountability under WIA is built into the new authority granted to customers of training providers. The performance of training providers must be available for review, and individual customers will be able to exercise their authority and hold providers accountable for their performance when they use their Individual Training Accounts to make their personal selections among the various approved training providers. This empowerment represents a fundamental change for many progams, and will be critical to the successful implementation of WIA.

STATE READINESS

The Job Training Partnership Act sunsets on July 1, 2000. States have the option, however, of implementing the provisions of WIA Title I as early as July 1, 1999. The timing of the implementation, as well as the preparation that is needed to make implementation successful, are affected by the broad scale reforms in the Act which the States will have to be ready to carry out when implementation occurs. In order to assist in the State's process of assessing its readiness for implementation, the Department has compiled the following "readiness checklist" of critical policies and systems that States should have in place upon Plan submission:

• State Board
• Local Workforce Investment Areas
• State criteria on the appointment of local Board members
• Strategy to coordinate services within the One-Stop system
• Allocation formulas
• State guidance on priority of service where funds are limited
• Conflict of interest policy
• State strategies for assisting local areas
• Procedure for training provider certification
• Mechanism for customers to select from training provider list
• Customer Report Card featuring provider outcome data

States and local areas should also have the following policies and systems in place prior to implementation:

• Local Boards
• One-stop operators
• Identification of local fiscal agents
• MOUs, as appropriate
• Local plans
• List of initially eligible service providers

While these last items can be put into place while the Department is reviewing the State Plan and negotiating State performance levels, States should be operational in all key areas once Plans are approved.

CONTENT AND FORMAT OF A PLAN

A typical strategic plan may include a section on State vision, the current status of the workforce investment system, Statewide and local policies and strategies that will move the system forward, and key measures and goals to be used to assess the State's performance. Statutory provisions regarding the State Plan under WIA have been included here for reference. These serve as the minimum or baseline for the specific questions to be asked in the Planning Instructions.

The Department is interested in reactions from State and local officials as to the level of detail which should be required in the plan in order to achieve three different goals:

Ensure that the plan complies with the statutory requirements;

Enable the plan to be easily read and readily used as a living, strategic document; and

Demonstrate to the customers and stakeholders of the State and its local areas the decisions that will guide their workforce investment system for the next five years.

SEC. 112. STATE PLAN.

(a) In General.--For a State to be eligible to receive an allotment under section 127 or 132, or to receive financial assistance under the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49 et seq.), the Governor of the State shall submit to the Secretary for consideration by the Secretary, a single State plan (referred to in this title as the ``State plan'') that outlines a 5-year strategy for the statewide workforce investment system of the State and that meets the requirements of section 111 and this section.
(b) Contents.--The State plan shall include--

(1) a description of the State board, including a description of the manner in which such board collaborated in the development of the State plan and a description of how the board will continue to collaborate in carrying out the functions described in section 111(d);
(2) a description of State-imposed requirements for the statewide workforce investment system;
(3) a description of the State performance accountability system developed for the workforce investment activities to be carried out through the statewide workforce investment system, that includes information identifying State performance measures as described in section 136(b)(3)(A)(ii);
(4) information describing--

(A) the needs of the State with regard to current and projected employment opportunities, by occupation;
(B) the job skills necessary to obtain such employment opportunities;
(C) the skills and economic development needs of the State; and
(D) the type and availability of workforce investment activities in the State;

(5) an identification of local areas designated in the State, including a description of the process used for the designation of such areas;
(6) an identification of criteria to be used by chief elected officials for the appointment of members of local boards based on the requirements of section 117;
(7) the detailed plans required under section 8 of the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49g);
(8)
(A) a description of the procedures that will be taken by the State to assure coordination of and avoid duplication among--

(i) workforce investment activities authorized under this title;
(ii) other activities authorized under this title;
(iii) programs authorized under the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49 et seq.), title II of this Act, title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 720 et seq.), part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), and section 6(d)(4) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2015(d)(4)), activities authorized under title V of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3056 et seq.), and postsecondary vocational education activities authorized under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.);
(iv) work programs authorized under section 6(o) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2015(o));
(v) activities authorized under chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.);
(vi) activities authorized under chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code;
(vii) employment and training activities carried out under the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.);
(viii) activities authorized under the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.);
(ix) employment and training activities carried out by the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and
(x) programs authorized under State unemployment compensation laws (in accordance with applicable Federal law); and

(B) a description of the common data collection and reporting processes used for the programs and activities described in subparagraph (A);

