Narrative: III. a. 2. B.

This plan aims to ensure that the alignment of activities between core programs and partners to improve coordination of employment and training activities and avoid duplication of services to customers. Below are some examples of coordinated efforts currently in practice:

 I.                    Engaging At-Risk Youth through LWDA/High School Partnerships

 Understanding that the goal of keeping school-age youth engaged in constructive educational experiences is reducing the risk of truancy, crime and violence.  LWC’s Office of Workforce Development works with several local areas to approach public schools and school boards about the possibility of partnering to offer assistance to youth at risk of exiting high school before graduation. The results are cooperative endeavor agreements signed by LWDB chairs and directors, high school principals and public school superintendents to ensure a “soft handoff” occurs the moment these students are removed from the school’s enrollment. Immediately, they are enrolled into WIOA once eligibility has been formally established. 

II. Louisiana Jump Start Initiative - Employer Engagement- Department of Education

 The Louisiana Department of Education (K-12), is in the process of revamping their initiative that offers Career Technical Education (CTE) to high school students in grades 10 through 12. This initiative, known as Jump Start, provides classroom training and work experience in demand occupations in Louisiana through unpaid internships provided industry partners. Participating students are able to obtain high school credit hours, college course credits and industry certifications, all leading to high school diplomas. In some instances, students are able to graduate high school with associate degrees, beginning their professional careers in technical fields immediately after completing high school with a dual degree.

 Essential to the program’s success is employer engagement. Employers within targeted industries must be willing to engage high school students through internship opportunities, providing students with on-the-job training and career mentors.

The reworking of Jumpstart (Jumpstart 2.0) is striving to eliminate duplication of efforts to engage business leaders and overtaxing of resources by working cooperatively through LWDBs and Perkins V Regional Coordinators to actively plan and implement career and technical education and training through the regional teams which align with the RLMAs designated by LWC. These teams are comprised of education (K-12, community and technical colleges), private business, economic development organizations, local One-Stop operators, public sector leaders, re-entry coordinators, and others.  These teams are actively working to streamline the process of business engagement  

Local and regional workforce plans will be evaluated to ensure they align with the state’s initiatives to support this process. This process is just one solution to promote business engagement as it relates to opportunities for youth and adults in need of training and work experience.

III. Registered Apprenticeship-LWC

Registered Apprenticeship

Registered Apprenticeship is currently aligned with WIOA through initiatives of the State Apprenticeship Expansion (SAE) grant awarded to the LWC by USDOL. One of these initiatives includes a supportive services pilot for apprentices similar to those offered at the American Job Centers (AJC). SAE supportive services have provided tools, child care assistance, and transportation reimbursement for apprentices with demonstrated financial need, supplementing funds for WIOA participants who need additional support and providing resources for those who are not eligible for WIOA but still require such assistance. These supportive services will continue until the SAE grant ends in September 2020.

ApprenticeshipLA.com utilizes a state-wide WIOA pre-screening approach to determine potential WIOA eligibility for apprentice applicants. Online applications are forwarded to the appropriate local AJC for eligibility and enrollment in WIOA funded services.  This provides the opportunity to bridge potential gaps between outreach and recruitment of eligible populations allowing the use of multiple funding streams to support a common activity between partners.   The pre-screening form increases the potential for determining eligibility and providing a more robust service delivery. 

A new source of grant funding awarded in 2019, the Apprenticeship State Expansion (ASE) grant, provides funds for employer incentives to assist with OJT and Related Technical Instruction (RTI) training costs. The LWC will partner with local boards to promote this benefit braiding funds with OJT contracts and ITAs to increase the amount of WIOA funds utilized by employers with a Registered Apprenticeship model and encourage Registered Apprenticeship expansion across the State of Louisiana.

During National Apprenticeship Week in 2019, the Apprenticeship Division held two events in the Monroe and Lafayette regions, coordinated with two local workforce boards. These events focused on informing employers of the benefits of Registered Apprenticeship and how WIOA funding can amplify programs, with a cumulative attendance of over 80 individuals.

 Akey strategy identified in the Louisiana Combined Plan goals and objectives is the expansion of the use of Registered Apprenticeship programs where employer and employee are equally committed to the program’s success.  Registered Apprenticeship programs have demonstrated that employers benefit from lower employee turnover, increased employee productivity, improve employee problem-solving skills and enhance employee relations.  

LWC continues working to develop new non-traditional programs in industries such as health care and advanced manufacturing. The LWC Apprenticeship Division continues to encourage new and currently existing programs to take advantage of partnership opportunities with our workforce system, and has played an active role in discussions regarding Eligible Training Provider List policies and procedures as it applies to registered apprenticeship under the new WIOA regulations.

Provisions in WIOA clearly support the expansion and incorporation of registered apprenticeship as an evidence-based approach to workforce development.  Louisiana sees this as an opportunity to create a statewide vision that supports substantive partnerships between LWDBs and registered apprenticeship program sponsors. 

IV. HUD/Public Housing

As with the aforementioned strategies to engage out-of-school youth through partnerships with high schools, efforts to work with public housing authorities funded with Department of Housing and Urban Development dollars have begun and will continue throughout the life of this state plan. The goal is to partner and share resources to provide education and employment services to out-of-school youth and adults living in public housing.

V. Re-Entry-Department of Corrections

LWC and its local workforce partners have aligned with the Louisiana Department of Corrections on several reentry initiatives across the state. Participants are convicted of crimes in criminal court and sentenced to serve time in the re-entry program. This alternative sentencing structure is designed to work with men and women while they are incarcerated in an effort to provide job skills in demand occupations, reducing the chances of recidivism among participants and complying with the terms and conditions of sentencing. Minimally, engagement in the re-entry program ensures the following:

•         Inmate receives workforce individualized career services prior to release.

•         Inmate must secure employment prior to release.

•         Peer mentors are assigned to each inmate.

•         Peer mentor must verify the inmate’s readiness for release.

OWD is 100% dedicated to this initiative and has specifically assigned specialized staff toward this initiative working in/with Day Reporting Centers and Regional Reentry Centers to provide individualized career services through the case management framework.  Furthermore, OWD has increased its presence at nine different specialty courts throughout the state to assist with re-entry barriers to employment.

Additionally, OWD’s Veterans’ Unit offer re-entry services to incarcerated veterans statewide.  Staff work with these individuals starting nine months prior to release.  They continue to engage both parish and state formerly incarcerated personnel with significant barriers to employment in a concentrated effort of giving people a second chance to become productive, gainfully employed citizens.

VI. Community Service Block Grant

The Community Services Block Grant Unit, as a component of the LWC, Office of Workforce Development, will provide leadership and technical assistance to the local Community Action Agencies (CAAs) to support the collaboration and coordination of their employment and training activities, as well as their supportive services with their local and regional WDBs. CAAs in each region will be included in the Louisiana Career Pathways model development, and are well-positioned to serve as lead partners in the development of “supportive service pathways” or service flow charts for vulnerable populations (i.e. low-skilled, low income, individuals with disabilities, re-entering citizens) focusing on reduction of barriers to employment. The CSBG Unit will achieve this commitment by providing best practices models and supporting innovative strategies that align services to ensure that customers receive the best available employment and training services and employment supports, to achieve their employment and self-sufficiency goals.