Narrative: II. a. 2. C.

WIOA Adult, Dislocated and Youth. WIOA programs provide for career and training services at the State’s 21 Workforce Connection Centers, also called one–stops. The WIOA Adult and Dislocated Worker programs, in coordination with the Wagner–Peyser (WP) Employment Service (ES), are pivotal pieces of the one–stop delivery system, and the foundation of the workforce system. The system provides universal access to career and training services to meet the diverse needs of participants.

The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions provides oversight of WIOA programs by contracting with four Local Workforce Development Boards to provide a variety of services, such as job training and employment services. The CEOs in each local area serve as the local grant recipients for WIOA funds allocated to the local area. The State Administrative Entity allocates WIOA funds for services to youth, adults, and dislocated workers based on the U.S. Department of Labor–mandated formulas. Availability of WIOA funds is predicated upon receipt of federal allocations, and subject to required formula disbursements and rescission. Upon receipt of a fully executed grant agreement and all required attachments, the funds are made available to the local boards.

Wagner–Peyser Employment Services. The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions also administers Wagner–Peyser Employment Services, which it does from the state level through its Employment Services Division, along with the administration of Trade Adjustment Assistance, Work Opportunity Tax Credit, Rapid Response, and Veterans programs. NMDWS receives funding from USDOL to hire and oversee state merit staff responsible for direct delivery of the Wagner Peyser employment services and the other related services to jobseekers and employers. Merit staff is located throughout 18 field offices and the programs are co–located with the WIOA programs in every local board area.

Employment Services are provided as part of the one–stop delivery system. Currently, each local workforce development area has at least one comprehensive workforce development center that includes, at a minimum, three partners: WIOA Adult and Dislocated Worker services, Wagner–Peyser Employment Services, and access to Unemployment Insurance services. Each Employment Services field office is assigned a site manager who ensures the workforce centers are universally accessible, customer centered, and training is job–driven. This includes providing easy access to and assistance with workforce related activities, such as looking for a job, exploring work preparation and career development services, as well as seamless referral to WIOA employment, on–the–job–training, and occupational training programs. Employment Services staff follow required guidelines regarding referral and placement.

NM Workforce Connection On–Line System (NMWCOS). NMWCOS gives employers access to a database of job seekers in NM. Employers can enter, update, and archive job listings securely. The New Mexico Workforce Connection On–Line System is available free of charge to employers and jobseekers. Employers can post their own jobs or provide job listing information to Workforce Connection Center staff for the matching and referral of qualified job seekers. Workforce Connection Center staff can access both employer job listings and job seeker accounts entered into the system. The job listing information allows Workforce Connection Center staff to evaluate the hiring requirements of the employer, as well as the qualifications of the job seeker.

The workforce system also supports employers by providing customized screening and referral of qualified participants in career and training services to employers; customized employment–related services to employers, employer associations, or other such organizations on a fee–for–service basis that are in addition to labor exchange services available to employers under Wagner–Peyser; and, activities to provide business services and strategies that meet the workforce investment needs of area employers, as determined by the local boards and consistent with their local plans.

Adult Education. The Adult Education Program supports the development of the workforce by providing foundational education necessary for such employment, and can benefit from better connections to the State’s one–stop center resources. Adult Education programs provide opportunities for learning basic literacy skills; placement and retention in employment and workplace programs; obtaining an HSE; enrolling in post–secondary education programs; and English Language Acquisition (ELA) and civics. The Adult Education program resides in the New Mexico Higher Education Department, and includes 27 programs that provide adult literacy, workplace adult education and literacy, family literacy instruction, English language acquisition instruction, integrated English literacy and civics education and activities, workforce preparation activities, and integrated education and training. As appropriate, these services are also provided in classes at local provider locations, in one–to–one tutoring, and in classes at employer workplaces. Increasingly, local programs are providing hybrid face–to–face/distance classes using various technology platforms. Most local providers are housed at community colleges and branch campuses; one is at Alamo Navajo school district; and four are at community–based organizations.

Annually, Adult Education serves between 16,000 and 23,000 learners aged 16 and over, not enrolled in high school, and basic skills deficient. This includes adults who are unemployed and employed adults, on public assistance, have disabilities, or are incarcerated adults. All Adult Education a programs provide services free of charge to the community, and all books and necessary materials are provided.

