Located in:
I. b. Plan Introduction or Executive Summary
The Unified or Combined State Plan may include an introduction or executive summary. This element is optional.
Current Narrative:
Letter from Superintendent Hoffman
Letter addressing COVID-19 Impact on Arizona's WIOA Customers
Arizona is proud to present its 2020 to 2023 WIOA Unified Workforce Development Plan (Plan), as required by WIOA sec. 102 (29 U.S. Code § 3112).
The WIOA of 2014, Public Law 113-128 (Pub. L. 113–128), supersedes the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 and provides the opportunity to align “workforce investment, education, and economic development systems in support of a comprehensive, accessible, high–quality workforce development system in the United States.” Over the last four years, Arizona utilized the WIOA requirements to help increase business leadership in the workforce system and develop increased systemwide unity with the implementation of unified branding, ARIZONA@WORK, across workforce partners. Looking forward, the Workforce Arizona Council (Council), the State’s Workforce Development Board, strives to ensure the next four years will advance what the State has learned and developed. Thoughtful consideration was given when developing ARIZONA@WORK’s goals and strategies, as well as identifying the State’s In-Demand Industries and Occupations and strengths and weaknesses. These were developed to be regularly reflected on throughout the next four years and revised as economic, workforce, and other relevant conditions change.
The Council ensured these initial decisions were well informed by convening ARIZONA@WORK partners throughout the summer of 2019 for public working group meetings. Representation at the meetings included leadership from the Arizona Department of Economic Security/Division of Employment and Rehabilitation Services (DES/DERS), the state designated Workforce Agency and WIOA grantee; Local Workforce Development Boards (LWDBs); the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA); the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO); and the Arizona Department of Education/Adult Education Services (ADE/AES). Partners provided specific, relevant, and up to date workforce and labor market data to ensure each decision was based on the best available facts regarding each topic. Additional insight was provided by the LWDB members and their staff at the Summer 2019 workforce convening hosted by the Council. This insight was critical in defining the strengths and weaknesses identified in this plan.
Leadership for the core WIOA programs and LWDBs provided suggestions and edits to ensure the strategy implementation was logical and provided opportunities for each program to contribute to the overall strategies. Further, LWDB staff and ARIZONA@WORK partners provided comments and feedback which were included early in the section’s development.
Throughout the development of this plan, several webinars and presentations were given updating all ARIZONA@WORK partners of the four-year plan’s progress. A draft of this plan was disseminated statewide for public comment before the Council voted to approve it. As a part of the public comment process, a formal tribal consultation was held, inviting all tribal leaders in Arizona to obtain further input.
Since the original drafting of this plan, Arizona has been significantly impacted by the global spread of the COVID-19 virus. On March 11, 2020, Governor Ducey issued a Declaration of Emergency. While this plan does not specifically address the changing workforce needs related to the COVID-19 outbreak, Arizona plans to utilize all ARIZONA@WORK partners to innovatively implement the strategies identified in this plan to support the changing needs of businesses and job seekers affected by the crisis.