Narrative: III. b. 3. B. ii.

Board Activities

The State Workforce Investment Board conducts in-person meetings three times annually and conducts other business through electronic means. The board has charged the Office of Workforce Development (Accelerate MS) with responsibility to implement and modify Mississippi’s Combined Plan and for the convening of meetings with all relevant programs, required partners, and stakeholders. The board consults with the Governor to ensure that Mississippi’s Combined Plan is carried out in a transparent manner and in consultation with representatives of local boards, chief elected officials, businesses, representatives of labor organizations, community-based organizations (CBOs), adult and youth education and workforce development providers, institutions of higher education, disability service entities, youth-service programs, and other stakeholders with an interest in the services provided by the core programs and any optional program included in Mississippi’s Combined Plan, as well as the general public, including individuals with disabilities. State Workforce Investment Board activities also include coordinating economic and workforce data analysis activities with the Mississippi State Longitudinal Data System Governing Board to ensure that local economic developers have access to detailed information to formulate sector strategies in local areas.

Local Workforce Development Boards

Mississippi is divided into four LWDAs. Local workforce development boards are board-administered, WIOA Strategic Partners responsible for regional and local development of workforce programs and the local implementation and oversight of One-Stop Centers. Local workforce development boards provide workforce-related education and training strategies for youth by contracting with local youth service providers.

The location of the Comprehensive One-Stop Centers and strategic partnership details have been determined by the local workforce development board in each LWDA based on targeted industries in the area and the needs of the workforce. This approach ensures that the services provided by the One-Stop Centers are aligned with data-driven sector strategies set by the State Workforce Investment Board. Comprehensive centers have been created in each of the four LWDAs. The local workforce development boards are responsible for memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with strategic partners. These MOUs describe the programs offered, detail the expectation of services for all involved partners, and address funding for support staff for each center. Appendix J contains the Office of the Governor’s guidelines for the creation of Local Workforce Development Board WIOA plans. Each local board describes how service delivery will be coordinated across all Combined Plan Partner programs at the local level in accordance with labor market realities and development goals.

Local workforce development boards have the option to include additional Affiliate One-Stop Centers with any subset of Combined Plan Partners as long as they include at least two partners. Local workforce development boards also have the flexibility to include additional partners in Affiliate One-Stop Centers. While local workforce development boards ultimately decide the logistics of affiliate centers, the WIOA law specifically identifies the following approved federally funded partners: employment and training programs administered by the Social Security Administration, including Ticket to Work and the Self Sufficiency Program; employment and training programs carried out by the Small Business Administration; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) programs; Client Assistance Program; and programs authorized under the National and Community Service Act of 1990.

Local workforce development boards are also responsible to ensure that local activities and local sector targets line up with state-level sector analysis. The Mississippi LifeTracks system will be modified to include frequently updated, web-accessible reports that feature dashboard numbers, pathway analysis, and supply and demand analysis to ensure that economic developers in Mississippi have a near real-time picture of the labor market. Sector analysis revealed laborshed zones that transcend LWDA boundaries and allow local workforce development boards to serve as intermediaries to connect local employers and training providers to meet labor market demands. Employers will communicate labor demand in real time by posting job orders in Mississippi Works Labor Exchange.

Mississippi State Longitudinal Data System (LifeTracks)

Mississippi’s State Longitudinal Data System (LifeTracks) was created to help meet data needs for reporting requirements and to answer critical policy questions relevant to education, workforce, and economic development. The Governing Board for the system consists of the executive directors of all data-contributing agencies in Mississippi, all of which are either Combined Plan Partner agencies or Strategic Partner agencies under WIOA. LifeTracks will play an integral role in combined WIOA reporting. Because all Combined Plan Partners currently contribute data to the LifeTracks system, and because LifeTracks was created, in part, for the purpose of assisting state agencies with reporting and strategic planning, Mississippi will be able to meet its reporting requirements efficiently. Further, LifeTracks will play a continuing role in the Mississippi Works Smart Start Career Pathway Model by coordinating with the State Workforce Investment Board to produce a state WIOA system reporting page on the Lifetracks.ms.gov website that contains dashboard statistics, pathway analysis, and supply/demand analysis numbers that will enable state and local economic development professionals to organize all career pathway training around data-driven sector strategies in laborsheds that often cross LWDA boundaries.

LifeTracks is built upon the clearinghouse model that relies on strong partnerships and coordination between strategic partners. Mississippi’s data clearinghouse is the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center at Mississippi State University. The clearinghouse includes data from early childhood entities (e.g., Head Start); Mississippi Department of Education (MDE); all 15 community colleges and the Mississippi Community College Board; all eight public universities and the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL); Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES); Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS); Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services (MDRS); Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC); Mississippi Development Authority (MDA); Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH); and Mississippi Division of Medicaid (DOM). The clearinghouse includes data from 2000 to the present. Partners regularly transmit data through a secure transfer according to SLDS Governing Board rules and regulations and via memoranda of understanding (MOUs). The state data clearinghouse developed and manages Mississippi’s online SLDS reporting system, LifeTracks (www.lifetracks.ms.gov). All data are stored in a state-of-the-art data center built for managing large databases and hosting mission critical systems. The Mississippi SLDS also has access to one of the most powerful computing systems in the country for high-performance computations and complex modeling.