Narrative: IV.

Governor Justice’s vision is to create a dynamic and inclusive workforce ecosystem in West Virginia that empowers individuals to thrive, drives economic prosperity, and fosters a resilient and innovative economy. WVWDB is the Governor’s agent for the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of West Virginia’s workforce development system. Members collaborate to provide state-level coordination and integration of federal and state workforce development policies and strategies with a goal of creating a more job-driven service delivery system.​ The goals and strategies included in this plan were developed in a collaborative effort with partners and approved by the WVWDB. 

As a proactive measure to address the need for comprehensive and streamlined service delivery, Governor Justice issued Executive Order 19-21 in 2021 to establish the Blue Ribbon Task Force to “better-integrate the training and certification programs offered through the West Virginia Community and Technical College system and West Virginia’s Workforce Development system, opening the door to better job opportunities for all West Virginians.” 

As a result of the Blue Ribbon Task Force’s work, the No Wrong Door Initiative was created to implement recommendations centered on providing access to the complete array of employment, education, training, and social assistance services regardless of which program or agency is accessed initially by job seekers, students, and workers. While the Blue Ribbon Task Force focuses specifically on better service integration between the state’s CTCs and public workforce system, the No Wrong Door Initiative also encompasses social assistance programs and community partners who provide support services for populations and/or address specific barriers to education and employment. 

This No Wrong Door Roadmap identifies actionable strategies designed to realize the vision of the Blue Ribbon Task Force through efficient, holistic, and integrated services for West Virginia’s workers, job seekers, and residents.

To gather data about the No Wrong Door Initiative and issues around coordination of services, interviews were conducted with stakeholders representing state agencies, program partners, regional workforce systems, and nonprofit service providers. Interviews centered upon four areas of inquiry:

1. Context and Understanding of the No Wrong Door Initiative
2. Participant Referrals
3. Systems, Technology, and Policies
4. Integrated Service Delivery

Based on this data, the No Wrong Door Franchise Model has been recommended to combat wide regional variation in service provision while balancing the need for regional flexibility and innovation. The No Wrong Door Franchise Model is led and guided strategically by West Virginia’s WDB as constituted and charged by the Governor. State and local No Wrong Door partners provide support and carry out the activities that move the state to a customer-centered franchise operation. Implementing the No Wrong Door Franchise Model through the following plan components provides the state with a means to significantly address better service provision, referrals to services, and integration of services throughout the state.

Component 1: Develop a consistent set of statewide workforce policies and procedures.

Component 2: Launch a new “one-stop certification” process intended to define a consistent access and referral system where partners can better engage in the “affiliate” role. 

Component 3: Develop a consistent data sharing and local MOU process informed by understood and agreed-to privacy limitations. 

Component 4: Undertake a cross-agency and program Infrastructure Funding Agreement (IFA) process to create a consistent approach locally and statewide. 

Component 5: Implement a customer mapping initiative that identifies intake, eligibility and referral processes no matter which agency engages first. 

Component 6: Implement an automated referral system incorporating referrals made at one-stop centers and virtually.  

In conjunction with the work and recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Task Force and following the No Wrong Door Initiative, a team from West Virginia is working through the Aligned Case Management (ACM) Institute (“the Institute”). A draft charter of the proposed work is provided below. 

I. BACKGROUND: The Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Workforce

Investment (ETA-OWI) identifies opportunities for improvement in the case management system by better understanding the first-hand experience of case managers and job seekers in the nation’s workforce development system. They engage NASWA’s Workforce ITSC to provide a replicable framework and an on-demand toolkit of resources that reflect the shared system’s case management needs. As part of this engagement, West Virginia enrolled a team in Workforce ITSC’s Aligned Case Management Institute to identify problems in the current state of case management the state would like to address. 

II. VISION: Because of the need for a common referral system that better assesses needs and refers customers to partner services, the West Virginia team’s vision is to optimize the use of the state’s No Wrong Door application to route and refer customers more seamlessly to appropriate supportive services based on a “whole person” assessment of their needs. The successful deployment of No Wrong Door is a critical first step to begin the team’s commitment to an improved case management approach in West Virginia.

II. PROJECT MISSION: The mission of the West Virginia Team is to identify actions that will improve the referral process by and between program partners by optimizing the use of the No Wrong Door approach. The goal is to effectively implement No Wrong Door by better supporting this new tool’s adoption by professional staff and creating positive momentum for future initiatives that advance a better aligned case management approach in West Virginia. Steps toward achieving this goal include:

• Identifying how professional staff and customers might make optimal use of No Wrong Door to improve referrals and access to the full breadth of partner services;
• identifying actions that leaders and managers should take to support optimal utilization of the tool;
•  Recommending action steps and resources required to support the successful deployment of No Wrong Door;
• Discussing and identifying new opportunities that leadership might consider to continue the long-term effort toward better ACM in West Virginia, following the successful execution of No Wrong Door.

