WIOA State Plan Common Elements

The following key strategies have been developed in response to internal informal assessments of effectiveness: 

• Collaboration within LEO-WD, involving partners from WIOA Titles I through IV, and partners within/beyond state government to build coalitions to effectively drive strategic focus areas.  An example of this is the Michigan Industry Cluster Approach.  The primary strategy of LEO-WD focuses on aligning all efforts around priority industry clusters for a demand-driven workforce system. Through extensive labor market research, LEO-WD focuses on key industry clusters: Agriculture, Construction, Energy, Healthcare, Information Technology, and Manufacturing. LEO-WD has identified a team of specialists within these industry clusters to drive workforce development efforts toward meeting the skill needs within these clusters.  These specialists collaborate with the aforementioned partners for an inclusive, comprehensive approach to meeting employer and job seeker needs.
   
• Commitment to inclusion for individuals with barrier to employment. LEO-WD is actively involved in ETA’s Office of Disability Employment Policy’s Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program in support of developing a framework for systems change that is centered on the premise that all citizens, including individuals with significant disabilities, are capable of full participation in integrated employment and community life.  LEO-WD staff also co-lead an Employment First workgroup focused on business engagement.  The objectives of this group are:
  • To establish a common space for business community resources to highlight additional available assistance and streamline the process for the business community to find the resources they want and need to better recruit, employ, and retain individuals with disabilities;
  • To maximize collaboration of Michigan Works! and MRS Business Service teams to effectively educate employers about the advantages of hiring from this underutilized, often underestimated talent pool; and
  • To utilize collaborative relationships with businesses to strengthen the opportunity for competitive integrated employment outcomes that benefit both people with disabilities and the employer, and ultimately the community as a whole.
     
• Emphasized value of regional and local areas leveraging State resources that created better jobs and training, along with career pathways. Section 106(c)(1) (a) through (h) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires local boards and chief elected officials (CEOs) in each planning region to engage in a regional planning process that results in the preparation and submission of a single Regional Plan.  Regional Plans must incorporate the Local Plans for each of the local areas within the planning region consistent with the requirements of the WIOA Final Regulations at Section 679.540(a).

The process undertaken to produce the local areas’ regional plans identified leveraging State resources in the following ways, but is not limited to:               

• The knowledge and skills necessary to meet the employment needs of the employers in the region, including employment needs of in-demand industry sectors and occupations.
• An analysis of the current workforce in the region, including employment and unemployment data, labor market trends, and the educational and skill levels of the workforce, including individuals with barriers to employment.
• An analysis of workforce development activities in the region, including available education and training opportunities.  This analysis must include the strengths and weaknesses of workforce development activities in the region and the region’s capacity to provide the workforce development activities necessary to address the education and skill needs of the workforce, including individuals with barriers to employment, and the employment needs of employers in the region.
   
• Existing service delivery strategies that will be expanded, streamlined, or eliminated.
• New service strategies necessary to address regional education and training needs.
• Strategies to address geographic advantages.
• Approaches to improve services to individuals with disabilities, veterans, youth, or other hard-to-serve populations.
• Strategies to connect the unemployed with work-based learning opportunities.
• Strategies to integrate existing regional planning efforts among core partners.

• Current economic development organizations engaged in regional planning.
• Education and training providers involved with economic development.
• Current businesses involved with economic development organizations.
• Targeted businesses from emerging sectors/industries.
• Workforce development operations have been combined with Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs to reduce bureaucracy and inefficiency, along with an increased focus on assisting individuals with barriers to employment through partnerships.  Partners from Workforce Development, Michigan Rehabilitative Services, and the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons are now combined as a sub-agency of LEO-WD called Employment & Training.  Cross-training efforts have ensued to further identify opportunities for collaboration and leveraging of funding and resources.  The mission of Michigan VR programs reflects business as a customer noting “developing workforce solutions for individuals with disabilities and businesses.”  VR programs understand that customers receive better career planning and employment support when collaborating with business for customers to better understand their needs and expectations.
   
• Partnerships between education and employers have been created to ensure training is not only demand-driven but leads to a recognized post-secondary credential, building a seamless One-Stop system for job seekers.  Using the Michigan Industry Cluster Approach (MICA), the LEO-WD Sector Strategies Team supports a demand-driven workforce development system that provides workforce training and services that meet the needs of targeted industry sectors and employers.  The Sector Strategies Team is comprised of multiple Talent Development Liaisons (TDLs) and one Administrative Manager.  Each TDL serves as a subject matter expert for a specific industry sector and provides statewide sector specific technical assistance.  The TDLs serve as connectors, coordinators, and conveners to ensure employers and educators develop strong partnerships regardless of which partner, or organization, they engage with initially.  The Sector Strategies Team provides a platform for Michigan employers that enables them to connect with local, regional and state talent programs, resources and opportunities. The Talent Development Liaisons and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation collaborate with the MWA Business Services Teams to provide information and support for employers growing within or moving into the local area.  The partnerships between the One-Stops, the Michigan Industry Cluster Approach Team, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation establish a relationship with employers to obtain skilled workers through Michigan’s system.
• LEO is actively engaged in, and continues to work toward, aligning data systems to measure outcomes.  Results have increased accountability.  LEO-WD is beginning the process of vetting Management of Information System vendors to increase this alignment.  The State is adapting its strategies based on these assessments by utilizing data and evidence-based promotion of opportunities where data is the basis for how we make decisions.   

Michigan is currently exceeding the performance target for all measures for Title I programs (Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth) for which we have negotiated rates.  Employment for the 4^th quarter after exit and credential attainment data will not be available until the end of March.

In program year 2018-2019, there were 28,863 adult learners that enrolled in adult education programs across the state, a small decrease from the 2017-2018 total of 30,122.  Of those that enrolled, 25,275 received at least 12 hours of instruction and about 58 percent were pre- and post-tested.  The post-test rate for all participants with 12 or more hours was just over 66 percent.

Michigan outperformed its Title II Measurable Skill Gain (MSG) target of 47 percent with over 50 percent of participants achieving a gain.  Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), there has been a significant improvement in the educational gains of Adult Basic Education (ABE) participants which has long been an area of focus in Michigan.  The educational gain rate for ABE participants was almost 50 percent, and 54 percent for English language learners.  The improved performance is primarily due to the additional ways a gain can be measured beyond only gains on the post-test.  An additional 1,924 participants made a measurable skill gain that did not make a gain on the post-test.  This was especially true for participants at the ABE Levels 3, 4 and 5.  Participants in these Educational Functioning Levels (EFL) are likely to attain a high school diploma or equivalency, but do not perform well on the post-test because it is difficult to get them back in to post-test and if they do, they often do not take it seriously since they attained the credential.  These three EFLs accounted for 1,904 of the 2,678 participants that achieved an MSG by attaining a high school diploma or equivalent.

As reported on the Program Year 2018-2019 Statewide Performance Report, the majority of participants served in adult education have one or more barriers to employment, and just over 4.65 percent are co-enrolled in another core program under the WIOA.

Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) – Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) and Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) – Based on Program Year 2017 and 2018 benchmarks, MRS and BSBPhave established the following negotiatedlevels of performanceforMeasurable Skill Gains:

• PY 2020 – 19%
• PY 2021 – 20%

Hereafter, MRS and BSPB will monitor, assess, and develop performance strategies around performance and RSA-911 quarterly reporting data.  As previously stated, levels of performance for all WIOA performance indicators will be negotiated with RSA in PYs 2022/2023. The acquisition of cohort data, as it becomes available, will inform and advance program assessment/improvement.