Narrative: III. b. 1.

The Connecting Colorado system is in the midst of a modernization process. Until that is complete, the current situation is summarized below.

Connecting Colorado/Case Management Solution: The state relies on a custom vendor-created solution to provide access to both the labor exchange system and the case management system that serves employers, job seekers, and workforce center staff. This system, Connecting Colorado, employs  API interfaces that exchange data securely and regularly with all core partner programs. Consistent updates to data sharing agreements between the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Employment and Training Division, and its partners ensure clearly defined roles and measures with regard to partner data imports, workforce data exports, and its overall use. The Employment and Training Division serves as PACIA under the new State Wage Interchange System and receives and processes wage data on a quarterly basis. 

Connecting Colorado Data/Reporting System: This is the case management, data collection, and reporting system that Colorado developed for statewide use in all of the Workforce Centers. The system provides the ability for Workforce Centers and their partners to track all WIOA Title I-B, TAA, Veteran, Wagner-Peyser, state and local programs (approximately 100), plus discretionary grants in one common database. All reports generated from this system are “up to the minute,” thus allowing 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. Core programs under Title II and Title IV, as well as other workforce partners may make use of this system through data sharing agreements with the state or the local workforce areas.  

Connecting Colorado Self-Service: Connecting Colorado allows job seekers and employers to self-enter their work registration, resume, or job order data directly into the statewide database via the Internet, as well as search for jobs or qualified applicants. Colorado uses a skill based job matching system that focuses on experience, skills, and education level in addition to O*Net job titles, as well as allowing the upload of applicant resumes. All job listings are automatically searched after entry based on the employer’s requirements and in compliance with veterans priority of service. Job seekers can search for new jobs at any time or receive an email notification once a job is entered that matches their specifications. Likewise employers may run applicant searches on demand or rely on automated searches. Connecting Colorado also provides access to a Tool Box of job search assistance links that has been customized for each workforce region. Links include direct access to the local area’s web page, career exploration, training resources, and self-marketing tools, Unemployment Insurance information, and additional job banks. Colorado has developed a mobile application that will allow customers to access these resources on smartphones and other portable devices. 

Virtual Job Fair (VJF): Originally developed in-house by CDLE staff, the Virtual Job Fair has become a critical tool to serve businesses and job seekers alike. CDLE is now developing virtual events through Premier Virtual and still continues to be a critical tool to serve businesses and job seekers alike. More than 200,000 job seekers and 50,000 businesses have participated in VJFs statewide. 

• The purpose is to reduce costs of job fairs and other services, and increase access to workforce services for job seekers and businesses statewide, especially in the rural areas of the state. 
• Local workforce areas, other service providers and businesses can partner to target a job fair to a particular business sector or population of job seekers. 
• This system has been used to provide resources and job information to National Guard troops before their return from Afghanistan. On February 24, 2021, CDLE partnered with all local workforce centers to host a Statewide Virtual Hiring Event to get Colorado back to work.
• Features include:  
  • Job listings, on-line workshops and career exploration resources o On-line presentations by employers and access to their websites
  • On-line, real-time job interviews o Run more than one job fair simultaneously
  • Automatic upload of data to Connecting Colorado to track services and outcomes
  • Site usage reports 

Connecting Colorado is being modernized: The Colorado Workforce Modernization Project (CWMP) started the process of modernizing the Colorado Labor Exchange and Case Management System in November 2022, with the new system vendor, PAIRIN. CWMP team and sub-teams began the review, planning and development of the new system. The CWMP team and sub-teams has continued to meet over the course of 2023 to plan and start development on the new system design, structure, functionality; security; platform layout; user and staff accessibility; data storage, transfer, exchange, integration; and testing, which will lead to the resulting launch of the new Colorado workforce system. There is currently not a launch date for the modernized system. The CWMP team and sub-teams include CDLE staff, OIT staff,  contracted project management staff, local/regional Workforce Center staff, and PAIRIN staff. 

LMI Gateway: Colorado’s LMI Gateway is a powerful labor market information system designed to meet the needs of workforce professionals, job seekers, and businesses, as well as economists, economic development organizations, and the media. This platform is freely available to all core programs and other workforce partners. Training is provided regularly on the use of the site by LMI staff to core program staff through a variety of channels. The consistent use of the LMI Gateway allows all programs to make decisions based on the same data set and shared understanding of economic realities in local communities. 

