Narrative: II. a. 2.

Local boards are tasked with procuring a one-stop operator for the daily operation of their perspective center(s) in accordance with WIOA 121(d). These boards carry out workforce activities by partnering locally though Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) to implement core, non-core, and other partner programs. Arkansas Workforce Centers are fully integrated with WIOA, Wagner-Peyser, Jobs for Veterans State Grant (JVSG), Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), Unemployment Insurance (UI), Adult Education and Family Literacy, Vocational Rehabilitation. Local partnerships and integration also exist in many areas with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment and Training Programs and others.

The Adult Education Section supports adult basic and literacy education programs for adults who lack basic skills, a high school diploma, or proficiency in English. Adult education and literacy activities include English language acquisition activities, workforce preparation activities, and integrated education and training (IET) that provides adult education and literacy activities, concurrently and contextually with both workforce preparation activities, and workforce training for a specific occupation or occupational cluster and is for the purpose of educational and career advancement. Adult education and literacy activities may also include workplace adult education and literacy activities, family literacy activities, integrated English literacy and civics education.

All adult education providers are required to integrate the Workforce Alliance for Growth in the Economy (WAGE™), a job readiness program for unemployed and underemployed adults within the Division of Workforce Services, Adult Education Section, into the curriculum.  WAGE™ is unique from other career readiness programs in that it focuses on improving the basic academic skills of participants while providing workforce preparation and workforce training activities.  With the needs of business and industry at its core, WAGE™ addresses the requirement for a competent workforce among entry level jobs in environments ranging from manufacturing to health care to hospitality and tourism.  Participants can earn a Level I and Level II WAGE™ Certificate by completing the requirements of each module. In addition, through the IET program, participants earn job-industry recognized certifications and credentials. Participants have earned credentials in CDL, welding, Phlebotomy, Certified Nursing Assistant, NCCER, Pharmacy Tech, National Career Readiness Certificate, and much more.

In addition, the Adult Education Section operates the Temporary Assistant for Needy Families (TANF) and the SNAP Employment & Training (E&T) program through adult education centers across the state. The TANF program operates in 65% (24 of the 37 programs) of Arkansas Adult Education programs and covers 68% (51 of the 75 counties) of Arkansas counties. Each year of the TANF program has seen an increase in the number of programs participating, counties covered by the program, and student enrollment in the program. The Adult Education Section is the largest provider of SNAP E&T services, serving 74 of the 75 counties and having had over 5,700 participants dually participate in SNAP E&T and adult education. The Adult Education Section also works closely with Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth Program, along with local workforce development boards. In addition, adult education is collocated in most of the comprehensive workforce centers and utilizes the mobile one-stop services for job fairs, job training events, and Open House activities throughout the year.

The Arkansas Workforce Centers are at the forefront of the workforce activities and represent Arkansas’s version of the American Jobs Center. There are 23 workforce centers spread across the state providing access to many Arkansans. In addition to these locations, Arkansas has nine mobile workforce center units that travel the state and provide service locations in rural parts of the State. The Arkansas Workforce Centers are overseen at the state level by ADWS and are managed locally by a partnership between ADWS, ARS, and each of the local workforce development boards. Local boards are comprised of local businesses, labor, partner agencies, and other key stakeholders to create a diverse and functional group. The boards, in alignment with the States’ vision, provide front line strategic implementation for state-wide initiatives in addition to their locally-determined priorities. State initiatives include sector strategies, career pathway development, and delivery of standardized business services. Local priorities include layoff aversion, specific career pathway development, youth programs, targeted sector partnerships, work-based learning, and others.

Jobs for Veterans State Grant (JVSG) staff work hard to identify veterans with Significant Barriers to Employment in order to provide support services and activities for individuals and families with low incomes that alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in communities in accordance with the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). In Arkansas, The CSBG is federally funded and administered by the state through the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS). The CSBG funds are distributed to a network of local organizations known as Eligible Entities or Community Action Agencies. There are 15 Community Action Agencies in Arkansas that assist low to moderate-income individuals in all 75 counties. As required partners, JVSG staff have developed long-standing relationships with these entities.

 JVSG staff works closely with all partners to identify potential training opportunities. Arkansas has 15 Disabled Veteran Outreach Position specialists (DVOPs), three Local Veteran’s Outreach Representatives (LVERs) and one Consolidated Position (CP) strategically located across the state to provide services to the veteran population.

