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ED 473 752 CE 084 521

TITLE High Skills, High Wages: Washington's Strategic Plan forWorkforce Development. Our Agenda for Action.

INSTITUTION Washington State Workforce Training and EducationCoordinating Board, Olympia.

PUB DATE 2002-00-00NOTE 76p.; Endnotes from Web version.AVAILABLE FROM Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, 128 10th

Avenue SW, P.O. Box 43105, Olympia, WA 98504-3105. Tel: 360-753-5662; Fax: 360-586-5862; e-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.wtb.wa.gov/. For full text:http://www.wtb.wa.gov/hshw2.pdf.

PUB TYPE Opinion Papers (120)EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Adult Basic Education; Agency Cooperation; *Agenda Setting;

Basic Skills; Blacks; Career Centers; Case Studies;Disabilities; Dislocated Workers; Dropouts; Economic Change;Economically Disadvantaged; Educational Change; EducationalFinance; Educational Objectives; Elementary SecondaryEducation; Employment Potential; Employment Qualifications;Females; Government Role; Hispanic Americans; *Job Skills;Job Training; *Labor Force Development; Outcomes ofEducation; Partnerships in Education; Persuasive Discourse;*Policy Formation; Public Policy; Standards; *StatewidePlanning; *Strategic Planning; Tech Prep; Wages

IDENTIFIERS Best Practices; Customer Services; *Washington; WorkforceInvestment Act 1998

ABSTRACT

The state of Washington's workforce development system agendafocused in 2002 on these four goals: (1) closing a perceived job skills gap;(2) training incumbent and dislocated workers in order to prepare them forchanges in the economy; (3) achieving wage progression for low incomeindividuals; and (4) integrating workforce development programs to improvecustomer service. Emphasis was on key sectors of the state economy includinghealth care and information technology. More attention was expended on theneeds of people with disabilities, people of color, women, high schoolgraduates, and high school dropouts because it was thought that these groupswill increasingly comprise the workforce of the future. Two central themes ofthe agenda were public partnerships with industry and customer service.(Following an introduction to the status of workforce development inWashington, including obstacles and challenges to program implementation andeffectiveness, the above-named goals are presented. The majority of thedocument consists of lists of objectives and strategies for each goal.Throughout each section are sidebars that include best practices, casestudies, and resources. Contains one figure and 76 endnotes). (AJ)

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WORKFORCE TRAINING AND EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD

The Vision

The Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board is Washington State's valued and trustedsource of leadership for the workforce development system.

Mission Statement

The Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board's mission is to bring business, labor, and thepublic sector together to shape strategies to best meet the state and local workforce and employer needs ofWashington in order to create and sustain a high-skill, high-wage economy.

To fulfill this Mission, Board members, with the support of staff, work together to:

Advise the Governor and Legislature on workforce development policy.

Promote an integrated system of workforce development that responds to the lifelong learning needs ofthe current and future workforce.

Advocate for the nonbaccalaureate training and education needs of workers and employers.

Facilitate innovations in workforce development policy and practices.

Ensure system quality and accountability by evaluating results and supporting high standards andcontinuous improvement.

Board Members

Rene EwingChair

Rick Bender Geraldine Coleman Tony Lee Sylvia MundyRepresenting Labor Representing Business Representing Targeted Commissioner, Washington

Populations State Employment SecurityTerry Bergeson Earl Hale DepartmentState Superintendent of Executive Director, State John McGinnisPublic Instruction Board for Community and Representing Labor Joseph J. Pinzone

Technical Colleges Representing BusinessDon BrunellRepresenting Business Beth Thew

Representing Labor

Participating Officials

VacantRepresenting LocalElected Officials

Dennis BraddockSecretary, State Department ofSocial and Health Services

Ellen O'Brien SaundersExecutive Director

3

JOB TITLE

High Skills, High Wages Customer Satisfaction Survey

The Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board is committed to high quality customersatisfaction and continuous improvement. You can help us meet our commitment by completing this form,detaching it, and mailing it in. Please circle the words that best answer the following questions. In thespaces provided, please elaborate on your response.

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STATE OF WASHINGTON

Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board128 - 10th Avenue, S.W. P.O. Box 43105 Olympia, WA 98504-3105

Phone: (360) 753-5662 Fax: (360) 586-5862 Web: www.wtb.wa.gov Email: [email protected]

October 2002

Dear Governor Locke and Members of the State Legislature:

We are pleased to forward to you the 2002 edition of, High Skills, High Wages: Washington'sStrategic Plan for Workforce DevelopmentOur Agenda for Action.

Our plan sets four goals for the state's workforce development system:

Closing the skills gap.Training incumbent and dislocated workers so they are prepared for economic change.Achieving wage progression for low income individuals.Integrating workforce development programs to improve customer service.

In order to achieve these four goals, our 2002 Agenda for Action includes objectives andstrategies that have been updated since our 2000 Plan. The 2002 Agenda increases our focus onkey sectors of the economy, such as health care and information technology. It gives moreattention to the needs of people with disabilities, people of color, and womenpopulations thatwill increasingly comprise the workforce of the future. The 2002 Agenda speaks more to theneeds of young people in our secondary schools and those who have dropped out of the K-12system. Many of the strategies emphasize public partnerships with industry. Another centraltheme is customer service.

We know how much a family-wage job means to every adult worker. We know that youngpeople who don't succeed in school face a steep hill to climb to economic self-sufficiency and asense of belonging to the larger community. And we know that unprepared employees preventour businesses from realizing their potential.

Our success will depend upon an unprecedented degree of collaboration among public agenciesand institutions, local workforce development councils, private providers of training andeducation, community organizations, employers, students, unions, and workers. The stakes arehigh; the potential rewards for our state even higher.

0

We look forward to working with you to implement this ambitious agenda for positive change.

Sincerely,

.ctt2e-tRig k BenderRepresenting Labor

erry BergesonSuperintendent of Public Instruction

Don BrunelRepresenting Business

Geraldine ColemanRepresenting Business

Syl a MundyEmployment Security Department

Earl Hale, Executive DirectorState Board for Community and Technical Colleges

Elizab th ThewRepresenting Labor

Tony LAVReprese ng Targeted Populations

John McGinnisRepresenting Labor

seph J. Pi neRepresenting Business

Participating Officials

Dennis Braddock, SecretaryDepartment of Social and Health Services

High Skills, High Wages

Washington's Strategic Plan for

Workforce Development

OUR AGENDA FOR ACTION

2002

Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board128 -10th Avenue, S.W.

P.O. Box 43105Olympia, WA 98504-3105

(360) 753-5662/Fax (360) 586-5862http://www.wtb.wa.gov

Email: [email protected]

8

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

The Map for Progress: Goals and Objectivesfor Workforce Development 7

Strategies 10

Challenge One: Skills Gap 10

Challenge Two: Incumbent and Dislocated Workers 30

Challenge Three: Wage Progression for Low-Income Workers 37

Challenge Four: Facilitate the Integration of

Workforce Development Programs 50

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High Skills, High WagesWashington's Strategic Plan

for Workforce Development

OUR AGENDA FOR ACTION

Introduction

Our vision is a workforce development system that

offers every Washingtonian access to high quality

academic and occupational skills education throughout

his or her lifetime, effective help to find work or training

when unemployed, and the personalized assistance

to make progress in the labor market.

To make our vision a reality we must plan ourjourney carefully. We must have a clear mapa set of

goals, objectives, and strategiesto identify our route andguide the programs of the workforce development system tohelp us get there. We must have the support of our policy-

makers and voters and we must be held accountable forresults in making progress. Finally, we must demonstratecommitment to the journey. This plan, updated in 2002,defines the state's goals, objectives, and strategies, and

measures of our success.

1©

Challenges

The last two decades have brought abouta dramatic transformation in our state'seconomy with profound implications forthe workforce. We live in a knowledge-based economy where the main engineof economic growth is the human mind.While this economy has generatedtremendous wealth, it has also sharpenedeconomic disparities between theeducated and the uneducated andbetween urban and rural areas. Nowmore than ever, enhancing the skills ofour workforce is critical for ensuring aproductive and secure future for allWashington residents. In an age ofglobal competition for good jobs, theplaces that thrive will be the places withthe best educated, most innovative, andmost productive people.

Recognizing the importance of a skilledworkforce, Governor Gary Locke askedthe Workforce Training and EducationCoordinating Board (wTECB) to addressthree critical challenges for the state'sworkforce development system.

1. Closing the gap between the need ofemployers for skilled workers and thesupply of Washington residentsprepared to meet that need.

2. Enabling workers to make smoothtransitions so they may benefit fullyfrom the new, changing economy.WTECB shall develop a coherentstrategy for dislocated and incumbentworker training.

3. Assisting disadvantaged youth,persons with disabilities, new labormarket entrants, recent immigrants,and low-wage workers in moving upthe job ladder during their lifetimesby developing a wage progressionstrategy for low-income workers.Specific progress should be made inimproving operating agencies andreducing the earnings gap facingpeople of color, people withdisabilities, and women.

This plan sets forth our goals, objectives,strategies, and performance measuresfor meeting these three challenges.Meeting these challenges also requiresaddressing a fourth challenge: inte-grating services provided by separately-funded workforce developmentprograms so we can provide the bestpossible service to our customers.

The Starting Line:What Can We Build On?

Washington already is on the way toreaching our vision.

The Washington State EmploymentSecurity Department (ESD) is engaged ina collaborative effort with other stateagencies and local service deliverers toprovide employment, services toemployers and job seekers through aone-stop Work Source system. Thissystem is helping us to reduce duplica-tion and improve efficiency, maximizeflexibility with limited workforcedollars, and provide more accessible

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HIGH SKILLS, HIGH WAGES: WASHINGTON'S STRATEGIC PLAN FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

and user-friendly services. Work Sourceis the primary portal to Washington'sworkforce development system. Basicemployment services such as labormarket information, career counseling,and job search assistance are widelyavailable on-site at comprehensiveWork Source centers and affiliate sitesand through self-service over theInternet. Beyond such basic services,Work Source offers information about,and access to, a wide array of workforcedevelopment programs, includingcourses at community and technicalcolleges, private career schools, andother training providers. Work Sourceis our principle approach to bettercoordinate employment-related services.

Beyond Work Source, other changes,including changes in our communityand technical colleges, high schools,and welfare-to-work system, are pre-paring the way for continued progressin other parts of our workforcedevelopment system.

In order to coordinate workforcedevelopment policy at the local level,local elected officials established12 workforce development councils.These councils develop local strategicplans, coordinate local workforcedevelopment activities, link initia-tives with economic developmentstrategies, oversee the localWorkSource system, collaborate inthe development of WorkFirst servicearea plans, and identify qualityimprovements and expected levelsof performance for programs.

The State Board for Communityand Technical Colleges (SBCTC) isleading the development of skillstandards through a collaborativeprocess that includes employers,workers, and educators. The Officeof Superintendent of Public Instruc-tion (OsPi) is establishing career andtechnical education programstandards to incorporate workplaceskills and industry-based skillstandards. And, nearly all communityand technical colleges are applyingthe tech-prep model to provideimmediate college credit for careerand technical courses taken bystudents at their high schools.

WTECB, ESD, and SBCTC are

coordinating funding to strategicallytarget key economic sectors. A totalof 17 industry skill panels have beenestablished to analyze skill gaps andidentify solutions. The funding hasalso enabled the creation of newcollege programs and customizedtraining of workers and specificemployers.

The Legislature continues to earmarkfunds for the community andtechnical colleges and private careerschools to retrain dislocated workers.Dislocated workers are able to receiveadditional weeks of unemploymentinsurance benefits while retraining.And, ESD administers a high-qualityrapid response system for dislocatedworkers guided by labor/managementcommittees.

123


WTECB has established an on-lineconsumer report system at:http://www.wtb.wa.gov/etp/ andhttp://www.jobtrainingresults.org.The system informs consumers andstaff about programs that meetperformance standards and theirresults in placing students into jobsand what these jobs pay.

The Department of Community, Tradeand Economic Development (DCTED)is working through the BusinessRetention and Expansion program toretain and expand manufacturing andprocessing firms and to reduce thenumber of business closures and out-of-state expansions.

Work First has implementedinnovative strategies to helprecipients of Temporary Assistanceto Needy Families (TANF) get jobs,retain jobs, and get better jobs,including Preemployment Training,Community Jobs, the LimitedEnglish Pathway, and WorkFirstPostemployment Labor Exchange.

In January 2002, Washington beganimplementing one important elementof the Ticket to Work and WorkIncentives Improvement Act of 1999that enables states to eliminatebarriers to employment for peoplewith disabilities by improving accessto health care coverage availableunder Medicare and Medicaid. Theprogram, Health Care for Workerswith Disabilities (HwD), allowspeople with disabilities to work andearn up to 450 percent of the federal

4HIGH SKILLS, HIGH WAGES: WASHINGTON'S STRATEGIC PLAN FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

poverty level and still continue theirMedicaid coverage, eliminating oneof the most significant barriers toemployment.

These are important steps forward andshow clear commitment to making ourvision real.

Obstacles

We recognize that we face challengesand barriers as we move toward ourvision.

Changes in our population are affectingthe state's workforce. A growing propor-tion of retirees will reduce the size of theavailable workforce. A growing proportionof the population will be composed ofracial and ethnic minorities. Educationand workforce outcomes for thesepopulations, however, have beenhistorically lower than those of theirwhite counterparts. In addition, peoplewith disabilities will increasinglycomprise a larger segment of the work-force and already comprise the state'slargest untapped domestic labor pool.

Too many high school students still lackmotivation and support and leave schoolbefore graduating. For those who stay, itis still too likely they will graduate fromhigh school unprepared even for entry-level work and be unaware not only ofthe education and skills required bytoday's employers, but also of thevariety of employment opportunities.Many students who do not immediatelymove on to postsecondary education

13

after high school spend years driftingfrom dead-end job to dead-end jobbefore linking with training at acommunity or technical college orprivate career school.

Too many participants leave trainingprograms without a meaningfulcredential that can convey to employersor postsecondary education what theyknow and are able to do. Often studentsmust duplicate course work they havealready completed at an earlier stage intheir careers because their credentialsare not widely accepted.

Despite the recessionary period of 2001-2002, Washington's employers still reportdifficulty in finding skilled workers.Many dislocated workers cannot obtainjobs in high-demand fields because theylack the current technical skills requiredby business. Too often employers areforced to search in other states, or evenin other countries, for technical workersthey cannot find at home.

Washington's health care industry isexperiencing a twofold dilemma: anacute labor shortage at the same time ourpopulation is aging and increasingdemand for health services. The healthcare worker labor shortage is seriouslyjeopardizing the availability and qualityof health care for the people ofWashington, undermining the vitality ofone of the largest industries in the state.

Skilled workers in the construction andmanufacturing trades will be retiringwithout enough apprentices in training tofill their jobs.

Among the approximately 170,000migrant and seasonal farm workers, themedian annual income is $5,000, and themedian level of educational attainment isthe 8th grade.

Women remain concentrated inoccupations and industries that do notprovide them with sufficientcompensation to support themselves andtheir children, if they are single parents,or offer opportunities for advancement.

People with disabilities constitute animportant underused human resource.Only about half of adults with adisability in Washington are employed,and many who have jobs are notemployed to their full potential.

Former public assistance recipientsmove into employment, but too ofteninto low-wage jobs that allow littleflexibility for balancing work, family,and training for advancement.

The State WorkforceDevelopment System

The State Workforce DevelopmentSystem as defined in state statute iscomprised of 7 state agencies, and byExecutive Order, 17 major programs (seetable on page 6). For a detaileddescription of these programs, see theWorkforce Development Directory 2002available at http://www.wtb.wa.gov/.

14

5


THE STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM(RCW 28C18 and E.O. 99-02)

State Board for Communityand Technical Colleges

Postsecondary Technical EducationAdult and Family LiteracyCarl D. Perkins Postsecondary Technical EducationWorker Retraining ProgramVolunteer Literacy ProgramJob Skills Program

Office of Superintendent of Secondary Career and Technical EducationPublic Instruction Carl D. Perkins Secondary Career and Technical Education

Employment Security Department WIA, Title 1-B Dislocated Workers ProgramWIA, Title 1 -B Adult ProgramWIA, Title I-B Youth ProgramWagner-Peyser

Department of Social and Health Services Division of Vocational Rehabilitation

Department of Services for the Blind Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind

Opportunities Industrialization Center Employment and Training for Migrant and Seasonal Workers

Department of Labor and Industries Apprenticeship

Private Career Schools

Other Related ProgramsOther programs (23) also prepare people for employment,

though they are not specified in the state statute or the Governor's Executive Order.

Washington TANF Work Program (Work First) Corrections Clearinghouse Program

Post Employment Labor Exchange Job Corps

Community Jobs Offender Education Program

Welfare-to-Work (federal welfare reform program Washington State Business Enterprise for the Blindthrough the Department of Labor)

Washington Conservation CorpsCommunity and Technical CollegesWork Firstcustomized training and basic education Displaced Homemaker Program

Refugee Assistance Program Community Services Block Grant Program

Juvenile Corrections Education On-the-Job Program

Food Stamp Employment and Training Program Claimant Placement

Workers' Compensation Vocational Rehabilitation Disabled Veterans' Outreach

Trade ActTrade Adjustment Assistance Program Local Veterans' Employment Representatives

Washington Service Corps/AmeriCorps Special Employment Services for Offenders

15

The Map for Progress:Goals and Objectives forWorkforce Development

This plan sets forth 4 goals and 16objectives to meet the challenges identi-fied by the Governor. They are the goalsand objectives the system will work toaccomplish over the next five years.

Challenge One: Skills Gap

Goal 1: To close the gap between theneed of the employers for skilledworkers and the supply of Washingtonresidents prepared to meet that need.

OBJECTIVE 1.1 Create private-publicpartnerships to enable individuals tomove up job and career laddersthroughout their lives.

OBJECTIVE 1.2 Increase the number ofyoung people who understand and act oncareer opportunities available throughcareer and technical education andtraining programs, including youth fromtarget populations.

OBJECTIVE 1.3 Expand mentor andwork-based learning opportunities for allyouth by working with the employercommunity.

OBJECTIVE 1.4 Increase the capacity ofhigh schools, community and technicalcolleges, and apprenticeship programs toprovide high-quality workforceeducation and training programs.

7

OBJECTIVE 1.5 Increase education andtraining and employment services forolder workers and retired individualswho want to return to work.

