Located in:
- III. Operational Planning Elements
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include an Operational Planning Elements section that supports 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—
- 2. Implementation of State Strategy
- a. State Strategy Implementation
III. a. 2. F. Partner Engagement with Other Education and Training Providers
Describe how the State’s Strategies will engage the State’s other education and training providers, including providers on the state’s eligible training provider list, as partners in the workforce development system to create a job-driven education and training system.
Current Narrative:
The core and non-core partners have a strong partnership with the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, Arkansas Community Colleges, Registered Apprenticeship, and the Arkansas Board of Private Career Education, the licensing board for private education in Arkansas. This partnership will be nurtured under the implementation of this plan and encourage training providers from both public and private institutions to engage with the State’s workforce development system and provide feedback for continuous improvement.
For example, one adult education provider partners with the Electrical Apprenticeship program to provide basic skills instruction primarily in math. Apprentices entering the electrical trade are required to be licensed by the Arkansas Department of Labor, Board of Electrical Examiners. This is a four-year program consisting of 640 hours of classroom instruction coinciding with 8,000 hours of on-the-job training. When a student completes the program, he or she will be granted a "release to test" and can submit an application to sit for the journeyman electrician's exam. The adult education classes are offered through partnership with the Arkansas Construction Education Foundation. In 2018-19, the adult education program served 29 students for 1,669 hours (in basic math as part of the electrical program).
Through partnership with the Arkansas Apprenticeship Coalition, the State has collected necessary data to add all Registered Apprenticeship programs desiring such to the list of approved eligible training providers. The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services has and will continue to work with local workforce development boards to educate training providers on the process to become eligible training providers in an effort to increase the number of providers and customer choice in training.
The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services has partnered with the Arkansas Research Center and the Arkansas Department of Higher Education in an effort to compile required performance data for the continued eligibility of training providers in an effort to offset the administrative burden to the provider. The State anticipates that this assistance will enable many eligible training providers to remain on the list of approved training providers that otherwise would have dropped off due to the significant reporting requirements under WIOA.