WIOA State Plan Common Elements

Redefining Customer Service Standards for Business Talent Support

Continuous improvement is a key value of the CareerSource Florida network. CareerSource Florida evaluates and defines standards and measures (and removes any deemed unnecessary) in customer service. This enables Florida business, especially those in key sectors aligned to state and regional economic development priorities, to fully benefit from CareerSource Florida’s training grant programs, and helps facilitate seamless access to tools and services across partner/organization programs. CareerSource Florida continues building on its Salesforce-based Customer Relationship Management platform to improve business services.

Creating a Total Talent Delivery System

The umbrella of business support and training services available throughout the CareerSource Florida network better positions Florida to respond to short and long-term talent needs of existing companies and those that are new to Florida. The goal is to facilitate a seamless, externally focused talent solution strategy for Florida business.

Using the market segmentation framework and planning tools in the CareerSource Florida Professional Business Development Tool Kit, developed in part through the USDOL Expanding Business Engagement grant received in 2012, helps ensure businesses of all sizes in all sectors are identified for proactive talent support strategies. CareerSource Florida’s Business and Workforce Development Unit leads network-wide webinars highlighting innovative tools and best practice methods for business services representatives/account managers who interface with business on talent needs.

Since 2015, CareerSource Florida has generated a monthly dashboard to better track business services. Elements include number of businesses served, number of high-value services provided to businesses and the number of projected trainees through state-level training grants. Under-utilized talents and skills of job seekers with barriers to employment are consistently marketed to Florida businesses.

Implementing Sector Strategies

WIOA requires sector partnerships as a strategy under federal statute. The law defines both state and local level responsibilities. Chapter 445.004(10), Florida Statutes, requires state workforce development strategy to include efforts that enlist business, education and community support for students to achieve long-term career goals. CareerSource Florida and its network ensure young people have the academic and occupational skills required to succeed in the workplace. The state workforce development strategy assists employers in upgrading or updating the skills of their employees and helps workers acquire the education or training needed to secure a better job with better wages. This strategy assists the state’s efforts to attract and expand job-creating businesses offering high-paying, high-demand occupations. Development of sector strategies and career pathways is a component of Florida’s WIOA Unified Plan and state workforce development strategy.

Sector strategies are regional, industry-focused approaches to building a skilled workforce and are an effective way to align public and private resources to address the talent needs of employers. Evidence from states employing this approach shows that sector strategies can simultaneously improve employment opportunities for job seekers and enhance the competitiveness of industries. Effective sector strategies rely on strong sector partnerships, sometimes referred to as industry partnerships, workforce collaboratives or regional skills alliances.

These partnerships are led by businesses within a critical industry cluster working collaboratively with workforce development, education and training, economic development, labor and community-based organizations. Effective sector strategies are based on the following strategic framework:

• Built Around Great Data
• Founded on a Shared, Regional Vision
• Guided by Industry
• Lead to Strategic Alignment
• Transform How Services (job seekers/worker and employer) are Delivered
• Measured, Improved and Sustained

Advanced Manufacturing Business Intelligence Research and Sector Strategy Approach Services

This initiative began in 2014 and resulted in the promotion of business growth through better connectivity of Florida’s advanced manufacturers to existing public and private resources essential for increased competitiveness and profitability, leveraging the workforce and talent development assets within the state. The Center for Advanced Manufacturing Excellence (CAME), under the direction of FloridaMakes, Florida’s Manufacturing Extension partnership, served as the Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Leadership Council and coordinated efforts through Florida’s 13 Regional Manufacturing Associations (RMAs). The Leadership Council, composed of RMAs and Florida manufacturers, served as the primary point of contact for the project.

Throughout the year, the Leadership Council engaged in a variety of activities focused around the use of industry-specific labor market intelligence to inform the development of workforce policy and a sector strategy for manufacturing. Both the council and the RMAs, comprising Florida industry, set out to drive business-led improvements in talent delivery. Successful completion of the project resulted in the establishment of a business feedback loop that ensures Florida’s workforce network has a deeper understanding of and is responsive to the talent needs of the state in this sector.