(9) a description of the process used by the State, consistent with section 111(g), to provide an opportunity for public comment, including comment by representatives of businesses and representatives of labor organizations, and input into development of the plan, prior to submission of the plan;
(10) information identifying how the State will use funds the State receives under this subtitle to leverage other Federal, State, local, and private resources, in order to maximize the effectiveness of such resources, and to expand the participation of business, employees, and individuals in the statewide workforce investment system;
(11) assurances that the State will provide, in accordance with section 184 for fiscal control and fund accounting procedures that may be necessary to ensure the proper disbursement of, and accounting for, funds paid to the State through the allotments made under sections 127 and 132;
(12)
(A) a description of the methods and factors the State will use in distributing funds to local areas for youth activities and adult employment and training activities under sections 128(b)(3)(B) and 133(b)(3)(B), including--

(i) a description of how the individuals and entities represented on the State board were involved in determining such methods and factors of distribution; and
(ii) a description of how the State consulted with chief elected officials in local areas throughout the State in determining such distribution;

(B) assurances that the funds will be distributed equitably throughout the State, and that no local areas will suffer significant shifts in funding from year to year; and
(C) a description of the formula prescribed by the Governor pursuant to section 133(b)(2)(B) for the allocation of funds to local areas for dislocated worker employment and training activities;

(13) information specifying the actions that constitute a conflict of interest prohibited in the State for purposes of sections 111(f) and 117(g);
(14) with respect to the one-stop delivery systems described in section 134(c) (referred to individually in this title as a ``one-stop delivery system''), a description of the strategy of the State for assisting local areas in development and implementation of fully operational one-stop delivery systems in the State;
(15) a description of the appeals process referred to in section 116(a)(5);
(16) a description of the competitive process to be used by the State to award grants and contracts in the State for activities carried out under this title;
(17) with respect to the employment and training activities authorized in section 134--

(A) a description of--

(i) the employment and training activities that will be carried out with the funds received by the State through the allotment made under section 132;
(ii) how the State will provide rapid response activities to dislocated workers from funds reserved under section 133(a)(2) for such purposes, including the designation of an identifiable State rapid response dislocated worker unit to carry out statewide rapid response activities;
(iii) the procedures the local boards in the State will use to identify eligible providers of training services described in section 134(d)(4) (other than on-the-job training or customized training), as required under section 122; and
(iv) how the State will serve the employment and training needs of dislocated workers (including displaced homemakers), low-income individuals (including recipients of public assistance), individuals training for nontraditional employment, and other individuals with multiple barriers to employment (including older individuals and individuals with disabilities); and

(B) an assurance that veterans will be afforded the employment and training activities by the State, to the extent practicable; and

(18) with respect to youth activities authorized in section 129, information--

(A) describing the State strategy for providing comprehensive services to eligible youth, particularly those eligible youth who are recognized as having significant barriers to employment;
(B) identifying the criteria to be used by local boards in awarding grants for youth activities, including criteria that the Governor and local boards will use to identify effective and ineffective youth activities and providers of such activities;
(C) describing how the State will coordinate the youth activities carried out in the State under section 129 with the services provided by Job Corps centers in the State (where such centers exist); and
(D) describing how the State will coordinate youth activities described in subparagraph (C) with activities carried out through the youth opportunity grants under section 169.

Additional provisions also refer to the planning process, such as:

LOCAL AREAS

Section 116(c)(1) As part of the process for developing the State plan, a State may require regional planning by local boards for a designated region in the State.

PERFORMANCE ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM

Section 136(b)(3)(A)(ii) Each State shall identify, in the State plan submitted under section 112, expected levels of performance for each of the core indicators of performance and the customer satisfaction indicator of performance, for the first three program years covered by the State plan.

COORDINATION AND NON-DUPLICATION

Section 322 (which amends Chapter 41 of Title 38, U.S.C.) In carrying out this chapter, the Secretary shall require that an appropriate administrative entity in each State enter into an agreement with the Secretary regarding the implementation of this Act that includes the description and information described paragraphs (8) and (14) of Section 112(b) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

Questions:

• For each statutory provision, what are the most effective ways for the State and its localities to respond?
• Is something important missing? I.e., are there other questions we should add so that the Plan is a useful strategic plan that demonstrates to the citizens of the State and its local areas the decisions that will guide their workforce investment system for the next five years, such as:
  • How will the State and local areas organize their service system to effectively serve customers and build market position?
  • � How will available resources be deployed among the components of the service system to achieve desired results and build capacity to achieve higher results downstream? And
  • � How will the development of strategic alliances and partnerships expand the resource base and service capability?

Please provide comments and suggestions to the Workforce Investment Act Implementation Taskforce, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave, N.W., Room S-5513, Washington, D.C. 20210. The first draft of the planning guidelines is expected to be available for review during the first week of December, 1998. Comments received prior to November 18 will be considered in that draft; comments received after that date but before December 9 will be considered in the preparation of the final planning guidelines, scheduled for publication during December.