Narrative: II. a. 2.

Colorado’s workforce development activities are coordinated through the following state agencies: the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), Colorado Department of Education (CDE), and Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS), and the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA). These agencies are responsible for all the core and non-core programs included in the combined state plan.

State Agency Program Responsibility 

The Colorado Workforce Development Council (CWDC) is the governing body charged with the continuous improvement of the workforce system and oversight of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds and programs. The CWDC ensures that the state workforce activities are aligned with the efforts of economic development, education, workforce development, government, and business stakeholders at the local, regional, and state levels. This multifaceted alignment of public and private stakeholders creates a workforce system that is demand-driven, flexible, and responsive to the needs of Coloradans. 

Colorado’s workforce system is driven from the bottom up through 10 local workforce areas including the Colorado Rural Workforce Consortium (CRWC), which comprises 51 of Colorado’s 64 counties. Each workforce area and sub-area has a board strategically directing the workforce activities at the community level and providing local guidance for implementation of workforce programs. With local guidance, workforce activities are often customized to fit the needs of individual customers, both businesses and job seekers alike. The partnerships and atmosphere of collaboration guided by the state agencies and CWDC funnel to the local areas to create a fully integrated workforce system of not only core and non-core program partners, but community stakeholders that facilitate a system design to provide impactful services and activities throughout the state. 

Colorado fully embraces the innovation aspect of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.  As we move forward into this four year plan, the desire to innovate remains and is balanced with a focus on moving towards evidence-based practices in workforce development. Local areas have engaged in evaluation activities and as Colorado learns from practices in other states, the effectiveness of programming can be continuously enhanced. 

Colorado Workforce Centers 

The Colorado Workforce Centers are at the forefront of the workforce activities, and represent Colorado’s version of the American Jobs Center. There are 52 workforce centers spread across the state providing access to many Coloradans. In addition to these locations, Colorado has partnered with several local stakeholders to establish 31 virtual workforce centers where customers can access staff members through technology. As broadband and digital equity efforts become more consistent across the state, expansion of virtual tools will be evaluated and considered. In all, Colorado has more than 52 physical locations where the unemployed, underemployed, and businesses can receive an array of workforce system information and services. Many of the locations are housed within, or in conjunction with partner organizations such as Human Services, DVR, and community colleges, resulting in greater accessibility for job seekers and employers.

Colorado has utilized, and will continue to utilize, virtual strategies to expand access to resources to ensure pathways to prosperity, including but not limited to: 

• Data Quality and Technology updates:
  • Connecting Colorado, the state’s workforce case management and labor exchange system, used to document participation and performance outcomes of workforce development programs, has served Coloradans well since 2002. In 2022, the team launched an initiative to secure a vendor to modernize the system.
  • Workforce Data Quality Initiative funding will allow Colorado to advance evidence-based approaches to support workers is essential to connecting job seekers with the skills needed to obtain high quality jobs. The significant funding will help Colorado enhance the capacity of workforce development programs and improve the quality and range of workforce data to benefit job seekers, workers and employers.
  • A strategic investment in Premier Virtual, a job fair and online hiring platform, has been and will continue to be critical to Colorado’s ability to conduct virtual hiring events that are accessible across the state. 
• Virtual Program Delivery:
  • Colorado has a fully virtual service delivery team, the Virtual Coaching Collaborative that assists statewide without geographic boundaries.
  • Virtual Layoff Aversion and Assistance Workshop is a turn-key virtual solution including a video workshop package covering workforce center services, how to file for unemployment insurance, healthcare options, retirement planning, and managing finances while unemployed. 
  • For employers, CDLE developed an online filing system for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notices (WARN) to trigger Rapid Response services. 
• Veteran Vortex Portal (VETS Vortex) enhances its one-stop place to provide best practice training, resources, and in-house and external tools so that team members can serve veteran customers regardless of where they reside in Colorado. Improvements include online scheduling, video case management, and an on-demand job portal.

The Colorado Workforce Centers are overseen at the state level by the CDLE, and are managed locally by each of the local area and sub-area boards. Local boards are composed 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 standardized business services delivery. Local priorities include layoff aversion, specific career pathway development, youth programs, targeted sector partnerships, work-based learning, and others. 

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 through Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) to implement core, non-core, and other partner programs. Colorado Workforce Centers are fully integrated with WIOA, Wagner-Peyser, Jobs for Veterans State Grant (JVSG), and Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA); local partnerships and integration also exist in many areas with TANF, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Adult Education and Family Literacy, Vocational Rehabilitation, and others. 

With this foundation for service integration, Colorado Workforce Centers operate under the “no wrong door” philosophy, while local areas have developed their own customer flow strategies that are unique to their area. Typical customers entering the center are engaged by an intake process that is designed to identify the needs of the individual by gathering information and then utilizing the appropriate resources for those needs. In some cases, the resources are initiated by a referral to a partner program. Customers are given solutions and next steps to their questions, barriers, and issues by connecting directly with the appropriate workforce system partner as part of this philosophy. Because Colorado Workforce Centers are fully integrated and operate in close partnership with other workforce agencies, co-enrollment in multiple programs is commonplace. Co-enrollment provides the customer with the ideal service plan while allowing the system to utilize its resources in an efficient manner. 