Successes included:

• Created and developed a new Leadership Council composed of industry representation and RMA leadership;
• Conducted four action-oriented meetings that included the full engagement of the Leadership Council;
• Developed and executed a communication strategy to ensure awareness of and promote engagement in the Leadership Council and its projects;
• Conducted a survey of workforce development needs;
• Created customized Regional Economic Analysis reports that included shift-share analysis;
• Conducted regional focus groups to review survey findings and results from Regional Economic Analysis reports and develop regional solutions;
• Reviewed the policies, programs and practices being used in three states and leveraged this intelligence to develop policy recommendations for Florida’s manufacturing sector; and,
• Identified top sub-sectors that will lead Florida’s ongoing economic growth.

The project concluded in early 2017 with the following key accomplishments:

• Leadership Council Vision, Mission and Plan of Action;
• Workforce Survey Administration Plan;
• Customized Workforce Survey;
• Focus Groups Administration Plan;
• Nine Regional Economic Reports;
• Focus Group Presentations and Reports;
• Regional reports with recommended actions to increase the economic competitiveness of small and medium manufacturers;
• Executive summary of combined regional reports that presents an integrated statewide perspective and analysis, provided by Polk State Corporate College - College Alliance for Advanced Manufacturing
• State briefs and workforce policy recommendations; and,
• a Sustainability Strategy directed by FloridaMakes and Florida’s Regional Manufacturing Associations.

Healthcare Business Intelligence Research and Sector Strategy Approach Services

Florida’s Healthcare Workforce Initiative resulted in the formation of a statewide Florida Healthcare Workforce Leadership Council (FHWL) in 2014-2015. The Council served as the primary point of contact for statewide healthcare industry-specific labor market intelligence and is used by the state’s workforce network to facilitate policy and strategy development. The FHWL resulted in a new sector strategy approach for healthcare to develop and continue an essential business feedback loop to ensure Florida’s workforce network has a deep understanding of and is responsive to the talent needs of the state. Common issues and needs of employers were identified and coordinated solutions developed for the healthcare talent delivery system. Professional and State Advisory Resource Groups were established as a source for information and data, which is essential to enable healthcare workforce policy and strategy development. Regional councils were formed to consider issues that exist at the local level.

During the initiative:

• Gaps in healthcare workforce supply and demand data were identified and a collection system was designed to effectively analyze data at the state and regional level;
• Strategies for recruitment and retention of healthcare workers were developed, including critical need areas across all health professions; and,
• Emerging workforce roles, such as in healthcare informatics, were identified and a method to educate the current workforce regarding value-based care was developed.

As the project culminated, a significant outcome was the establishment of the Healthcare Workforce Research Initiative (HWRI). The following are the HWRI Contributions to Healthcare Workforce Strategies:

• Identifying supply, demand and education distribution and trends in healthcare to support the appropriate planning for future workforce needs;
• Directing and informing policies to alleviate shortages in key areas;
• Ascertaining the cost-effectiveness of staffing with professionals;
• Analyzing the effect of workforce supply on population health outcomes;
• Estimating changes in supply needed to meet the demands of new forms of healthcare delivery;
• Providing a statewide and regional forecast and perspective on healthcare workforce issues;
• Identifying new models of healthcare delivery; and,
• Identifying emerging and evolving roles and occupations in healthcare.

Additional information on Florida’s Healthcare Workforce Initiative may be found at: www.FLHealthcareWorkforce.org.