Vocational Rehabilitation. New Mexico has two vocational rehabilitation programs. The Commission for the Blind (Commission), an independent state agency, serves individuals who are blind or visually impaired, while the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), which is housed within the New Mexico Public Education Department, serves individuals with all other disabilities. Both programs focus on preparing their respective participants for suitable work. DVR serves all eligible New Mexicans with disabilities other than participants in vocational rehabilitation through the Commission. These programs provide guidance and counseling, transition services, job search and placement, assistive technology and equipment, as well as other services tailored to the specific needs of their respective clients. DVR and the Commission very occasionally provide service to mutual participants, and work together to avoid duplication of services.

Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation serves New Mexicans with disabilities toward suitable employment. Services to participants are individualized and are based on a comprehensive evaluation of the person’s strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests and informed choice. Vocational counseling and guidance by vocational rehabilitation counselors is the primary service to participants. An Individualized Plan for Employment is developed in partnership with the participant, and legal guardian, when appropriate. This plan is the basis for what services will be provided, how the services will be provided, the timeline for services and how progress will be measured toward achieving the employment outcome. Because each participant’s needs and goals are individualized, services provided vary significantly between participants and plans. Some services are available to all participants, if needed to participate in services and achieve employment, such as assessment to determine eligibility and/or vocational rehabilitation needs, referral to services offered by other agencies that can aid in accomplishing vocational goals, interpreter services, rehabilitation teaching, orientation and mobility services, reader services, job search, placement and retention services and post–employment services.

Commission for the Blind. The Commission for the Blind’s customers fall in to one of two basic population groups, the first being individuals seeking to be employed and receiving vocational rehabilitation services, and the second being persons seeking to live independently in their homes and communities and receiving independent living services. While the Commission serves children, youth, adult, and older individuals, strategies in the WIOA state plan focus on the population of persons receiving vocational rehabilitation services who want to remain or become employed. The Commission typically opens a vocational rehabilitation case starting at age 14. Vocational rehabilitation services are provided to individuals who need and can benefit from vocational rehabilitation services as it relates to an employment outcome. The services are provided through an Individualized Plan for Employment. The Commission for the Blind provides services through eight vocational rehabilitation counselors dispersed throughout the state. These counselors are required to obtain a graduate degree in rehabilitation counseling or closely related field and certification from the Commission on Rehabilitation Counseling.

The Commission also operates a residential training program with eight highly qualified teachers in Alamogordo where individuals who are blind receive six to nine months of intensive training in Braille, orientation and mobility, assistive technology, personal management, home management, and industrial arts. The Commission’s challenges include the need to provide intensive services to overcome blindness, particularly for clients needing to overcome the inability to read and access printed materials, live independently, use technology, travel safely and independently, or access transportation, as well as the lack of public transportation in rural areas. Other significant challenges for the Commission include having to serve a rapidly growing population of children with a condition called Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, which is now the leading cause of blindness in children and which has increased by 600 percent in the last 30 years, as well as a growing number of persons with diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, and a growing population of seniors with age–related macular degeneration, but who are wanting to continue to work. Additionally, the Commission is seeing a population of blind transition students who are graduating from public schools without adequate Braille and other blindness skills, requiring the agency to provide more intensive training.

Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). The Combined Plan incorporates the plan of one of the WIOA required partners, the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), submitted by the Aging and Long Term Services Department. SCSEP provides employment and training services to older New Mexicans. The program has two goals: assisting income–eligible persons, age 55 or older, to obtain employment; and providing community service through paid, part–time, training positions. Enrolled participants receive work experience and on–the–job training to develop new or improved skills; and support to overcome barriers to employment, such as lack of self–confidence, lack of English language fluency, or physical disabilities. Participants are encouraged to take advantage of all available training offered by SCSEP providers, the WIOA programs, the Workforce Connection Centers, and other training sources. Trainees are placed in community service positions within governmental entities or private, not–for–profit organizations. Three organizations work together to provide services for these older adults with low incomes in New Mexico, including Goodwill Industries International, the National Indian Council on Aging, and the New Mexico Aging & Long–Term Services Department.

Other Required Partner Programs. WIOA designates a number of required partners in the one–stop system. If these partners carry out their activities in a given local area, they are required to make their core services available at one–stop centers, provide funding for one–stop administration, if co–located, and provide representation on the local boards, where applicable. Each local area has one comprehensive one–stop center that provides access to physical services of the core programs and other required partners.