Narrative: II. c. 1.

As noted above, Minnesota’s Combined WIOA State Plan will focus on two primary goals:

1. Reduce educational and employment disparities based on race or disability to provide greater opportunity for all Minnesotans; and
2. Build employer–led industry–sector partnerships focused on aligning skills with careers in demand.

Minnesota will seek to achieve these goals by continuing to build a robust career pathway system driven by six the elements of career pathways:

• Business Engagement
• Community Engagement
• Customer–Centered Design
• Funding and Resource Needs
• Policy and System Alignment
• System Management

Over the past several years, career pathways programming has experimented with the definitions of the six elements, making modifications that recognize unique situations of the populations being served, and increasing positive outcomes. We are at the point in career pathways development where greater scalability requires a more consistent understanding and application of the six elements.

The GWDB adopted the definition and six key elements to further their work in partnership with career pathways providers, funders and partnerships to develop and support an updated framework for career pathway efforts based on the six elements. This process will align WIOA and other Combined Plan partner resources with existing state and philanthropic resources that have been a key driver of career pathways programming.

The following table lays out a high level overview of the strategies that the state plans to pursue and complete during the first two years of the four–year plan, recognizing that revisions will be sought after the second year to remain in alignment with progress being made at the regional and local level.

Business Engagement

Strategy – Businesses lead in the identification and development of career pathway maps that target occupations in demand and provide family–sustaining wages.

Community Engagement

Strategy – Communities experiencing inequities in education and employment and providers with specialized services contribute to the design and delivery of activities within the Career Pathway System.

Customer–Centered Design

Strategy – Better understanding the needs of businesses by stronger engagement, the state will design and support trainings that is unique for job seekers who need multiple services and "on–ramps" to be successful through authentic career pathway opportunities.

Funding & Resource Needs

Strategy – Understand the resource capacity of Federal, state, local and philanthropic organizations who fund and provide resources to the Career Pathway System.

Policy and System Alignment

Strategy – Understand the program and policy change needed to achieve greater alignment that will support a stronger and broader engagement of system partners in building a Career Pathway System.

System Management

Strategy – Create system measures that assist with managing the building of a Career Pathway System, including process and outcome measures.

The oversight and execution of these six strategic elements requires state, regional and local coordination by the GWDB, state agencies, and the local workforce development boards. The following is a brief summary of the roles of each level of coordination within the six strategic elements.

STRATEGIC ELEMENT 1 – BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT

Business engagement will focus on creating business led sector partnerships that utilizing the 7 principles of Industry Partnerships, published by The National Fund for Workforce Solutions. Based on regional Labor Market Information (LMI) data (including real–time job data), each region will develop sector partnerships that are business–led. The outcome of this effort will be Career Pathway models that lay out a clear route to attaining jobs for occupations in demand that pay family–sustaining wages. Components will include identifying the demand for each occupation; establishing the technical skill requirements tied to a post–secondary credential that are recognized by the industry; and conducting an analysis of workforce make–up as it relates to employment levels of populations experiencing disparate impact.

The regional plans call for the local boards to identify up to three priority industry sectors that are experiencing occupations in demand, through either growth or the need for replacement workers, as baby–boomers retire. Local boards may also consider emerging industries that have growth potential. Business leaders from the selected sectors will be identified and contacted to establish a framework for the business led sector partnership. The engagement strategy will not only assist with strengthening the training and credential pathways to family sustaining wage occupations, but also support the needs of employers to become more successful in attracting and retaining a more diverse workforce, reflective of the communities where they reside.

The state agencies, primarily the Department of Employment and Economic Development, will support the local boards by providing data and other analysis to assist them with selection of their sectors and other aspects of establishing partnerships with system providers. The GWDB will provide general oversight to the process, approving the regional plans and assisting with creating a universal approach to sector practices to share across the state. The twenty–one private sector members of the GWDB will provide leadership and representation of employer–led sector partnerships.

This Strategic Element will build upon the efforts already underway by the GWDB, state agencies, local boards, and industry sectors. As described elsewhere in this Plan, the GWDB has already identified priority sectors for the state and many regions have identified local priority sectors. DEED already provides occupation–in–demand and real–time job posting data to job seekers and businesses. Many key economic sectors already have formed business–led partnerships that are beginning to address workforce issues, but deeper analysis will yield stronger outcomes.

STRATEGIC ELEMENT 2 – COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

There are two areas within this strategic element: service provider engagement and community member engagement. Service provider engagement entails reviewing current practices around existing career pathway programs funded by federal, state, private and philanthropic organizations. An adequate body of work exists to begin prioritizing best practices, the challenges they’ve faced, and their educational and employment outcomes. The priority here is to develop a larger, more coordinated support network among providers to disseminate these best practices to ensure on–going growth of a career pathway system that achieves our vision and goals.

Minnesota has a diverse provider network with many community based organizations offering specialized approaches to serving the populations experiencing inequities in education and employment outcomes, targeting communities of color, individuals with disabilities, disconnected youth and homelessness, for example. The priority is to develop a more coordinated and more inclusive support network among providers. The GWDB will establish a task force to broaden this network to address these challenges and provide recommendations for better outcomes.

The second area is to more fully engage communities experiencing disparate impact with educational and employment outcomes. This includes the tribal governments serving the seven Anishinaabe and four Dakota communities. Local Workforce Development Boards, within their respective regions, will be required to engage stakeholders in the development of their regional strategies and program development. The outcome of this effort will be to build stronger connections to these communities and specialized service providers to increase access and improve outcomes for individuals with barriers to employment.

