WIOA State Plan Common Elements

(2d.) Coordination, Alignment, and Provision of Services to Employers
The Alabama Workforce System partners will ensure that there is a coordinated, aligned, delivery model for services to employers. Partners, who meet on a regular basis, will continue to meet and align their resources and support to the local needs of employers. The melding of the partners and employers safeguards the coordination of educational and training services in alignment with the performance measures established by the boards and through each partner’s governing authority under WIOA.

With this in mind, and in order to provide comprehensive, high-quality services to employers to meet their current and projected workforce needs, and to achieve the goals of industry sector partners in the state, Alabama Workforce System (WFS) core partners will coordinate their activities and resources to determine a set of “core principles” in regards to the collaborative delivery of business services. The core principles will include the following:
⦁    WIOA Core Partners will serve as the lead, and equal, providers of services to business, particularly in each programs’ area(s) of expertise. 
⦁    Business partner input will be an important consideration in the collaboration and alignment of services. 
⦁    No core partner will be excluded from direct interaction with the business customer, as needed and appropriate. 
⦁    Existing partnerships with business will be respected in order to address the preferences and needs of the business within the purview of that partnership. 
⦁    Whenever possible, collaboration and alignment will drill down to the local level but will consider recommendations from each core partner’s leadership in regard to this focus.

WIOA core partners will form an executive-level leadership team with a representative from each partner’s program who have expertise in, and responsibility for, the design and delivery of services to business customers at the state, regional and local level. 
⦁    This executive team will meet quarterly to address collaborative strategies and alignment with business customers. 
⦁    This executive team will also identify agency local representatives with similar expertise to serve on regional or local teams that focus on collaboration and alignment of engagement with existing or potential business customers. 
⦁    This executive team will also initiate on-going cross-training to enhance core partners’ understanding of each partners’ expertise so that the core partners are aware of the “go-to” agency to best address the unique needs of the business customer.

In order to make it easier for businesses to access these unique services, while developing and sustaining a trusted partnership, the Alabama Workforce System core partners will establish a “lead point of contact” from each core partner program with each business at the state and/or local level to build the capacity to be responsive to each business in a collaborative and timely manner to meet their needs. The following strategies will be used to engage in the collaborative delivery of business services based on the needs of the business. · 
⦁    Identification of Business Services deliverable by each WIOA core partner. 
⦁    Facilitated quarterly meetings among each of the Core Partners at the state and regional/local levels as noted above. 
⦁    Cross-training internally for the regional/local business service representatives who will focus on: 
⦁    Familiarity with the business services deliverable by each core partner
⦁    Consideration of the methodology of service delivery to business for appropriate referrals when special business needs arise with core partner business relationships 
⦁    Sharing of “subject-matter expertise” to acquaint core partners with the many      resources available to businesses to meet their needs 
⦁    Jointly funded initiatives with Core Partners and businesses coordinated through each core partner’s representative on the executive team to ensure appropriate alignment and collaboration.
⦁    Customized services to employers based on special populations and core partner expertise to address new or emerging needs of business.
⦁    Other strategic approaches will be added to this list over time and will be generated by the collaborative engagement at the executive level core partner meetings noted above along with input from the local collaboration gatherings.

MORE SPECIFICALLY: The team members, who have expertise in the delivery of services to businesses, will convene to identify specific business services offered by their program for each of the “Employer Services” enumerated in the “WIOA/Effectiveness in Serving Employers Report Template.” Those six (6) areas are: 
⦁    Employer Information and Support Services 
⦁    Workforce Recruitment Assistance 
⦁    Strategic Planning/Economic Development Activities 
⦁    Untapped Labor Pools Activities 
⦁    Training Services 
⦁    Incumbent Worker Training Services 
⦁    Rapid Response/Business Downsizing Assistance 
⦁    Planning layoff response

During the time period covered by the 2020 Combined State plan, the team members plan to support and assist the Governor’s Office on Disability and Vocational Rehabilitation in their efforts to encourage the Governor to issue an Executive Order requiring state agencies to model the way for hiring, retaining, and advancing Alabamian’s with disabilities through special recruiting, hiring, accommodation and inclusion initiatives.  By being a a model state employer of individuals with disabilities, Alabama’s state agencies will set a precedent and example to private business and industry that Alabamian’s with disabilities are a valuable source of talent, skill and creative ability. 

For Title I partners, the State and the State Workforce Development Board will continue to refine and assess how services to employers are carried out through the Career Center system. Also, the Alabama Workforce Council is a primarily employer-led advisory council appointed by the Governor in 2013 to assist in coordinating all resources in Alabama to provide high-quality, comprehensive services to employers. The Alabama Workforce Council has recommended, and plans are underway to establish a strong network of funded and empowered regional workforce entities that will be tasked with the central role of bridging business needs with a “talent supply chain.” These regional entities which will include representatives of the core partner agencies will report to a board of regional business, industry and education leaders. Plans are also underway to establish a new online “one-stop” resource to serve clear and focused needs while being accessible by a number of users including employers.

Title II Alabama Adult Education programs will coordinate with all of the WIOA required partners and the Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Transformation to ensure services are aligned to the needs of employers.  Adult Education programs will integrate education and training services that place each student on a career pathway with credentials of value that lead to sustainable employment. The career pathways and credentials will be vetted by education and industry leaders through the state established Technical Advisory Committees (TAC). As employment opportunities arise at the varied levels of qualifications, the adult education students will be informed and included in the pool of potential candidates to fulfill the workforce demands in their local labor market. Adult Education students will be able to matriculate into pre-Apprenticeship and Apprenticeship opportunities with employers in each local area.  If students gain employment before all credentials have been earned, they will have opportunities to continue their adult education services via distance learning or in evening classes. The goal of adult education is to provide the skills, and abilities for someone with or without a high school diploma that lacks the basic academic understanding, or ability to read write or speak the English language, to transition and be successful in, postsecondary education, training, and sustainable employment.

The Title IV Vocation Rehabilitation Program will work collaboratively with the WIOA required partners to provide effective services to employers on a state, regional, and local level. In addition to the business services provided by the WIOA partners, there are additional categories of services that can be provided by ADRS as part of the collaborative effort to meet business needs. These services will continue to be identified by our business customers, and ADRS will receive input from our business customers in developing these services so that the needs of businesses will be met. These services include customized Disability and Employment training, such as Disability etiquette and Disability bias training; Awareness of specific disabling conditions; and Emergency Preparedness for employees with disabilities. With Federal legislation and specific mandates for compliance around disability matters, ADRS also provides relevant training on the successful methodology and resources for implementation of Federal regulations such as Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act for Federal Contractors. 

Retaining valued workers whose job is affected by illness, injury, or disability has been a major concern of business, and ADRS has customized stay-at-work and return-to-work services to increase the likelihood that workers with disabilities will continue in their current jobs. And finally, ADRS will continue to provide services to address personnel processes, job descriptions, website accessibility, targeted recruitment, and the use of the ADRS rehabilitation technology specialist team and, of course, the statewide Business Relations Consultants who provide VR Business services at the local level. Whenever possible, the Core partners will continue to refine and assess how services to businesses can be delivered collaboratively to employers through the Career Center system. Variations will occur in the collaborative delivery of services when those services are unique to the expertise of the core partner and the targeted populations they are mandated to serve and in deference to the specific needs of the business.