Narrative: II. b.

Vision

Arkansas will have a world-class workforce that is well educated, skilled, and working in order to keep Arkansas’s economy competitive in the global marketplace.

Mission

To promote and support a talent development system in Arkansas that offers employers, individuals, and communities the opportunity to achieve and sustain economic prosperity. Arkansas’s Talent Development System Philosophy

• We believe that there must be a pipeline of skilled workers for employers and a job for every Arkansan that wants one.
• We believe that the talent development system of Arkansas must be relevant to the labor market in order to meet the needs of employers and jobseekers, and for Arkansas to compete globally.
• We believe that every Arkansan should have opportunity and access to training and education that leads to a career with gainful employment.
• We believe innovation and partnerships centered on local economic priorities maximizes effectiveness and puts the State in the best position to address local and regional workforce needs.
• We believe Arkansas’s workforce system should be a viable resource for business and industry.
• We believe that in order for the talent development system to be the preferred system, the system must be accountable, flexible, and align education and training with business and industry needs.
• We believe that in order for the talent development system to be effective, we must eliminate overlap and duplication of resources and services and streamline investment of funds.

Vision for the Arkansas Workforce Development Delivery System

The publicly funded workforce system envisioned by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is quality focused, employer-driven, customer-centered, and tailored to meet the needs of regional economies. It is designed to increase access to, and opportunities for, the employment, education, training, and support services that individuals need to succeed in the labor market, particularly those with barriers to employment. It aligns workforce development, education, and economic development programs with regional economic development strategies to meet the needs of local and regional employers, and provides a comprehensive, accessible and high-quality workforce development system. This is accomplished by providing all customers access to high-quality workforce development centers that connect them with the full range of services available in their communities, whether they are looking to find jobs; build basic educational or occupational skills; earn a postsecondary certificate or degree; obtain guidance on how to make career choices; or are businesses and employers seeking skilled workers.

The Arkansas Workforce Development Board adopted a vision for the Arkansas Workforce Development Delivery System at their regular quarterly meeting in October 2015. This vision provides standards for a high quality workforce center including customer service, innovation and service design, and systems integration and high-quality staffing.

The publicly funded workforce system envisioned by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is quality-focused, employer-driven, customer-centered, and tailored to meet the needs of regional economies. It is designed to increase access to, and opportunities for, the employment, education, training, and support services that individuals need to succeed in the labor market, particularly those with barriers to employment. It aligns workforce development, education, and economic development programs with regional economic development strategies to meet the needs of local and regional employers, and provide a comprehensive, accessible and high-quality workforce development system. This is accomplished by providing all customers access to high-quality workforce development centers that connect them with the full range of services available in their communities, whether they are looking to find jobs, build basic educational or occupational skills, earn a postsecondary certificate or degree, or obtain guidance on how to make career choices, or are businesses and employers seeking skilled workers.

Under WIOA, partner programs and entities that are jointly responsible for workforce and economic development, educational, and other human resource programs collaborate to create a seamless customer-focused workforce delivery system that integrates service delivery across all programs and enhances access to the programs’ services. The workforce delivery system includes six core programs (Title I adult, dislocated worker, and youth programs; Title II adult education and literacy programs; Title III Wagner-Peyser program; and Title IV vocational rehabilitation program), as well as other required and optional partners identified in WIOA. In Arkansas, these programs are administered by the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services (Titles I, II, III) and the Rehabilitation Services portion of Title IV. The Division of Services for the Blind administers the remaining portion of Title IV. Through the Arkansas Workforce Center network, these partner programs and their service providers ensure that businesses and job seekers—a shared client base across the multiple programs identified above— have access to information and services that lead to positive employment outcomes. Under WIOA, workforce centers and their partners:

• Provide job seekers with the skills and credentials necessary to secure and advance in employment with family-sustaining wages.
• Provide access and opportunities to all job seekers, including individuals with barriers to employment, such as individuals with disabilities, to prepare for, obtain, retain, and advance in high-quality jobs and high-demand careers.
• Enable businesses and employers to easily identify and hire skilled workers and access other supports, including education and training for their current workforce.
• Participate in rigorous evaluations that support continuous improvement of workforce centers by identifying which strategies work better for different populations.
• Ensure that high-quality integrated data inform decisions made by policy makers, employers, and job seekers.

