Narrative: e.

Colorado was approved for a waiver through June 30, 2016 regarding the competitive selection of supportive services and follow-up services. Colorado is seeking an extension of this waiver through the four-year duration of this WIOA Combined Plan.

Waiver of Youth Program Element Procurement

1. Statutory Provisions to be Waived: WIOASec. 123 - Eligible providers of youth workforce investment activities: requirement to competitively select providers of the 14 youth program elements described in section 129(c)(2)(G) and (I). USDOL previously granted this waiver to the majority of the states during the 15-year life of the Workforce Investment Act.

This waiver would allow elimination of the competitive selection of providers for two of the fourteen youth program elements, as follows:

• Follow-up services for not less than 12 months after the completion of participation, a required WIOA service for all youth participants
• Supportive services

2. State or Local Statutory Regulatory Barriers: There are no state or local statutory or regulatory barriers to implementing the proposed waiver. State Workforce Development Board and CDLE policies are currently in compliance with Federal guidelines. However, upon notification of approval of this waiver request, CDLE policies will be amended as appropriate to comply with the terms of the waiver.

3. Goals and Programmatic Outcomes to be Achieved by the Waiver:

• Allow one-stop center case managers, who have developed this expertise over the last 15 years, to provide follow-up and supportive services to improve continuity of case management services, achieve a more efficient, effective and seamless one-stop service delivery system that can provide excellent customer service to jobseekers, and successfully implement the WIOA focus on services to disconnected/out-of-school youth.
• Avoid additional administrative costs and utilization of staff resources to conduct the procurement of the two elements, which in-house staff currently have the expertise to deliver; avoid the additional overhead costs associated with sub-contracting the two elements to outside entities, which in turn is expected to result in a higher cost-per for these services and a decrease in the number of youth participants that can be served by the WIOA youth programs across the state.

Follow-Up and Supportive Services:

The case management relationship with participants, which has been honed over the last 15 years of WIA, is based upon a thorough knowledge of the youth, their employment plan, expected outcomes, and barriers. Colorado’s youth program operates on the premise of long-term participation during which time a strong relationship is formed. This is particularly critical to the success of disconnected youth, who require a strong support system to overcome barriers to the achievement of educational and occupational goals. When the youth exits the program and enters into the follow-up period, the requirement that follow-up services be provided by a different organization secured through a competitive process is likely to render services less effective. The established relationship with staff will not exist with a new organization contracted to do follow-up. A youth would be less likely to respond to follow-up contacts and therefore less likely to take advantage of available services that lead to more stability and longer retention. By allowing the local workforce case manager to continue their established relationship with the participant during the follow-up period, there will be greater effectiveness in quickly identifying the needs of the youth and offering assistance. A new third party conducting the follow-up would have to gather additional information and establish a relationship of trust and communication. This process would be more time intensive and costly than building upon an established relationship between the youth and the case manager.

Likewise, by allowing local workforce center case managers to identify and authorize payment for support services, the continuity of service stays intact. When a youth has to be referred to a third party to secure a support service, not only is there an additional party to whom the youth must expose confidential information, but it is a less efficient way to expedite the issuance of a voucher, purchase order, bus pass or other method for disbursing assistance. Due to the relatively small youth allocations for Colorado local areas, support services are generally limited and are used to provide help for transportation, clothing, eyeglasses, tools, physicals, and other small purchases. Those specific services may be a sole source purchase, such as in the case of bus passes, or based upon vendors who are willing to do business through purchase orders. Where there is a choice of vendors, multiple bids are gathered. This youth practice would be consistent with the way adult and dislocated worker services are provided through the one-stop centers. By creating a separate service provider for this youth program element, the delivery system becomes fragmented and less holistic for the participant, and more costly for the system.

Cost Effectiveness:

Colorado’s one-stop delivery system consists of 10 designated local areas, 9 of which are county operated while one is administered by the state, and locally delivered through state and county entities. In almost every local area, procurement of these services will require the use of additional administrative and staff resources to conduct the competitive process for two youth program elements that have been delivered by in-house staff under the WIA waiver. This redirection of resources will increase the cost-per-participant for follow-up and supportive services. In addition, because supportive services are already being purchased through an internal procurement process, subcontracting this element would mean paying outside staff to duplicate processes already in place, adding a layer of bureaucracy and complicating access to this critical service. Finally, because these services are the most commonly utilized youth program elements, the cost-per-participant is expected to increase and the number of youth served is expected to decrease, lowering overall cost-effectiveness.