Arkansas Workforce Centers - Arkansas Rehabilitation Services (ARS) has nine field offices co-located at Arkansas Workforce Centers in Harrison, Fayetteville, Jonesboro, Searcy, West Memphis, Helena, Russellville, Hot Springs, and El Dorado. ARS maintains counselor itinerary points at all other Workforce Centers. Services to Disabled Persons - Arkansas Rehabilitation Services is the general vocational rehabilitation agency in Arkansas. ARS provides targeted services to eligible Arkansans with disabilities to help clients obtain or maintain competitive integrated employment. Significant barriers remain for working age Arkansans with disabilities to participate in the state’s workforce. The Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2023, indicates only 35.3% of individuals aged 18 to 64 with disabilities are employed.   [1] Reference: Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: https://disabilitycompendium.org/

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics and Statistics (StatsRRTC), (2008); Report on Disability Demographics for Arkansas; Retrieved 06/12/2023
 

The Division of Services for the Blind (DSB) has 14 Field Office locations co-located within Arkansas Workforce Centers and Arkansas Rehabilitation Services (ARS) offices (Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Harrison, Russellville, West Memphis, Jonesboro, Pine Bluff, Hot Springs, Benton, Little Rock, Monticello, El Dorado, Texarkana, and Magnolia). DSB is the vocational rehabilitation agency for Blind and Visually Impaired individuals in Arkansas. Significant barriers to employment exist for individuals who are blind and visually impaired.  DSB works with participants to obtain, retain, maintain, or advance in competitive integrated employment. According to the Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2023, approximately 3.6% of Arkansans report having a visual disability.  [1] Reference: Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: https://disabilitycompendium.org/

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics and Statistics (StatsRRTC), (2008); Report on Disability Demographics for Arkansas; Retrieved 12/29/2023.

2. The Strengths and Weaknesses of Workforce Development Activities.

Initial analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Arkansas’s workforce development activities suggests that our talent development system has the right expertise and pockets of excellence.

Successfully serving common customers in our system will require continued collaboration, coordination and re-assessment. During a strategic planning session of the Arkansas Workforce Development Board, the following strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges were identified for the workforce development system in Arkansas.

STRENGTHS

• The State has strong workforce development programs in place; however, the state needs to focus on outreach and education about the services available.
• The State’s business leaders are at the table as champions of the programs through input into program design, identification of skills development, and commitment to continuous improvement of the talent development system.
• Key industries are involved in strategic planning and committed to driving the talent development system in Arkansas.
• Economic development is involved in planning activities at the state and local level and has identified targeted industries.
• Partnerships at state level are strong and will enable the state to successfully and fully implement WIOA, thereby enhancing services to the public through the State’s talent development system.
• Despite stagnant budgets, staffing has been maintained to provide services in all 75 counties.

WEAKNESSES

• Arkansas has a shrinking labor force and low labor force participation rate.
• Secondary education’s involvement in workforce development, strategic planning and program design needs to be strengthened.
• Funding for community colleges is insufficient.
• While there are strong partnerships in some areas of the state with community colleges and workforce development, involvement from all community colleges statewide should be stronger.
• Funding models for education are inadequate.
• Marketing and outreach of the State’s talent development system is inadequate and too many employers and jobseekers are unaware of the services and opportunities available.
• Employers’ outreach to students and their parents regarding potential occupations needs to be increased.
• Parent and students lack knowledge of business/industry in the State.
• Government is not at the table as an employer.
• Kiosks for consumers who are blind are not available statewide and staff turnover at the locations make it necessary to provide frequent and ongoing training.
• Staff training programs for serving the customers across agencies are not in place, especially recognizing the special needs of serving persons with disabilities.

OPPORTUNITIES

• Current Registered Apprenticeship presents tremendous opportunities for opening workforce development strategies.
• Strong industry/workforce partnerships exist in some areas of the State.
• The State has new leadership to drive the new current agenda of collaboration and coordination.
• Bringing community colleges to the table to enhance the State’s talent development system.
• Opportunities for community college programs to increase capacity.
• Program-based learning needs to be explored and utilized.
• Community College partnerships should be expanded to increase credential attainment.

CHALLENGES

• Arkansas has an aging workforce and the younger generation is not skilled to replace retiring workers.
• Regional disparities in workforce and industries make it difficult to recruit new industries.
• Misalignment of services and programs could threaten enhanced service delivery and integrity of the talent development system.
• Duplication of efforts and programs reduces the efficiency of already stagnant or declining budgets.
• Systemic education issues exist in secondary and higher education.
• Industries may be lost due to a lack of skilled labor.
• There is a lack of existing workforce training funds.
• Budgets for workforce development programs are stagnant or declining due to a lack of funding from federal sources.
• Coordination at the state level for implementation of WIOA is strong; however, this level of collaboration and coordination is labor intensive and often takes team members away from oversight and leadership responsibilities. Maintaining the current level of collaboration is critical to success.