The management of the Arkansas workforce delivery system is the shared responsibility of States, local boards, elected officials, the core WIOA partners, other required partners, and workforce center operators. The Divisions encourage all of these entities to integrate the characteristics below into their work, including developing state, regional, and local strategic plans; establishing workforce center certification criteria; examining the state, regional, and local footprint of workforce centers; conducting competitions for selecting workforce center operators; developing local Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs); updating other workforce center policies and procedures; and operating and delivering services through the Arkansas Workforce Centers.

Characteristics of a High-Quality Arkansas Workforce Center

The characteristics identified below, consistent with the purpose and authorized scope of each of the programs, are designed to reflect elements that contribute to a high-quality workforce delivery system. They demonstrate the spirit and intent of the WIOA, and they will strengthen the successful integration and implementation of partner programs in Arkansas Workforce Centers. For clarity and readability the characteristics have been grouped into three functional categories: (a) Customer Service; (b) Innovation and Service Design; and (c) Systems Integration and High-Quality Staffing.

Customer Service

Arkansas Workforce Centers provide excellent customer service to job seekers, workers and businesses. Meeting the needs of job seekers, workers and businesses is important in developing thriving communities where all citizens succeed and businesses prosper. High-quality workforce centers:

• Reflect a Welcoming Environment: Reflect a welcoming environment to all customer groups who are served by the workforce centers. All workforce center staff are courteous, polite, responsive, and helpful to job seekers, businesses, and others who visit the workforce centers, either in person or by telephone or e-mail. Moreover, workforce center staff are sensitive to the unique needs of individuals with disabilities and are prepared to provide necessary accommodations.
• Provide Career Services that Empower: Provide career services that motivate, support and empower customers, including individuals with disabilities, to make informed decisions based on local and regional economic demand and effectively attain their personal employment and education goals.
• Value Skill Development: Value skill development by assessing and improving each individual’s basic, occupational, and employability skills.
• Create Opportunities: Create opportunities for individuals at all skill levels and levels of experience by providing customers, including those with disabilities, as much timely, labor market, job-driven information and choice as possible related to education and training, careers, and service delivery options, while offering customers the opportunity to receive both skill-development and job placement services.
• Improve Job Seeker Skills: Improve the skills of job seeker and worker customers. Workforce centers offer access to education and training leading to industry-recognized credentials through the use of career pathways, apprenticeships, and other strategies that enable customers, including those with disabilities, to compete successfully in today’s global economy. They provide businesses with access to the quantity and quality of talent they need and support upskill/backfill strategies that expand job opportunities in the community.
• Deliver Quality Business Services: Develop, offer, and deliver quality business services that assist specific businesses and industry sectors in overcoming the challenges of recruiting, retaining, and developing talent for the regional economy. To support area employers and industry sectors most effectively, workforce center staff identifies and has a clear understanding of industry skill needs, identify appropriate strategies for assisting employers, and coordinate business services activities across workforce center partner programs, as appropriate. This includes the incorporation of an integrated and aligned business services strategy among workforce center partners to present a unified voice for the workforce center in its communications with employers. Additionally, workforce centers use the forthcoming performance measure(s) on effectiveness in serving employers to support continuous improvement of these services.
• Innovation and Service Design: Arkansas Workforce Centers reflect innovative and effective service design.

Integrate Intake Process

Use an integrated and expert intake process for all customers entering the workforce centers. Frontline staff is highly familiar with the functions and basic eligibility requirements of each program, and can appropriately assist customers and make knowledgeable referrals to partner programs, as needed and as appropriate given the authorized scope of the program.