III. PROJECT OBJECTIVES: Objectives for this project include:

• Create a shared vision for the optimized implementation of No Wrong Door by and between all programs and partners to improve access to system services for the customer;
• Identify actions, activities, and resources required to properly support professional staff across the broader WDS (including partner programs) in the use of No Wrong Door;
• Identify metrics to measure “success” in the deployment of No Wrong Door;
• Gain approvals as necessary to proceed in securing necessary resources;
• Produce an Action Plan to successfully launch No Wrong Door; and
• Create a set of recommendations to the Leadership Group for next priorities in the support of a better ACM approach in West Virginia.

In 2022, Governor Justice, with the support of the West Virginia Legislature, created the State Workforce Resiliency Office. This office operates on behalf of the Governor to coordinate workforce development, job training, education, and related programs across numerous state agencies and entities to grow West Virginia’s workforce and provide more options for West Virginians seeking work. This office advises the Governor on the workforce development landscape across West Virginia and assists in developing policies, plans, and procedures to ensure that state agencies, private partners, and federal programs are effectively utilized for workforce development. 

The WVWDB recently reorganized advisory committees to include state partners and to align with goals developed for the WIOA strategic plan. Those goals include: 1) Expand and implement high-quality work-based learning opportunities for youth and adult learners; 2) Increase referrals and integration of services to improve access to supportive services customized for individuals needing education and employment; 3) Implement comprehensive sector strategy approaches to reduce skills mismatches and enhance faster labor market attachment while informing education and training priorities; 4) Implement a franchise model for workforce delivery to increase the efficiency of service delivery and effectiveness in serving businesses, workers, and job seekers. 

The following advisory committees report information and recommendations from partners to the WVWDB quarterly:

• Operations Committee (Goals 2 and 4)
• Industry Partnerships and Employer Engagement (Goal 3)
• Performance and Accountability (Goals 1, 2, 3 and 4)
• Career Pathways (Goal 1)

In addition to the WVWDB committees, the seven LWDBs meet quarterly with their local partners (WIOA, Adult Education, Wagner-Peyser, Vocational Rehabilitation, TANF, Career Technical Education, Economic Community Development, etc.)  Based on these reports, technical assistance is provided to the LWDBs where performance and/or other operational goals are not meeting the objectives of their respective regional plan. LWDBs showing promising practices are highlighted among the WVWDB committees as well as with other local planning areas within the state.

A leadership planning team for the development of the WIOA strategic plan includes staff from the Governor’s Workforce Resiliency Office, the WVWDB, and WFWV. The team conducted an analysis of workforce and employment data, resulting in the identification of four strategic focus areas that were presented to the Board and partners as the strategic goals for 2024-2027. Partners reviewed and provided feedback related to the goals before they were presented to the WVWDB and approved at the December 13, 2023 meeting. Each partner identified a point of contact for their WIOA planning who participated in meetings and submitted partner plans by December 22, 2023. The plan was available for WVWDB review and partner comment from February 5-9, 2024 and is then available for public review and comment from February 12-28, 2024. Public comments will be reviewed by the leadership planning team and to consider for incorporation before the March 4, 2024 submission deadline.

The Interagency Collaborative Team (ICT), established under the state Workforce Investment Act, ensures coordination between the agencies engaged in workforce development activities, LWDBs, and WFWV. The ICT operates as a state interagency source for addressing issues or concerns related to building and maintaining the most effective and efficient implementation of WIOA and the overall workforce development system in West Virginia. The team focuses on how best to collaborate between and among the state agencies directly involved in workforce development activities. The ICT serves as a forum for the LWDBs to seek information or recommendations to fulfill their responsibilities. WFWV convenes the team at least monthly and provides administrative and other services.

To ensure seamless alignment of activities and goals across programs, partners maintain continuous communication to enhance awareness of each other's initiatives. This commitment to information sharing ensures that state and local staff remain well-informed about the comprehensive array of services and resources available from partner agencies. Regular communication takes place at both the state level and within AJCs, where daily interactions with partner agency staff occur. Mandatory cross-training initiatives further optimize service delivery to AJC customers, simultaneously preserving resources for future demands.

To better coordinate efforts with federal funded projects such as IIJA/IRA/CHIPS opportunities for West Virginia, Governor Justice’s staff meets weekly with key state partners. Staff also created and operate Governor’s Infrastructure Funding Summits, which provide a valuable platform to promote collaboration in workforce development by bringing together key stakeholders from government, industry, education, and the community to address infrastructure challenges and opportunities. These events serve as a forum for discussing the workforce needs associated with infrastructure projects, such as construction, engineering, and skilled trades. The events also provide information on training programs, funding opportunities, and resources available to support workforce development efforts in infrastructure-related fields.