Key Performance Measures

1. The number of community andtechnical college students, privatecareer school students, andapprentices prepared for workcompared to the number of net jobopenings for workers at that educationlevel: we are meeting 78 percent ofdemand for newly prepared workers,up from 75 percent 2 years ago.

2. The number of industry skill panelsthat are established: 17 skill panelshave been established during the past2 years (none existed prior to that).

Challenge Two: Incumbent andDislocated Worker Training

Goal 2: To enable workers to makesmooth transitions so they and theiremployers may fully benefit from thenew, changing economy by putting inplace a coherent strategy for dislocatedand incumbent worker training.

OBJECTIVE 2.1 Expand customizedincumbent worker training in order toincrease economic competitiveness andprevent dislocation.

OBJECTIVE 2.2 Enhance businessexpansion and retention strategies.

OBJECTIVE 2.3 Establish a coherent,flexible, and accessible dislocatedworker service strategy.



1. The number of incumbent workers whoreceive publicly supported customizedtraining linked to specific job needs ofemployers and the results of the training:2,323 incumbent workers trained, anincrease of about 1,000 from 2 years ago.

2. The ratio of dislocated workers'earnings compared to their earningsprior to dislocation (with separatetargets for dislocated workers fromlow-wage and high-wage jobs): 94percent earnings replacement amongdislocated workers who participatedin a workforce development program;207 percent earnings replacementamong dislocated workers from lowerwage jobs; and 74 percent amongdislocated workers from higher wagejobs (lower wage jobs are jobs withearnings in the bottom quartile, andhigher wage are those in the topquartile). The earnings replacementrates two years ago were mostly thesame; they were lower among workersdislocated from low-wage jobs.

3. The length of time between workerdislocation and reemployment in asuitable job: 27 months median lengthof dislocation among dislocatedworkers who participated in aworkforce development program(first time measure).

Challenge Three: Wage Progressionfor Low-Income Workers

Goal 3: To assist disadvantaged youth,persons with disabilities, new labormarket entrants, recent immigrants,

and low-wage workers to move up thejob ladder during their lifetimes bydeveloping a wage progression strategyfor low-income workers. Specificprogress will be made in improvingoperating agencies and reducing theearnings gap facing people of color,adults with disabilities, and women.

OBJECTIVE 3.1 Increase high schoolgraduation rates.

OBJECTIVE 3.2 Assist unemployedindividuals to gain and retainemployment.

OBJECTIVE 3.3 Remove barriers forpopulations with unique obstacles toemployment, and increase the number ofemployers who hire individuals withdisabilities, women, and people of colorin high-wage, high-demand occupations.

OBJECTIVE 3.4 Assist low-incomeindividuals to move up a career ladderby increasing training and developingcareer opportunities.


1 The percentage of the entering9th grade class of common schoolstudents who graduate from highschool: 76 percent of 9th gradestudents graduate with their class.(No change from previous years.)

2. The percentage of low-incomeparticipants in workforce develop-ment programs whose earnings duringthe second year after programparticipation can support their family

178


above the poverty level. (Thismeasure will be reported separatelyfor women, people of color, andpeople with disabilities, as well asfor the participant population as awhole.) Among program participantswith individual earnings below thefamily poverty line before starting,53 percent had individual earningsabove the family poverty line duringthe second year after participation(50 percent for women, 48 percentfor people of color, and 43 for peoplewith disabilities.) (This is a first timemeasure.)

3. The median increase in earnings andhourly wages during the first threeyears after participation in workforcedevelopment programs. (Thismeasure will be reported separatelyfor women, people of color, andpeople with disabilities, as well as forthe participant population as a whole.)Among program participants withindividual earnings below the familypoverty line before starting, medianearnings during the third year afterparticipation were 42 percent higherthan during the first year afterparticipation, and median hourlywages were 20 percent higher. Forwomen, earnings were 40 percenthigher, and hourly wages were 19percent higher. For people of color,earnings were 39 percent higher, andhourly wages were 17 percent higher.For people with disabilities, earningswere 68 percent higher, and hourlywages were 18 percent higher (firsttime measure).

Challenge Four: Facilitate theIntegration of WorkforceDevelopment Programs

Goal 4: Integrate workforcedevelopment programs to improvecustomer service.

OBJECTIVE 4.1 Improve WorkSourceservices to customers, including targetpopulations by bringing togetherindividual partner programs to craftcomprehensive solutions.

OBJECTIVE 4.2 Develop and maintainservice delivery capacity that is flexibleand responsive.

OBJECTIVE 4.3 Reach out to individualsfrom target populations in order toincrease their use of WorkSourceservices, and provide services that meettheir unique needs.

OBJECTIVE 4.4 Facilitate the integra-tion of workforce development programsthat serve youth.


1. The percentage of total employersusing WorkSource: 7 percent ofWashington employers usedWorkSource during its first year, notcounting electronic self-service (firsttime measure).

2. The percentage of total workers usingWorkSource. (This measure will bereported separately for women,people of color, and people withdisabilities, as well as for the

918


participant population as a whole.)Ten percent of Washington workersused Work Source during its first year,not counting electronic services (firsttime measure).

3. Work Source customer perception ofseamlessness as evidenced by surveyresponses. (This measure will bereported separately for women,people of color, and people withdisabilities, as well as for theparticipant population as a whole.)(Data not yet available.)

Strategies

In order to make progress on these goalsand objectives, we must move forwardquickly, taking meaningful steps. In thefollowing section, we indicate the strate-gies we will pursue to meet the goals andobjectives and explain why we must doso. We also identify which entities areresponsible for leadership to implementthe strategies. Finally, we set forth thekey performance measures we will useto measure our progress and success.

Challenge One: Skills Gap

Goal 1: To close the gap between theneed of the employers for skilledworkers and the supply of Washingtonresidents prepared to meet that need.


1. The number of community andtechnical college students, privatecareer school students, and

apprentices prepared for workcompared to the number of net jobopenings for workers at that educationlevel: we are meeting 78 percent ofdemand for newly prepared workers,up from 75 percent of 2 years ago.

2. The number of industry skill panelsthat are established: 17 skill panelshave been established during the past2 years (none existed prior to that).

The Issue for Goal 1

"Employers across the nation andwithin all industries share a commonunderstanding a qualified and well-trained workforce is perhaps the mostcritical factor to sustained growthand competitiveness."

Scott Cheney, U.S. Chamberof Commerce, September 2001

Employers cannot find enough qualifiedjob applicants to fill job openings.Even during a recession, employersstill face shortages of skilled workers.When surveyed during the fall of 2001,59 percent of Washington employerswho attempted to hire new employeesduring the last 12 months had difficultyfinding qualified applicants. Thisrepresents an estimated 81,000employers. Employers reportingdifficulty in finding qualified applicantswas down by only 5 percentage pointsfrom the 1999 survey, which wasconducted during an economic boom.

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Among employers reporting difficulty,90 percent had difficulty finding quali-fied job applicants with job-specificskills. For example, they wanted to hirea computer technician, a carpenter or adiesel mechanic, but they had troublefinding such applicants. Similarly,employers had a hard time findingworkers with a career and technicalcredential. Eighty-one percent ofemployers who had difficulty findingqualified applicants had difficultyfinding job applicants with a post-secondary career and technical diplomaor certificate. An estimated 29,000 firmshad difficulty finding applicants with acareer and technical credential, morethan had difficulty finding applicantswith any other type of education.

In Washington, current labor marketprojections indicate the greatest numberof new family-wage job opportunitieswill be in occupations that require post-secondary education, but not a four-yeardegree. By 2004, there will be 35,800 jobopenings per year for technicians, para-legals, health care workers, salespeople,and other occupations requiring morethan a year, but less than four years ofpostsecondary education or training (seeFigure 1). Taking into account somepeople have more than one job, weexpect that Washington's economy willneed about 32,200 additional workerswith this level of training. The state's2-year colleges, private career schools,and apprenticeship programs, however,are expected to prepare only about24,900 such new workers. Theseprojections suggest a shortage of about7,300 newly prepared workers in 2004.

The shortage of skilled labor has hurtWashington's economic vitality. Amongemployers who had trouble findingqualified applicants, 61 percent reportedthe difficulty resulted in lowered overallproductivity. Sixty-seven percent said itreduced production output or sales, andfifty-two percent indicated it reducedproduct or service quality.

Developing the workforce to meetthe needs of the health care industrydemands particular attention. Theindustry is one of the largest in thestate, providing over $6.2 billion inwages in 2000. This is almost twice

FIGURE 1

Training Levels Required for Expected Job Openings

Between 2000 and 2008 in Washington State

Little or nopostsecondary

40%

20

1 to 12 monthspostsecondary

14%

11


4 years or morepostsecondary

19%

More than 1 year andup to, but less than,

4 years postsecondary

27%

Increasing access to

postsecondary educa-

tion or training has

become the new

threshold requirement

for the competitiveness

of national workforces,

as well as for career

success among

individuals within

nations.

Anthony P. Carnevale

2001 Washington.

as much as agriculture, forestry, andfishing combined. Between 2002 and2008 health care will have over 6,000annual job openings. The state's acutecare hospitals reported a shortage of2,200 workers in 2001. Over 79 percentof hospitals reported difficulty inrecruiting newly trained registerednurses during 2000 to 2001, and over 95percent reported difficulty in hiringexperienced registered nurses. Theproblem is compounded because peopleover age 65, who demand more healthcare services than others, represent thefastest growing portion of thepopulation. Since health care is one ofthe factors businesses consider prior tolocating, the shortage could deterbusinesses from locating and growing in

Information technology (IT) is anotherarea with a critical shortage. Employeeswho design, program, and maintaincomputers and computerized systemsare in demand both within IT and non-IT industries. According the WTECB2001 Employer Survey, 46 percent ofhigh-tech firms reported difficulty infinding qualified applicants. But, theproblem extends beyond the IT industryitself. A vast range of industries, fromagriculture to health care to government,are investing in new technologies toremain competitive, thus requiringworkers who are skilled in using thenew technologies.

OBJECTIVE 1.1 Create private-publicpartnerships to enable individuals tomove up job and career laddersthroughout their lives.

Strategies

1.1.1 Form industry skill panelsespecially in high-demandeconomic clusters such as healthcare and information technology,to assess emerging and declin-ing skill needs, and developtraining programs.

Lead Organization: WorkforceTraining and EducationCoordinating Board.

Partners: Workforce DevelopmentCouncils; Business Organizations;State Board for Community andTechnical Colleges; LaborOrganizations; Washington StateApprenticeship and TrainingCouncil (Department of Labor andIndustries); Private Career Schools;Employment Security Department;and Department of Community,Trade and Economic Development.

Customers: Businesses, Workers,Students, and WorkforceDevelopment Providers.

In order to close the skills gap, we musthave a solid foundation underlyingworkforce developmenta basicinfrastructure that can support a widevariety of industries, programs, andpopulations. The infrastructure must belinked to current market requirementsand enable students and workers to getthe skills they need when they needthem. Industry skill panels comprised ofemployers, labor and educators, are acentral vehicle for meeting this objective.

21

12


Skill panels can directly address the skillsgap by determining the skills and levelsof performance required to function inspecific industries and occupations(developing skill standards), identifyingskills gaps in the current workforce, andhelping to change curricula and assess-ments to match skill requirements.

ESD, SBCTC, and WTECB have collabo-rated to allocate funds and strategicallytarget state resources for workforcedevelopment. By targeting and supportingkey industries, the three agencies arepromoting economic vitality and helpingto ensure training programs meet thecurrent and emerging needs of thebusinesses that will hire their graduates.

One way to identify key economicsectors is to use a cluster-based strategy.A cluster, as defined by Michael Porteris a "geo-graphic concentration ofinterconnected companies, specializedsuppliers, service providers, firms inrelated industries, and associationinstitutions. (For example, universities,standards agencies, and tradeassociations) in particular fields thatcompete but also cooperate." In otherwords, a cluster consists of the firmsin an industry and the related firms inother industries and private and publicinstitutions that are important suppliers,customers, or regulators of the industry.A cluster exists when there is a highconcentration of such partners within ageographic region.

The competitive economic advantage ofa geographic area can be found in industryclusters. The existence of an unusually

high number of firms and jobs in anindustry in an area is strong evidence thatthe area has a comparative advantageover other areas for that industry. Forexample, the central and southeast areasof the state have an obvious cluster inagriculture and food processing. Thereexists an unusually large number ofemployers and jobs in agriculture and foodprocessing compared to the number ofsuch employers and jobs in other areas ofthe nation, and there is a large networkof related firms and institutions. Theseresources create an advantage comparedto other geographic areas in competingin the agriculture and food processingmarket. The existence of a large numberof firms in an industry increases the likeli-hood of further growth in that industry,including new spin-off businesses.

In 2000 and 2001, WTECB funded 15 localSKILLS projects to establish skill panels.At least two others have been funded bythe U.S. Department of Labor. Local work-force development councils or regionalconsortia coordinate these projects todevelop and implement strategies toclose the skills gap. The industry clusterscovered by SKILLS projects includebiomedical, construction, health care,food processing, information technology,metals, plastics, and wood.

An example of a SKILLS project is theNorthwest Alliance for Health CareSkills coordinated by the NorthwestWorkforce Development Council andcomprised of over 20 organizations fromfour counties. This panel has identifiedfive priority health care occupations,developed recruitment, training and

2213


The nation's ability to

produce high-value

products and services

depends on the creation

and strengthening of

regional clusters of

industries that become

hubs of innovation.

F. Duane Ackerman and

Michael E. Porter for

the U.S. Council on

Competitiveness, 2001

retention strategies, and established anew radiologic technologist program. Inanother example the Inland NorthwestTechnology Education Centercoordinated a bio-medical skills gapproject in Spokane that surveyed thegrowing industry, developed careertracks, created skill standards, anddistributed curricula to communitycolleges and other training providers.

1.1.2 Provide high-quality labor marketinformation that enables programsto respond to changes in the labormarket, and inform students andcustomers about current careeropportunities, especially in high-demand clusters such as healthcare and information technology.

Lead Organization: EmploymentSecurity Department.

Partners: Skill Panels, State Boardfor Community and TechnicalColleges, Workforce Training andEducation Coordinating Board, andWorkforce Development Councils.

Customers: Businesses, Workers,Students, Workforce DevelopmentProviders, Schools, and Departmentof Community, Trade andEconomic Development.

ESD's Labor Market and EconomicAnalysis (LMEA) unit is striving toimprove the quality of labor marketinformation. LMEA staff are workingwith the community and technicalcolleges, secondary career and technicaleducation, and workforce development

councils in order to shape labor marketinformation so that it will meet the needsof workforce development programs andparticipants. Program staff and studentsneed current information on jobopenings and wages for their local area.The information must be in an easy-to-use format, including interfaces betweenlabor market information and careerguidance tools.

LMEA staff are also working withemployers to make estimates about jobopenings as current and accurate aspossible. Skill panels can be a richsource of labor market informationneeded by program managers andfaculty, workers and students. Industrypartnerships can identify emerging anddeclining skill needs. They can supplylabor market information that enablescollege and school staff to keep offeringscurrent with changes in the economy andinformation to keep students andworkers aware of which skills they needto obtain and which skills soon may nolonger provide a living.

1.1.3 Develop modular curricula andassessments that are linked toindustry skill standards.

Lead Organizations: State Boardfor Community and TechnicalColleges and Office of Super-intendent of Public Instruction.

Partners: Division of VocationalRehabilitation, Private CareerSchools, and WorkforceDevelopment Councils.

2314


Customers: Businesses, Students,Workers, Schools, and WorkforceDevelopment Providers.

Too many programs do not teach towidely recognized skill standards, nordo they offer a credential that is acceptedby other programs and by employers.As a result, too many participants repeatlessons they already learned on a jobor in another program or complete oneprogram without acquiring skillsrequired for entry into the next levelof training or employment. Suchinefficiencies add to the time peoplespend in training and out of the work-force and divert scarce resources fromother areas of need. Credentialportability is critical so workers canmove up job ladders throughout theircareers.

Apprenticeship programs have long beenbased on skill standards that enableworkers to obtain certificates that arerecognized throughout the industry andacross the nation.

Industry partnerships can help educatorsdesign curricula geared to current skillstandards. In order to meet the needs ofstudents, workers, and employerscurricula must increasingly be in short-term packages. This modular trainingmust be available on an open-entry,open-exit basis so individuals can accesstraining at the level they need when theyneed it. Modular training should enableindividuals to advance their wages andtheir career plans without spending timeon relearning things they already know.

Our state's community and technicalcollege system has led the nation in thedevelopment and implementation ofindustry-based skill standards. Skillstandards are currently under developmentin Washington for 25 industries withover 65 occupations represented. Inaddition, curriculum, assessment, andprofessional development projects basedon skill standards are underway in post-secondary career and technical educationprograms and all of the 22 tech-prepconsortia. Skill standards integratefoundation academic and employability(SCANS) skills, industry-specificknowledge and some job-specific skills.

At the secondary level, OSPI is establishingstandards for exploratory and preparatorysecondary career and technical education.OSPI is working to align these career andtechnical education program standardswith similar standards used in the state'scommunity and technical college systemto assure a seamless articulation betweensecondary and postsecondary career andtechnical education programs. Thisincludes advanced placement opportu-nities, high-end IT certifications, and aconnection to the critical employmentand instructional needs in variousoccupational areas such as health services,construction, information technology,agriculture, and manufacturing. Under thedraft standards, to receive supplementalfunding for career and technical education,school districts would have to provideexploratory career and technical coursesthat require students to demonstrateworkplace skills and preparatory coursesending in certificates of competencybased on industry skill standards. The

2415


Division of Vocational Rehabilitationwill lend its expertise in developingcurricula that is accessible to learningstyles and comprehension abilities ofyouth with various disabilities.

Continued steps are needed to makeskill standards portable, applicable tomore programs, and accepted and usedby employers in their human resourcesystems. When fully implemented, skillstandards will be the glue that holds thetraining system together.

OBJECTIVE 1.2 Increase the number ofyoung people who understand, and acton career opportunities available throughcareer and technical education andtraining programs, including youth fromtarget populations.

Strategies

1.2.1 Form partnerships with industriesto market their career opportunitiesto youth and their parents.

Lead Organization: Office ofSuperintendent of Public Instruction.

Partners: Workforce Training andEducation Coordinating Board,Skill Panels, Business Organizations,Workforce Development Councils(Youth Councils), Division ofVocational Rehabilitation, LaborOrganizations, Private CareerSchools, and State Board forCommunity and Technical Colleges.

Customers: Youth and theirParents.