• Actively Engage Industry Sectors: Design and implement practices that actively engage industry sectors and use economic and labor market information, sector strategies, career pathways, Registered Apprenticeships, and competency models to help drive skill-based initiatives.
• Use Market Driven Principles: Balance traditional labor exchange services with strategic talent development within a regional economy. This includes use of market-driven principles and labor market information that help to define a regional economy, its demographics, its workforce and its assets and gaps in skills and resources.
• Use Innovative Delivery Models: Incorporate innovative and evidence-based delivery models that improve the integration of education and training, create career pathways that lead to industry-recognized credentials, encourage work-based learning, and use state-of the-art technology to accelerate learning and promote college and career success.

Offer Virtual and Center-Based Services: Include both virtual and center-based service delivery for job seekers, workers, and employers. Both methods of delivery support the talent needs of the regional economy, although each may better serve different customers with different levels of service needs at any given time. The workforce delivery system can expand its reach by delivering robust virtual services; and increasing the accessibility of those services through community partners, such as libraries, community and faith-based organizations, and other partners.

Ensure Access to All Customers: Ensure meaningful access to all customers. Workforce centers must be physically and programmatically accessible to all customers, including individuals with disabilities. In so doing, workforce centers use principles of universal design and human-centered design, such as flexibility in space usage; the use of pictorial, written, verbal and tactile modes to present information for customers with disabilities or limited English proficiency; providing clear lines of sight to information for seated or standing users; providing necessary accommodations; and providing adequate space for the use of assistive devices or personal assistants. Workforce centers use assistive technology and flexible business hours to meet the range of customer needs.

Systems Integration and High-Quality Staffing

Arkansas Workforce Centers operate with integrated management systems and high-quality staffing. High-quality workforce centers:

• Reflect Robust Partnerships: Reflect the establishment of robust partnerships among partners. The workforce center operator facilitates an integrated, co-located partnership that seamlessly incorporates services of the core partners and other workforce center partners.
• Organize Services by Function: Organize and integrate services by function (rather than by program); when permitted by a program’s authorizing statute and as appropriate, and by coordinating staff communication, capacity building, and training efforts. Functional alignment includes having workforce center staff who perform similar tasks serve on relevant functional teams, e.g. Skills Development Team, Business Services Team. Service integration focuses on serving all customers seamlessly (including targeted populations) by providing a full range of services staffed by cross-functional teams, consistent with the purpose, scope, and requirements of each program.
• Use Common Performance Indicators Use common performance indicators to ensure that federal investments in employment and training programs are evidence-based, labor market driven, and accountable to participants and taxpayers. Center performance is transparent and accountable to the communities and regions served; data entry staff are trained and understand the importance of data validation, data collection processes, and the importance of accurate reporting.
• Offer Highly Trained Career Counselors: Staff the center with highly trained career counselors, skilled in advising job seekers of their options, knowledgeable about local labor market dynamics, aware of available services inside and outside the workforce center, and skilled in developing customers’ skills for employment success.
• Implement Integrated Policies: Develop and implement operational policies that reflect an integrated system of performance, communication, and case management, and use technology to achieve integration and expanded service offerings.
• Cross-Train and Equip Center Staff: Train and equip workforce center staff in an ongoing learning process with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to provide superior service to job seekers, including those with disabilities, and businesses in an integrated, regionally focused framework of service delivery. Center staff are cross-trained, as appropriate, to increase staff capacity, expertise, and efficiency. Cross-training allows staff from differing programs to understand every program and to share their expertise about the needs of specific populations so that all staff can better serve all customers.
• Center staff is routinely trained and are keenly aware as to how their particular function supports and contributes to the overall vision of the local board.
• Maintain Integrated Case Management: Develop and maintain integrated case management systems that inform customer service throughout the customer’s interaction with the integrated system and allow information collected from customers at intake to be captured once. Customer information is properly secured in accordance with personally identifiable information guidelines, and facilitated as appropriate, with the necessary memoranda of understanding or other forms of confidentiality and data sharing agreements, consistent with federal and state privacy laws and regulations. Data, however, would be shared with other programs, for those programs’ purposes, within the workforce system only after the informed written consent of the individual has been obtained, where required.

Strategic Goal 1: Develop an efficient partnership with employers, the educational system, workforce development partners, and community -based organizations to deliver a platform that will prepare a skilled workforce for existing and new employers.

