Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Wagner-Peyser Program (Employment Services)
All Program-Specific Requirements provided for the WIOA core programs in this section must be addressed for either a Unified or Combined State Plan.
- e. Agricultural Outreach Plan (AOP). Each State agency must develop an AOP every four years as part of the Unified or Combined State Plan required under sections 102 or 103 of WIOA. The AOP must include an assessment of need. An assessment need describes the unique needs of farmworkers in the area based on past and projected agricultural and farmworker activity in the State. Such needs may include but are not limited to: employment, training, and housing.
- 4. Outreach Activities
The local offices outreach activities must be designed to meet the needs of MSFWs in the State and to locate and contact MSFWs who are not being reached through normal intake activities. Describe the State agency's proposed strategies for:
- 4. Outreach Activities
- e. Agricultural Outreach Plan (AOP). Each State agency must develop an AOP every four years as part of the Unified or Combined State Plan required under sections 102 or 103 of WIOA. The AOP must include an assessment of need. An assessment need describes the unique needs of farmworkers in the area based on past and projected agricultural and farmworker activity in the State. Such needs may include but are not limited to: employment, training, and housing.
e. 4. C. Increasing outreach worker training and awareness across core programs including the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program and the training on identification of UI eligibility issues
Current Narrative:
CDLE’s Workforce Development Programs (which administers the Title I and Title III WIOA core programs) and the Unemployment Insurance Division formalized their long-standing partnership in early 2012 with the co-location of Workforce Development representatives at the Unemployment Insurance offices to coordinate reemployment initiatives for claimants and the long-term unemployed. The two divisions work closely to strategically plan and support implementation of initiatives designed to benefit their shared customers. These initiatives have included the:
- Cross-training of approximately 120 UI staff on the roles of the workforce centers. UI is brainstorming with staff at all levels, from front-line to upper management, ways to better integrate reemployment philosophies into UI’s everyday conversations and workload involving customers. Once all ideas are heard and analyzed, UI will develop a plan to implement the approved concepts, which will include staff training and messaging to customers
- Cross-training of approximately 70 workforce center staff on the Unemployment Insurance benefits system and UI eligibility issues. CDLE holds annual UI eligibility refresher training for workforce center staff and answers any workforce staff questions as they arise.
The Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) initiative requires that UI staff participate in the development and training of the UI eligibility referral process for the workforce system. Annual training on RESEA is delivered, recorded and made available to the workforce system and other stakeholders on demand. In addition, the workforce system receives annual training on how and when to refer UI eligibility issues to the UI system. Lastly, CDLE developed a UI eligibility and work-search requirements video (in both Spanish and English). UI staff investigates and adjudicates eligibility referrals made by the workforce system. Additional technical assistance and follow-up sessions are made available, as appropriate.
- Joint issuance of state policies to the workforce system regarding reemployment services such as Links to Reemployment (UI Profiling) and approved training status
- Joint development of online resources targeted to the reemployment of UI customers
This system of cross-training and joint communications will be expanded to include the Title II Adult Education and Family Literacy and Title IV Vocational Rehabilitation core partners. Initial steps have been taken to include these partners in all aspects of cross-training and awareness initiatives, including UI eligibility issues.
Outreach workers in Colorado receive training on Unemployment Insurance requirements. They are kept up to date on job search requirements, job attached status and can also assist workers in changing or obtaining a pin number to access their claim.