Narrative: II. c. 2.

Florida Workforce and Innovation Opportunity Act Task Force

Florida’s implementation of WIOA began with the formation of a legislatively-created task force comprised of high-ranking officials in each agency with an impact on Florida’s Workforce Development System. The task force was charged with developing WIOA implementation recommendations for approval by the CareerSource Florida Board of Directors. These recommendations were to include, but not be limited to:

• A review of current workforce service delivery and recommendations for the inclusion of programs;

• Regional planning design;

• One-stop career center service delivery design;

• The integration of economic development, workforce development and Florida’s education system; and

• Development of sector strategies and career pathways.

As required by the enacting legislation, task force members include leaders of the following partner entities and agencies:

• Agency for Persons with Disabilities;

• CareerSource Florida;

• Enterprise Florida;

• Florida Association of Postsecondary Schools and Colleges Inc.;

• Florida College System;

• Florida Department Children and Families;

• Florida Department of Corrections;

• Florida Department of Economic Opportunity;

• Florida Department of Education Commissioner;

• Florida Department of Education, Division of Blind Services;

• Florida Department of Education, Division of Career and Adult Education;

• Florida Department of Education, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation;

• Florida Department of Elder Affairs;

• Florida Department of Juvenile Justice;

• Florida Small Business Development Center Network;

• Florida Workforce Development Association, Inc.;

• Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, Inc.;

• State University System

CareerSource Florida convened six meetings of the 20-member state WIOA Task Force — two webinars and four in-person meetings. Agendas as well as all information collected throughout the meetings are available on the CareerSource Florida website at www.careersourceflorida.com/wioa. The task force also visited the CareerSource Florida Capital Region career center in Tallahassee to better inform task force members about career center service delivery.

Task force members each outlined their entity’s role in and contributions to the workforce development system by answering the questions:

• What is your organization’s mission?

• What is your role in Florida’s workforce development system?

• What are your top three challenges in providing the best outcomes for those you serve?

• How will the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act help you overcome those challenges?

• What measures do you use to define successful outcomes?

Task force members discussed their entities’ contributions to developing Florida’s workforce by explaining:

• Their organization’s governance structure

• Regional operations

• Processes coordinated with other agencies or partners

• Utilization of one-stop career centers

• Their process for service delivery

Equipped with an understanding of each participating state agency’s role in Florida’s workforce system, task force members were offered an opportunity to discuss the following questions:

• Which programs and entities should be included in Florida’s workforce development system (combined or unified planning)?

• How should Florida’s WIOA planning regions be organized?

• What should be included in a one-stop career center?

• How can Florida’s workforce development system better share information, systems, and/or customers?

• What can Florida’s workforce development system do to best serve individuals with obstacles to employment?

• How should WIOA-required one-stop career center partners share infrastructure costs?

• Since WIOA requires common measurement and planning for the core programs, what governance or organizational structure would lead to the best outcomes?

• What resources or relationships do you need to implement WIOA?

At the conclusion of the task force meetings, a set of implementation recommendations were approved by the CareerSource Florida Board. These recommendations were discussed with the LWDBs during their formulation.

To further align core programs, a Florida WIOA Interagency Implementation Team was created that includes professional team members from all core programs. This team has met monthly and initially was an opportunity to learn more about each core program, its structure, purpose and customer base, and what they could contribute to the statewide system. This work has been beneficial in setting the stage for program alignment and identifying gaps. Once the teams’ understanding of each program deepened, the focus turned to identifying how the major components of WIOA would be implemented. This led to the formation of workgroups for the measurement/ performance accountability (data) component and the strategic planning/ statewide plan development (planning) component. Additional workgroups may be formed as needed to address implementation of other WIOA components.