Considering Youth of Color

A critical stakeholder we need as part of the local boards are community and faith-based organizations (CFBOs). CFBOs can be used to fill the access gaps for communities of color. CFBOs know the communities in which they operate and are seen as a trusted resource for residents and the local network of organizations and agencies. Several CFBO collaborative efforts offer lessons for creating better education and employment opportunities for young men of color. For example, the Courses to Employment (C2E) program, led by the Aspen Institute, set out to learn how partnerships between nonprofit organizations and community colleges could help low-income adults achieve postsecondary and employment success more comprehensively, rather than leaving students on their own (Conway, Blair, and Helmer 2012). C2E partnerships saw promising success with this approach; most participants completed the education and training programs and found employment. 

Collaboration of Activities 

Communication is vital in order to coordinate and align workforce services statewide. This communication starts with the CWDC which has representation from the CDLE, CDHS, CDE, Colorado Department of Higher Education, and Colorado Department of Corrections, and which encompasses all of the core, non-core, and partner programs providing workforce activities in the state. Communication is further enhanced by the collaborative efforts of local area workforce directors, who hold a monthly director’s meeting where partnerships, special initiatives, and ongoing efforts are discussed with one another and state partners. 

Connecting Colorado is the case management, data collection, and reporting system utilized by all of the Workforce Centers. The system provides the ability for Workforce Centers and their partners to track all WIOA, TAA, Veteran, Wagner-Peyser, state and local programs (approximately 60), plus discretionary grants in one common database. All reports generated from this system are “up to the minute,” thus allowing for better management of day-to-day activity and performance. Along with the federally-mandated reports, Colorado has developed a variety of locally-requested reports that allow staff to track their caseloads, correct data entry errors, and analyze performance at the state, local, and case manager level. In addition, the system is agile enough to allow the as-needed addition of reports, and program and service codes that will track new statewide initiatives supporting the state’s workforce strategies. Workforce partners may make use of this system through data sharing agreements with the state or the local workforce regions. Currently Connecting Colorado is in the process of being modernized through the vendor PAIRIN to launch in 2024. The modernized Connecting Colorado System will continue to share data and collaborate with other departments and divisions. 

Through this planning and collaboration, Colorado Workforce Centers were able to provide a full range of workforce services to 162,5000 job seekers in PY22. In that same period, more than 7,000 businesses received services from the standardized business service team while more than 6,600 job seekers were provided training services to increase the talent pipeline and meet the needs of the state’s businesses in targeted sectors with high-growth industries. 

Workforce System Services - Unemployed and Underemployed 

Colorado Workforce Centers offer the full array of Career Services outlined in WIOA 134(c)(2) for unemployed and underemployed job seekers. 

Colorado Workforce Center Services 

Career services available at the centers vary because of local area inflexion and needs of particular communities. Basic career services are available at over 52 locations throughout Colorado. Each center has computers, printers and copiers, printed resources, and staff to assist job seekers. 

Many of the services, including Connecting Colorado and Colorado LMI Gateway, can be accessed virtually through the internet via computer, smart phone, or tablet. Connecting Colorado is the state job matching system and is the virtual one-stop-shop where Coloradans can centralize all their career search activities. It allows job seekers to self-enter his/her resume(s) and job search 24/7. Job seekers can set up virtual recruiters and receive an e-mail notification once a job is entered that matches their unique specifications. Connecting Colorado also provides access to a tool box of job search assistance links that has been customized for each workforce area. Links include direct access to the area’s web page, career exploration, training resources, self-marketing tools, Unemployment Insurance information, and additional job banks. The built-in event calendar communicates upcoming hiring events, job fairs, and other workforce activities. Colorado LMI Gateway allows job seekers to make informed data-driven career decisions. This labor market system provides a wide variety of regional labor market services, such as labor trends, statistics, economic, demographic, salary, and employer data. It allows job seekers to set up a personal page for their career exploration data to be readily accessible. 

Basic Career services also extend beyond the virtual world. After the initial assessment, customers, as appropriate, may be provided with direct linkages to additional workforce activities, including multiple education and training opportunities, across the workforce system through partner referrals. Many of these partners are housed within the workforce center, making customers unaware that they are participating in multiple programs due to the integrated service delivery. 

Individualized Career Services 

Individualized career services within the Colorado Workforce Centers vary across the state, but all the offices offer a full line of activities to prepare job seekers for the modern workforce. They address many of the soft skill and technical skill training Colorado employers require such as: 

• Complex Problem Solving 
• Writing 
• Critical Thinking 
• Judgment and Decision Making 
• Deductive Reasoning 
• Information Ordering 
• Coordination 
• Interacting With Computers, and 
• Analyzing Data or Information 

Local areas work with employers to identify these needs and systematically create programs to provide the education and training needed. These types of services begin with the development of an individual employment plan to address the unique requirements of each customer. Professional staff in the workforce system work with the customer to create and implement their plan. Staff provide the customer with local labor market information including in-demand occupations, wage data, and employer requirements. The plan may include activities such as: 

• Workshops - Job Search, Application, Resume Writing, Interviewing, Financial Literacy, etc.; 
• Short-Term Pre-Vocational Services - Career Readiness that includes soft skill training; 
• Workforce Preparation Activities - Microsoft Office Training, Basic Computer, Keyboarding, KeyTrain, etc.; 
• Career Exploration Inventories - CareerScope, COPS, My Next Move, etc.; and 
• Comprehensive Assessments - Prove It!, My Next Move, WorkKeys, Test of Adult Basic Education, College in Colorado Career Exploration, etc. 