The primary responsibility for this strategy is the local boards within the six workforce development regions. The regional plans call for local boards to actively engage communities experiencing disparate impacts in education and employment outcomes and to engage with service providers who have specialized skills in working with the identified populations. This engagement will play a role in strengthening services, connections among providers, and the accessibility of services for impacted populations.

State agencies will provide data and other analysis to assist local boards with this process, providing demographic and programmatic information, as well as ensuring that all system providers are known by the local boards, as many funding efforts have not been aligned specifically with the local workforce development boards.

This Strategic Element will build upon the efforts already underway by the GWDB, state agencies, local boards, and community–based organizations. Ramsey County has for years convened a coalition of public and private organizations around a project called Everybody In to focus on employment disparities. In 2015, DEED engaged the Emerging Workforce Coalition, coalition of culturally–based workforce development leaders to identify practices for increasing employment for people of color and immigrants. DEED also meets regularly with the Minnesota Employment Services Consortium of non–profit workforce service providers who focus on job–seekers with multiple barriers to employment, many with career pathways programs.

STRATEGIC ELEMENT 3 – CUSTOMER–CENTERED DESIGN

Building on the success of existing career pathway programming and on a clear understanding of our ability to achieve a greater scale of service and success rates for disparate–impact communities, our efforts will focus on addressing the tactical and strategic aspects to better employment, education and training services that meet the needs of employers and job seekers. Outcomes will include more customer–centered design of these services for job seekers who need multiple services and “on–ramps” to be successful and authentic career pathway opportunities based on needs of employers.

The primary responsibility for this strategy will be coordinated by the state board in partnership with the state agencies and the local boards. Existing practices of current career pathway initiatives will be reviewed and assessed for successful elements that can be replicated and brought to scale. These efforts will contribute to establishing a framework that allows for regional and local flexibility, based on available resources and partners to deliver services.

This Strategic Element will build upon the efforts already underway through the state’s Pathways to Prosperity program, which in FY2016 will fund more than $11 million worth of career pathways partnerships putting jobseekers with barriers to employment into high–demand careers with training and employer–valued credentials.

STRATEGIC ELEMENT 4 – FUNDING AND RESOURCE ALIGNMENT

Minnesota’s existing career pathway programs are funded and supported by a variety of federal, state and philanthropic resources. As funding and resources have expanded and brought new opportunities to service providers and job seekers, so has the broadening of career pathway approaches. Minnesota will review and assess the various models to assist with disseminating best practices and to set a more strategic structure to the development of these programs as we look toward more system changes to building Minnesota’s Career Pathway System. The outcome from this effort will result in more efficient use of resources and an understanding of the resources needed for continued development of the system that achieves our vision and goals of this plan.

The primary responsibility for this strategy will be coordinated by the GWDB in partnership with state agencies, local boards, and partner funders. The assessment of resources and models will provide the state board with a perspective of best practices to be shared among the six workforce development regions, as well as assist local boards with identifying better ways to coordinate and leverage resources. State agencies will review how funding streams flow from federal and state resources, within and among state agencies, to better understand opportunities for modifying funding processes.

This Strategic Element will build upon the efforts already underway by the GWDB, DEED, and our philanthropic partners. In its most recent annual report, the GWDB highlighted career pathways best practices and programs. MSPWin, a regional metro workforce development funders collaborative has identified career pathways in high–demand occupations and industry sector partnerships as priorities for its funded initiatives and programs. Similarly, Twin Cities United Way is planning to fund high–quality career pathway programs for low–income adults. Working through the GWDB’s Career Pathways Partnership, these and other career pathways programs can gain greater alignment with state WIOA programs as part of a larger career pathways system focused on equity and economic demand.

STRATEGIC ELEMENT 5 – POLICY AND PROGRAM ALIGNMENT

Minnesota recognizes the need to adapt state and local policies and the potential need for federal waivers to better align our career pathway system around equity and economic employment demand. Current career pathway programming has shed light on a number of issues that will need full system support to bring about the necessary changes. Through a review and recommendation process, these changes will begin to be implemented. The outcome of this effort will be stronger alignment of system components and more efficient use of resources, especially regarding performance and outcome metrics. Existing metrics do not adequately support career pathways, equity, or employment demand and new performance policies will need to be developed to drive achievement on these two goals.

The primary responsibility for this strategy will be with the state agencies. Policy and program alignment strategies will need to be coordinated by each agency responsible for specific programs. This process will be coordinated with the local boards and system partners, following what has been agreed to be possible for new approach based on customer–centered design and available funding and resources. The state board will support and lead the effort for federal and state legislative rule changes or waivers to ensure that needs can be acted upon.

This Strategic Element will build upon the efforts already underway between DEED and local workforce board leaders, who have been meeting monthly to redesign system program policy. The foundational collaboration among state agencies involved in the Talent Pipeline Policy Academy will also aid the policy alignment required for this strategic element to move forward.

STRATEGIC ELEMENT 6 – SYSTEM MANAGEMENT

Minnesota is working to redesign a system dashboard that not only complies with the requirements of WIOA, but adds factors that tell us how well the system is supporting each region and the overall state economy. This foundational approach considers talent, trade and innovation as the three pillars of our benchmarking system. Within the talent pillar, Minnesota will expand upon the important measures – beyond WIOA common measures – to look at interim, process and other outcome measures that are critical to each region of the state. The dashboard will also specifically report on identified disparate impact populations that have been identified within each workforce development region.

The primary responsibility for this strategy is with the state board, in coordination with the state agencies and local boards. The state board will oversee the development and overall approach to the benchmarking system. State agencies and local boards will also support how the metrics are developed and applied within the regions and how the regional goals will be established and reported.