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Plan: Colorado PYs 2016-2017
Combined Plan C

Section: WIOA State Plan Common Elements

Narrative: III. a. 2. H.

Published
Located in:
  • III. Operational Planning Elements
    The Unified or Combined State Plan must include an Operational Planning Elements section that support the State’s strategy and the system-wide vision described in Section II.(c) above. Unless otherwise noted, all Operational Planning Elements apply to Combined State Plan partner programs included in the plan as well as to core programs. This section must include—
    • a. State Strategy Implementation
      The Unified or Combined State Plan must include—
      • 2. Implementation of State Strategy
        Describe how the lead State agency with responsibility for the administration of each core program or a Combined Plan partner program included in this plan will implement the State’s Strategies identified in Section II(c). above. This must include a description of—

III. a. 2. H. Improving Access to Postsecondary Credentials

Describe how the State’s strategies will improve access to activities leading to recognized postsecondary credentials, including Registered Apprenticeship certificates. This includes credentials that are industry-recognized certificates, licenses or certifications, and that are portable and stackable.

Current Narrative:

Several initiatives are currently underway in Colorado that support the performance measure in WIOA for attaining postsecondary credentials. The initiatives work with employers, educational institutions, and training providers in unique ways to accomplish this goal.

Colorado’s sector strategies include the implementation of skill panels that are designed to unpack what employers need when they often require a specific credential in a job posting. After the skills are uncovered, educational institutions can work with sector partnerships to adjust, customize, or design new industry–recognized credentials relevant for key industries in the state.

In order to raise awareness of the value and availability of training programs that lead to industry–recognized credentials, the WORK Act was passed in 2015. Starting in January 1, 2016, the program accepts applications for matching grants from public and private providers of qualified skilled worker training programs. Qualified grant recipients offer training for skills that are needed in the workplace, with a credential or other evidence of achievement awarded at the completion of training.

Applications received by the CDLE are transmitted to a 13–member grant review committee composed of representatives of certain government agencies, including CDLE, the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), the Department of Higher Ed (DHE), the Colorado Workforce Development Council (CWDC) in CDLE, as well as representatives from employers and industry. The bill sets forth guidelines for the review of applications by the committee, and the committee is directed to establish formal criteria and rank applications. The committee’s recommendations and rankings are submitted to the executive directors of CDLE, DHE, and OEDIT. These directors then jointly determine grant recipients and amounts. Each grant recipient is required to submit an annual report to the committee, and the committee must, by May 1, 2017, and each May 1 until 2019, submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly’s business committees.

A growth opportunity has also been identified for concurrent enrollment programs, and Colorado HB 15–1275, Measures to Support Concurrent Enrollment in Career and Technical Education Programs, clarifies that a local education provider (secondary school) may include course work related to apprenticeships and internships in the programs that are available for concurrent enrollment with post–secondary Career and Technical Education programs. It also directs the Concurrent Enrollment Advisory Board to assist education providers with creating cooperative agreements with providers of internships and apprenticeships.

Finally, the Business and Experiential Learning Commission was launched in 2015 to assist in the development and scaling of work–based learning programs that directly tie high schools to a wide variety of employers. This group is exploring the feasibility of replicating the Swiss Apprenticeship Model in Colorado, and a team has traveled to Zurich to learn about the model. The first pilot is being launched in partnership with Denver Public Schools and it will engage students as early as ninth grade with career exploration activities, and by a student’s senior year they will be spending multiple days per week on a job site.