The strength of the Adult Education Section's workforce development activities focuses on improving an individual's academic and workplace skills holistically. The workforce development component within adult education considers an individual's knowledge, skills, and abilities when developing the individual academic and career pathway. Collaboratively, the WAGE™ job readiness program, Career Coach, and local Adult Education staff first evaluates an individual's talent and abilities by learning more about their natural abilities through an interest inventory leading to career pathways. The WAGE™ program provides for the development of individual learning plans that provide instructions to increase the knowledge, skills, and abilities to prepare for careers that best fit their interests. The Adult Education Section's holistic approach focuses on addressing any barriers to learning, including assisting with identifying disabilities and any needed social services. These comprehensive services are coordinated more effectively and efficiently because all the core partner programs are located under the Arkansas Department of Commerce. The weakness of the workforce development activities is that of the advances in technology that require a more rapid response. There is a need to quickly respond to workforce needs, and with so many different titles and services that overlap, too many options may stagger rapid responses and overwhelm the average Arkansan. In addition, many participants in adult education face barriers of transportation and childcare. Although adult education centers are set up to offer instruction at a distance, internet service is spotty and some do not have the technology to participate in online learning and lack digital literacy skills. 

ARS views itself as the expert with working with individuals with disabilities who are seeking and maintaining employment. ARS also has expertise in assisting employers in maintaining employees who experience illness and injury that results in disability. ARS utilizes co-location opportunities for increased effectiveness and efficiency in serving consumers. ARS has co-located offices with DWS in multiple locations.  Transportation and access to technology has been and remains a challenge for ARS clients.

Strengths: Colocation of partner agencies has allowed for increased effectiveness and efficiency for individuals who need services from multiple partners. Coordination of shared participants is enhanced by staff being closer together and having a stronger working relationship. As an independent consumer-controlled commission, DSB has a strong connection to state and national consumer agencies that provide the agency with information on consumer’s needs and challenges. DSB also conducts consumer satisfaction surveys to stay knowledgeable about the impact and needs of agency consumers.  DSB has developed relationships with partners to improve the service delivery and opportunities available to consumers. DSB staff participate in local events, business outreach, rapid response activities, local workforce board meetings, and other activities with partners to share knowledge and resources. DSB has strong partnerships with assistive technology vendors to ensure DSB’s Technology staff are aware of new technology and training options available to assist consumers.

Weaknesses: DSB continues to have vacancies in important staff positions. The rural nature of the state creates barriers for consumers to access services independently. DSB continues to work to develop vendors and service providers to reduce these barriers. However, as noted in the Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment, transportation remains a barrier for individuals who are Blind or Visually Impaired.

3. State Workforce Development Capacity.

Arkansas is well-poised to provide workforce and talent development activities given the strong knowledge base of its practitioners. Due to nationally recognized system components, such as a career pathway system with many bridges and stackable credentials; a robust Registered Apprenticeship program; and training programs that meet industry demands, our pursuit becomes one of continuous improvement. Arkansas has implemented a workforce system designed to increase capacity to serve more customers. Led by the strategic vision set by Governor Sarah Sanders and the Arkansas Workforce Development Board, the functional design of the Arkansas workforce system starts with coordination at the highest level through the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet, which provides a common direction at the state agency level for driving workforce development. This partnership at the highest level will increase capacity and extend the alignment of the system to a broader and more diverse population of jobseekers across the state.

The agencies represented in this plan, some who are new to being co-located in a workforce center, will develop a streamlined customer experience through referrals from and to core, non-core, and program partners to coordinate workforce activities and increase the capacity of each partner by allowing specialized services to function optimally and assist in the elimination of the duplication of services. Furthermore, through direction by the Arkansas Workforce Development Board and one of the objectives of this plan, the State will explore ways to increase capacity, especially in rural areas across the state beyond bricks-and-mortar, through virtual services.

Concern continues for many of the programs of this plan that have experienced stagnant or declining funding over the last several years. The lack of new funding in many programs means the State must continue to find more efficient ways to provide services to Arkansans.