In order to increase student demand forthe career and technical education pro-grams that employers are demanding,and to help students achieve their dreamsand ambitions, we need to increaseawareness among young people and theirparents of the range of postsecondaryeducation and career options and thesteps necessary to achieve their goals.

Too often students who do notimmediately move on to postsecondaryeducation after high school spend yearsdrifting from dead-end job to dead-endjob before linking with a career andtechnical education program.

The average student enrolling in acommunity or technical college careerand technical program is 29 years old.

Only 1 percent of apprentices entertheir apprenticeship directly out ofhigh school.

More students need to understandpostsecondary education has become abasic requirement for most family-wagejobs, and more students need tounderstand the variety of postsecondaryoptions that lead to well-paid andrewarding careers.

There is a persistent lack of recognitionamong students and parents of high-wage,high-demand career opportunities that donot require a four-year baccalaureate. Afour-year baccalaureate degree is not theonly avenue to financial success and wellbeing. Only 19 percent of the net jobopenings this decade will require abaccalaureate or graduate degree, while

2516


41 percent of the openings will requiresome education or training beyond highschool but not a baccalaureate degree(see Figure 1).

We need to engage in a high-levelmarketing campaign that informsstudents and parents of the broad rangeof attractive postsecondary options.Marketing will need to concentrate ongood jobs in high-tech, health careconstruction industries, and otherindustries and the preparation needed toget into them. Concerned employers andworkers in these critical industrial sectorswill need to partner with counselors,teachers, and administrators in educationand training institutions to shape a positivemessage to students and parents aboutthe opportunities for a sound economicfuture in an enhanced program of careerand technical education. Industry skillpanels can be a vital player in this effort.We must take steps to increase studentdemand so increased postsecondarycapacity in occupations in high economicdemand is matched by increased studentdemand to enroll in these fields.

1.2.2 Develop individual career plans forall youth to ensure awareness oflinks between learning andemployment. Ensure all youth areaware of the range of careerchoices available including high-wage, high-demand occupationsand nontraditional occupations.

Lead Organizations: Office ofSuperintendent of Public Instructionand Workforce DevelopmentCouncils (Youth Councils).

What Are Sas Centers?

Skills centers provide career andtechnical education for a cluster ofschool districts and are an integralpart of the K-12 system. Students ages16 to 21 in grades 11 or 12 learn jobpreparation skills and can takeadvantage of the close relationshipsskills centers forge with industries.For example, the New Market SkillsCenter in Tumwater offers computergame program design taught by theDigipen Institute in conjunction withNintendo. It is an advancedplacement program that includesmath, computer science, computerprogramming and 3D animation.Skills centers offer education andtraining in a variety of occupationsincluding healthcare occupations thatare currently experiencing shortages.

Students learn basic skills, workmaturity skills, and entry-level occupa-tion competencies. They learn aboutcareer and postsecondary opportunities,participate in internships and work-based learning, develop a personalcareer portfolio, and participate in awide range of leadership activities/programs. They may also receiveadvanced placement or college creditthrough tech-prep programs.

An administrative council, comprisedof the superintendents of the partici-pating school districts, governs theskills centers. Local districts contributeto the facility and equipment acquisi-tion, and each district has an equalvote. Washington has nine skills centerscurrently operating across the state.

2617


Life plans are important

for transforming

ambitions from a dream

to an everyday goal . . .

life plans that are

coherent with detail and

realism are especially

useful for choosing a

path that increases the

probability of success in

adulthood. They provide

adolescents with a sense

of order, encourage them

to engage in strategic

effort, and to sustain

high levels of

motivation.

Barbara Schnieder, et al

The Ambitious Generation

2002

Partners: Skill Panels, BusinessOrganizations, Division ofVocational Rehabilitation, Labor,Private Career Schools, State Boardfor Community and TechnicalColleges, and Workforce Trainingand Education Coordinating Board.

Customers: Youth and their Parents.

Washington State K-12 Learning Goal 4states all students should "understandthe importance of work and howperformance, effort, and decisionsdirectly affect future career andeducational opportunities." It is essentialthat the K-12 system and its multiplepartners continue efforts to increase theawareness among all students of therelationship between education andsuccess in the world of work. This doesnot mean students will need to identifyone career exclusively, it means studentswill have the opportunity to explorecareers that attract them and learn earlywhether they are really interested ornot. Offering students intensive learningexperiences in career opportunitiesexpands rather than restricts their options.

High schools around the state arereexamining how they provide careerguidance and structure their curricula toprepare students for a full range ofoptions after high school. Careerguidance models are being promoted inwhich students are planning foreducation beyond high school, whetherthey want to go to apprenticeship,postsecondary career preparation, orbaccalaureate institutions.

High schools are required to offereducational pathways for students afterthe Certificate of Mastery, and in orderto graduate, the students of 2008 mustcomplete a culminating project and anindividual plan for their high schoolexperience and one year beyond highschool. These strategies aim to ensurestudents connect what they learn inhigh school with future education andcareer options.

Individual career plans should link long-term planning with short-term decisionsand enable youth to identify theirinterests and aspirations. Students canbecome aware of the variety of optionsavailable and the steps necessary. Whencareer plans include transitions to careerand occupational training, incorporatingappropriate career guidance tools andassessments will strengthen theeffectiveness of the activity. Includingresources to implement the plan, espe-cially for target populations, will providethe means to make the plan a reality.

Individual career plans are especiallyimportant for students of color, females,and students with disabilities. WhileWashington State is becoming morediverse with people of color growingmore rapidly than the white population,people of color have historicallyobtained less education on average thanwhites and have also experienced higherlevels of unemployment. To turn thesepatterns around will require sustainedcollective and individual effort.

2?

18


Women and girls have lower averageearnings than males, even afterachieving the same educationalcredential a difference largely due towomen and girls enrolling in fields ofstudy that prepare them for lower payingoccupations than the fields generallychosen by men. This findingdemonstrates the special importance ofcreative career guidance for girls so theymake the most informed choices abouttheir futures and can take advantage oftraining for fields that both match theirinterests and are higher wage.

Only 13 percent of the participants instate-approved apprenticeship programsare women, and many apprenticeshipprograms have no female participants.Increased efforts in high school andpostsecondary education counseling, aswell as in Work Source centers couldincrease awareness among women of theapprenticeship and nontraditionalemployment and training opportunities.

1.23 Enhance educational attainment ofcareer and technical educationstudents with limited Englishproficiency.

Lead Organization: Office ofSuperintendent of PublicInstruction.

Partners: Workforce DevelopmentCouncils (Youth Councils)

Customers: Students and theirParents.

State statutes require students withlimited English proficiency (LEP) beinstructed, where practicable, in theirprimary language while developingcompetence in English. Research hasfound long-term academic performanceof LEP students is better when they havesignificant exposure to instruction inboth English and their primary language.A study by OSPI, however, found mostLEP students in the state receive little orno instruction in their primary language.The report found this is partially due tothe lack of qualified teachers who canspeak the primary language.

LEP students in Washington State speak atotal of 181 different languages with over62 percent speaking Spanish. Withoutprimary language instruction, many LEPstudents stay in the bilingual programsfor an extended period of time and havelower test scores than their English-speaking counterparts. With more than70,000 LEP students enrolled in the K-12transitional bilingual instruction programand an increasingly diverse population, itwill be important to implement effortsthat assist LEP students to achieve higherlevels of educational attainment byproviding more primary languageinstruction through qualified teachers.

OBJECTIVE 1.3 Expand mentor andwork-based learning opportunities for allyouth by working with the employercommunity.

219


Strategies

1.3.1 Provide support to employers insupplying work-based learningopportunities based on individualcareer plans.

Lead Organization: Office ofSuperintendent of Public Instruction.

Partners: Business Organizations,Skill Panels, Workforce Develop-ment Councils (Youth Councils),

Best Practice

Business-Education Partnerships

A joint resolution of the 2002 Legislature recognized theefforts of a Business Education Partnership Initiative. TheYakima Chamber of Commerce, the Yakima Valley Tech-Prep Consortium, the Yakima Area School-to-CareerPartnership, Yakima Area Upper Valley Schools, and theTri-County Workforce Development Council are amongthe organizations that established business-educationpartnerships serving Yakima's youth. Options for localbusinesses include job shadowing, internships,mentoring, motivational speaking, and a Teacher-Business Exchange. This comprehensive, long-terminitiative has connected more than 600 businesses inpromoting education efforts and is cultivating new andexisting relationships. The initiative involves thecommunity in the preparation of a quality emergingworkforce, investing citizens in long-term economicdevelopment, and in long-term youth development.

HIGH SKILLS, HIGH WAGES:20

Division of Vocational Rehabilita-tion, Labor Organizations, andWorkforce Training and EducationCoordinating Board.

Customers: Businesses, Studentsand their Parents, and WorkforceDevelopment Programs.

More and more high schools in our stateare developing the career planning skillsof high school students and transformingthe ways they prepare students for lifeafter high school. As part of these changes,schools are creating new opportunitiesfor students to learn, including contextual,applied, and work-based learningexperiences. Such learning includesapplied academic courses that teachsubjects through application to realworld situations; work-based learningthrough internships and co-ops, andcareer pathways that organize studentlearning through projects centeredaround their career goals. Evidence ismounting that such practices makeeducation relevant and interesting andcould increase graduation rates,including rates for students of color.

Experiencing several work-basedlearning opportunities on-site, such asjob shadows and internships, helpsstudents to appreciate workingrelationships, work environments, andskills required in a range of occupations.All students, including women, studentsof color, and students with disabilities,should be provided with on-site work-based learning opportunities thatcompliment their career plans. Inaddition to work-based experience,

29

WASHINGTON'S STRATEGIC PLAN FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

classroom assignments about work-related matters such as the relationshipsbetween work and the local economy,prepare students for future work orstudy. According to a 2001 study by theWashington Institute for Public Policy,Washington high schools are developingactivities to make learning more relevantto students, but more work is needed toensure these activities reach all students.The study also found that to be moreeffective, these activities should beintegrated into the curriculum.

Employers need support and guidanceon how to supply work-based learningopportunities. Apprenticeships andapprenticeship preparation programsprovide a good model for work-basedlearning, but are underused by youth.Employers will benefit from informationand training on how to createapprenticeships and other modelprograms for work-based learning, andthey need to be informed aboutDepartment of Labor and Industriesrules for employing minors.

In order for the lead organization, OSPI,to be successful in implementing thisstrategy it is important that a wide rangeof employers in local districts are willingnot only to participate but also to take aleadership role. Partner organizationssuch as business associations can assistin efforts to inform local employersabout the need for and benefits of work-based learning, and they can help todemonstrate how to provide theseopportunities. Adult students can alsobenefit from work-based learningopportunities in order to explore and

21


learn about new careers. Given theirmajority business membership andparticipation, local workforcedevelopment councils are ideallypositioned to assist with providinginformation and support to employers onwork-based learning. One vehicle toachieve this is skill panels.

13.2 Increase adult mentoring of youthparticipating in workforcedevelopment programs.


Partners: Business and LaborOrganizations and Division of Voca-tional Rehabilitation Skill Panels.

Customers: Youth and theirParents.

Mentoring provides a foundation ofsupport to help students focus on theireducation and career development. Aneffective adult mentor can provideemotional support, guide learning, andassist a young person to connectsecondary education with future careers.This can be particularly beneficial to "atrisk" students.

Successful mentoring involves acommitment of time, energy, andresources. Educators will need to partnerwith private industry, communityorganizations, and others to assist withrecruiting mentors, screening foreligibility, matching students with

30

Washington has a highly

qualified workforce, but

to compete successfully

needs greater numbers

of educated workers in

high-demand fields that

support strategic

clusters.

Washington Competitiveness

Council Report, 2001

mentors, and monitoring the process.Seniors, who represent a growingportion of the population, can be a richsource for recruiting mentors. Again,local industry skill panels could providea link to mentoring opportunities.

OBJECTIVE 1.4 Increase the capacity ofhigh schools, community and technicalcolleges, and apprenticeship programs toprovide high-quality workforceeducation and training programs.

Strategies

1.4.1 Develop new programs, and increasestudent enrollments in workforcetraining, especially in high-demandindustry clusters such as healthcare and information technology.


Partners: Business and LaborOrganizations, Higher EducationCoordinating Board, WorkforceTraining and EducationCoordinating Board, and WorkforceDevelopment Councils.

Customers: Businesses andStudents.

According to WTECB's 2001 EmployerSurvey, about 80 percent of employersattempting to hire workers with a voca-tional credential report difficulty findingqualified job applicants. This labormarket shortage affects more firms than

the shortage at any other educationallevel. Labor market projections showby 2004 there will be about 35,800 jobopenings per year for technicians,paralegals, health care workers,salespeople, and other jobs that requirepostsecondary education or training formore than one year, and up to, but lessthan four years. Taking into accountworkers who migrate into the state andpeople with more than one job,Washington's economy will need about32,200 additional workers with this levelof training each year. The state's 2-yearcolleges, private career schools, andapprenticeship programs, however,prepare only about 24,900 such newworkers per year.

According to a report by the NorthwestPolicy Center at the University ofWashington, job openings outstripsupply for nearly all occupationalprograms offered in the community andtechnical college system. The reportnotes the demand-supply gap for thebetter paying jobs is particularly acute.

Over the past 2 biennia, the communityand technical college system (includingthe private colleges) has receivedfunding to increase enrollment by 7,032students in the 3 mission areas ofvocational training, academic transfereducation, and adult basic skillseducation. This has helped to increasethe ratio of supply to demand remainingfor vocationally trained workers from75 percent to 78 percent, with a gap of22 percent remaining. The communityand technical colleges have directedmuch of the increased enrollment to

3122


fields that are in high demand in theeconomy. Student enrollment in ITcourses, for example, has increased by14 percent between 1999-2000 and2000-2001.

The colleges have a good record ofdirecting growth to meet economicdemand. If we are to close the skills gap,the state must fund more enrollmentgrowth at community and technicalcolleges. We need to develop newprograms. We also need to enhanceprogram accessibility, for example, bygreater use of infrastructure that isalready in place for distance learning. Inaddition, there must be increasedenrollment in high-demand fields insecondary career and technical educationin order to start young people on careerpathways in high demand fields. Andwhile WTECB's focus is on jobs that donot require a baccalaureate degree,employers also stress the importance oftargeting enrollment increases tobaccalaureate and graduate programsneeded for key industries. Increasedfunding for enrollment at communityand technical colleges and four-yearinstitutions will require action from theGovernor and the Legislature.

1.4.2 Partner with industries to providefacilities, faculty, and equipment inhigh-wage, high-demand fields.


Partners: Business and LaborOrganizations, Skill Panels, andWorkforce Development Councils.

Customers: Businesses, Students,and Workforce DevelopmentProviders.

There is a wide range of capacity issuesthat need to be addressed in secondaryand postsecondary career and technicaleducation, especially in high-demandfields such as construction and manufac-turing trades, health care, informationtechnology, and communications. Thereis a shortage of facilities with up-to-dateequipment and lack of adequate spacefor some apprenticeship programs.Colleges and schools cannot recruit andretain the number of career and technicalteachers needed, particularly in high-demand fields. Schools and collegessalaries cannot compete with earnings inthe private sector in informationtechnology, construc-tion trades, andother high-demand areas, so experiencedteachers leave. The state needs toexplore ways to provide sufficientcompensation to attract and retainqualified faculty in high-demand fields.

One place to turn to increase capacity isstrong private-public partnerships.Businesses have facilities, computers,other equipment, and expert personnel toenhance the public resource base. Givenconstraints on public budgets, publicprograms need to seek out employerswho can help to increase capacity tomeet labor market demand. In addition,

3223


program facilities should not lie idlewhen they could be put to use by otherprograms. Facilities should be sharedbetween programs as appropriate. Forexample, other programs could useapprenticeship training sites during theday since most of apprenticeship trainingoccurs after work hours.

Best Practice

Career and Technical Education

The Pierce County Careers Consortium was one of theworkforce development programs recognized for best practiceat the 2001 Workforce Leadership Conference. TheConsortium is comprised of 14 school districts, 5 communityand technical colleges, and representatives from business,labor, and community-based organizations. The Consortiumis focused on preparing students to enter the workforce withhigh-wage, high-demand skills and ensure they also have theknowledge to continue lifelong learning and take advantage ofnew career opportunities. Ten countywide committees haveintegrated industry skill standards into courses and createdportfolio guidelines that complement five career pathways atthe secondary level. An individualized planning program thatincreases parental involvement has decreased dropout rates.

The Consortium's dual credit program allows students toreceive both high school and college credit and progress morequickly in their postsecondary programs because they do nothave to complete redundant course work. More than 9,600college credits have been awarded through the dual creditprogram. One of the dual credit articulation agreementscreates a seamless pathway from high school to college to theinformation technology programming degree program atUniversity of Washington, in Tacoma. In addition, theConsortium has expanded apprenticeship programs,facilitated joint marketing of programs, and providedcommunity mentoring for "at-risk" youth.

1.4.3 Expand the ability of highereducation institutions to recognizeand grant credit for competenciesobtained through other educationalinstitutions and employment.

Lead Organizations: HigherEducation Coordinating Board andState Board for Community andTechnical Colleges.

Partners: Four-Year Colleges andUniversities, Private CareerSchools, and Workforce Trainingand Education Coordinating Board.

Customers: Students andBusinesses.

Many incumbent workers who findthey must gain more education tomove up a career ladder would benefitfrom expanded efforts to establishcompetency-based curricula andassessments. These could provide avehicle for granting credit based onprior education or skills learned on thejob. In the long-term, a competency-based system would facilitate transfer,though it will require a considerableshift from current practices. A first stepis to facilitate transfer between two-year and four-year institutions bycreating additional statewide degreeagreements between two-year and four-year institutions.

About one third of students who graduatewith a degree from a four-year institutionhave transferred from a community ortechnical college. About half of transferstudents have an associates degree from

3324


a community or technical college andtake advantage of statewide articulateddegrees. The most widely used statewidearticulated degree is the associate of artsDirect Transfer Agreement (DTA). In 2000,

the associate of science direct transferdegree was offered for the first time.

Although Washington has developed anarticulation system for recognizing mostcourse work, many students attendingtwo-year colleges could benefit from addi-tional statewide articulation agreements.Each year about half of the students whotransfer (6,000) have not completed asso-ciate degrees, and four-year institutionsevaluate each course taken for its transfer-ability. Students may take courses at a two-year institution with the aim of completinga four-year degree at a particular four-year institution. Since many of theprograms are competitive, students maynot obtain a place at their first choice,four-year institution. And, even afteracceptance into a four-year school,students may find they have to completeadditional classes (i.e., prerequisites) tobe accepted into their chosen major. Thiscan significantly add to costs and time tocompletion. Additional statewide degreeagreements would establish commonrequirements, helping to ensure studentstake the necessary prerequisites at twoyear institutions and are prepared forcompleting a major at more than onefour-year institution.