Training Services 

Career services are not always enough to enable job seekers to obtain self-sufficient employment. In some instances, formal training is required. Colorado Workforce Centers offer multiple training services such as: 

• Occupational skills training 
• On-the job training (OJT) 
• Apprenticeships 
• Incumbent worker training 
• Skill upgrading and retraining 
• Entrepreneurial training, and 
• Adult education and family literacy activities 

Training services are funded through WIOA programs, Pell Grants, partner programs, and state and local grants. Local areas are responsible for establishing and implementing local policies for eligibility, Individual Training Account (ITA) limits, and the identification of in-demand sectors or occupations. Through multiple initiatives and projects, Colorado has focused training and career development activities on sector strategies/partnerships and career pathway development. 

Displaced Homemaker Grant - The Displaced Homemaker Grant provides Keep Envisioning 

Your Success (KEYS) Scholarship, and is a partnership between CDLE and the Community College of Denver (CCD) to provide reemployment services to individuals who lost their primary source of income and must re-enter the labor market. The program provides financial support to participants to earn their Certificate or Associate Degree with programs focused on in-demand careers in the areas of health care, computer science, human services, business, legal, and education. In addition, the program helps participants develop self-confidence, achieve academic success, and overcome barriers to employment.

The continued development of sector partnerships and career pathways allows Coloradans to understand the full potential of their participation in workforce activities. Non-traditional training such as work and learn programs including On-the-Job Training (OJT) and apprenticeships offer a wide selection of training opportunities, at the same time enabling local areas to customize training to fit the needs of regional industry demands. This flexibility in training options provides the state with the opportunity to assist individuals in obtaining the technical skills demanded by employers as outlined above. At the state level, the Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL) has been updated pursuant to WIOA Sections 122 and 134. This list ensures that Coloradans are able to make informed decisions on training providers and programs based on accurate data including completion and placement rates, labor market information, and wage expectations. 

Supportive Services 

In order to assist job seekers in obtaining or retaining employment through career or training services, Colorado Workforce Centers offer a variety of supportive services. Local areas are responsible for establishing supportive service policy that outlines types, eligibility, limits, etc. Examples of supportive services include child care, transportation, needs-related payments, tools and equipment, uniforms, and other clothing. In addition to WIOA-funded supportive services, local areas have developed relationships with community partners that assist with utility payments, food, shelter, and other basic needs. Formal MOUs with workforce partners outlined below provide additional supportive services such as cash and food assistance to job seekers. 

Workforce System Activities: Business 

The focal point of all workforce system activities is business and industry. Colorado has been a national leader in the development of sector partnerships and business services over the past several years. The workforce system created a statewide Business Service Team consisting of members across core partners. The team established eleven core services to present to employers. These activities are taking place statewide and include: 

Access to facilities - use of Workforce Center facilities by a business for a variety of purposes such as meetings, trainings, orientations, interviews, etc.; 

Assessments - Any test or assortment of tests used to measure the skills, interests and/or personality traits of a job seeker, potential employee, or current employee; 

Business education - Seminars, round tables, workshops, focus groups, etc.; 

Business information - Information given to a business pertaining to a variety of incentive programs or other information requested that provides a benefit to that business; 

Hiring events - A customized event for a single employer that assists with recruiting, interviewing, and hiring of one or more positions; 

Job fairs - Brick & Mortar is an event for multiple employers that assists with the recruiting, interviewing, and hiring of one or more positions; Virtual is an online “event” in which employers and job seekers each meet in a virtual environment, using chat rooms, teleconferencing, webcasts, training/workshop videos, webinars, employers online hiring sites, and/or email to exchange information about job openings and/or resources; 

Job postings - Staff-entered or web-entered job orders approved by staff; 

Labor market information - Information on state and local labor market conditions; industries, occupations, and characteristics of the workforce; area business identified skills needs; employer wage and benefit trends; short and long-term industry and occupational projections; worker supply and demand; and job vacancies survey results; 

Rapid Response - A comprehensive approach to identifying, planning for, responding to and averting mass layoffs and dislocations to minimize the impact on workers, businesses and communities. A wide range of customized services are delivered to businesses and affected workers including informational and direct re-employment services, support for filing unemployment insurance claims, connection with partners to address the needs of businesses and workers. 

Screening - Any service that involves the initial evaluation of applications or resumes that assists the employer in the recruiting process; and 

Training and retraining - Any service provided to a business that involves the training or retraining of current or future employees including OJTs, Work Experiences, Incumbent Worker Training, etc. 

This collaboration among local areas is reinforced at the biannual Business Service Summit where Business DevelopmentRepresentatives (BDRs) from across the state work to ensure activities and strategies align system wide. Business Services Leadership Team group meetings are held on a regular basis. 

