Narrative: III. a. 2. C.

Coordination, Alignment and Provision of Services to Individuals

A key component in coordinating activities and resources to provide comprehensive, high quality customer-centered services, involves a greater integration of services made available to all job seekers on a local and regional level. The integration of services provided by all core and required program partners will also consider the future educational and employment needs of the job seekers serviced throughout Illinois. Expanding the collaboration efforts on methods to improve local service delivery by; improving our assessment of the opportunities and needs of individuals and the labor market in each area; and employer engagement will be key in our efforts to administer high quality, customer-centered services.

Regional Planning Assessment and Analysis

Illinois has developed and promoted an integrated Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) strategic planning process across education, workforce and economic development, which will provide comprehensive, high quality customer-centered services. Part of the regional planning process was to examine targeted population data provided by the state data team and other relevant local studies. Regional teams examined supply-side data and considered ways to leverage partners’ expertise, programs, and resources to connect various talent pools to career opportunities in targeted industries. The planning process included analysis of how the partners in each region will address the specific needs of the targeted populations and an asset mapping process to inventory the career, education, training and supportive services that are available in each region.

Governor’s Guidelines and One-Stop Certification

The State of Illinois will continue to use the Interagency Work Group to develop and recommend policy through the policy process to the Illinois Workforce Innovation Board (IWIB) regarding the operational requirements of the Comprehensive One-Stop Centers, including the Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the required and optional partners. These guidelines require the Local Workforce Innovation Areas (LWIA) to describe the services that will be provided to individuals and how the services will be coordinated by the required and optional partners. It is anticipated that the State of Illinois will update the Governor’s Guidelines to be compliant with the final WIOA rule. The Governor’s Guidelines and One-stop certification criteria will develop minimum standards for the provision of services including the referral and coordination of training and supportive services. It is anticipated that these standards will also be informed by the benchmarks and performance metrics that are developed by the evaluation efforts of the IWIB and Interagency Work Group. Once these standards are established the state will develop a technical assistance and monitoring strategy to ensure compliance and continuous improvement.

Labor Market Information & Illinois Pathways

Labor market information and demand-driven data set the foundation for the WIOA career services in Illinois. Employment Security is responsible for labor market information (LMI) and the Illinois Career Information System, a web-based tool that incorporates Illinois-specific actionable data on in-demand occupations and wages that allow students and job seekers to make informed decisions about their career pathways. These services will result in individualized plans addressing how to reach career goals based on career and skill assessments and identified barriers requiring support services. Illinois Pathways uses these data to provide individuals with research groupings of careers, LMI and the knowledge, skills, abilities and credentials that are required for each occupation. Through partnerships between the State of Illinois’ education and economic development agencies, Illinois Pathways supports local programs that empower students of all ages to explore their academic and career interests. Illinois will leverage the work of statewide, public-private partnerships to better coordinate investments, resources and planning for those programs with the goal of providing more opportunities for targeted individuals.

The workforce and education partners including Adult Education, Career and Technical Education and Illinois State Board of Education will expand career development guides and technical assistance materials to promote leading career pathway models and best practices that can be implemented through regional sector partnerships and other regional sector initiatives. These technical assistance materials (along with associated professional development) will address how to improve career services and expand customer access to accelerated and integrated work-based and classroom training, align and integrate programs of study leading to industry-recognized credentials and support services for targeted populations facing barriers to employment. They will also address how to fully mainstream targeted populations into sector-based career pathway initiatives in order to achieve outcomes similar to those of other populations.

Coordinated Case Management and Supportive Services

A key strategy that was outlined in Section III.a.2.A, is the development policies for integrated and enhanced career services and case management. Illinois will incorporate the regional planning process and updated Governor’s Guidelines to drive customer-centered workforce centers that align the available career, education, training and supportive services. Illinois is working to develop case management teams to coordinate and support the delivery of enhanced case management services to participants across the required and optional program partners. As stated in Section III.a.2.A, Activity 4.3, through the Workforce Academy, cross-agency training and professional development will be developed to ensure needs are clearly understood by all partners, both core and required. This includes levering the resources of partners such as the ICCB Adult Education to provide professional development to agency partners in the appropriate administration of educational assessment of basic skill deficiencies. Finally, as mentioned earlier, training will be delivered through technological solutions and will be pursued to maximize access and cost-effectiveness.