Goal 1 Objectives:

1. Expand employer partnerships through the support of industry engagement.
   1. Identify and promote best practices (private and public) for developing and sustaining partnerships.
   2. Expand partnership with economic development to refine sector strategies.
   3. Improve communication/participation between education entities, local and state boards, government agencies, community-based organizations, and employers.
   4. Increase accountability and clarity of action between all workforce related boards.
   5. Increase the utilization of Registered Apprenticeship programs as viable talent development opportunities.
   6. Increase connections with employers and Vocational Rehabilitation agencies to provide support and employment for youth and adults with disabilities.
   7. Partner with K-12 education, higher education, career and technical education, and adult education to provide consistent rules and eliminate barriers to implementing training programs around the State.
   8. Explore data sharing opportunities with non-governmental organizations that are committed partners to the state’s workforce center system that will lead to improved intake, referral, and case management for customers served by multiple agencies (both public and private).
   9. Expand small business participation.

Strategic Goal 2: Enhance service delivery to employers and jobseekers.

Goal 2 Objectives:

1. 11. Develop a common intake process for jobseekers and businesses that will efficiently connect them with services available from all workforce development partner programs and identify any barriers to employment that need to be addressed.
   12. Develop an integrated data system that will enable the sharing of information between partner agencies to more efficiently service both employers and jobseekers.
   13. Promote training that leads to industry recognized credentials and certification.
   14. Support transportable skill sets for transportable careers.
   15. Support career pathways development and sector strategy initiatives as a way to meet business and industry needs.
   16. Expand service delivery access points by the use of virtual services.
   17. Develop a common business outreach strategy with a common message that will be utilized by all workforce system partners.
   18. Develop a menu of services available at each service delivery access point that provides a list of the services and training opportunities available through Arkansas’s talent development system.
   19. Utilize customer satisfaction surveys to ensure continuous improvement of the State’s talent development system.
   20. Explore data sharing opportunities with non-governmental organizations that are committed partners to the state’s workforce center system that will lead to improved intake, referral, and case management for customers served by multiple agencies (both public and private).

Strategic Goal 3: Increase awareness of the State’s Talent Development System.

Goal 3 Objectives:

1. 21. Increase access to the workforce development system through a no wrong door approach to services.
   22. Change employer and jobseeker perceptions of the workforce system.
   23. Develop an image-building outreach campaign that educates Arkansans about the services and the career development opportunities available in the State.
   24. Utilize technology, including social media and search engine optimization, to better connect jobseekers and employers with the talent development system in Arkansas.
   25. Develop a user-friendly website that provides a common repository of information about career development opportunities that are relevant to K-12 education, parents, educators, adults, employers, government agencies, and the general public.

Strategic Goal 4: Address Skills Gaps

Goal 4 Objectives:

1. 26. Conduct a statewide skills and asset analysis to determine the skills gap present and resources available to solve the skills issue.
   27. Develop and implement an action plan to close the basic core, technical, and soft skills gaps in Arkansas.
   28. Analyze the effectiveness of currently used job readiness standards and ensure coordination between the Arkansas Career Readiness Certificate program and the Workforce Alliance for Growth in the Economy (WAGE) program.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) has a focus on helping low-income and disadvantaged populations. Workforce development professionals operate within a highly integrated one-stop career system, complete with co-located partners, procured service providers, and shared resource leveraging. However, funding and available public resources are still finite and limited, so populations with significant or multiple barriers to employment should receive priority for services. Sometimes these populations will be referred to as “hard-to-serve” or “hard-to-employ” clients.