Workforce System Partners and Activities 

Job Corps 

Colorado has one Job Corps location in Collbran, Colorado. Job Corps is a federally-funded program under WIOA that provides free education and training to young adults (16-24 year olds). Eligible youth are able to earn a high school diploma or high school equivalency diploma and receive life, soft, and occupation skills training. The Job Corps partnership with Colorado’s workforce system is statewide and comprehensive. Staff of the Collbran Job Corps Center and their outreach and recruitment contractor, CHP International, have a long history of participation in the state and local youth councils. Youth from the Collbran Job Corps Center also become members of local youth councils on a regular basis. Job Corps regularly participates in local youth job and career fairs. The strong relationship between the Colorado Workforce Centers and Job Corps is solidified by MOUs to provide Job Corps and their contracted vendors with access to Connecting Colorado. Collbran youth register with Connecting Colorado to search for jobs once they have completed their coursework and are transitioning back to the community. They benefit by posting a résumé, applying for a specific job, or completing a self-directed job search. A formalized process for referring Job Corps participants to local WIOA youth programs is in place with each workforce area and provides youth with access to more career services that they may need to meet their educational and employment goals. 

Considering Youth of Color

While we know that Job Corps is an effective avenue for youth of color to gain the work skills and experience, access and knowledge about Job Corps can be a barrier for youth of color. Youth of color tend to live in low-income, racially segregated neighborhoods, driven both by income inequality and housing discrimination (Turner et al. 2013). Their social isolation worsens their job prospects partly by limiting their access to and level of knowledge about programs like Job Corps. In light of this, we plan to examine the outreach and recruitment strategies of CHP International with an eye towards recruiting for diversity and eliminating access barriers.

YouthBuild 

YouthBuild is an education, career-training, and leadership program for young adults without a high school diploma or equivalent run in partnership with Mile High Youth Corps. The program provides skill building and preparation for participants to obtain their diploma while simultaneously providing “work and learn” programming in a variety of in-demand occupations. Students are exposed to soft skill training throughout the program and build the foundational career skills needed to succeed in the modern workplace. Upon completion of the program, students are assisted with career or post-secondary education placement and receive 12 months of follow-up services. With two active grantees in Colorado, YouthBuild program information and referrals are available through the workforce centers nearest these programs. 

Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers Program 

CDLE administers the Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers Program (MSFW), ensures that program information is available at all workforce centers, and that eligible participants receive proper referrals. Colorado is designated as a significant MSFW state and six centers have been determined as significant MSFW Workforce Centers (Brighton, Greeley,  Monte Vista, Delta, and La Junta). These centers administer a bilingual (English/Spanish) outreach program through workforce centers to ensure that equitable services are provided to all MSFW clientele, including: 

• Job search assistance and placement registration assistance 
• Assistance with Unemployment Insurance 
• Testing 
• Counseling 
• Training opportunities 
• Referral to supportive services 
• Job development 
• Referrals to other organizations that serve migrant and seasonal farm workers 
• Complaint resolution, and 
• Farm worker rights and labor law information 

CDLE has an MOU with the National Farmworker Job Program (NFJP). In Colorado, they are Rocky Mountain Service Employment Redevelopment (SER). Rocky Mountain SER program coordinates with Colorado Workforce Centers and many co-enroll MSFW customers, which allows them to access the full array of workforce system programs. 

Employment First

In Colorado, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Employment & Training program (SNAP E&T), as required by 7 CFR 273.7(e), and the Section 20 Optional Workfare program allowed under the provisions of 7 CFR 273.7(M), operate together as the Employment First program. The program assists Colorado SNAP recipients and applicants to connect to training and activities that lead to meaningful employment.

Employment First is administered through local county human services offices , through county procured vendors, or through State contracted Third-Party Partners (TPPs). Many county offices coordinate activities with local workforce centers and there are several examples of integration where the Employment First Program is operated by the local workforce office. Such local-level collaboration provides participants an opportunity to apply for and receive Employment First assistance as well as providing seamless access to additional WIOA Title I resources.

In addition to case management services and supportive payments, participants may engage in a variety of employment-oriented activities including:

• Supervised Job Search 
• Job Retention Services
• Self-Employment (Entrepreneurship) Training
• Workfare (volunteering) 
• GED Preparation and Testing
• Adult Basic Education
• Literacy Instruction
• Post-Secondary Education
• Vocational Training
• English Language Learner
• Employability Services (Work-Readiness Training)
• Work Experience
• Work-based Learning (can be either subsidized or unsubsidized):
  • Internships
  • On-the-Job Training
  • Pre-Apprenticeships and/or Apprenticeships
  • Transitional Jobs

Colorado Works

Colorado’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is known as Colorado Works and is supervised at the state level by the Colorado Department of Human Services, and is locally administered by county departments of human/social services. In some local areas, agreements are in place to establish partnerships between human service agencies and the workforce centers. In other areas, the workforce center may fall underneath the broader umbrella of the county human service department. While human service offices operate in Colorado’s 64 counties, workforce centers are not always accessible within every county. In these areas, partnerships take the form of regional collaboration or virtual services.