In an effort to move forward with providing customer-centered services the state will expand on customer workflow studies like the Customer Centered Design Challenge. Several of the core and required program partners collaborated throughout the state and participated in the Customer Centered Design Challenge. The intent of the Customer Centered Design Challenge course is to task all WIOA program partners to rethink how services are administered, with the customer at the center as opposed to laws and regulations. The challenge taken on by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (Employment Security) team members was to identify “How might we better assist formerly incarcerated individuals obtain employment, education, develop healthy relationships and make positive decisions?” The group was comprised of managers and field office staff from the Wagner-Peyser Employment Service Program, Re-entry Employment Service Program, Hire the Future Program, Employer Outreach and Unemployment Insurance Program. The team conducted focus groups and interviews with multiple stakeholders within the re-entry population consisting of job seekers, those currently employed, community organizations and support systems such as family members. It was determined that, while Comprehensive One-Stop Centers offer the services and resources requested, very few stakeholders were aware of the services available. To address this issue, it was concluded that improved methods of outreach and resources should be made available through on-line avenues such as social media, partner web pages and informational videos in resource rooms. Identifying the needs of our customers allows all core partners to collaboratively and simultaneously address the problem of misinformation and lack of information in the re-entry community. The platform of waiting rooms, web pages, and social media will be areas of initial emphasis.

Incorporation of Required Partner Services to Targeted Populations

Illinois will highlight and encourage the adoption of the best practices that are identified in statewide innovation projects that serve targeted populations throughout the state. This will include joint projects between the agencies responsible for administering the required WIOA programs.

• Aligning and implementing the best practices of the current and future Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) Projects. Commerce, ICCB, and Department of Human Services Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) have worked with regional and local partners to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities (aged 18 and above) in integrated career pathway and academic programs through community colleges and non-profit organizations in cooperation with American Job Centers, Local Workforce Innovation Boards (LWIB), employment networks and other regional partners.
• Aligning and developing bridge programs for low literacy and low-skilled adults to sequentially bridge the gap between the initial skills of individuals and what they need to enter and succeed in post-secondary education and career path employment. The state’s bridge programs prepare adults (with limited academic or limited English skills) to enter and succeed in post-secondary education and training leading to career path employment in demand occupations. The state agency partners will focus on expanding access and success in sector-based bridge programs that provide opportunities for low-skilled and low literate youth and adults. The state will support new initiatives that promote sector-based pre-bridge, bridge programs and integrated education and training models that expand access and success of low-skilled youth and adults in career pathways. These programs are designed to introduce individuals to career pathway programs of interest. The state recognizes the use of bridge programs as a foundation for career pathway systems and also as a foundation for employment opportunities and other training. ICCB will work closely with core and required partners under WIOA to re-examine the use of bridge programs for those individuals who lack basic skills as a way of connecting with Title I and Title III for training opportunities and with Title IV to ensure those who are basic skill deficient and have learning differences have access to tools needed to be successful.
• Aligning and coordinating WIOA Title I services with efforts that currently address justice-involved youth. Illinois is exploring a range of career pathway models for justice-involved youth seen nationally and statewide as best practices, and examining ways to braid and blend funding for maximum impact. Where possible these models will be folded into existing juvenile justice efforts for seamless service alignment to add the expertise of WIOA service providers to strengthen employment and training models.
• Aligning and coordinating foster youth employment and training programs including youth who are aging out of the foster care system. Commerce and Department of Children and Family Services are developing an initiative to expand career pathway services to older foster youth who are nearing age-out. Successful models for braiding and blending WIOA and Chafee Foster Care funds are under consideration as a basis for Illinois’ effort.
• Aligning and coordinating the critical programs and services for Veterans. Employment Security provides veterans’ employment representatives, who are fellow veterans and specialists in providing employment services. Illinois veterans will be served through the WIOA priority of service as well as targeted initiatives administered by the workforce and education partners and the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. As the WIOA definition of case management describes, it takes a community of resources to assist these Veterans to overcome/mitigate the identified barriers to employment and get them back in to the workforce.