The Adult Education Section provides workforce development activities in all 75 counties within the state through an extensive provider system. Adult education has 37 providers that can respond to the demands within their local communities to service all eligible adult learners and special populations. The local providers can hire additional teachers, paraprofessionals, and trainers as needed. Furthermore, providers are connected to 25 community colleges and colleges, seven school districts, and two literacy councils, with a host of satellite facilities. Every adult education program must offer Workforce Alliance for Growth in the Economy (WAGE™), a job readiness program for unemployed and underemployed adults, trademarked by the Adult Education Section.

The WAGE™ program is administered at adult education centers across the state.  WAGE™ is unique from other career readiness programs in that it focuses on improving the academic basic skills of participants while providing workforce preparation and workforce training activities.  With the needs of business and industry at its core, WAGE™ addresses the requirement for a competent workforce among entry level jobs in environments ranging from manufacturing to health care to hospitality and tourism.  Participants can earn a Level I and Level II WAGE™ Certificate by completing the requirements of each module.

The Level I WAGE™ Certificate is designed to prepare adult learners with the essential soft skills needed in today’s workforce.  A Career Coach works with participants to explore interests through a career assessment, apply employability skills that address competencies in the areas of applied knowledge, effective relationships, and workplace skills, and help with the transition into post-secondary education or training programs or the workforce.  Adult Education teachers provide academic instruction as well as integrate financial literacy and digital literacy into the classroom.  Completing the WAGE™ Level I Certificate gives participants the skills needed to attain and retain employment.

The Level II WAGE™ Certificate is designed to support adult learners in choosing a career path within the 16 career clusters.  The Adult Education Section’s first phase of career clusters, which are based on high demand industries in Arkansas, include Business Management and Administration, Education and Training, Health Science, Hospitality and Tourism, Information Technology, and Manufacturing.  Adult Education teachers provide contextualized learning that enables participants to improve academic skills while learning about a specific career path related to their interest.  Learners have an opportunity to earn job industry certifications in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and First Aid, Guest Service Gold^®, IC3 Digital Literacy Certification, Forklift, National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), OSHA-10, and ServSafe related to a specific career cluster.  Career Coaches assist participants in finding employment and/or enrolling in postsecondary education or training programs.

The WAGE™ program is a focal point of developing Integrated Educational and Training activities developed cooperatively with local business and industry, and adult education goals. Together, local programs and employers identify workforce needs and establish curriculum, certificates, and credentials needed to meet those needs. Each local program establishes their plan to implement and execute successful IET programs with the Adult Education Section. The Adult Education Section reviews and consults local program of IET requirements, industry needs, and funding opportunities available to meet the plans of the IET’s purpose. The WAGE™ program is not only used as a foundational component of workforce preparation needs, but also as a catalyst to propel participants into successful career pathways.

ARS serves individuals statewide through 19 local offices and the Arkansas Career Development Center. ARS counselors work with a variety of vendors and providers to provide services to consumers.

DSB serves individuals who are Blind and Visually Impaired across the state through 14 local offices that cover all 75 counties.  DSB counselors work with a variety of vendors and service providers as well as partner agencies to ensure access to services for consumers. DSB continues to work to develop additional vendors and increase staff capacity.

Despite the challenges presented in this section, Arkansas is resilient and will be successful in its endeavors to provide and strengthen workforce activities in our state. Shrinking state government may impact reach, capacity and the level of service that was once offered to customers, when not done right.  Arkansas’ strategy to better utilize its resources and leverage its strengths is the way we WILL do it right.  Doing it right includes coordinating, integrating, and optimizing services, funding, and resources to maximize desired outcomes and improve operational efficiencies.

Integrated service delivery is a holistic approach to providing public services that focuses on efficiently and effectively meeting the needs of individuals through coordinated and streamlined processes. It is characterized by the integration of services across different agencies and sectors to provide a comprehensive support system for individuals seeking employment, training, or other related services.

Integrated service delivery reflects the commitment to a more coordinated, efficient, and customer-centric approach to workforce development. This initiative is crucial for ensuring that all Arkansans can easily access the support and opportunities they need to succeed in today’s dynamic job market.

A customer-centric approach underpins the Arkansas Workforce Strategy, highlighting the commitment to design and deliver workforce services that are attuned to the needs, preferences, and experiences of both job seekers, incumbent workers, and employers.  By focusing on the needs and feedback of the customer, workforce services become more accessible, intuitive, and effective, leading to higher satisfaction and better outcomes. This theme is about more than just providing services; it’s about creating positive, impactful experiences for every individual and employer who interacts with the Arkansas workforce system. Through this approach, the strategy seeks to build a more inclusive, responsive, and user-friendly workforce environment in Arkansas.