Sector Partnership National Emergency (NEG) Grant

In June 2015, CareerSource Florida and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity were awarded a nearly $7 million, two-year Sector Partnership National Emergency Grant to build on Florida’s sector strategies for healthcare and advanced manufacturing - two sectors critical for Florida’s future economic growth. Ten local workforce development boards convened industry-specific councils of business, education and other leaders to identify current and future workforce needs for both the healthcare and advanced manufacturing sectors. The goal of the initiative is to build regional talent pipelines, address skills gaps and create meaningful career pathways by providing intensive services and training to program participants so they may obtain industry-recognized credentials and ultimately employment.

The grant enabled CareerSource Florida to engage the services of Maher & Maher, a nationally recognized firm with expertise in sector strategy implementation. Self-assessments by each of Florida’s 24 local workforce development boards were conducted to help them better understand their current position in identifying sectors of focus through the lens of six key world-class implementation factors: built on great data, founded on a shared regional vision, guided by industry, transformed service delivery, strategically aligned partners and supportive partnerships.

Following the self-assessments, CareerSource Florida led four sub-state territory workshops, with agendas customized to the needs of the six local boards within each territory. At each workshop, an industry panel focused on talent needs in advanced manufacturing or healthcare was showcased. Each workshop provided a high-level sub state supply/demand analysis of key sectors. The following workshops were held:

• December 2016 - Northwest Florida (Panama City)
• February 2017 - South Florida (Palm Beach)
• March 2017 - Central Florida (Tampa)
• April 2017 - Northeast Florida (Ocala)

More than 400 representatives from business/industry, education, economic development, community development and workforce development attended the workshops.

To further promote sector strategy implementation, a monthly newsletter was sent out to interested parties about the approach, spotlighting industry focuses and providing the status of the grant’s progress towards the training goal. At the end of December 2017, 1,106 people were enrolled in career services and/or training, above the grant goal of 1,050. The grant has been extended through June 2018.

After the workshops and given the emphasis on sector strategy implementation in the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act, the executive committee of the CareerSource Florida Board of Directors recommended using state-level funds to help LWDBs move forward in implementation of this transformative approach. The grant funds enabled the creation of state-level and sub-state sector strategy videos highlighting businesses benefitting from this approach to assist with awareness among, outreach to and engagement with industry and education partners.

At the May 2017 CareerSource Florida board meeting, consultants Maher & Maher provided a summary of the initiative’s progress over the year and offered recommendations to move the state’s workforce system forward.

These recommendations will be acted upon in the upcoming year:

• Ensure workforce system has a baseline understanding of sector strategies, including state expectations
• Build capacity of state and local workforce system to move from sector-based work to sector strategies
• Support operationalization of sector strategies into design/delivery of job seeker and business services
• Empower local system to use Sector Partnerships to move beyond development of training programs to development of career pathways.

Expanding Apprenticeship Opportunities

In the fall of 2016, CareerSource Florida integrated Registered Apprenticeships into its statewide sector strategy initiative by leveraging its selection as a USDOL ApprenticeshipUSA expansion grantee. With a keen focus on building the state’s talent pipeline, local workforce development boards are empowered to move from training programs to establishing career pathways that offer apprenticeships as a viable talent development solution. The strategic alignment has forged new partnerships with employers and closer collaboration between the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Apprenticeship and CareerSource Florida.

As a unified partnership, the team identifies challenges and opportunities for building a modern talent delivery system that meets the needs of employers in high-demand industries like advanced manufacturing, information technology, healthcare and construction.

Key achievements designed to shift workforce development from a supply-driven to demand-driven system include:

• Convening more than 100 influential businesses leaders and community stakeholders as part of the ApprenticeshipUSA grant kick-off activities to solidify partnerships for system changes that are transformative and sustainable beyond the life of the grant.
• Hosting weekly strategy sessions with core partners from the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Apprenticeship and the Department of Economic Opportunity to align policies, people and processes as part of statewide system integration and ApprenticeshipUSA grant compliance.
• One of only nine states selected by the USDOL as an Apprenticeship Promising Practice case study within the Aligning State Systems & Partnerships category, providing a national platform for sharing Florida’s successes broadly to the apprenticeship and workforce community.
• Hosting an Apprenticeship 101 cross-training webinar for Business Services Representatives from all 24 local workforce development boards and Apprenticeship Training Representatives from Florida’s six Registered Apprenticeship service regions to support alignment with WIOA and apprenticeship expansion strategies.
• Engaging core partners from the Florida Department of Education, Florida Office of Economic Opportunity, Florida Department of Vocational Rehabilitation and influential businesses and community leaders as members on the Governance/Policy, Business Outreach, Population Outreach and Data Sharing Apprenticeship Catalyst Workgroups.
• Developing customizable workforce solutions for employers and job seekers based upon recommendations from the Apprenticeship Catalyst Workgroup participants.
• Commissioning market research, including surveys of businesses and current apprentices, of perceptions about Registered Apprenticeship to implement effective outreach and communication strategies to raise awareness of and interest in this career pathway opportunity.
• CareerSource South Florida and Miami-Dade County Public Schools have formed a specialized, collaborative partnership to deliver 12 Miami Dade Youth Pre-Apprenticeship Career and Technical Training Programs in four Miami-Dade County Public Schools: Coral Gables Senior High School, Miami Carol City Senior High, Miami Edison Senior High School and Homestead Senior High School.
• During a 23-month period, pre-apprentices will be exposed to trades with employment gaps such as bricklayer, carpentry, heating and air conditioning as well as elevator constructor and electricians, followed by unique career pathways to employment after completion.
• CareerSource Suncoast is partnering with the national nonprofit organization Jobs for the Future to become an intermediary Registered Apprenticeship sponsor within the advanced manufacturing industry.
• CareerSource Tampa Bay offers prevocational training programs in the construction and welding trades for both youth and adults. Successful participants are referred to local construction employers and apprenticeship programs for direct hire, apprenticeship program hires, paid work experience or on-the-job training opportunities.
• CareerSource Florida and its grant partners are hosting an Apprenticeship/Career Pathways Summit in June 2018 to showcase best practices for integrating registered apprenticeships and career pathways as part of a seamless talent pipeline.

Apprenticeship is one type of career pathway. With sector strategies being the primary approach of Florida’s workforce system for meeting employer needs, it is essential for career pathways to be defined and built for workers simultaneously. Career pathways enable individuals to secure employment within a specific industry or occupational sector and advance over time to successively higher levels of education or employment in that sector.

In support of career pathways development, CareerSource Florida is directing development of career pathways-focused resources and tools. The objectives are to:

• Describe the process to create career pathways and showcase examples of successful demand-driven models;
• Illustrate how pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship can/should be incorporated into career pathways efforts; and
• Through discussion, identify existing and emerging career pathways efforts and explore opportunities to align and integrate regional pathways plans, activities and resource investments.

Partners in the development of these resources tools will include regional thought leaders and champions representing workforce development (including all WIOA partners), K-16+ education, economic development, community-based providers and others.

Based on enhanced capacity at the state level to support local and regional implementation of sector strategies, a strategic policy was developed in 2017 by CareerSource Florida and approved by the state board in February 2018. The policy lays out the state of Florida’s strategic vision for effective sector strategies based on a strategic framework and applies it to CareerSource Florida and all 24 local workforce development boards. It requires local workforce development boards to include their approach to establishing, implementing and sustaining effective sector strategies in their local workforce development plans. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity will follow with administrative guidance.

Enhancing Performance Measurement

Through a collaborative statewide process, CareerSource Florida and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity designed and developed a data-driven, outcome-based Performance Funding Model (PFM) for the CareerSource Florida network. The PFM helps drive performance by measuring CareerSource Florida local workforce development boards on customized, agreed-upon goals, reflecting Florida-emphasized workforce development priorities. The PFM is designed to help the CareerSource Florida network identify, measure and replicate success to better anticipate and address the employment and training needs of businesses and job seekers statewide.