Some special populations the workforce system serves include, but are not limited to:

• • Veterans and eligible spouses
  • Individuals with disabilities, both youth and adults
  • English language learners (Limited English Proficiency)
  • Migrant and seasonal farmworkers
  • Out-of-school youth
  • Adult and youth ex-offenders (justice-involved)
  • Public assistance recipients (TANF, SNAP, SSI, Medicaid, etc.)
  • Youth in, or previously in, foster care
  • Homeless individuals, both youth and adults
  • Runaway youth
  • Pregnant and parenting youth
  • The long-term unemployed
  • Low-income workers earning wages below self-sufficiency
  • Basic skills deficient individuals
  • The over 55 age group

The vision of the one-stop system is that service providers leverage all available assets, ensure universal access, and allocate funding for low income and special populations. Many local areas have established more inclusive priority of service policies to ensure that their hard-to-serve and disadvantaged populations receive a focus in their service delivery.

Each of the four major goals of this plan will be implemented with the above listed special populations in mind to increase the services and enrollment of these populations. The ultimate goal is to find and help disadvantaged individuals, which in turn leads to greater overall economic prosperity for the State. Persistent, incremental accommodations or assistance can often result in a safety net that can eventually lead to huge gains for the individuals seeking help......raising the overall level of economic prosperity for the community, when they achieve positive labor market outcomes. Thus, proactive intake of special populations helps the State attain a larger return on investment for the funding, assets and staff resources employed. This requires leadership and vision in labor market-relevant planning, including evaluation, assessments, data-driven decision-making, and collaboration to best meet the needs of special populations, jobseekers, workers and businesses alike. The four major goals, when implemented will achieve this outcome.

3. Performance Goals

Using the table provided in Appendix 1, include the State's expected levels of performance relating to the performance accountability measures based on primary indicators of performance described in section 116(b)(2)(A) of WIOA. (This Strategic Planning element only applies to core programs.)

WIOA ensures that Federal investments in employment and training programs are accountable to jobseekers, employers, customers, and taxpayers. WIOA establishes common performance measures across the four core programs and also requires other programs authorized by the Act to report on the same indicators. In addition, WIOA requires the establishment of primary indicators on credential attainment and skills gain and on the effectiveness of services to employers. Arkansas’s common performance targets are located in Appendix 1.

4. Assessment

Describe how the State will assess the overall effectiveness of the workforce development system in the State in relation to the strategic vision and goals stated above in sections (b)(1), (2), and (3) and how it will use the results of this assessment and other feedback to make continuous or quality improvements.

In 2020, the Arkansas Workforce Development Board (AWDB), engaged two University of Arkansas departments, the Counselor Education Program and the Center for Business and Economic Research at the Walton College of Business to complete a comprehensive WIOA Systems Evaluation, Skills Gap Analysis, and a series of Customer Service Surveys.

This evaluation, completed and presented to the AWDB on June 16, 2021, was conducted to assist in evaluating effectiveness and ensuring continuous improvement.

 The evaluation used designs that employed the most rigorous analytical and statistical methods that were reasonably feasible, such as the use of control groups (20 CFR § 682.220) as appropriate.

The entire 232-page evaluation report can be found at:

https://www.dws.arkansas.gov/programs/

The evaluation found the following:

Overall Evaluation Recommendations:
Creating better work opportunities for Arkansans means building a well-trained workforce for our state's employers. This will require ADWS to collaborate with businesses large and small, WIOA partners, nonprofit organizations, and others. It also requires a workforce system in which workforce centers are willing learn from the best practices across the state. The following recommendations may be used by ADWS to develop training courses or modules which can be provided to ADWS centers around the state. In doing so, ADWS may increase the quality of skills gap identification and analysis, as well as overall service quality across the state.