In the short term, improved access toinformation about course requirementsfor various baccalaureate majors,community and technical college courseoptions and offerings, and the transfer

process could ease transitions forstudents. This information can beprovided in a number of ways such asimproved electronic access to centrallyprovided information services.

A small number of students (about 250per year) transfer from two-year to four-year institutions with technical creditsbased on individual articulation agree-ments. These are concentrated in particularprograms (such as associate degreeregistered nurse), which can articulatewith a bachelors of science in registerednursing. Some states have statewidearticulation agreements in specific fields.For example, Florida has statewide articu-lations agreements in nursing, electronicsengineering technology, hospitality, andradiography. In Washington, only about5 percent of students with workforcedegrees transfer. Additional oppor-tunities should be developed for studentswith workforce credits and degrees tocontinue their education to earnbaccalaureate and advanced degrees.

Another transfer barrier exists betweenprivate career schools and public com-munity and technical colleges. Studentsattending private career schools trying toenter the public system find they mayhave to duplicate course work becausethe receiving community or technicalcollege only accepts credits fromregionally accredited schools, and mostprivate career schools are nationallyaccredited. Private career and technicalschools must be part of the discussion onarticulation and transfer arrangements toensure the state policy support allstudents as they continue their education.

3425


There are plenty of

examples of students

who have successfully

made it through the

higher education

system. But, too many

have not; too many have

taken longer than they

should have at no fault

of their own. If the

education system were

better aligned and

supportive, we could

expect success for all

students.

Governor Gary Locke

P-16 Roundtable, 2001

In 2001, the Higher EducationCoordinating Board convened theTransfer and Articulation Policy andPractices Action Group comprised ofrepresentatives of public universities andcolleges, independent institutions, theState Board for Community andTechnical Colleges, and the Inter-Colleges Relations Committee. Thegroup is reviewing state transfer andarticulation laws, policies and practices,and options for improving transfer andarticulation arrangements.

Finally, improving and expanding thepathways for students to continue theireducation at the baccalaureate andadvanced levels assumes that space willbe available in the four-year institutionsto accommodate the additional studentsfrom articulated programs. Policymakersand college and university administratorswill need to make policy and budgetdecisions to ensure adequate space inhigh-demand programs.

1.4.4 Increase availability of applieddegrees especially in sciencetechnology, engineering techno-logy, and information technology.

Lead Organizations: HigherEducation Coordinating Board andState Board for Community andTechnical Colleges.

Partners: Four-Year Colleges andUniversities.


Many students who complete associatesdegrees in technical fields study in anapplied context and carry applied creditsfrom technical programs but may not beable to use these credits for transferpurposes to complete a four-year degree.By offering baccalaureate level applieddegrees, four-year institutions couldrecognize and grant credit for courseswith an applied focus, and this wouldallow students to obtain additionalqualifications when needed. In the sameway Washington State provides clearpathways for associate of arts tobachelor of arts and now associate ofscience to bachelor of science, a similarpathway could be established forassociate of applied science to a bachelorof applied science.

Employers have stressed their need forskilled workers in technical fields,including workers who have one or twoyears of education or training beyond atwo-year program. A study by theNorthwest Policy Center asked a diverserange of employers in four communitiesin the state what they are looking for inentry-level IT employees and about thepreparedness of entry-level applicantsfor IT positions. The report concludedemployers "need IT workers with acombination of the skills no highereducation program currently offers," andthese include practical, hands-on skills, abroad range of problem solving,communication and organizationalculture skills, and opportunities for workexperience to supplement theirclassroom education. Applied degreeswould provide the range of skills manyemployers are seeking.

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At least 15 other states are offering applieddegree options. For example ArizonaState University offers a bachelor's ofapplied science with concentrations inaviation maintenance managementtechnology, semiconductor technology,and software technology applications toname a few. Other applied degree titlesinclude bachelor of technology incomputing science, bachelor of appliedsciences in technology, and bachelor ofapplied technical science.

In our state, Eastern WashingtonUniversity offers applied technologydegrees on its main campus and atsome community and technical collegecampuses. Central Washington Universityis planning a bachelor of science inapplied scienceinformation technology.A few other applied degree offerings areavailable such as Evergreen StateCollege's "upside down" degree, andSeattle Pacific University's Professionalstudies degree in organizationalbehavior, electrical engineering andcomputer science. Bellevue CommunityCollege is also exploring applied degreeofferings. State policymakers shouldpursue options for making applieddegrees more widely available.

1.4.5 Expand apprenticeship training inemerging fields, and expandpreparation programs forapprenticeship in high-demandclusters including construction.

Lead Organizations: WashingtonState Apprenticeship and TrainingCouncil at the Department of Laborand Industries.

Partners: Joint ApprenticeshipCommittees, Labor Organizations,Business Organizations,Employment Security Department,Private Career Schools, State Boardfor Community and TechnicalColleges, Workforce Training andEducation Coordinating Board,Workforce Development Councils,Office of the Superintendent ofPublic Instruction, and Skill Panels.

Customers: Students, Workers,and Businesses.

The scarcity of highly skilled workers isnot confined to high-tech industries. Theconstruction industry is having seriousdifficulty recruiting workers. Forty-sixpercent of construction firms that tried tohire workers during the past year reporteddifficulty finding qualified job applicants.The average age of workers in manyconstruction trades is about 50, and theaverage entering age is near 30. Workersare retiring without young apprenticesbeing trained to replace them.

Apprenticeship programs are not limitedto the construction trades. Apprenticeshiptraining, including earning whilelearning and instruction by a skilledmentor, could be expanded to manyhigh-demand occupations, includinghealth care. The Office of ApprenticeshipTraining and Employer Labor Servicesat the U.S. Department of Labor isencouraging the expansion of apprentice-ships to address skill needs in occupationsnot traditionally apprenticed.

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Preparation programs prepare individualsto enter registered apprenticeshipprograms or gain employment insupportive roles in industries that useapprenticeship. In Washington suchprograms are small and can serve arelatively small number of participants.They operate in an uncertain fundingenvironment, and, as a result, programsmove in and out of operation every year.Much of the funding is categorical,targeting specific population groups,which reduces program flexibility, aswell as the ability to get to a scale thatcan address the skills gap meaningfully.SBCTC and community-basedorganizations could provide these typesof programs and expand access to awider population than are currentlyserved. For example, dislocated workers,incumbent workers, and individualslacking English language proficiencycould benefit from these opportunities.

1.4.6 Increase the number of individualsprepared to teach students for high-wage, high-demand fields.

Lead Organizations: Office ofSuperintendent of Public Instructionand State Board for Communityand Technical Colleges.

Partners: Four-year colleges anduniversities, Business and LaborOrganizations, Higher EducationCoordinating Board, and WorkforceTraining and EducationCoordinating Board.

Customers: Students and Work-force Development Providers.

Education and training institutions havedifficulty attracting and retaining high-quality faculty to teach in high-wage, high-demand fields because of the opportunitiesavailable outside teaching. In the high-demand field of health care, for example,one of the major problems for communitycolleges is instructors must have a mastersqualification, and masters qualifiedhealth care personnel can earn moreoutside teaching. With limited statefunding for salaries, community collegesand high schools will need to find waysof attracting and retaining teachers.

Recognizing that high schools competewith industry to recruit teachers inspecialized fields, the 2001 Legislatureadopted criteria for three alternativeroutes to certification designed fordegreed professionals such as engineersor mathematicians interested in a careerchange and for current district employeeswho are classified instructional staff.The Professional Educator StandardsBoard awarded $2 million in grants toschool districts partnered with teacherpreparation programs to pilot new routesto teacher certification with first roundapplications commencing in spring 2002.Another option for overcoming thisobstacle is for educational institutions topartner with employers so employees arereleased to teach part-time.

The teacher shortage issue must beaddressed by a variety of institutionsand stakeholders that extend beyondthe workforce development system.Workforce development partners,however, must do their part to solvethe problem.

3'728


1.4.7 Highlight and replicate bestpractices from around the state andnation in career and technicaleducation.

Lead Organizations: Office ofSuperintendent of Public Instructionand State Board for Communityand Technical Colleges.

Partner: Workforce Training andEducation Coordinating Board.

Customers: Educators andStudents.

Workforce development partners shoulddraw on the experiences of initiativeswith proven success. By studying thebest practices occurring around the state,nation, and globe, workforce develop-ment program staff can reproduce someelements while adjusting others to suitlocal requirements.

OBJECTIVE 1.5 Increase education andtraining for older workers and retiredindividuals who want to return to work.

Strategy

1.5.1 Encourage older workers andretired individuals who want toreturn to work to pursue educationand specialized training, andimprove access for seniors to takeadvantage of these opportunities.

Lead Organization: Aging andLong-Term Care Services

Partners: Business and LaborOrganizations, EmploymentSecurity Department, Skill Panels,Workforce Development Councils,and State Board for Communityand Technical Colleges.

Customers: Older Workers andRetirees who want to return towork and business.

Older workers and retirees need access toeducation and specialized training to bothmitigate the shortage of skilled workersin the state's economy and improve theirprospects for retaining or obtainingemployment. People over the age of 65constitute the fastest growing segment ofthe population. Following the nationaltrend, Washington had 662,000 people age65 and older in 2000, accounting forroughly 11 percent of the population.Recent forecasts suggest this numberwill reach 1.22 million or 16 percent of thepopulation, by 2020. In addition to therebeing more retirees, the age compositionof those remaining in the workforce willshift. The number of older workers in thestate will rise dramatically; 1 out ofevery 5 workers will be 55 or older by2025, as opposed to roughly 1 in 10 in2000. In addition to older workers delay-ing retirement, some retirees will eitherwant to return to work or will need toreturn to work to supplement their income.

The Committee on EconomicDevelopment has stated that olderworkers themselves must acquire andmaintain skills and employers shouldrecognize the value of training theirolder workers and ensure equal access

3829


to training for them. In addition, thereport recommends that higher educationand other training institutions recognizethe need for work-oriented learningamong older Americans and expand theirofferings to a largely untapped customermarket. The need for training in techno-logy, literacy, and customer service wereidentified as the three most critical issuesfacing older workers at a 1999 conferenceof the National Association of OlderWorker Employment Services. Otherbarriers include limited Englishproficiency and isolation in rural areas.

The Senior Community ServiceEmployment Program, funded underTitle V of the federal Older AmericansAct, serves persons with low incomeswho are 55 years or older, and who havepoor employment prospects. The programaims to both provide useful communityservices and foster individual economicself-sufficiency by providing educationand training and placement inunsubsidized jobs. National programstatistics show high participation ratesamong women (nearly three out of fourparticipants) and African Americans andHispanics. There are long waiting listsfor participants and host agencies inWashington. This program fulfills only afraction of the demand for such services.Work Source centers and partners couldincrease awareness among frontline staffof the training needs of older workersand individuals wishing to return towork. In addition employers should beencouraged to recognize the positiveattributes of older workers such as theirindustry-specific skills, work ethic, andgeneral knowledge and experience.

Challenge Two: Incumbent andDislocated Workers

Goal 2: To enable workers to makesmooth transitions so they and theiremployers may fully benefit from thenew, changing economy by putting inplace a coherent strategy for dislocatedand incumbent worker training.


1. The number of incumbent workerswho receive publicly supportedcustomized training linked to specificjob needs of employers and the resultsof the training: 2,323 incumbentworkers trained, an increase of about1,000 from 2 years ago.

2. The ratio of dislocated workers'earnings compared to their earningsprior to dislocation (with separatetargets for dislocated workers from low-wage and high-wage jobs): 94 percentearnings replacement among dislocatedworkers who participated in a work-force development program; 207 percentearnings replacement among dis-located workers from lower wagejobs; and 74 percent among dislocatedworkers from higher wage jobs (lowerwage jobs are jobs with earnings inthe bottom quartile, and higher wageare those in the top quartile). Theearnings replacement rates two yearsago were mostly the same; they werelower among workers dislocated fromlow-wage jobs.

3. The length of time between workerdislocation and reemployment in asuitable job: 27 months median length

3930


of dislocation among dislocatedworkers that participated in aworkforce development program(first time measure).


Incumbent and dislocated worker trainingis part of a continuum of workforcedevelopment. By enhancing the skills ofworkers who are currently employed, wecan enable them and their employers tobe more competitive, and we cansometimes prevent dislocations.

One of the most effective ways to increasethe competitiveness of employers is toprovide training customized to the specificneeds of employers. Because such train-ing is designed to meet specific employerneeds, it increases the training's efficiencyand effectiveness. Unfortunately,Washington ranks near the bottom in percapita expenditures among the 47 stateswith job-linked customized training.According to a 1998 National GovernorsAssociation survey (the most recentnational data), states spend over $575million per year on job-linked training.Washington was last among the 47 statesthat support this type of training,investing only $558,000 per year in statedollars. Since that time, Washington hasnot increased the amount of state generalfund dollars invested in customizedoccupational skills training.

If we are successful in upgrading the skillsof incumbent workers, we will have gone along way to prevent worker dislocation.But, worker dislocations will not disap-pear. Many workers will still lose jobs

and experience difficulty in finding newemployment at similar wages becausethey lack the latest skills desired bygrowing businesses. While employmentin Washington increased dramaticallybetween 1996 and 2000, the number ofdislocated workers also increased. Thechurning of jobs and skills is an inherentfeature of a modern growing economy.In 2001, the nation entered a recessionand Washington's unemployment ratebecame the highest in the United States.We are experiencing increasing workerdislocations as well.

Dislocated workers (individualsterminated or laid off who are unlikelyto return to employment in their previousindustry because of diminishing demandfor their skills) typically suffer severenegative impacts. A study of workerdislocation conducted for WTECB foundWashington workers who are dislocatedexperience a permanent loss of 15percent of their earnings compared tosimilar workers who are not dislocated.

The extent of earnings loss relatesdirectly to how long dislocated workerswere with their previous employer.Long-tenured workers are more likely toexperience longer spells of unemployment,and their new jobs are likely to paysubstantially less than their old jobs. Foreach year of service, earnings losses riseat a rate of between I and 2 percentagepoints. Workers who have held their jobfor less than a year typically regain theirprevious earning level, while workerswho had been on their job for 20 yearstypically suffer a 20 to 40 percentpermanent decline in earnings.

4031


OBJECTIVE 2.1 Increase economiccompetitiveness and prevent dislocationby expanding customized incumbentworker training.

Strategies

2.1.1 Increase publicly supportedcustomized incumbent workertraining, and provide incentives toboth employers and employees forthis type of training.


Partners: Employment SecurityDepartment, State Board forCommunity and TechnicalColleges, Business Organizations,Department of Community, Tradeand Economic Development, LaborOrganizations, Private CareerSchools, Skill Panels, andWorkforce Development Councils.

Customers: Businesses andWorkers.

Little of Washington's small pot ofcustomized training dollars is spent onupgrading skills of incumbent workers.The only state program to defray thecost of upgrading occupational skillsof current workers is the Job SkillsProgram (JSP) administered by SBCTC.Employers must provide a dollar-for-dollar match for the public funds. JSPcan also provide training for prospectiveemployees before a new plant opensor when an existing firm expands. In

comparison, other states spend anaverage of 52 percent of their customizedtraining funds on incumbent workers.

The Governor proposed, but theLegislature did not fund, expansion ofJSP in the 2001-03 biennial budget. Thebiennial budget for JSP is $1.1 million.This amount is far below that spent byother states our size. Iowa, with thelargest program on a per capita basis,expended $46 million in 1997. In 2001,the Washington CompetitivenessCouncil recommended the capacity ofJSP be increased.

In order to increase funding forcustomized occupational training, thestate is turning to federal funds. TheGovernor is directing that a portion ofthe state set-aside for the WorkforceInvestment Act (wiA) be spent for thispurpose. Using WIA funds, ESD hascreated the Industries of the Future SkillsTraining program to provide customizedtraining for workers. State agencies andlocal workforce development councilsare also aggressively seeking otherfederal grants as they become available.

Besides JSP, there are other publicfunds directed to job-linked customizedtraining. The community and technicalcolleges' Preemployment Programunder WorkFirst also providescustomized training linked to specificjob openings. This program, however,does not offer any training to incumbentworkers. The colleges' Workplace BasicSkills program, also part of WorkFirst,provides customized literacy educationfor incumbent workers.

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Most national estimates show thatemployers invest between 1 and 2 percentof payroll on employee training. Accord-ing to a survey conducted by the AmericanSociety for Training and Development,total training expenditure per employeerose from $499 in 1996 to $649 in 2000.

As Jerry Jasinowski, the President of theNational Association of Manufacturers(NAM), stated:

"For the United States to maintainits strong leadership position in agrowing economy, industry mustmake greater efforts to prepareworkers for the increasing challengesof the high-tech era. This may evenrequire them to substantially increasethe percentage of payroll that theycurrently invest in those activities."

NAM's board of directors have called onall 14,300 member companies to invest3 percent of payroll on training. Studieshave found that investments in employeetraining pay off in terms of increasedproductivity and profits. According toa 1995 study by the University ofPennsylvania, investing in the skills ofworkers has more than twice the impacton productivity as investing inequipment or facilities.

In 2001, Washington obtained a U.S.Department of Labor two-year IncumbentWorkers Skill Shortage DemonstrationGrant that is targeted towards migrantand seasonal farm workers. This grantprovides for development of an in-housetraining program at one of the majorfood processing companies that is both


employer and employee specific. Trainingcurriculum was developed through task-force participation and partnership withlocal workforce development councilsand area colleges. The program aims toenhance job retention and promotion formigrant and seasonal farm workers withinthe company and yield a 2 percentincrease in productivity at the same time.

Best Practice

Skilled Training forIncumbent Workers

Recognizing workers in the food industry need a career pathdesigned for continuous learning, the Eastern WashingtonAgriculture and Food Processing Partnership established theSkilled Training for Incumbent Workers program. In a time ofrapidly changing technology, this program meets the criticalupgrade training needs established by employers to eitherkeep pace with existing jobs or provide additional training forimmediate or potential promotion. The program uses statefunds administered by the Tri-Valley Workforce DevelopmentCouncil through the Employment Security Department,requires private industry matching funds and is integrated witha federal Department of Labor Systems Buildingdemonstration project.