All Colorado Works work eligible clients will have a Workforce Development Screening completed within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of application consisting of an evaluation of basic skills, past employment, and employability. Once referred to Workforce Development, all Colorado Works work eligible clients are given a State prescribed workforce assessment that focuses on identifying what services and assistance will best support the family in achieving economic stability and are particularly centered on obtaining meaningful employment. Oftentimes these assessments lead to referral(s) to WIOA and other workforce partner services as a priority population. In many counties, workforce development activities associated with Colorado Works are administered through the workforce center via a local level agreement or contract for services. Participants may engage in a variety of employment-oriented activities through the Colorado Works program, including:

• English Language Acquisition
• Adult Education and Family Literacy
• Post-Secondary and Vocational Education
• Work Experience/Internships
• Community Service
• WIOA - Funded Programs
• Job Readiness Training
• Subsidized Employment
• On-the-job training
• Pre-Apprenticeships and/or Apprenticeships
• Employment

Under the Work Participation Rate, states must engage a target share of families receiving assistance in a specific list of countable work activities for at least 30 hours a week (20 hours a week for single parents with one or more children under the age of 6), or face financial penalties. By statute, the target rate is 50-percent; however, as discussed below, this target is lowered for states that have experienced caseload decreases, so many states have a lower effective target. Colorado has an annual 50-percent All Family Work Participation Rate.

Adult Education and Family Literacy 

CDE’s Office of Adult Education Initiatives (AEI) administers the federally funded Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) grant program under Title II of WIOA, as well as the state-funded Adult Education and Literacy Act grant program and the Adult High School EI provides oversight for programs across the state, and services are provided locally by sub-grant recipients. As a combined plan core partner, and consistent with the focus of WIOA, adult education and family literacy services are essential to the workforce system. In many cases, meeting adult education and family literacy needs is the first step in a job seeker’s career pathway. Adult education and family literacy services include adult basic education (below the ninth-grade level), adult secondary education in preparation for high school equivalency credential attainment and English language acquisition focused on career pathways and family literacy to promote stronger educational advancement of children, helping break cycles of poverty, and building stronger local areas within Colorado. In addition, AEI will reserve no more than 20-percent of available AEFLA distribution funds and conduct a competition for eligible providers to submit applications for section 225 (Programs for Corrections Education and Other Institutionalized Individuals) funds.  

AEI will promote, support, and fund grantee Integrated English Literacy and Civics services. This program will address the needs of Colorado’s large and growing immigrant population and other English language learners to place them in unsubsidized employment and into in-demand industries and occupations that lead to economic self-sufficiency. English language acquisition and civics education are provided concurrently and contextually. 

Senior Community Service Employment Program 

The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is administered by the Division of Aging and Adult Services, Department of Human Services. SCSEP promotes useful, part-time employment opportunities in community service activities for persons with low incomes who are 55 years of age or older and have multiple barriers to employment. Priority is given to individuals who are: veterans, ages 65-plus, live with a disability, have limited English proficiency and/or low literacy skills. The program is designed to foster individual economic self-sufficiency and increase the number of people in unsubsidized employment. 

SCSEP participants are placed in non-profit or government agencies called, "Host Agencies." Host agencies agree to provide employment training through community service activities, upgrading the participants’ employability skills. Participants are provided minimum wage, skill enhancement or acquisition of skills, personal and employment counseling, and assistance in obtaining unsubsidized employment. Approximately 1,000 individuals throughout Colorado are served annually through SCSEP. 

Vocational Rehabilitation 

Vocational Rehabilitation Programs fall under the authority of CDLE though the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR). DVR’s positioning within CDLE, creates natural and meaningful partnerships with other WIOA services to better serve Coloradans with disabilities who have previously struggled to participate in the workplace, including those with disabilities for whom employment has remained completely out of reach, as well as other groups such as youth, recently discharged veterans, and the long-term unemployed. DVR believes in working together to promote a thriving employment environment with opportunity for every Coloradan with a disability to live independently and prosper. DVR accomplishes this mission with a variety of employment and training activities including: 

• Evaluation and diagnostic services provided to determine eligibility and the services needed for the individual to become employed; 
• Vocational rehabilitation counseling and guidance provided directly by a vocational rehabilitation counselor during the individual’s plan of services; 
• Physical and mental restoration services which may be provided to correct or substantially modify an individual’s physical or mental condition; 
• Training services, when necessary to become employed, including vocational training, academic training, personal and vocational adjustment training, job coaching, on-the-job training, job seeking skills training, and books, tools, and other training materials; 
• Benefits counseling services to enable individuals to work without fear of losing life-sustaining benefits;
• Specialized services for individuals who are blind, deaf, and deaf-blind, including interpreter services, note-taking services, and reader services; 
• Rehabilitation technology services, including assistive technology devices, assistive technology services, and rehabilitation engineering services to address barriers encountered by an individual in attaining or retaining employment; 
• Placement services provided to assist an individual with a disability to find adequate and suitable employment in his/her chosen career; and 
• Supportive services, such as maintenance, transportation, personal assistance services, and services to family members may also be provided if necessary for the individual to utilize the services identified above. 
• Post-employment services may be provided to previously rehabilitated individuals when needed to maintain or regain suitable employment. 
• Pre-employment transition services provided to students with disabilities, including: job exploration and counseling, work-based learning experiences, counseling on opportunities for enrollment in comprehensive transition or postsecondary educational programs at institutions of higher education, workplace readiness training to develop social skills and independent living, and instruction in self-advocacy. 
• Technical assistance, training, outreach and other supportive services provided to public and private employers of all sizes, including Federal and Federal contracting employers for the purpose of increasing employment opportunities for job seekers with disabilities. 