1. Co-Enrollment: Co-Enrollment in partner programs, though a WIOA mandate, seems to be little more than an afterthought for many center staff members. Data documenting rates of co-enrollment were not immediately available to the evaluators, and were obtained through surveys and interviews with partner programs. The evaluators recommend that
Arkansas Workforce Development Leadership and the Arkansas Workforce Development Board and area managers develop data collection methods to effectively track and monitor rates of co-enrollment. Only by having accurate and up- to-date
information concerning co-enrollment can ADWS begin to encourage and promote additional co-enrollment with WIOA partners.
2. Partner Programs and Organizations: In an online “One-Stop Operations Guidance” document (doleta.gov TEGL), the Department of Labor states that, “WIOA places a strong emphasis on planning across multiple partner programs to ensure alignment in service delivery. One key goal is to develop effective partnerships across programs and community-based providers to provide individuals the employment, education, and training services they need. Effective partnering is pivotal to maximize resources and to align services with career pathways and sector strategies.” Many partner organizations
reported that they do not have data available to adequately partner with Workforce Centers. Information collected from partner organizations in all assigned areas indicate that they have significant difficulty in collecting and providing quality data. These organizations are willing and even eager to partner with ADWS centers, but don’t have processes in place to collect data and provide support and assistance. It is recommended by the evaluators that Arkansas Workforce Department Leadership and the Arkansas Workforce Development Board work with all workforce areas to identify and engage
additional community partners, and to provide training and assistance to those partners in data collection techniques.
3. Business Survey: It is recommended by the evaluators that ADWS address each of the concerns expressed in the survey. These concerns are serious, and even though the overall results showed a “...moderate degree of satisfaction with WIOA programs...” the concerns must be addressed. These concerns include: Less than half of WIOA recipients (42%) reported receiving the majority of services needed to address workforce needs; Many respondents described Workforce Center staff as “unresponsive” or “inattentive;” Many comments brought up the difficulty of posting job openings through the ADWS or
the employers’ website; Several comments noted a lack of interaction between staff and businesses. The evaluators recommend that additional training programs be established to improve staff/customer relationships. It is further recommended that training and promotional materials specific to web based job postings be developed and
implemented. As an initial step, the evaluators recommend that all web based processes be evaluated for ease of use. Any processes that are considered unwieldy or awkward should be modified to maximize usefulness. It is necessary that the website used for posting job openings be user friendly in order to encourage its use. Upon completion of necessary website revisions, educational methods related to the use of the site for job postings should be developed and initiated. Ease of use must be the primary goal. The evaluators recommend that short video guides be developed and added to the website to lead
potential posters and customers through the job posting process.
4. Customer Survey: This survey showed a 62% overall satisfaction rate with WIOA programs and a 68% satisfaction rate with Workforce Center staff. While these numbers are good, there are findings in the survey that require attention from Arkansas Workforce Development Leadership and the Arkansas Workforce Development Board. The survey found that, “many” respondents reported “poor customer service”, “a rude attitude”, “inattentive staff”, or “uninformed staff”. In spite of the high overall satisfaction rating with the program, “many” respondents cited these issues. The evaluators, therefore recommend additional training in customer service for all local center staff. In addition, the survey found that, “The current phone system does not appear suited to surge demand of ADWS or WIOA services.” Because it is possible that the increased demand on the phone system due to the COVID pandemic is at least partially responsible for the problems reported by customers, the evaluators highly recommend that the phone system be professionally evaluated immediately. If these
problems continue post-COVID, the evaluators recommend that the system be upgraded as soon as it is feasible. This upgrade, installed across all workforce centers in the state will no doubt be expensive, but quality services are dependent upon an effective and reliable communication system.
5. Compliance Review: The evaluators make no recommendations for change in this area. As previously stated, it is the opinion of the evaluators that the six centers reviewed for this study are in substantial compliance with all ADWS regulations, and that the managers take their regulatory responsibilities seriously. The reviewed centers provided compliant but unique services. Centers were able to meet or exceed overall guidelines and regulations while maintaining unique services designed to meet the specific service needs of the regions in which they are located. The evaluators further believe that the review of these six centers provides a representative picture of ADWS centers across the state.
6. Other Recommendations: It is highly recommended that ADWS establish methods for high performing centers and workforce areas to provide training for other centers. In the areas of referral procedures, training of service recipients, and skills gaps identification and assessment, centers all seem to recognize the need for the services. There exists, however, a significant difference in the quality and success of the services provided. It is recommended that ADWS provide incentives for high performing areas to develop training modules (in-person and online) which can be shared with less successful centers.
The evaluators further recommend Arkansas Workforce Development Leadership and the Arkansas Workforce Development Board establish a system to ensure ongoing supervision and monitoring of the quality improvement process. This system should include regular formative and summative evaluation on a regular basis.