Examples of LMI Gateway features include: 

• A wide variety of regional labor market services, such as labor trends, statistics, economic, demographic, salary, and employer data 
• Tools to chart and analyze labor market data 
• Career exploration and job postings information 
• A personal home page that allows a registered user to save items that fit their needs 
• Access a wide variety of resources designed to help a business succeed 
• Education and Training Resources: Find a suitable training or education program, as well as information on training providers and schools. This is also known as the Eligible Training Provider List for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act programs. 

Adult Education MIS: Title II adult education utilizes the commercially available data system, LiteracyPro’s LACES, as the electronic management information system (MIS). LACES is used by all AEFLA grantees. LACES has individual student records (including attendance, assessment and demographic data) within a relational database structure. LACES incorporates required National Reporting System measures using the common definitions and categories. Colorado has made customizations to LACES to allow for additional alerts and widgets that make monthly data desktop monitoring easier for both grantees and state staff. 

Considering the strict state laws around student Personally Identifiable Information, other WIOA partners do not have access to the state adult education data system. State agency staff rely on data matching, outlined in data sharing agreements, to provide the required information for federal reporting. 

All Colorado local workforce areas are required to use the state-developed common database (Connecting Colorado) to track all USDOL or CDLE funded programs provided through workforce centers including Wagner-Peyser, WIOA, TAA, and Veterans Employment and Training Services, as well as discretionary grants and locally funded programs. All labor exchange services delivered by the local areas are performed using this system, resulting in a true statewide labor exchange system. Data reporting to USDOL also derives directly from the statewide system, allowing real time reporting and tracking of results at the statewide, regional, local, and individual client level. 

State policies and procedures related to data integrity and data validation are reflected in the structure of the Connecting Colorado system. Colorado has also issued an updated, comprehensive set of data collection policies and processes that cover the entire participation cycle including enrollments, exits, participation services, and data entry standards. This document is titled Program Guidance Letter (PGL) MIS-2020-03: Guidance on Data Integrity and the Customer Participation Cycle for WIOA and TAA Programs and is available for review at: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdle/pgl. 

This policy reflects the reporting requirements of WIOA as provided by USDOL. In addition, Colorado has issued fully WIOA compliant procedures for eligibility and has updated Connecting Colorado accordingly. The WIOA Eligibility PGL WIOA-2022-03- is also available at the link provided above. 

Policies impacting one-stop partner program contributions to the one-stop delivery system include:

• PGL WIOA-2017-07: Local Negotiations on Infrastructure Funding
• PGL WIOA-2016-03: State Formula for Infrastructure Funding

In addition, Colorado has the following policy regarding partner MOUs:

• PGL WIOA-2016-02: Partner Requirements and Access to Services

The Connecting Colorado system serves as the data collection and reporting system for WIOA Title I, WIOA Title III, TAA, and JVSG programs, all of which are housed within the Colorado onestops.  It also serves as the data collection and reporting system for a variety of other programs and activities such as USDOL discretionary grants, MSFW, state funded grants, and locally funded programs. It does not serve as the data collection system for Title II or IV.  

Vocational Rehabilitation is co-located in a limited number of workforce centers across Colorado. All VR offices utilize an electronic case management system that complies with federal and state reporting requirements.  All DVR Counselors receive training on data collection requirements and various controls are in place to support accurate and consistent data collection. DVR collaborates with other core programs and required partners to ensure appropriate agreements and procedures are in place to facilitate data sharing when necessary to meet federal reporting requirements. 

Adult Education may be co-located within a workforce center in Colorado. Due to strict state Personally Identifiable Information laws, adult education utilizes its own data collection and reporting system, LiteracyPro’s LACES. State agency staff rely on data matching, outlined in data sharing agreements, to provide the required information for federal reporting.   

All job seekers can access Connecting Colorado’s labor exchange self-service system and enter their own registration data for WIOA Title III data collection and reporting. The same is true for all businesses; they also can self-list job orders that go into data collection and reporting.