Trade Adjustment Assistance 

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) is overseen by CDLE and is part of the integrated services team in the Colorado Workforce Centers. TAA provides enhanced reemployment benefits designed to help workers adversely affected by foreign trade obtain suitable employment. Benefits include occupational training (classroom training resulting in a credential, on the job training or registered apprenticeship), job search and relocation allowances, Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance (RTAA)/Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA), reemployment case management services, and extended unemployment insurance benefits called Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA). TAA customers are co-enrolled into Title I-B programs and are referred to other workforce system activities as needed. 

Jobs for Veterans State Grant

Colorado will continue its strong tradition of promoting the training, hiring and retention of veterans, plus ensuring veterans priority of service in all USDOL funded programs. Priority of Service means that all veterans or an eligible spouse either receive access to a service earlier than a non-covered person or, if the resource is limited, the veteran or eligible spouse receives access to the service instead of or before the non-covered person. This will be accomplished through close working relationships with workforce system partners to make sure that veterans are presented to potential employers and business owners as qualified and professional employees who bring a unique set of skills to the workplace. Additionally, all veterans and eligible spouses will have priority in access to all workforce programs and services. The state workforce system delivers the full array of labor and employment services to Colorado veterans at all 52 of its State and County-run full-service Workforce Centers and satellite offices around the state. 

In areas where available, the JVSG program has staff available for those who qualify for the program. For those veterans and other eligibles that have been triaged and found eligible for JVSG services, JVSG staff provide individualized career services through a targeted career management approach. Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) Specialists or Consolidated Veteran Services Representatives (CVSR: consolidated DVOP/LVER) at the centers provide eligible veterans and other eligible persons of the JVSG program with employment services such as job matching and referral to posted job openings, vocational and career guidance, labor market information, resume preparation and conducting effective job searches. JVSG Staff also refer eligible and qualified veterans to appropriate workshops and WIOA funded training programs and discretionary initiatives, as well as registered apprenticeship programs throughout the state. While DVOPs focus on individualized career services, CVSRs can provide individualized career services to those eligible for the JVSG program and assist employers in hiring veterans, promote veteran initiatives, conduct outreach to employers, lead workshops, work with business services teams, and facilitate delivery strategies for easier access to employment and training services for all veterans. For roles of JVSG staff please refer to VPL 03-14. 

In addition to State and County workforce center employees, who provide career services to all veterans, CDLE currently employs 16 full-time Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) Specialists, 3 full-time Consolidated Veteran Services Representatives (CVSR: consolidated DVOP/LVER), 6 full-time Local Veteran Employment Specialists (LVER) and a State Veterans Coordinator assigned to workforce areas around the state. These positions are funded through a USDOL Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) grant and fulfill all responsibilities mandated by the grant programs, including the provision of targeted career management services to veterans with Significant Barriers to Employment (SBE). The Jobs for Veterans State Grants Plan is included under Section VII. Veterans grant staff also serves other populations of veterans in the State through MOUs.  

Those populations include: 

• National Guard and Reserve members returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) - only if the individual meets eligibility criteria per most recent guidance (VPL 03-14, and 03-19). In particular, Virtual Job Fair Technology is being utilized to assist this group with veterans resource sites, accessed while they are still overseas, and actual virtual job fairs when they return to this country.  
• Service-connected disabled veterans, who are targeted and identified through various Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) as well as outreach activities at Veteran Centers, Veterans Administration Medical Centers, and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs.)  
• Members of the Armed Services who are wounded, ill and injured and receiving treatment in Military Treatment Facilities (MTF) or Warrior Transition Units (WTU) through relationships established with the Wounded Warrior Program located at Fort Carson. 
• Incarcerated veterans, who are identified and contacted through “in-reach” activities conducted within correctional facilities managed by the Colorado Department of Corrections. DVOPs will also work in partnership with the Veteran Offender initiatives described in detail below under Ex-Offenders.  
• Homeless Veterans - Veteran Employment Specialists work with the Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program (HVRP) to provide one-on-one employment assistance and supportive services to homeless veterans including, but not limited to, resume and interviewing preparation, employment workshops, job search assistance and job referrals. The supportive services provided include, but are not limited to, rent assistance, food, and transportation funding. 

Community Services Block Grant at the Department of Local Affairs

The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) is a federally funded program that provides formulaic grants to alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in communities. Colorado has 27 eligible local entities working under nine Community Services Block Grant federal objectives including employment; education and cognitive development; income, infrastructure, and asset building; housing; health and social/behavioral development (includes nutrition); civic engagement and community involvement; services supporting multiple domains; linkages; and agency capacity building.

B) THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES 

Strengths 

Colorado’s workforce system has many strengths. Colorado has transformed its workforce system into a business and industry driven model. Colorado’s Workforce Development Programs (WDP) conducts a process every 3-5 years to ensure that its priorities are aligned with the current needs of its stakeholders. The Appreciative Inquiry published in October 2022 identified the two predominant core strengths of the workforce system identified in the interviews as people and collaboration, followed by flexibility and data.

