Located in:
- II. Strategic Elements
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include a Strategic Planning Elements section that analyzes the State’s current economic environment and identifies the State’s overall vision for its workforce development system. The required elements in this section allow the State to develop data-driven goals for preparing an educated and skilled workforce and to identify successful strategies for aligning workforce development programs. Unless otherwise noted, all Strategic Planning Elements apply to Combined State Plan partner programs included in the plan as well as to core programs.
- c. State Strategy
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include the State's strategies to achieve its strategic vision and goals. These strategies must take into account the State’s economic, workforce, and workforce development, education and training activities and analysis provided in Section (a) above. Include discussion of specific strategies to address the needs of populations provided in Section (a).
- c. State Strategy
II. c. 1. Describe the Strategies the State Will Implement, Including Industry or Sector Partnerships Related to In-demand Industry Sectors and Occupations and Career Pathways, as Required by WIOA Section 101(d)(3)(b), (d). “career Pathway” is Defined at WIOA Section 3(7). “in-demand Industry Sector or Occupation” is Defined at WIOA Section 3(23).
Current Narrative:
The Delaware Workforce Development Board (DWDB) chooses a several-fold approach to execute its strategies for the publicly funded workforce system. The DWDB convened a strategic planning steering committee in August of 2016 to redefine its goals and redesign its strategic plan. Four goal teams were established in alignment with the four goals included above, to help guide the state strategy to achieve our workforce vision. (Strategies are also included above in b. 2.) Goal teams include:
• Resource Alignment and Expansion
• Cultural Transformation
• Process Redesign
• Pathways Evolution
The Board will continue meeting with outside agencies and develop as needed ad hoc workgroups to address acute opportunities. The Board will continue its practice of biennial strategic planning to ensure alignment with state needs ranging from youth services, to adult and dislocated workers programs, to the integration of diverse resources. The DWDB will assign goal champions from the Core Partners and other community resources. The Board chooses to establish command and control through its quarterly board meetings and monthly goal champion meetings where responsible parties review accomplishments and make mid-course corrections. The board intends to execute its vison through a dynamic and integrated One-Stop system exploiting opportunities through a robust multi-partner referral system, which serves multiple populations (e.g. including those requiring vocational rehabilitative services, veterans, and ex-offenders. The Board will ensure the business outreach piece of its vision is executed by partners and through the reinvigoration of its Public Relations and Marketing committee.
The strategy begins with every customer of any One-Stop partner being registered in Delaware JobLink when they are determined work ready.
Delaware has taken the lead, since 2011, in partnership with America’s Job Link Alliance (AJLA), in the development and implementation of several products that will greatly assist in implementing sector strategies and particularly career pathways. Three of these products are:
• Resume Builder - This product builds a resume for the job seeker by enabling them to identify their Talents, Tools and work activities (TT&WA) based on the information located in O’Net. This product begins with the customer entering a “lay title” for the job they want and enables them to code their work experiences and education with the appropriate TT&WA
• Intelligent Job Order - This product builds a business’s job order for an employment opening identifying the desired TT&WA based on the information located in O’Net. This product enables businesses to build job orders using the same wording as customer resumes.
• Career Lattice -Lattices are often referred to as “ladders”. The term “lattice” is used here because the model looks at career opportunities more broadly than simply vertically. Currently six lattices are operational at Delaware JobLink (Information Technology, Finance, Manufacturing, Restaurant/Hospitality, Gateway, and Wholesale/Retail). These lattices allow customers to look at career growth opportunities as a map. The customer can then, by clicking a link get an extensive array of information about that position. Future Career Lattices will enable the customer to choose an occupation that their TT&WA match. They can then obtain a gap analysis identifying the skills they lack for that or other jobs on the lattice; immediate job openings and training requirements will also be available.
II (c) (1) Describe the strategies the State will implement, including sector strategies and career pathways, as required by WIOA section 101(d)(3)(B), (D).
Delaware embraces sector strategies in two modalities. First, the Board and the DOL-DET have been working on career lattices to provide clear training information to job seekers. The sectors/lattices Delaware has (or is in the middle of) created are:
• Allied Health
• Biomedical Sciences
• Cisco Networking
• Computer Science
• Culinary & Hospitality Management
• Energy
• Engineering
• Environmental Science
• Finance
• K-12 Teaching Academy
• Nurse Assisting
• Manufacturing Engineering Technology
• Manufacturing Logistics Technician
Delaware is on the leading edge of career pathways evolution. Delaware recently hosted the annual Jobs For the Future (JFF) national conference followed by Delaware’s second annual Pathways conference. The DWDB members seek to ensure that the pathways initiative is the alignment point for the publicly funded workforce system. The DWDB membership is committed to the following actions:
• Ensure the Delaware career pathways system supports in-school youth, out of school youth, and adult learners
o Ensure all youth are successful and have robust education, and understanding of career goals beyond high school with clear on-ramps
o Coordinate activities that support ISY and OSY across the career pathways system
o Align secondary, postsecondary, and adult programs across the career pathways/career lattices system
o Focus education and workforce funding to middle- and high-skill occupations in key industry sectors
o Ensure adults are successful and have on-ramps to the state career pathways/lattices system
• Coordinate employer engagement activities
o Strengthen employer engagement and ownership of work-based learning as well as outreach
o Establish convening routines to expand employer engagement and build regionalized supports
o Expansion of postsecondary education programs in key industry sectors
• Integrate education and workforce development efforts across DE’s career pathways systems
o Establish policies and procedures that reinforce a statewide career pathways system
o Develop a brand campaign for Delaware’s career pathways/lattices
o Coordinate public and private funding
o Coordinate the collection of labor market information and industry skills analyses/research
o Expand career counseling
• Develop a model of shared accountability across DE’s career pathways system
o Develop common performance measures across DE’s career pathways system
o Develop a statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS) and governing body
o Validate and capture certificate and licensure data
o Report employment and wage outcomes across the career pathways system
o Establish a sustainable funding method to start and sustain the SLDS
Adult Education instruction will be geared towards the development of career goals over the short and long term. Each learner will develop his/her own learning plan based on individualized career goals. Instruction will be to address demand occupations identified as most in need of workers currently. Instruction will focus on increasing skills - academic, job readiness and workplace - essential to access and advancement within the Delaware job market. However, learning will also be personalized with the creation of a unique career plan leading to employment with family sustaining wages. The career plan will include a skills profile, career inventory, and investigation of Delaware specific career lattices and O-Net Online career ladders.
DVR has crafted an MOU with the Division of Employment and Training around shared responsibilities. Career Pathways assessment and career counseling is DVR’s best practice standard and were implemented across office locations following counselor and staff training in FY16.