The aim of the program is to train workers for both individualcareer success and build strong rural economies. Currentworkers are trained in a wide variety of courses, includingammonia refrigeration, motor controls, basic skills,electronics, and programmable logic controllers.A sample of workers who completed a programmable logiccontrol course showed an average of $587 wage increase pertrainee in 3 to 4 months after the training. The program begantraining incumbent workers in January 2001, and by June2002, it is anticipated that at least 750 incumbent workers willbe trained at plant sites (more than 70) in addition to courseslocated at public and private educational institutions.

42

The colleges also contract with employersto provide customized training, often forincumbent workers, for a fee. Accordingto WTECB's 2001 survey of employers, inthe last 12 months, 26 percent of employershave hired new employees who weretrained in community and technicalcollege programs, and 13 percent ofWashington businesses have an arrange-ment with a community or technicalcollege to provide classroom training totheir current workers. Except for the fewfirms supported through JSP, this wascontracted training paid for entirely bythe firm, not supported by state dollars.According to the survey results, almost80 percent of firms who use a communityor technical college to train their currentworkers report they are satisfied with thetraining their employees receive.

OBJECTIVE 2.2 Enhance businessexpansion and retention strategies.

Strategies

2.2.1 Market retention services to at-riskbusinesses and their workers.

Lead Organizations: Departmentof Community, Trade andEconomic Development andEmployment Security Department.

Partners: Business and LaborOrganizations and WorkforceDevelopment Councils.

Customers: Businesses andWorkers.

The Department of Community, Tradeand Economic Development's BusinessRetention and Expansion program worksto retain and expand manufacturing andprocessing firms and to reduce thenumber of business closures, failures,and out-of-state expansions that couldresult in significant loss of jobs. Theprogram identifies threatened manufac-turing and processing companies andprovides problem solving and technicalassistance to the firms. The programuses early warning/business surveys,keeps abreast of industry developments,and helps build the capacity of localeconomic development councils. Theprogram also focuses on businessretention in rural counties. Participatingcounties identify their significantbusinesses and industries. A communitytaskforce develops a plan to addressbarriers identified by local business.

Washington State's investment inbusiness retention and expansionservices is significantly less than themajority of states. We need to expandservices to other industries in the statebeyond manufacturing and processing.We also need to link these services withefforts to develop and upgrade worker'sskills and rapid response services tofirms announcing impending layoffs.Again, private-public partnerships,discussed under Goal One, couldfacilitate the state's business retentionand expansion services and help with thelinkages to workforce development.

OBJECTIVE 2.3 Return unemployedworkers to suitable work in as short atime as possible.

43

34


Strategies

23.1 Establish a coherent, flexible, andaccessible dislocated workerservice strategy, and continue bestpractices such as rapid responselabor-management committees.

Lead Organizations: EmploymentSecurity Department and Work-force Development Councils.

Partners: Business Organizations,Labor Organizations, State Boardfor Community and TechnicalColleges, and Workforce Trainingand Education Coordinating Board.

Customers: Workers andBusinesses.

To effect a coherent policy for servingdislocated workers, all state andfederally funded programs that servedislocated workers will implementconsistently the general principleslisted across the state.

The major federal program fordislocated workers, Title III of the JobTraining Partnership Act, became partof WIA, Title I-B, on July 1, 2000.Washington frequently uses these federalfunds in tandem with the state's WorkerRetraining program. State dollars paythe state's portion of the cost of theactual skills training and related supportservices (e.g., child care), while thefederal dollars pay for tuition and otherservices. Federally funded servicesinclude rapid response services toemployers and workers, providing

General Principles for Serving Dislocated Workers

1. Prevention is the best strategy. The state's first priority isto attempt to prevent worker dislocations from occurring.Examples of specific prevention strategies include incumbentworker training and business and job retention assistance.

2. When dislocation cannot be prevented, the state willmobilize resources as quickly as possible. The state'sresponse will be coordinated, involve labor andmanagement, and will be based upon best practices.

3. Frontline staff, including staff at Work Source centers, willprovide knowledgeable and courteous services todislocated workers. Frontline staff will be familiar withthe full range of state and federal dislocated workerprogram options and resources and will immediately linkworkers with sources for further information.

4. The state will offer the highest quality labor marketinformation, consumer reports on training providers, andother career planning information.

5. The state will use comprehensive assessments to quicklyidentify dislocated workers who may require intensive ortraining services in order to be successfully reemployed insuitable employment.

6. The state will offer dislocated workers high-qualityretraining in skills in high demand. The retraining will beaccessible, timely, and based on industry standards.

7. Employment and education staff will collaborate indeveloping individual training plans.

8. The state will offer public financial assistance to help coverthe living expenses of dislocated workers while they are inretraining, subject to funding and statutory restrictions.

9. Programs will be complementary, flexible, and consistentavoiding contradictory rules, definitions, and practices.

4435


Dislocated worker

programs should: help

the participants develop

individualized training

plans; make sure they

know the skills they

have and the skills they

need; provide job

readiness or skills

training that

corresponds to real job

prospects; integrate

basic skills training

with occupational

training; and provide

upgrade and retraining

in high-wage, high-

demand skills and

occupations.

A Checklist for Union

Leaders: Helping

Government Help

Dislocated Workers

Working for America

Institute, AFL-CIO

assistance as soon as pending layoffsare known. Best practices includeprefeasibility studies of options otherthan closures and layoffs and theestablishment of labor-managementcommittees that bring together theresources and perspectives of bothparties to planning, oversight, andproblem solving. Peers can bring specialknowledge and better rapport todislocated worker counseling. Forworkers who become dislocated dueto plant closings, the EmploymentSecurity Department and the WorkforceDevelopment Council deliver on-sitereemployment services. Federallyfunded services also include job searchassistance such as career counseling,classes on resume writing and jobinterviews, and referrals to job openings.

While we are working to upgrade theskills of incumbent workers and enhancethe competitiveness of firms withincritical industries, we must pay attentionto businesses that are at risk of closure.

For the purpose of enhancing the earlywarning system, ESD has developed aweekly early warning "red flag" reportto share information with key state andlocal leaders on potential and actualworker dislocations that may result fromhigh energy costs and/or drought. The"red flag" report focuses on energy- andwater-dependent industries of aluminum,agriculture, food processing, pulp andpaper, lumber, aerospace, and chemicaland petroleum refining.

23.2 Provide retraining in high-demandfields.

Lead Organization: State Boardfor Community and TechnicalColleges.

Partners: Employment SecurityDepartment, Private CareerSchools, Workforce Training andEducation Coordinating Board, andWorkforce Development Councils.

Customers: Businesses, Workers.

The state has continued its investment indislocated worker training ($64.122million for fiscal years 2002 and 2003)through the Worker Retraining programat community and technical colleges andprivate career schools. The colleges andschools provide training in basic skillsand literacy, career and technicaleducation, and related or supplementalinstruction for apprentices.

Students who qualify for the programmay receive financial assistance that canhelp with tuition, as well as offset thecosts of child care, and transportation.The 2000 Legislature enacted theTraining Benefits program that offersdislocated workers unemploymentinsurance benefits for up to 74 weeks(depending on their industry) while theyare in retraining. Forty million dollars inadditional benefits are available perbiennium after July 1, 2002.

The WTECB study found retraining canhave a substantial positive impact onworker earnings, but this impact depends

4536


on the type of training. Training forhigh-wage fields increases workerearnings (by an average of $3,200 peryear), while training for low-wage fieldstypically has a negative impact onearnings. That is, if training is in low-wage fields, dislocated workers arebetter off seeking immediate employment.Time spent in training is time spent outof the laborforce where skills andexperience can be gained on the job. Toincrease the net benefit of retraining,training should be in high-wage fieldsand be provided in as short a time aspossible, while still preparing workerswith the skills necessary for their newcareers. There must be better careercounseling prior to enrollment in trainingso dislocated workers can make choicesthat will sustain their level of earnings.

Challenge Three: Wage Progression

for Low-Income Workers

Goal 3: To assist disadvantagedyouth, persons with disabilities,new labor market entrants, recentimmigrants, and other low-wageworkers to move up the job ladderduring their lifetimes by developinga wage progression strategy forlow-income workers. Specificprogress will be made in improv-ing operating agencies andreducing the earnings gap facingpeople of color, people withdisabilities, and women.


1. The percentage of the entering9th grade class of common schoolstudents who graduate from high

school: 76 percent of 9th gradestudents graduate with their class(no change from previous years).

2. The percentage of participants inworkforce development programswhose earnings during the secondyear after program participation cansupport their family above the povertylevel. (This measure will be reportedseparately for women, people of color,and people with disabilities, and theparticipant population as a whole.)Among program participants withindividual earnings below the familypoverty line before starting, 53 percenthad individual earnings above thefamily poverty line during the secondyear after participation (50 percent forwomen, 48.percent for people of color,and 43 for people with disabilities).(This is a first time measure).

3. The median increase in earnings andhourly wages during the first threeyears after participation in workforcedevelopment programs. (This measurewill be reported separately for women,people of color, and people with dis-abilities, as well as for the participantpopulation as a whole.) Amongprogram participants with individualearnings below the family povertyline before starting, median earningsduring the 3rd year after participationwere 42 percent higher than duringthe first year after participation, andmedian hourly wages were 20 percenthigher. For women, earnings were 40percent higher, and hourly wageswere 19 percent higher. For people ofcolor, earnings were 39 percent

4637


higher, and hourly wages were 17percent higher. For people withdisabilities, earnings were 68 percenthigher, and hourly wages were 18percent higher (first time measure).


In designing strategies to help low-income workers and youth experiencewage progression (increases in wagesand earnings over time), we must takeinto account the different populations weare serving. Certain subpopulations areoverrepresented among the economicallydisadvantaged: people with disabilities,people of color, and women.

According to the 2000 WashingtonPopulation Survey, there were 587,000adults (14 percent of Washington adults)age 21 or older with household incomesat or below 175 percent of the povertyline. Many of the economicallydisadvantaged, 59 percent, wereemployed but in low-paying jobs.Improving the earning potential of thisgroup will not only increase theirstandard of living, but also improve theeconomic prosperity of the whole state.

While the rate of Washington'spopulation growth is slowing overall,26 percent of the net additions toWashington's workforce (peopleentering minus people leaving) from1990 to 2020 is expected to be people ofcolor. The Hispanic population morethan doubled during 10 years, reachingover 440,000 in 2000. For a variety ofreasons, including racial prejudice,people of color have obtained less

education on average than whites andhave traditionally experienced higherlevels of unemployment. The percentageof people of color who are disadvantagedis nearly double the percentage in thewhole population.

People with disabilities representanother underutilized human resource.Approximately 138,000 youth and 557,000adults have work-limiting disabilities.And, according to a 1996 survey of 2,500Washington citizens with disabilities,many feel their skills are unused orunderused. Only 38 percent of people withdisabilities have full- or part-time jobs.Of the people employed part-time,nearly half say they want full-time work.About one-third of those employed saytheir jobs do not use their skills well.

Women who are single parents and theirchildren also often face economichardships. Eighty percent of all adultsreceiving TANF are women. To the extentwomen remain concentrated in occupa-tions and industries that do not providethem with compensation sufficient tosupport themselves and their children oroffer opportunities for advancement,these families will continue to remainwithin the boundaries of poverty.Women, however, tend to enter fields ofstudy for occupations that pay less thanthe fields dominated by men.

For adults who are unemployed, wemust apply strategies to help them getemployed and to enable them to stayemployed because we know continuousemployment is usually accompanied bysteadily rising wages.

4738


For low-income individuals, we knowoccupational skills training increaseswage progression beyond the levelachieved by continuous employmentalone. We must overcome financial,logistical, and access barriers thatprevent disadvantaged people, includingthe working poor, from obtainingoccupational skills training.

OBJECTIVE 3.1 Increase high schoolgraduation rates.

Strategies

3.1.1 Ensure all youth achieve thenecessary core skills as establishedby industries in their chosen careerpathway, including the achievementof the high school diploma orentrance into a postsecondaryeducation or training program.

Lead Organization: Office ofSuperintendent of PublicInstruction.

Partners: Business and LaborOrganizations, Division ofVocational Rehabilitation,Workforce Development Councils,and State Board for Communityand Technical Colleges.


Too many young people never completehigh school. Approximately three-quarters of youth under age 19 graduate"on time" and these percentages haveremained constant for 35 years. Too

many young people who want work arenot prepared to find it. The 1999unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds was 18.6 percent compared to theoverall state rate of 5.2 percent.

Summer Initiatives That IntegrateEmployment and Education

Northwest Workforce DevelopmentCouncil Initiatives

In a summer youth internship program offered inWhatcom, Skagit, Island, and San Juan counties,students earn academic credit towards their high schooldiploma. Offered by the Northwest WorkforceDevelopment Council in partnership with schooldistricts, local employers and community-based groups,the program targets students who are credit deficient andat risk of dropping out, or who have already dropped out.During 2001, 150 students participated, receivingacademic enrichment, both in the classroom and at theworksites, and "workplace know-how" based onessential workplace skills in demand by employers.Participants draw connections between work andlearning and create portfolios describing the skills andexperience learned through their summer employmentexperience. The portfolios are designed to present tohigh school teachers to obtain credit and to futureemployers as a demonstration of knowledge, skills,and experience.

48.

105'17 COPY MA ILA


LIE

Good teachers

thoughout history have

placed strong emphasis

on helping students see

meaning in their

educational experience.

They have motivated

students by relating

knowledge to the

practical realities of

daily life, and have

encouraged students to

learn through hands-on

practical experience.

Dale Parnell

Contextual Teaching

Works, 2001

As discussed under Goal 1, high schoolsin Washington are developing the careerplanning skills of high school students andtransforming the ways they prepare stu-dents for life after high school. As part ofthese changes, high schools are creatingnew "hands-on" opportunities for studentsto learn, including contextual, applied,and work-based learning experiences.

Alternative programs are an option forstudents who drop out before obtaining ahigh school diploma. Alternative programscan employ learning practices like thosenow starting in high school to reengageyoung people in learning. Under WIA,local workforce development councilshave established youth councils that areapplying their resources to prevent drop-outs and reengage students in learning.Youth councils can support the creation ofpartnerships between school districts, theemployer community, and nonprofitcommunity-based organizations to developbroad-based strategies to assist youth tobe successful in and beyond high school.

To prevent duplication and increaseefficiency, high schools and alternativeprograms should coordinate efforts toensure all students achieve either a highschool diploma or entry into a post-secondary education or training program.Efficiencies can be obtained, for example,by coordinating their work with employersto develop work-based learning oppor-tunities and to market promising careers.Local workforce development councilscan work with their local K-12 system,their Work Source operators, and theircontractors for youth services to ensureresources are maximized.

As a competency-based system ofassessment emerges to replace seat-time,the K-12 system will need to revisit howsuccess is measured for all students.

For special education students who exithigh school without a high schooldiploma, high schools need to ensurethese students achieve the necessary coreskills to gain entry into employment orpostsecondary education and training.

The 2001 Legislature, authorized ESB

6456, the Academic Achievement andAccountability Commission, "to setperformance improvement goals forcertain disaggregated groups of studentsand dropout goals." Increasing highschool graduation rates requires a widerange of measures including preventativemeasures to assist students as early aspossible. While the issue belongs toall of K-12 education the workforcedevelopment programs can also play asignificant role.

Finally, it must be stressed that a highschool diploma alone does not generallyenable an individual to obtain a family-wage job. Most family-wage jobs requiresignificant postsecondary training. Indeveloping strategies to enable dis-advantaged people to achieve self-sufficiency, we must not lose sight ofthis basic fact.

49


3.1.2 Expand summer programs toaddress the education and employ-ment needs of "at risk" students.

Lead Organizations: EmploymentSecurity Department and WorkforceDevelopment Councils (YouthCouncils).

Partners: Department of Socialand Health Services (EconomicServices), Office of Superintendentof Public Instruction.


Another strategy to increase studentengagement in learning is summeremployment and training. WIA promotes"summer employment opportunities thatare directly linked to academic andoccupational learning." Many highschools and alternative programs arealready working with employers tocreate work-based learning opportunitiesand to market promising careers.Workforce development councils, inpartnership with school districts, areengaging employers in providingsummer employment opportunities forhigh school students.

Many students who would benefit fromsuch programs cannot participatebecause their district does not offer sucha program, or because the programcapacity is insufficient to meet demand.

Objective 3.2 Assist unemployedindividuals to gain and retain employment.

Strategies

3.2.1 Develop a more effective laborexchange to help individuals getjobs with the greatest potential forwage progression.

Lead Organizations: EmploymentSecurity Department andWorkforce Development Councils.

Partners: WorkSource PartnerPrograms.

Customers: Job Seekers andBusinesses.

Seattle-King County Workforce Development CouncilPartnership Initiatives

The King County Work Training Program offered a six weeksummer component of the Stay in School Program titled"Earn and Learn." Ten projects that integrated employmentand education were created through partnerships with schooldistricts, municipalities, community-based agencies, andprivate sector employers maximizing use of resources. Youthearned high school credits, as well as jobs skills and salaries.One hundred forty-six students, at risk of dropping out of highschool, participated in the program in 2001.

Seattle Youth Employment program enabled 151 low-incomeyouth or youth at risk of dropping out to obtain a half credittowards high school graduation in language arts, math, orscience while employed during the summer. For example,youth participating in a young entrepreneurs program at theTigray Community Association Center built a fund-raisingplan for a nonprofit business and earned math credit.

50 BEST COPY AV MLA

41


If 5:

Mandatory employment

services programs that

tailor services to the

needs of individual

recipientsso-called

"mix strategy" programs

that require some

participants to begin by

looking for work and

others to start with

education and

trainingprove more

effective than more rigid

approaches that simply

assign all participants

to either a job-search-

only program or an

education and training-

only program with little

regard to their

individual needs.

Gordan L. Berlin

Manpower Demonstration

Research Corporation, 2002

A first step for increasing the earningsof disadvantaged individuals is to helpthem gain and retain employment. Publicemployment services, offered throughthe WorkSource system, must becomemore desirable and accessible toemployers and job seekers. WorkSourcemust become a place that employers turnto find job applicants.

Gaining and retaining employment areoften a difficult first step for individualsat the bottom of the labor market. Theymay have problems coping with thebalance of family and worktheir workis often sacrificed if a domestic crisisarises. They may need help withtransportation and child care. They maylack basic literacy and life managementskills. They often experience substanceabuse, trauma, domestic abuse, orhomelessness. A key step has been thecreation of GoToWorkSource.com as thevirtual site of the public labor exchangeand connections to support services.