In Summary:

The greater flexibility resulting from this waiver will allow workforce centers to

• Improve the continuity of services to youth;
• Implement a more cost-effective and integrated service delivery system; and

In the same manner, this waiver is expected to

• Promote the rapid implementation of the out-of-school youth focus of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014;
• Facilitate the tracking and reporting of outcome data for the WIOA business services performance measure;
• Allow Colorado to continue achieving efficiencies in the delivery of all youth services;
• Keep the administrative costs of competitive procurement processes at a minimal level; and
• Direct more funds to program activities that will allow Colorado to serve a larger number of youth participants and lead toward performance improvement.

4. Individuals Impacted by the Waiver:

• Local boards needing to minimize administrative costs and redirect those funds to additional program activities that assist youth participants and lead to performance improvement, as well as the development of comprehensive one-stop centers in alignment with TEGL 4-15: Vision for the One-Stop Delivery System under WIOA.
• Older, out-of-school, low-income and disconnected youth, who have demonstrated the need for intensive youth program services and supports, most commonly work experiences, supportive services, and follow-up, the latter required by WIOA.
• Community Based Organizations: In some parts of the state, the procurement process will continue as before, where most or all of the services are contracted out to CBOs. In other parts of the state, community organizations seeking to partner with workforce boards will have the opportunity meet the needs of disconnected youth populations and the business community that their current resources alone cannot address.
• One-Stop Partners seeking to align their service delivery to youth with the one-stop system and leverage resources to meet customer needs.

5. Process Used to Monitor Progress in Implementing the Waivers: CDLE has a long standing, comprehensive monitoring and performance accountability system that measures and evaluates results for job seekers and employers accessing Colorado’s network of One-Stop centers. On a monthly and quarterly basis, CDLE reviews and analyzes client enrollment and service levels, program expenditures, and performance outcomes. In addition, State program monitors conduct quarterly reviews designed to assure that contract requirements are being met for all WIA programs. On an annual basis, comprehensive compliance monitoring is conducted onsite utilizing outcome reports generated from CDLE’s statewide databases. Should this waiver request be granted, CDLE will ensure regular review of WIOA programs and discretionary grants to monitor the outcomes and impacts of this waiver authority.

Specifically, Colorado has issued Program Guidance Letter 15-13-WIOA: PY15 Waiver Policy that contains the following waiver oversight process:

Waiver Monitoring and Accountability:

In TEGL 26-09, USDOL stated its intent to enhance its oversight and monitoring of waivers to determine what impacts waivers have on performance outcomes, gain insight

into how states are using waivers, and to ensure that the integrity of the waiver guidelines are maintained. To address the same areas, CDLE will be adding the monitoring of waivers to its quarterly and annual monitoring processes in order to track how waivers have changed the activities of the local areas and directly or indirectly affected local area performance, and to insure compliance with waiver guidelines. CDLE will utilize the following mechanisms to track and monitor the use of waivers in each local area:

• Local plans
• Expenditure Authorizations for WIOA and Wagner-Peyser formula programs that issue funding and serve as modifications to grant agreements
• Local policies
• Activity and performance reports

Outcomes from the activity and performance reports will provide data that identify the target groups and the number and any changes in the number of youth customers served, the number and any changes in the number of customers provided follow-up and supportive services, and the number and any changes to youth program performance outcomes that can be attributed to the waiver. This data will be captured and included in the Cost Effectiveness and Waiver segment of the WIOA annual report narrative.

6. Process for Notice of Local Boards and Opportunity to Comment: The waiver request will be published for a period of three weeks on the public websites maintained by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and the Colorado Workforce Development Council, allowing for public comment on its content and potential impact. In addition, a copy of the waiver will be available for public inspection at CDLE offices, and electronic copies of the waiver will be sent via e-mail to local boards and one-stop operators. The waiver requests and any comments received will be submitted to the US Department of Labor.