According to the report, workforce professionals at the state and local levels have strong experience and institutional knowledge, which helps them to relate to customers. Staff are passionate, engaged, and have a high level of trust with each other. Local board members feel their businesses are well-supported by workforce staff, who go “above and beyond”. State partners cited a deep expertise among staff at all levels, a willingness to share information, and earned respect for operating as “good partners”. 

Interviewees also value the collaboration and partnership that happens within local communities, among local areas, between local areas and WDP, and among state partners. Each local area’s workforce services are delivered in a different government structure. This inherently allows for different strengths in partnerships and different levels of integration, whether that is with economic development, human services, housing, or libraries. Collaboration seems to be the most holistic and customer-centered when the workforce center is co-located with other programs, or embedded within another county department where the close proximity can facilitate service delivery and referrals. Local areas have developed trust in collaborating with each other over many years and act as a “unified front” to move things forward or accomplish a project to the benefit of job seekers and businesses. Specific examples include the business services alignment work and the Hub model. These trusted relationships allowed local areas to be more nimble and responsive during the pandemic and many partnerships feel stronger now as a result. Navigators and shared positions were also mentioned as examples of taking collaboration to the next level. Local areas have shared positions that are jointly funded with school districts, universities, chambers of commerce, and navigators are funded by a variety of sources, including Wagner-Peyser, Employment Support Fund (ESF), apprenticeship grants, disaster grants, and stimulus funds.

In rural areas, the personal relationships in communities can allow for deeper collaboration and linking and leveraging assets. It also requires staff to be more engaged and creative in finding solutions to the broader challenges impacting the workforce, such as transportation, childcare, and housing. In rural communities without a workforce board structure, fostering collaboration can take different forms. Business board members appreciate the more centralized and efficient processes that come from coordination among Local areas, and they recognize that the way the state and local areas work together in Colorado is a unique asset.

Flexibility was a third core strength. The workforce system displayed agility and responsiveness during the pandemic as they quickly shifted to virtual service delivery and stood up call centers. Businesses observed the flexibility that the workforce system displayed during this time as they worked to be available and accessible to job seekers and businesses. Most local areas plan to continue to offer remote service options in response to positive feedback from customers and virtual workshop offerings, which have significantly expanded statewide. A few local areas returned quickly to in-person services to respond to their customers’ preferences.

Board members also identified data as a strength of the workforce system. Businesses rely on the workforce system to provide labor market trends and insights, but this varies by local area depending on staff capacity and expertise. The Workforce Intelligence Data Expert Workgroup (WIDE), which is a statewide local data expert group, is another good example of collaboration that has expanded the capacity of the workforce system to provide valuable data to businesses and other stakeholders.

The services and activities to unemployed, underemployed, and businesses outlined above are designed with the intent to meet local and statewide industry demands. Through initiatives including sector partnerships, career pathway development, data analysis, system collaboration, and work and learn programming, the workforce system has fully embraced the key principles of WIOA. Colorado has aligned business services though the statewide business services team and maintained a customer-centric approach for both job seekers and businesses. 

The vital element to this success is the understanding that workforce development is truly a multi-faceted approach harnessing workforce, education, economic development, and business. Examples of statewide and local collaboration among partners exist throughout Colorado. 

Alignment of resources and locally-specific co-location of services have allowed Colorado to have a flexible and proactive approach to workforce development by being able to create programs from the bottom up. Throughout Colorado there are numerous examples of “home grown” best practices that are highlighted each year in WIOA annual reports. Since 2015, Colorado has enhanced the alignment of programs within local areas, formalized training opportunities and professional development for staff of all programs, and developed a comprehensive approach to work-based learning as a core workforce strategy. 

Weaknesses 

There is room for improvement in all things and the workforce system in Colorado is no different. Opportunities for enhancement include: 