3.2.2 Sustain and expand programs withdemonstrated success in enablinglow-income individuals to achievewage progression.

Lead Organization: The Office ofthe Governor.

Partners: Department ofCommunity, Trade and EconomicDevelopment, State Board forCommunity and TechnicalColleges, Department of Social andHealth Services (EconomicServices), Employment SecurityDepartment, Workforce

Development Councils, andWorkforce Training and EducationCoordinating Board.

Customers: Low-IncomeIndividuals.

Under our state's WorkFirst program,there are many strategies in place toassist disadvantaged parents to gain andretain employment. Support services areprovided to facilitate employment,including child care, transportation, andother employment-related costs. TheCommunity Jobs program arranges forjobs .in government and community-based organizations and assistsindividuals in combining training withtheir employment. The PreemploymentTraining Program provides short-term,customized training for specificemployers. The WorkFirstPostemployment Labor Exchangeprogram assists with job retention andprogression through career guidance,referrals, and other services over thetelephone. The Limited EnglishProficiency Pathway blends English-as-a-Second-Language instruction with jobsearch assistance, work, or work-likeactivities, and includes training for wageprogression. Finally, Washington hasbeen the most successful state in thenation in increasing the number of low-income workers claiming the federalEarned Income Tax Credit, whichenables many low-income workers tohave income above the poverty level,thus increasing their incentive to gainand retain employment.

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3.2.3 Expand access to support servicessuch as child care, especially fortarget populations.

Lead Organizations: Departmentof Social and Health Services(Economic Services and Divisionof Vocational Rehabilitation) andWorkforce Development Councils.

Partners: Employment SecurityDepartment and State Board forCommunity and Technical Colleges.

Customers: Low-IncomeIndividuals, including targetpopulations.

Gaining and retaining employment canbe a difficult first step for entry-levelworkers or those with minimal skills orwork experience. Individualized servicescan assist overcoming the challenges ofchild care, transportation, basic literacy,limited English language proficiency ora lack of life management skills. Thosewith disabilities or those who experiencesubstance abuse, domestic abuse, orhomelessness have compounded problems.

3.2.4 Strengthen postemploymentservices for customers.


Partners: Workforce DevelopmentCouncils, Business and LaborOrganizations, and WorkSourcePartner Programs.

Customers: Low-Income Workers.

Postemployment services assist individualsto retain their jobs and increase theirearning potential. In particular, newemployees who are immigrants or withoutsubstantial employment history canbenefit from a variety of postemploymentsupport strategies. For example, counsel-ing may help to overcome conflicts thatarise due to misunderstandings in theworkplace. In order to meet long-termcareer goals, individuals may needguidance to identify further training or tobalance work and family obligations.Strong communication and coordinationis often needed among employers, theirnew employees, and the public agenciesassisting them.

OBJECTIVE 3.3 Remove barriers forpopulations with unique obstacles toemployment and increase the number ofemployers who hire individuals withdisabilities, women, and people of colorin high-wage, high-demand occupations.

Washington's population growth isslowing. Even with continued immigra-tion from other states and countries,laborforce growth slowed to 20 percentduring the 1990s. Forecasts suggestgrowth in the next decade will slow to14 percent and from 2010 to 2020 to only8 percent. This presents Washingtonianswith an opportunity and a challenge.This once in a lifetime opportunitymeans well paying jobs will be availableto a wider spectrum of people than in thepast. The challenge is many of thepopulations that have been underused inthe past, continue to face unique barriersto gaining and retaining employment.

5243


There are programs currently targeted tothese special populations. The Divisionof Vocational Rehabilitation and theDepartment of Services for the Blindprovide a full range of vocational services,including assessing vocational interestsand abilities, referrals for job training,physical and mental restoration services,and conducting follow up services topeople with significant disabilities.WorkFirst's services to TANF recipientsinclude the Limited English ProficiencyPathway that blends English-as-a-Second-Language instruction, jobsearch, job retention assistance, and alsoassists TANF recipients to access trainingthat leads to wage progression.

With large numbers of baby boomersretiring, we must pay more attention tothose who are currently not in thelaborforce in great numbers, includingthe disabled community, people of color,and single-parent families. We will needto diffuse the barriers unique to eachpopulation, and offer culturally specificservices. We will also need moreresearch to identify more accurately thesubpopulations that get stuck at thebottom of the labor market and to teststrategies to increase their employability.

Farm workers have particular needs thatmust be addressed. Among the approxi-mately 170,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers, the median annual income is$5,000, and the median level of educationalattainment is the 8th grade. In the first twoyears of operation the U. S. Department ofLabor's National Farm Worker Jobs Pro-gram funded 800 migrant and seasonalfarm workers in Washington to obtain job

44

training, employability developmentassistance (including literacy develop-ment) and related assistance. We mustcontinue to develop training programs thatrespond to the unique characteristics ofthe farm worker population, includingthe seasonal nature of their work.

Strategies

33.1 Plan for and implement theTicket to Work program.

Lead Organizations: Divisionof Vocational Rehabilitation andDepartment of Services for theBlind.

Partners: Business and LaborOrganizations, EmploymentSecurity Department, andWorkSource Partner Programs.

Customers: People With Disabilities.

Because Ticket to Work will assist manypeople with disabilities to take advantageof employment opportunities, it is impor-tant that workforce partners and servicedeliverers have a strong understandingof this program and inform customers ofthe options that will become available.Ticket to Work could provide a source ofrevenue for any WorkSource center orpartner that becomes a "ticket-taker" andsuccessfully enables customers receivingSocial Security disability benefits toobtain employment. Workforce develop-ment partners will analyze the Ticket toWork program and how they might bestuse Ticket to Work to increase theircapacity to serve people with disabilities.

53HIGH SKILLS. HIGH WAnFR STRATF611r. P1 AN FLIP kninpwpnprp rIFVPI noknaniT

3.3.2 Educate employers, especiallyemployers from high-wage,high-demand industries aboutthe benefits of hiring individualsfrom target populations.


Partners: WorkSource PartnerPrograms, Department of Servicesfor the Blind, Division ofVocational Rehabilitation,Workforce Development Councils,Business Organization, Departmentof Community, Trade andEconomic Development.

Customers: Businesses and TargetPopulations.

Several studies have shown employers areat least equally satisfied with employeeswith disabilities as with others. A studyby the DuPont Corporation reported thatat least 90 percent of the 3,000 employeeswith disabilities were rated average orabove average in job performance. Posi-tive marketing of skills and abilitiescould increase the number of employerswho are willing to hire people from targetpopulations. Employers associationscould disseminate success stories foremploying people with disabilities andpeople of color. At the same time,employers need to be made aware of theassistance available to them. Leadorganizations and partners can provideemployers with technical assistance toprovide access-friendly worksites andreasonable accommodations.

Ticket to Work Phase 2

Washington began implementing HealthCare for Workers with Disabilities(HWD) in January 2002. This is the firstphase of the Ticket to Work and WorkIncentives Improvement Act of 1999that enables states to eliminate barriersto employment for people with disabil-ities by improving access to health carecoverage available under Medicareand Medicaid. HWD allows people withdisabilities to work and to earn up to450 percent of the federal povertylevel and still continue their Medicaidcoverage, eliminating one of the mostsignificant barriers to employment.

The next phase of Ticket to Workbegins in Washington in June 2003.The Social Security administrationwill send a ticket to every working ageSocial Security Insurance or SocialSecurity Disability Insurancebeneficiary (180,000 individuals) inWashington, that they can take to anyapproved service provider from theemployment network and exchangefor services leading to or supportingemployment. If the services aresuccessful in allowing the ticketholder to work and earn to the pointthey are no longer drawing a monetarybenefit from Social Security, then theticket taker is paid up to 40 percent ofwhat that monetary benefit wouldhave been for up to 5 years. Whilethere are alternate payment schemesand other complexities, the workforcedevelopment system can providefunding and incentives to improve theeffectiveness of these services.

It has become a business

imperative to ensure

that racial and ethnic

minorities and people

with disabilities gain

the skills needed to

operate in the workforce

and in shortage

industries such as

health care. This has to

be part of the solution to

alleviating the

shortages.

Troy Hutson

Washington State Hospital

Association, 2001

54 TEST COPY HAMA


3.3.3. Develop accountability andprogram improvement mechanismsfor increasing employment andearnings for target populations.


Partners: Department of Servicesfor the Blind, Division of VocationalRehabilitation, EmploymentSecurity Department, and WorkforceDevelopment Councils, Office ofSuperintendent of Public Instruction,State Board for Community andTechnical Colleges, Department ofCommunity, Trade and EconomicDevelopment.

Customers: Target Populations.

People with disabilities and people ofcolor have lower educational and/orworkforce outcomes than that of thegeneral population. Women tend to enrollin educational and training programs forlow-wage occupations. In 2000, about 55percent of African American secondarycareer and technical education programcompleters went on to employment orfurther education compared to 77 percentof their white counterparts. Fifty-ninepercent of people with disabilities whocompleted postsecondary career and tech-nical programs became employed duringthe third quarter after completion comparedto seventy-six percent for other students.Comprehensive data helps to formulateworkforce development policy, but thismust be complemented by accountabilityand improvement mechanisms.

Agencies should:

Develop mechanisms for thecollection and analysis of data on theuse of workforce system services bytarget populations and for targetpopulation memberships on localworkforce development councils.

Conduct coordinated researchexamining the variation in wageprogression among target populations,and identify variables that account forsuccess or failure.

Support and use programs and bestpractices that have demonstrated suc-cessful outcomes for target populations.

Develop and maintain performancemeasures that encourage access toservices and beneficial outcomes fortarget populations.

OBJECTIVE 3.4 Assist low-incomeindividuals to move up a career ladderby increasing training and developingcareer opportunities.

Strategies

3.4.1 Expand customized training,apprenticeship preparation andapprenticeship programs, and othertraining opportunities for low-income individuals.

Lead Organizations: State Boardfor Community and TechnicalColleges, Employment SecurityDepartment, and Washington State

5546


Apprenticeship and TrainingCouncil at the Department of Laborand Industries.

Partners: Joint ApprenticeshipCommittees, WorkforceDevelopment Councils, Departmentof Social and Health Services(Economic Services), PrivateCareer Schools, Department ofCommunity, Trade and EconomicDevelopment, and WorkforceTraining and EducationCoordinating Board.

Customers: Low-IncomeIndividuals.

Programs and strategies that enableeconomically disadvantaged people togain and retain employment are anecessary step toward wage progression.Wage progression normally occurs forindividuals who stay continuouslyemployed. This is particularly true forindividuals in their 20s and 30s.

But, in order to get increases in wagesand earnings beyond the level achievednormally by low-income workers whostay employed, occupational skillstraining is necessary. As concluded byGary Burt less of the BrookingsInstitution, training in occupationalskills is the only program strategy thathas been proven to have a positive netimpact on wage progression. Not thatcareer and technical skills trainingalways worksit doesn't. Occupationalskills training, however, is the onlystrategy that does work.

WTECB's own research supports thisconclusion. Our 1997 net impact evalua-tion of the Job Training Partnership Actprogram for disadvantaged adults foundthat employment services, without occupa-tional skills training, were successful inincreasing the number of people employed.The employment, however, was in jobswith lower hourly wages and earningsthan the jobs held by a comparison groupof similar individuals who were not inthe program. In contrast, program partici-pants who received occupational skillstraining at a community or technicalcollege experienced wage and earningsgains substantially above their comparisongroup of similar individuals. This findingdoes not say that occupational skillstraining is the right strategy for all dis-advantaged people. Not all economicallydisadvantaged people are in a positionthat allows for success in a trainingprogram due to substance abuse, verylimited basic skills, or other extremebarriers. This finding points out, rather,the importance of enabling individualswho can succeed in occupational skillstraining to have access to it.

An important distinction lies in the term"occupational skills training." The posi-tive impacts that WTECB, Dr. Burt less,and others have found have been fromprograms in occupational skills training,not in programs offering basic or generaleducation without occupational skillstraining. (The lumping together ofresearch on the results of education andtraining programs may be one reasonwhy there may be confusion as to theeffectiveness of occupational skillstraining for low-income individuals.)

5647


Only when basic skills instruction iscoupled with occupational skills trainingdoes it generally have a positive impacton employment and earnings.

Placing low-income individuals intoapprenticeship programs is one avenuefor increasing occupational skillstraining for low-income individuals.Apprenticeship programs combineearning and learning and have built-inwage progression as an individualdemonstrates achievement of a formalset of skill standards.

3.4.2 Provide training programs at timesand locations that are accessible toworking people, and providesupport services to assist inovercoming barriers to training.

Lead Organization: State Boardfor Community and TechnicalColleges.

Partners: Department of Socialand Health Services (EconomicServices), Department ofCommunity, Trade and EconomicDevelopment, EmploymentSecurity Department, Office ofAdult Literacy, and WorkforceDevelopment Councils.

Customers: Low-Income Workers.

We face a daunting challenge in providingreal access to occupational skills trainingfor the working poor. They are oftenpeople who have a difficult enough timeworking and taking care of a family at thesame time without also going to school.

We must make more training programsavailable at convenient hours and loca-tions for working people. We must providechild care and other support services attimes and places where parents are goingto school. We must offer training usingmodular curricula and that is open-entryand open-exit so workers can receivetraining in "doable" doses.

3.4.3 Increase basic skills instruction inthe workplace, and integrate it intooccupational skills training.

Lead Organization: State Boardfor Community and TechnicalColleges' Office of Adult Literacy.

Partners: Department of Socialand Health Services (EconomicServices), Employment SecurityDepartment, State Board forCommunity and TechnicalColleges, and WorkforceDevelopment Councils.

Customers: Low-Income Workersand Students.

WTECB's 1997 net impact and cost-benefit evaluation calculated publicinvestments and earnings over time foradults enrolled in basic skills educationat community and technical colleges(these were adults who enrolled forwork-related reasons and were not alsoenrolled in career and technical training).During the first three and a half yearsafter leaving college, adult basic skillsstudents experienced increased earnings,but these increases in participant benefitswere less than the program costs to the

5748


public. The findings indicate that basicskills education without occupationalskills training is not cost effective forparticipants who want to improve theiremployment situations.

3.4.4 Support the development of careerladders leading to high-wage, high-demand occupations.

Lead Organizations: State Boardfor Community and TechnicalColleges and BusinessOrganizations.

Partners: Workforce DevelopmentCouncils, Labor Organizations,Office of Superintendent of PublicInstruction, Department ofCommunity, Trade and EconomicDevelopment, Skill Panels, andWorkforce Training and EducationCoordinating Board.

Customers: Low-IncomeIndividuals and Students.

Career ladders are the steps by whichentry-level workers can advance within aset of related and increasingly better paidoccupations. For example, an individualcould start as a certified nursingassistant, advance to a position as alicensed practical nurse, and then to aregistered nurse. Each level involvesadditional responsibilities and earnings,but requires learning additional skills.

Local employers played a central indeveloping career ladders for the JobLadder Partnership (PreemploymentTraining) at Shoreline Community

HIGH SKILLS, HIGH WAGES: WASHINGTON'S

College. The program helps studentsidentify a career pathway within firms orcollaborating firms, identifies theeducational opportunities available, usesentry-level jobs as a pathway towardearning a family-wage occupation, offerstraining in shifts, and provides work-related adult basic education.

Skill panels, because they consist of keyrepresentatives of employers, labor andeducation and training providers in anindustry or occupational cluster, are wellpositioned to identify the steps for acareer ladder in their sector, and to helpmake sure all the steps are in place intheir local area.

3.4.5 Create and offer financialincentives to employers and low-income workers to increasetraining.

Lead Organization: Office ofthe Governor.

Partners: Department of Socialand Health Services (EconomicServices), Employment SecurityDepartment, Workforce Develop-ment Councils, Department ofCommunity, Trade and EconomicDevelopment, and WorkforceTraining and EducationCoordinating Board.

Customers: Low-Income Workersand Businesses.

We must provide financial incentives toemployers and employees for career andtechnical skills training so both can afford

5849

STRATEGIC PLAN FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

In partnership with the

local community

colleges, we've devised

career ladders that help

entry-level workers

identify and obtain the

education and training

they need to fill high-

demand, high-wage

occupations. Our

employers are happy

because they know they

will finally be able to fill

positions with qualified

people, and the workers

are happy because they

are more satisfied

knowing they are

fulfilling their goals and

will receive higher

wages!

Jody Smith

Multicare Health Systems

Member of the Pierce

County Health Services

Council, 2001

it. Washington could consider incentivesoffered in other states such as tax credits,income support for time spent in training,and financial aid for part-time enrollment.In Ohio, welfare recipients who obtainentry-level hospitality jobs are eligible toparticipate in the Hospitality On-SiteTraining program. Each week participantsreceive 10 hours training work for 20 hours,and the program pays them for 30 hourswork, enabling them to meet the workrequirements of the state's welfare reformlaw. North Carolina's New and Expand-ing Training program includes a workertraining tax credit to the company fornew employees during training orexisting employees training on newequipment. To be eligible, the companymust pay above the average wagestandard for the county of location, andextra credit is available in regions wherejobs are most needed. The FocusedTraining program assists companies intraining workers to use new technologiesin targeted industries: manufacturing,information, and telecommunications.

Another incentive for encouraginglow-income workers to obtain addi-tional qualifications is to make shortprograms count towards a degree,diploma, or certificate. Work First'sPreemployment Training (PET) pro-vides 12 week programs customizedfor specific employers. When studentscomplete a PET program, somecommunity and technical collegesgive students a certificate andgrant credit towards advancedqualifications.

Challenge Four: Facilitate theIntegration of WorkforceDevelopment Programs

Goal 4: Integrate workforcedevelopment programs to improvecustomer service.


1. The percentage of total employersusing WorkSource: 7 percent ofWashington employers usedWorkSource during the first year,not counting electronic services(first time measure).

2. The percentage of total workersusing WorkSource (this measurewill be reported separately forwomen, people of color, and peoplewith disabilities, as well as for theparticipant population as a whole):10 percent of Washington workersused WorkSource during the firstyear, not counting electronic services(first time measure).

3. WorkSource customer perception ofseamlessness as evidenced by surveyresponses (this measure will bereported separately for women,people of color, and people withdisabilities, as well as for theparticipant population as a whole).(Data not yet available.)