The PFM and its website, which launched in May 2017 at pfm.careersourceflorida.com, deliver meaningful performance results to inform data-driven decisions at the state and local levels and drive systemic change for continuous improvement statewide.

Participation in the PFM is voluntary and local boards that do not opt in to the PFM remain eligible for other state funding. Participating local boards are awarded funding for superior performance on metrics within the PFM each fiscal year, which starts July 1 and ends June 30 of the following year.

The development of the PFM is funded by a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor's Workforce Innovation Fund. It is a five-year grant that started on Sept. 30, 2014, and ends on Oct. 1, 2019. The grant includes three years - specifically, CareerSource Florida fiscal years 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 - of performance measurement and one year for program evaluation. The PFM’s metrics and methodology were reviewed and updated, as needed, for continuous improvement each performance measurement year.

To help local boards develop strategies that lead to strong performance on the PFM as well as enhanced service to their customers, CareerSource Florida and DEO offer ongoing technical assistance through webinars, one-on-one telephone consultations and in-person presentations, including trainings at the Florida Workforce Professional Development Summit.

Providing Quality Services to People with Disabilities

Recognizing the unique barriers Floridians with disabilities may face in finding a job, the CareerSource Florida network continues leading, investing and participating in initiatives to connect people with disabilities to employers. In Program Year 2014, DEO launched the Abilities Work web portal at www.abilitieswork.employflorida.com to help link employers and job seekers with disabilities. The Abilities Work help desk is administered by VR and is a resource to support the linkage between employers and qualified job seekers with disabilities. More discussion on this portal can be found in section II(2)(A) of this plan.

Other key employment initiatives to assist Floridians with disabilities include:

Employment First Florida

Seven of Florida’s state agencies and nonprofit organizations, including CareerSource Florida, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD), the Department of Economic Opportunity, the Department of Education (BEESS, VR and FDBS) the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, RESPECT of Florida and the Department of Children and Families - Mental Health and Substance Abuse came together through an interagency cooperative agreement. This collaboration improves coordination of services that help people with disabilities obtain employment and achieve self-sufficiency.

The Employment First collaborative developed a comprehensive and coordinated statewide communications plan to improve outreach, describing services available to support employment and training for people with disabilities. This initiative responds directly to a key recommendation of the Governor’s Commission on Jobs for Floridians with Disabilities.

The Florida Unique Abilities Partner Program

The Florida Unique Abilities Partner Program recognizes businesses that are committed to providing career and financial opportunities to individuals with unique abilities and to assisting organizations that support them. Participating businesses demonstrate their dedication to strengthening communities and the economy by helping these Floridians with untapped talents become more independent and by partnering with other businesses, organizations and state resources in this endeavor.

Family Café

The Family Café is an expo-style annual event held over several days each summer in Orlando that connects Floridians with disabilities and their families with information, training and networking opportunities. For several years, VR, FDBS and other WIOA partners have been involved in planning the Family Café and presenting useful information. CareerSource Florida is a primary sponsor of the Family Café and helps connect job seekers with disabilities and their families with employment resources and employers at the event each year. These efforts provide a valuable opportunity to raise awareness of employment and training resources available through the CareerSource Florida network and core partners. The June 2017 Family Café drew more than 10,000 attendees. CareerSource Florida, DEO and several local workforce development boards provided onsite employment assistance and guidance.

Ticket to Work

Eighteen Florida LWDBs are designated as Employment Networks by the Social Security Administration, enabling their participation in the federally funded Ticket to Work program. Through Ticket to Work, recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance and/or Supplemental Security Income receive priority assistance such as job search, career planning and skill building through participating CareerSource Florida network career centers.

These services enhance efforts of job-seekers to find and retain a job and to work toward self-sufficiency. Participating LWDBs receive funding from the Social Security Administration for workforce services provided to “ticketholders.”