• Modernizing technology was a second core opportunity identified by local board members and local area leadership, specifically the Connecting Colorado labor exchange system. Interviewees envision a new system that is more visually appealing, mobile friendly and searchable, with automated processes to reduce the burden of data collection on staff and customers. 
• Continue to refine our system by streamlining service delivery, enrollment, and eligibility processes. In 2017, the common thread throughout the opportunities identified by local areas was efficiency - doing more with less and utilizing people and technology resources more effectively. In 2022 local areas identified progress in this area, for example leveraging each others’ virtual workshops and using Sharepoint for coordinating initiatives, but there will always be new opportunities to increase efficiency. Some specific examples are for areas to work together on refining processes involving incumbent worker training and enrollments. Several interviewees advocated for harnessing technology to streamline processes, specifically more digital applications, forms, and signatures. “People want help but they don’t necessarily want to fill out all that paperwork.” This is especially true for board members, who would like to see simplified ways for businesses to access services.
• Better define and align the roles of the workforce system with our partners. Interviewees identified duplication of efforts in business services and work-based learning, including apprenticeship. We have an opportunity to “do what we do best and leave the rest.” Interviewees also identified an opportunity for better alignment of priorities within CDLE between WDP, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Colorado Workforce Development Council, and the Office of Future of Work. Some specific opportunities for partner alignment include: Collectively targeting our efforts on specific demographics for deeper impact, e.g. individuals with disabilities, justice-involved; Expanding where services are available through partners, e.g. libraries, college campuses; More navigators and shared positions to cut across silos and be human-centered in service delivery, e.g. human services leveraging workforce staff for career coaching; Linking the business advisory committees at community colleges and workforce boards; Leveraging the workforce system’s business services connections to bring ESL to the workplace (Adult Education); and Build on strengths in different geographic areas with workforce centers of excellence
• Training for staff and cross-training with partners is another opportunity for improvement. Local areas have hired many new staff in recent years and access to current and flexible training for onboarding is needed. Registered apprenticeships are one strategy for talent development in state government and they are starting to take hold in local government as well. As we connect job seekers to training for the jobs of the future, we have an opportunity to apply these strategies to grow our own staff. Local areas are also seeking more consistency in training on grants administered by CDLE. The IDEA grant was identified as a model for training, and various trainings developed by the Colorado Rural Workforce Consortium (CRWC) Admin Team have been leveraged for other local areas. State partners identified an opportunity to leverage staff training across agencies and to deliver joint training to local partners, for example, on the future of work. Both local and state interviewees described a platform where they could share promising practices, resources, and lessons learned. Other training opportunities were identified by local board members and local leadership on topics such as labor laws, tax credits, skills-based hiring, disability hiring, and job quality to add value for businesses.
• Local area leadership and board members both expressed a desire to create opportunities to diversify job seekers and businesses and to advance equity. Several local areas mentioned the stimulus grants are allowing them to diversify their customers and partners. Examples of opportunities to expand this work include setting inclusion goals for customers and board membership, diversifying outreach strategies and entry points to increase access to services, and providing more essential supports and short-term training completions to support entry into a career path.

C) STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY 

Colorado has a well-coordinated workforce system that, at the state level, is anchored by the Governor Polis administration and its focus on cross-agency collaborative work. Statewide bold goals have been developed and the workforce system plays a critical role in preparing the workforce needed to achieve those goals. Agencies are in close coordination with one another and work collaboratively to plan training activities, set goals, and examine progress towards achievement. Training on the Four Disciplines of Execution has been provided to all state agencies, and these concepts have been applied throughout the local workforce areas and state entities to achieve better results.  

Colorado has also adopted a network mindset, and that includes community-based organizations, education partners, and libraries as key components in the system. The need to support workers and businesses remains high in a labor shortage environment, and it is only through collaboration that the network is able to meet the need and realize success. 

Finally, Colorado is focused on enhancing its use of evidence to inform workforce development strategies and to influence the design and execution of initiatives. By measuring progress and the results of implementation, the state overall and each local area will be able to collect data that can move our work along an evidence continuum. When we refer to an ‘evidence-based’ program or strategy, it is helpful to have a shared definition. Evidence of effectiveness exists on a spectrum, including: 

1. Strong evidence: meaning at least two evaluation reports have demonstrated that an intervention or strategy has been tested nationally, regionally, at the state- level, or with different populations or locations in the same local area using a well-designed and well-implemented experimental design evaluation (i.e., Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)) or a quasi-experimental design evaluation (QED) with statistically matched comparison (i.e., counterfactual) and treatment groups. See CLEAR.dol.gov for full definitions of strong or moderate study design. The overall pattern of evaluation findings must be consistently positive on one or more key workforce outcomes. The evaluations should be conducted by an independent entity external to the organization implementing the intervention. 
2. Moderate evidence: meaning at least one evaluation report has demonstrated that an intervention or strategy has been tested using a well-designed and well-implemented experimental or quasi-experimental design showing evidence of effectiveness on one or more key workforce outcomes. The evaluations should be conducted by an independent entity external to the organization implementing the intervention. 
3. Preliminary evidence: meaning at least one evaluation report has demonstrated that an intervention or strategy has been tested using a well-designed and well-implemented pre/post-assessment without a comparison group or a post-assessment comparison between intervention and comparison groups showing evidence of effectiveness on one or more key workforce outcomes. The evaluation may be conducted either internally or externally. 
4. Pre-preliminary evidence: meaning there is program performance data for the intervention showing improvements for one or more key workforce outputs or outcomes. 

For interventions at each tier of evidence, Colorado will focus on leveraging administrative data analysis or increasingly rigorous evaluation to build new evidence, improve programs and participant outcomes, and progress to the next tier to further enhance the overall capacity of our network. 

In addition, Colorado will leverage this evidence framework as an actionable tool for allocating other funding streams, prioritizing programs and approaches either in the top evidence tiers or working to reach the top evidence tiers in RFPs and other procurement opportunities. In particular, as Colorado allocates remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal resources in the workforce development, upskilling, and reskilling domains, Colorado will draw upon this evidence framework to inform decisions about how to ensure these one-time dollars have the greatest and most equitable possible impact for our learners. 

This approach is fully aligned with the recommendations recently released by Colorado’s Student Success and Workforce Revitalization Task Force in January 2022, under Colorado House Bill 21-1330. The Task Force’s focus on evidence of effectiveness, equity, strategic partnerships with employers and industry-aligned credentials is consistent with the key goals of this plan.