There are 17 different programs in theworkforce development system and 23other related programs. Each program

5950


was created to fulfill certain purposesfor certain populations of customers. Inmost cases, these purposes and eligiblepopulations are specified by state orfederal statute. Rules established byagencies provide greater specificity toguide staff in carrying out the programs.Although these program designs maymake sense in and of themselves, whenviewed in combination, they haveresulted in a dizzying array ofgovernment services for the customersthey are intended to serve. In order toeffectively meet the challenges set forthby the Governor, we must continue ourwork to remove or transcend thesebarriers.

As discussed earlier, Work Source isWashington's one-stop system removingservice delivery barriers in the workforcedevelopment. Since July 2000, Work-Source Centers have been operating ineach of the 12 local workforce develop-ment areas of the state. There are 25Work Source centers and 38 affiliate sitesthat offer access to at least 17 differentworkforce development and relatedprograms. Workforce developmentcouncils select and oversee Work Sourcecenter operations at the local level. Inaddition, customers are able to "servethemselves" via Internet-based services.Customers coming to Work Source,either in person or electronically, find amenu of employment and trainingoptions from which to choose the rightpath for them. While these options arestill funded by separate program streams,the customers should not be aware ofthis; the different services should beaccessible as though they were funded

51


from a single source. That is the goalto make the walls between categoricalprograms invisible to the customers.

While Work Source is in place, we stillhave a long way to go. We must knockdown categorical thinking. We mustthink of the workforce developmentprograms as a system and act as if theywere a system. We must face up to harddecisions regarding shared resources andshared accountability for results. One ofthe most crucial challenges facing thesystem is to successfully mobilize theresources needed to provide reasonableaccommodations for customers withdisabilities and grant this population thesame opportunities to take advantage ofservices as other populations. If we areto meet the challenges presented by theskills gap, transitions for incumbent anddislocated workers, and wage progressionfor low-income individuals, we mustmove beyond programmatic approaches.We must break down the walls ofcategorical programs so customersreceive the best possible service.

Work Source partners include localprograms administered by three stateagencies: DSHS, ESD, and SBCTC. Thetable on page 51 shows Work Sourcepartners required by the federal WorkforceInvestment Act of 1998 and Work Sourcepartners required by the state.

OBJECTIVE 4.1 0> Improve Work Source

services to customers, including targetpopulations by bringing togetherindividual partner programs to craftcomprehensive solutions.

60

Work Source Partner Programs

Work Source partners required by the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998

Workforce Investment Act Title 1B Youth, Adult, and Dislocated Worker Programs

Public Exchange Services funded under the Wagner-Peyser Act

Veterans' Workforce Programs

Welfare-to-Work Programs

Trade Adjustment Assistance and North American Free Trade Agreement Programs

Local Veterans' Employment Representatives/DVOP

State Unemployment Compensation Programs

Workforce Investment Act Title II Adult Education and Literacy Programs including English-as-aSecond language programs, Vocational Education Programs funded under the Carl D. PerkinsVocational and Applied Technology Act

Secondary Vocational Education programs funded under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and AppliedTechnology Act

Senior Community Service Employment Program funded under Title V of the Older Americans Act

Vocational Rehabilitation programs authorized under parts A and B of Title 1 of the Rehabilitation Act)

WorkSource Partners Other Programs EncouragedRequired by the State to Be Part of the WorkSource System

Claimant Placement Program

Postsecondary Career and Technical Programs

Worker Retraining Program

WorkFirst

English-as-a-Second-Language Programs

Literacy Programs

Apprenticeship Programs

Local School to Work Connections

Americorps/Washington State Service Corps

Tech-Prep Consortium

Private Career and Technical Schools

Other Programs identified by the WorkSourceRegional Partnerships

BEST COPY AVAILA 12 6152


Strategies

4.1.1 Understand and respond tothe needs of business customers,and implement a coordinated,comprehensive strategy amongWorkSource partners.

Lead organization: EmploymentSecurity Department.

Partners: Business Organizations,WorkSource Partner Programs,Workforce Training and EducationCoordinating Board, and WorkforceDevelopment Councils.

Customers: Businesses.

Improving WorkSource services forjob seekers is only half of the story;WorkSource must also improve itsservices to the business community toget access to good jobs and assisteconomic development. Many programsare engaging employers in workforcedevelopment, but too often these effortsare disconnected and programs competefor employer attention. Overloadingemployers with offers of informationand assistance from different sourcescan deter participation. A coordinatedapproach helps employers get assistancefrom the public sector, not only to findworkers, but for a variety of otherservices.

The WorkSource system can providelabor market information, prevailingwage rates for specific occupations andgeographic regions, computer jobmatching, assistance with recruitment

such as screening services and jobtraining, among many other servicesfor employers.

4.1.2 Improve customer service bycollecting and using customerfeedback, providing electronicservices, and sharing informationon customer service best practices.


Partners: WorkSource PartnerPrograms, Business and LaborOrganizations, Workforce Trainingand Education Coordinating Board,and Workforce DevelopmentCouncils.

Best Practice

Private /Public Partnerships

Businesses are the primary customers of Grays HarborEmployers' Assistance Project (EAP) operated by GraysHarbor Chamber of Commerce. The program is mutuallybeneficial for businesses and the job seekers who have beenprepared for work by 17 partner organizations. EAPdetermines the job openings and qualifications needed by itsregistered businesses, conducts a web-based match from morethan 1,000 individuals in the EAP database, qualifies thematch, and provides employers with a selection of qualifiedapplicants. Located at the Grays Harbor WorkSource Center,project staff maintains relationships with both the employerand the new worker after placement. Since April 2000, theproject has served more than 225 businesses, more than 600individuals have been hired in full-time positions, and theirretention rate is over 80 percent.

62 BEST COPY MARLA AA


We are taking customer

service very seriously.

We have implemented a

statewide program to

train all 2,742

Employment Security

staff in customer service

so they can better

understand their

customers' needsthose

of the job seekers, as

well as the employers

seeking workers. Many

of our workforce develop-

ment council partners

and staff have also

asked to be included in

this training effort.

Sylvia Mundy

Employment Security

Commissioner, 2002

Customers: Job Seekers andEmployers.

WorkSource centers around the state havedeveloped methods of assessing customersatisfaction. For example, many centersask customers to complete customersatisfaction cards. ESD has recently starteda mystery shopper program to assesscustomer service. These efforts will beexpanded, including the use of mysteryshoppers from targeted populations.Assessments will identify best practicesin adapting programs and procedures toimprove customer service; these bestpractices will be shared and recognizedthroughout the WorkSource system.

One way to improve customer servicedelivery is to identify additional sitesfor customer core services access viathe Internet. For those without accessto the Internet at home, WorkSourcepartners will identify additional publicspaces that offer can Internet access.Possible venues include libraries,community and technical colleges,and community centers,

The Connecting the Dots for EconomicVitality: Workforce Strategies 2001Conference hosted by WTECB in WallaWalla provided an opportunity for public,private, state, and local leaders in busi-ness, labor and education to exchangeinformation, develop relationships andexamine innovative local and nationalpolicies. The conference also providedan opportunity to recognize three bestpractices: Pierce County CareersConsortium, WorkSource Walla Walla'sProficiency Testing Center, and the

Grays Harbor Employers' AssistanceProject. Recognition ceremonies,conferences, partner visits, and work-shops will provide forums for promotingbest practices in customer services.

4.1.3 Include all WorkSource partnersin customer service training,including training in servingtarget populations.


Partners: Workforce DevelopmentCouncils, Business and LaborOrganizations, and WorkSourcePartner Programs.


In order to provide the best possiblecustomer service, WorkSource staff mustbe well trained to customize services tomeet individual needs and well informedabout the services provided by partnerprograms. For job seekers, staff must beable to ascertain their current abilitiesand needs and the steps necessary tomeet their short- and long-term goals.Staff must be trained in best practices forserving job seekers and employers. Tomeet this objective, ESD and WorkSourcepartners have implemented a statewidecustomer service training policy.

Customer service training includesawareness and diversity training. Work-Source staff will be informed aboutspecialized services for meeting theneeds of target populations. Such

6354


services include informing women abouthigh-wage job opportunities, includingnontraditional employment; services thathelp displaced homemakers overcomethe barriers they commonly face; andservices that are accessible to customersof limited English proficiency. Staffneed to recognize customers with"invisible" disabilities such as learningdisabilities and be trained in the bestmethods for meeting their needs.

Customers and training providers fromtarget populations will be well representedamong those developing training modelsand delivering training. The training willcapitalize on available capacity and exper-tise. By taking these steps, Work Sourcecenters will help to ensure workforcedevelopment services are provided in awelcoming and accessible manner.

OBJECTIVE 4.2 Develop and maintainservice delivery capacity that is flexibleand responsive.

Strategies

4.2.1 Provide a statewide informationsystem for case management that isshared by WorkSource partners.


Partners: Workforce DevelopmentCouncils, WorkSource PartnerPrograms, and Workforce Trainingand Education Coordinating Board.


In the past, WorkSource partners keptseparate management information systemseven though they provide related servicesto the same customers. The Service,Knowledge and Information ExchangeSystem (SKIES) is a shared database thatallows WorkSource partners to access thesame management and customer informa-tion to provide more efficient, coordinatedservices, while respecting customerconfidentiality. With the implementationof SKIES any WorkSource partner agencycan access the same customer file withfully updated'information thus removingthe burden and costs of redundant formsfrom the customer and enhancing ourcapacity to meet customer needs.

4.2.2 Develop systems to track, andreport core WorkSource services.

Lead Organizations: EmploymentSecurity Department, WorkforceDevelopment Councils, andWorkforce Training and EducationCoordinating Board.

Partners: WorkSource PartnerPrograms.


While SKIES tracks WorkSourceparticipants who register for programservice, many services do not require"registration." Job seekers and employerswho visit resource rooms, browse thewebsite, http:www.gotoworksource.comor access other services that do notinvolve significant staff assistance donot have to register. WorkSource centersare beginning to develop mechanisms to

6455


track participants who use only suchservices. In order to meet customerneeds and to adjust services to meetchanging needs, service providers mustknow how many people are using theseservices. This data will be important foranalyzing the services accessed by targetpopulations; they will also assist theWork Source system to report on its fullcontribution to meeting employers,students, and job seeker needs.

4.2.3 Find financial resources to sustainthe WorkSource delivery systeminfrastructure.


Partners: Business and LaborOrganizations, Workforce Develop-ment Councils, Workforce Trainingand Education Coordinating Board,and WorkSource Partner Programs.

Customers: Employers and JobSeekers.

The Department of Labor provided start-up funding for the development ofWashington's one-stop system. Additionaldevelopment funding has been providedthrough the Governor's state set-asidefunding through WIA. No funding mech-anism, however, has been identified tosustain WorkSource infrastructure suchas equipment and facilities. WorkSourcepartners will work together to identifyappropriate resources to sustain thenecessary infrastructure and willadvocate for federal commitment to thisstreamlining initiative.

OBJECTIVE 4.3 Reach out toindividuals from target populationsin order to increase their use ofWorkSource services, and provideservices that meet their unique needs.

Strategies

4.3.1 Provide individuals with disabilitieswith equal opportunities to benefit

from WorkSource services.


Partners: Division of VocationalRehabilitation, the Department ofServices for the Blind, WorkSourcePartner Programs, WorkforceDevelopment Councils, and theWorkforce Training and EducationCoordinating Board.


There are three areas where WorkSourceCenters can develop and implementprocedures and procure equipment thatwill provide people with disabilitiesmore efficient and accessible services:information technology; communicationsystems; and barrier free physicalenvironments.

The federal government has establishedaccessibility standards for the develop-ment and procurement of informationtechnology that can help WorkSourcecenters provide individuals withdisabilities the same level of access tothese resources as provided to others

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seeking these services. Software that readsscreen content out loud and hardwarethat replaces a standard keyboard ormouse are examples of technologies thatcan increase accessibility. Theeffectiveness and usefulness of theseadaptive technologies may besignificantly limited when accessibilityis not planned for during developmentand procurement of information systemsor resources. The result is increased costsfor individualized accommodations andan inability to deliver services in themost effective and accessible manner.

Work Source centers and affiliate sitesmust also develop a comprehensive planto ensure the effectiveness andaccessibility of oral communication andwritten materials. This includes, forexample, policies and procedures forproviding sign language interpreters,production of materials in alternateformats such as Braille or audio tape, useof human readers, and alternative waysof presenting oral or written informationto meet the unique needs of individualswith disabilities.

Providing barrier-free physicalenvironments is the third componentnecessary to ensure people withdisabilities have the same opportunitiesto benefit from Work Source services asothers. People with disabilities should beable to move without obstructionthrough Work Source and partnerfacilities. Facilities include any portionof buildings, structures, sites, complexes,equipment, roads, walks, passageways,and constructs such as computer kiosksand office cubicles.


Increased accessibility of information,communication, and physicalenvironments at Work Source centerswill significantly reduce, but cannotentirely eliminate, the need forindividualized accommodations in orderfor some people with disabilities toeffectively participate in services. ManyWork Source centers do not havepolicies, procedures, or identifiedresources to provide individualizedaccommodations. This poses asignificant barrier to many people withdisabilities who might otherwise be ableto access services. This strategy includesconsideration of training for staff inidentifying when and how they shouldprovide reasonable accommodations.

Principles for Providing People With DisabilitiesEqual Opportunities at Work Source

1. Provide individuals with disabilities equal access toinformation technology and data.

2. Provide oral and written communication systems that areeffective in meeting the unique needs of individuals withdisabilities.

3. Provide and maintain a barrier-free physical environmentfor individuals with disabilities.

4. Routinely consider and provide reasonableaccommodations that are responsive to the unique needsof individuals with disabilities.

66

The President and

I are committed to

expanding career

opportunities in this

country for people with

disabilities. I have been

very impressed with the

work the people of

Washington have been

doing in the One-Stop

Career Center system.

Elaine L. Chao

U.S. Secretary of LaborMay 2002

The Pacific Mountain WorkforceDevelopment Council is conducting asurvey examining services to peoplewith disabilities at Work Source sites inthe area. The $100,000 study is analyzinginternal and external physical barriers,equipment, staff needs, and policiesrelated to serving customers withdisabilities. Preliminary findings indicateadditional resources will be needed toensure the Work Source system providesindividuals with disabilities with equalopportunities to benefit fromWork Source services.

In May 2002, the Department of Laborawarded a competitive work incentiveprogram grant of $1 million to theWorkforce Development Executives ofWashington to expand training servicesand employment opportunities forpeople with disabilities for a period of30 months. The project, called theWashington Employment LeadershipCoalition on Meeting Expectations is astatewide effort that will providetraining, technical assistance, andenhanced service delivery throughoutWork Source.

4.3.2 Increase outreach, recruitment, andmarketing activities conducted inpartnership with tribes andcommunity-based organizationsserving targeted populations.


Partners: Department of Servicesfor the Blind, Division ofVocational Rehabilitation,

Work Source Partner Programs,Workforce Training and EducationCoordinating Board, WorkforceDevelopment Councils, andCommunity-Based Organizations.


Racial and ethnic minorities and peoplewith disabilities may be unwilling touse Work Source services if members oftheir community have not established ahabit of using these services. The firststep to ensure these communities useservices is to make sure the Work Sourceenvironment is welcoming and fullyaccessible. If individuals believe theywill not be able to communicate withstaff due to language barriers, or willnot be provided with reasonableaccommodations, they will not use theservices, but we need to engage thesetarget populations in order to meetemployer needs. Work Source partnersmust work to establish trust amongcommunities and tribes and provide aquality of service that is deserving oftheir trust.

Community-based organizations andtribes are often in the best position tobring certain communities into contactwith the Work Source system. Tocomplement recruitment and outreachefforts Work Source partners will developand conduct marketing campaigns tohelp ensure individuals with disabilitiesand people of color are aware of andparticipate in workforce developmentservices.

6758


4.3.3 Encourage diversity among themembership of local workforcedevelopment councils andWorkSource staff to reflect thediversity of the communitybeing served.

Lead Organizations: EmploymentSecurity Department, WorkforceTraining and EducationCoordinating Board, and WorkforceDevelopment Councils.

Partners Organizations:WorkSource Partner Programs.

Customers: Employers and JobSeekers.

Local elected officials are responsiblefor appointing members of localworkforce development councils.Current council members and their staffassist in the recruitment of newmembers. For many positions, theappointments must be made from amongnominations provided by localorganizations such as business, labor,and education organizations. A diversestaff can assist recruitment of targetpopulations into workforce developmentservices because people from targetpopulations are likely to understand theunique needs of their own communities.Diversity among workforce developmentcouncils and WorkSource staff provideboth insight for other staff on servingtarget populations and a frontlineexample for diverse hiring andappointment practices.

OBJECTIVE 4.4 Facilitate theintegration of workforce developmentprograms that serve youth.

Strategies

4.4.1 Facilitate the transfer of informationamong workforce developmentprograms serving youth.


Partners: Division of VocationalRehabilitation, EmploymentSecurity Department, HigherEducation Coordinating Board,State Board of Community andTechnical Colleges, WorkforceTraining and EducationCoordinating Board, and WorkforceDevelopment Councils.

Customers: Youth.

Programs serving youth collect a varietyof information about customers.Sometimes the information collected isredundant because the information is notshared among programs. Programs foryouth will address confidentialityrestrictions so partners can share basicinformation. In addition, partners servingyouth will develop common assessmenttools so customers are freed fromredundant assessments.

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Another aspect of information sharingwill be to develop a better understandingof how state and local agency programs(for youth education and preparation forwork) interrelate. This will reduceduplication and leverage resources to aidin meeting shared goals. A starting pointwill be to develop and implement cross-program training for staff oforganizations serving youth. Anothervaluable step will be the creation of aninformational matrix that contains theadvantages, requirements, andregulations for Running Start, tech-prep,apprenticeship, and other programs.

69


Endnotes

RCW 28C.18.060 requires WTECB to update the state strategic plan for workforce development everytwo years. Representatives from business, labor, education, related public agencies, and privateorganizations served on six work groups to advise on this update.

Section 203 of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 Health CareFinancing Administration, http://www.hcfa.govimedicaid/twwiia/twwiiahp.htm. Washington receivedtwo grants from the Social Security Administration(SSA): an infrastructure grant to help implementHWD (administered by the Washington State Department of Heath and Social Services), and a grant toconduct SSA Benefit Planning and Outreach activities to assist Social Security disability beneficiariesin understanding how going to work would affect their benefits (administered by the Governor'sCommittee on Disability Issues and Employment).

' Target populations include people with disabilities, people of color, and women, groups that havetraditionally been underrepresented in high-skill, high-wage jobs.

4 The federal poverty level has come under increasing criticism as being an inadequate measure ofincome required for a decent standard of living today. For an alternative approach see the NorthwestJob Gap: Searching for Work That Pays, the Northwest Policy Center and the Northwest Federation ofCommunity Centers, January 1999. Available at http://depts.washington.eclutripcbox/Region.pdf.

5 Scott Cheney, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Workforce Studies, Keeping Competitive: AReport from a Survey of 18,000 Employers, September 2001.

WTECB Employer Survey 2001. Sixty-five percent of Washington employers hired new employees.

John Bauer, James Hu, Washington's Economy, WTECB, January 2002.

Based on current participation rates (the percentage of the age-specific population that enrolls inpostsecondary training).

9 Employment Security Department, 2000 Covered Employment and Payrolls in WA State by Countyand Industry. This figure does not include wages for people who are self-employed.

113 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Health Professions, HRSA State HealthWorkforce Profiles: Washington, Health Resources and Services Administration, National Center forHealth Workforce Information and Analysis, Maryland, December 2000. Available online at http://www.bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/profilcsl.

" University of Washington Center for Health Workforce Studies in conjunction with University ofWashington School of Nursing and Washington State Hospitals Association, 2001 Washington StateHospital Workforce Survey: Nursing and Allied Health Staffing (unpublished). Survey of 83 acute-carehospitals in Washington State. These figures account for part-time and full-time workers that equal1,400 full-time equivalent positions. They do not take into account employed nurses who work inspecialty and federal hospitals and approximately 40 percent of nurses who work in nonhospitalsettings. King and Pierce counties have the highest vacancy rates of over 10 percent and Spokane hasthe lowest vacancy rate of about 2 percent.

12 Sue Skillman, University of Washington Center for Health Workforce Studies, seminar presentingpreliminary findings of survey, October 3, 2001. Sixty-five percent of hospitals reported it was "verydifficult" to find experienced registered nurses.

" John Bauer, James Hu, Our Changing Labor Force, WTECB, October 2002, 11. Washington had662,000 people aged over 65 in 2000, representing 11 percent of the population. By 2020, Washington isprojected to have 1.2 million people over the age of 65, and this would represent 16 percent of thepopulation.

70

'4 Ibid.

15 Ibid. "High tech" includes biotechnology, computers and computer equipments, computerprogramming, software and maintenance, electronics, precision equipment and instruments, telephonecommunications, research and testing.

16 Workforce Development Providers are organizations that provide skill training or employmentrelated services such as job search assistance to individuals and employers.

17 Michael E. Porter and Debra van Opstal, U. S. Competitiveness 2001: Strengths, Vulnerabilities andLong-tertn Policies, Council on Competitiveness, 2001.

Is Securing Key Industry Leadership for Learning Skills (SKILLS).

19 Following the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) wereestablished to cover 12 regions in the state. The WDCs are comprised of a majority of businessrepresentatives and include representatives of labor and education. They develop local strategic plansin line with the state plan and coordinate local workforce development activities. WDCs also overseethe local WorkSource system, collaborate in the development of WorkFirst service area plans, andidentify quality improvements and expected levels of performance for programs. To assist withinformation sharing between local areas, the WDCs established the Washington Workforce Association(WWA). WWA can also function as a communication point for local areas to coordinate efforts withstate and federal partners.

20 Mathematica Policy Research Inc, The Final Report of the National Tech-Prep Evaluation,Washington D.C., 1998, 7. Washington's Tech-Prep was established following the federal Tech-PrepEducation Act of 1990 to provide incentives for students to continue in postsecondary education even ifthey do not intend to obtain a baccalaureate degree. Tech-prep programs coordinate two years ofsecondary career and technical education with two years of higher education at a community andtechnical college in a technical fieldsometimes referred to as "2+2" or "2+2+2." Some colleges grantcredit for students who obtain at least a B grade and pay a small fee. Also see Washington StateInstitute for Public Policy report, Educational Opportunities in Washington's High Schools Under StateEducation Reform: High School Responses to Expectations for Change, Volume 2, 50..

21 Alan Hardcastle, A Foundation for Economic Development, Presentation to the State Board forCommunity and Technical Colleges, WSU Social and Economic Sciences Research Center, December 2001.

22 RCW 28A.655.060(3)(c): "Upon achieving the certificate of mastery, schools shall provide studentswith the opportunity to pursue career and educational objectives through educational pathways thatemphasize integration of academic and vocational education. Educational pathways may include, butare not limited to, programs such as work-based learning, school-to-work transition, tech-prep,vocational-technical education, running start, and preparation for technical college, communitycollege, or university education." RCW 28A.230.090 provides that the Washington State Board ofEducation sets minimum high school graduation requirements. In 2001 the Board updated requirementsto include a culminating project and an education plan. WAC 180-51-061: "Each student shall completea culminating project for graduation. The project consists of the student demonstrating both theirlearning competencies and preparations related to learning goals three and four. Each district shalldefine the process to implement this graduation requirement, including assessment criteria, in writtendistrict policy." WAC 180-51-061: "Each student shall have an education plan for their high schoolexperience, including what they expect to do the year following graduation." RCW 28A.150.210 BasicEducation Act outlines the four goals (Goal 4 relates to educational pathways).

23 The Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander populations are increasing especially rapidly. Students ofcolor comprise 26 percent of the state's K-12 population, up from 12 percent in 1980. Similarly, thecomposition of the state's workforce is changing. Nonwhite workers are expected to account for aquarter of the net labor force growth in the state between 2000 and 2025. John Bauer, James Hu, OurChanging Labor Force, WTECB, October 2001.

24 Ibid.

ii

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25 Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Board of Education, and the Washington StateHuman Rights Commission, Joint Equity in Education Policy, May 2000. This policy also directsschool districts to use resources that allow students and parents with limited English proficiency tointeract in their primary language with school staff where practicable and using the support of otherinterested community groups and organizations to accommodate language diversity in school.

26 Peter Bylsma, Lisa Ireland, and Helen Malagon, Educating Limited-English-Proficient Students inWashington State, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, January 2002, 2, 14.

27 Ibid., p. 2.

28 Ibid., p. 1.

29 Ibid., p. 16.

30 Leslie Hendrikson, "Active Learning," ERIC Digest, No 17: http://www.ericae.net/edo/ED253468.htm, 1. Dale Parnell, Contextual Teaching Works!: Increasing Student Achievement, Cord,Texas, 2001.Dynarski, Mark et al., Impacts of Dropout Prevention Programs, Mathematica PolicyResearch, Inc., 8014, June 1998. This study found that intensive alternative courses at the middleschool level reduced the dropout rate.

3' Barbara McLain and Madeleine Thompson, Educational Opportunities in Washington' HighSchools Under State Education Reform: High School Responses to Expectations for Change, Volume2, Washington State Institute for Public Policy, September 2001, 45, 46.

32 Bettina Lankard Brown, Mentoring and Work-Based Learning, ERIC_NO: ED456332 Trends andIssues Alert No. 29, 2001.

33 Youth who are eligible to participate in Workforce Investment Act youth programs form onedefinition of "at-risk" youth. According to Section 101. Definitions, the Workforce Investment Act,1998: an "eligible youth" is an individual who (A) is not less than age 14 and not more than age 21; (B)is a low income individual; and (C) is an individual who is one or more of the following: (i) Deficientin basic literacy skills; (ii) a school dropout; (iii) homeless, a runaway, or a foster child; (iv) pregnantor a parent; (v) an offender; (vi) an individual who requires additional assistance to complete aneducational program, or to secure and hold employment.

WTECB Employer Survey 2001.

35 Dr. Paul Sommers and Deena Beg, Matching Community and Technical College Professional/TechnicalEducation Capacity to Employer Demand, Northwest Policy Center, Institute for Public Policy andManagement Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, January 2000, i.

36 Personal communication with Jim Crabbe and Doug Whittaker, State Board for Community andTechnical Colleges. IT full-time equivalent enrollment declined by 3 percent in the following year fromfall 2000 to fall 2001.

3' Washington Competitiveness Council Report, December 2001, 34. "...Of particular urgency is theneed to address the shortage of top-quality Bachelors and Masters graduates, especially in science andengineering fields that support the state's strategic clusters."

38 Loretta Seppenen, The New Transfer Student: Students Completing Job Preparatory Programs witha Transfer Goal, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, July 2001, the State Board forCommunity and Technical Colleges: Board Meeting, January and February 2002. Transfers for place-bound students have been facilitated by the growth in branch campuses of the University ofWashington and Washington State University and off-campus university centers of the regional four-year institutions. In 1990, 5 percent of all transfers were enrolled at branch campuses, while in 200015 percent were enrolled in branch or off campus centers.

REST COPY AVAIILA

39 Currently there are three types of statewide articulated agreements: The Direct Transfer AgreementAssociate Degree and Associate of Science Degree Transfer #1 in Biological sciences, environmental/resource sciences, chemistry, geology, and earth science and the Associate of Science Degree Transfer#2 in Engineering, computer science, physics, and atmospheric sciences. See SBCTC web site at http://www.sbc tc. ctc. eclu/B o a rd/lal uc/tran s ferhtm.

4° Gary Benson, Background Information on the Articulation and Transfer Process, Higher EducationCoordinating Board presentation to the House Higher Education Committee, November30, 2001.About 5,500 students complete the Associate of Arts degree per year. In the first year, 2000, 50 studentsobtained an Associate of Science degree. Through individual agreements about 250 students havecareer and technical credits recognized. About 6,000 students transfer without obtaining an associatesdegrees--the four-year institution evaluates each course separately.

41 Loretta Seppenen, Transfer with a Technical Degree, SBCTC paper presented to the AACCconference April 2002, 2-3.

42 Ronald Phipps, Transfer of Credit from Nationally Accredited to Regionally Accredited Institutions,Career Training Foundation, December 2001, and Personal communication with Gena Wikstrom,Executive Director, Washington Federation of Private Career Schools.

The Inter-College Relations Commission (ICRC) is an affiliate commission of the WashingtonCouncil of High School and College Relations. It is a voluntary organization established in 1968 tofacilitate transfer agreements between colleges. ICRC gathers representatives from colleges anduniversities twice a year to discuss transfer agreements. House Higher Education Committee WorkSession on Transfer and Articulation, Washington State Legislature, November 30, 2001.

44 Loretta Seppenen, Transfer with a Technical Degree, SBCTC paper presented to the AACCconference April 2002.

Paul Sommers and Melissa Quail, Re-Inventing Information Technology Education, Report writtenfor the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges by the Northwest Policy Center, Daniel J.Evans School of Public Affairs, Seattle, December 2001.

According to a September 2001 General Accounting Office report, it will be necessary to firstidentify apprenticeable occupations in industries that have a shortage of skilled workers. GeneralAccounting Office Report, Registered Apprenticeships: Labor Could Do More to Expand to OtherOccupations, September 2001. GAO -01 -940, 6.

"Professional Educator Standards Board Press Release, December 14, 2001. http://www.pcsb.wa.gov/AlternativeRoutes/AlternativeRoutes.htin. The three alternative routes being piloted are: 1. forparaeducators or instructional aides with associate degrees seeking certification in special education orEnglish-as-a-second language; 2. for classified staff with college degrees seeking certification insubject matter shortage areas or areas with shortages due to geographic location; and 3. for individualswith baccalaureate degrees who are not currently employed in a school district, or who hold emergencysubstitute certificates. Priority will be given to those who want to teach subjects where teachers are inshort supply such as math and science or in areas of the state with shortages.

" Washington State Office of Financial Management and Washington State Employment SecurityDepartment, 2001 Long-Term Economic and Labor Force Forecast for Washington, April 2001.Washington is second only to Florida and Texas in terms of growth in the proportion of workers age45 and older. Frederica D. Kramer and Demetra Smith Nightingale, Aging Baby Boomers in a NewWorkforce Development System, The Urban Institute, Report Prepared for the U.S. Department ofLabor, Employment and Training Administration, January 2001.

U.S. Committee of Economic Development, New Opportunities for Older Workers, Research andPolicy Committee New York, New York, 1999, 99-045902, 13.

iv7 3 BEST COPY AVAILABLE

51) Division of Older Worker Programs, The Nine "Best Practices" of Highly Effective SCSEP ProjectsEmployment and Training Administration, United States Department of Labor, August 2001.

5' Ibid.

52 Mark E. Van Buren, William Erskine, The 2002 ASTD State of the Industry Report, The AmericanSociety for Training and Development, Virginia, February 2002, 41.

53 Personal Communication with Suzie Saxton, Program Training Coordinator, Yakima Valley, April 3,2002.

54 Eastern Washington Agriculture and Food Processing Partnership presentation to the Council ofPresidents, November 2001.

55 Census 2000 supplementary survey.

" John Bauer, James Hu, Our Changing Labor Force, Workforce Training and Education CoordinatingBoard, October 2001. The Hispanic population in the state more than doubled during the last decade,reaching over 440,000 in 2000, 7.5 percent of the state population. While the Asian population increasedby about 65 percent, the number of non-Hispanic whites grew by only 10 percent. Twenty-six percentof the state's public school students in grades K-12 are students of color; up from.twelve percent in1980. People of color and people with disabilities must be given more opportunities to attain improvededucation and workforce outcomes.

" Ibid.

58 Ibid.

SY Edie Harding, with Mason Burleigh, Barbara McLain, and Madeleine Thompson, EducationalOpportunities in Washington's High Schools: Student Outcomes, Volume I, January 2001, 2, 26-29.The study tracked the progress of students entering ninth in 1995-1996 over four years and found thatby the fourth year 24 percent of the class had dropped out or could not be located.

60 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population in state bysex, detailed age, race, and Hispanic origin, 2000 Annual Averages, 2002.

Northwest Workforce Development Council, Youth Training and Employment Program and Summer2000 Performance Report, October 2000.

62 Alternative programs include:Alternative learning experiences' where students are under a contract to complete individual plansbased on achieving competencies.Alternative high schools that operate under the same fiscal conditions as other public high schoolswithin a school district but employ alternative learning strategies.Alternative programs within high schools that provide alternative learning strategies.Academic and vocational education and training programs provided at community and technicalcolleges that lead to a high school program. School districts contract with community andtechnical colleges to provide these programs.

63 Amendments to RCW 28A.655.030 and 1999 c 388 s 102 include the following: Sec. 1. 1 (a)...The goals may be established for all students, economically disadvantaged students, limitedEnglish proficient students, students with disabilities, and students from disproportionatelyacademically underachieving racial and ethnic backgrounds. The commission may establish schooland school district goals addressing high school graduation rates and dropout reduction goals forstudents in grades seven through twelve.

74113185T COPY AVAHA 110 LE

64 Youth who are eligible to participate in Workforce Investment Act youth programs form onedefinition of "at-risk" youth. According to Section 101. Definitions, the Workforce Investment Act,1998: an "eligible youth" is an individual who (A) is not less than age 14 and not more than age 21; (B)is a low income individual; and (C) is an individual who is one or more of the following: (i) Deficientin basic literacy skills; (ii) a school dropout; (iii) homeless, a runaway, or a foster child; (iv) pregnantor a parent; (v) an offender; (vi) an individual who requires additional assistance to complete aneducational program, or to secure and hold employment.

65 Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Section 129 (c).

66 See WorkSource Partner Programs text box on page 52.

°Personal communication with Caroline Maillard, Seattle-King County Workforce DevelopmentCouncil, March 6, 2002.

68 Personal communication with Suzie Saxton, Program Training Coordinator, Yakima Valley, April 4,2002. The current average wage replacement rate for this program in 2001 was $9.09. The targetpopulation for this program is 80-85 per cent Hispanic.

69 The Dupont Corporation, Equal to the Task II, 1990 report of employer survey results. "... the 1990survey confirms that our employees with disabilities maintain their status as safe, productive anddependable workers." The International Center for the Disabled (1CD), The National Council onDisability, and the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, ICD Survey II:Employing Disabled Americans, 1987. A nationwide sample of 920 employers were surveyed and theresults demonstrate an overwhelming majority of employers rated employees with disabilities as goodor better than employees without disabilities in: overall job performance; willingness to work hard;reliability; attendance/punctuality and productivity. Eighty-four percent of line managers who hadsupervised employees with disabilities felt they were no harder to supervise. Now available from theOffice of Disability Employment Policy, Department of Labor. The Job Accommodation Network(Office of Disability Employment Policy, conducts a cost benefits analysis of accommodations, lasttabulated in 1999, http://vvww.jan.wviteduknedialStats113enCosts0799.html Employers reportedbenefits of providing accommodations for employees with disabilities: allowed hiring or retaining aqualified employee-56 percent; eliminated the cost of training a new employee -3l percent; savedworker's compensation and/or other insurance costs-38 percent; increased the worker's productiv-ity-54 percent; other-25 percent (N= 867). Only 4 percent of employers reported no cost saving ofproviding accommodations while 46 percent reported saving between $7,501 and $50,000 and 20percent reported saving between $20,001 and $50, 000.

70 Section 203 of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. Health CareFinancing Administration, http://www.hcla.gov/medicaidltwN,viialtwwiialip.litm.

71 John Bauer, James Hu, Our Changing Labor Force, Workforce Training and Education Coordinatingioard, October 2001.

72 National Governors' Association, Working Out of Poverty: Helping Welfare Recipients Increase theWages and Advance, September 1999.

" Dr. Gerald Pumphrey, Bellingham Technical College, (former Vice President of GuildfordCommunity College, North Carolina), presentation before the House Trade and EconomicDevelopment Committee of the Washington State Legislature, February 4, 2002.

74 At a cost of $411 per hire, EAP is funded by Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Councilgrants, Department of Labor grants, and contributions in kind from the Chamber of Commerce. Thisproject received the Outstanding Rural Employment and Training Program award from the NationalAssociation of Workforce Boards, and it has been recognized by the Heidrich Center for WorkforceDevelopment at Rutgers University as a One-Stop system innovation, received the Creative andExemplary Welfare-to-Work Services award from the Employment Security Department, and BestPractice Public/Private Partnership from WTECB.

vi 75 EST COPY AVAILABLig

75 The Operations Team convened by the Employment Security Department, has drafted a formalagreement between the Employment Security Department, the Division of Vocational Services and theDivision of Services for the Blind that outlines the responsibilities of each agency in servingindividuals with disabilities through WorkSource.

76 Employment Security Department, WorkSource Core Services for Persons with Disabilities: Reportto WorkSource Operations Committee, January 2002.

76vii

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