WIOA State Plan Common Elements

The workforce development programs of the Core partners are listed below:

Title I - Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth:

As to adults and dislocated workers, the Governor initiated a core focus on workforce for the state in 2013. In partnership with the Indiana state legislature, DWD embarked upon an aggressive plan to update the whole direction of the agency and how DWD thinks about workforce development for the state. A few key components of this work include an analysis and subsequent procurement of a new integrated case management and labor exchange system. Indiana chose Geographic Solutions as the integrated system to be used for all workforce activities across the state. This system will be the foundation for workforce activities in all of our WorkOne offices across the state and utilized by every one-stop operator and state merit staff. Another critical component that will be leveraged by all partners across the workforce system is our Demand Driven Workforce System framework. This system will help DWD project what careers, jobs and skills are needed by Indiana businesses in the short, medium and long-term horizon. This data will help our one-stop partners identify what training programs to enroll clients for a career when they complete. Additionally, it will help schools (secondary and post-secondary) identify what curriculum needs to be developed to meet the needs of the Indiana economy.

All of these activities are being developed to improve Indiana’s workforce delivery system. One of the first and most critical partners to utilize these tools will be our Title I partners delivering the Integrated WIOA Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth services. Indiana has a system of 21 comprehensive offices, referred to as WorkOne Career Centers, in 12 workforce regions. Indiana’s system also consists of over 60 smaller county based “affiliate” offices. Lastly many, but not all regions, have implemented a mobile type system where staff go out to the community centers where customers go for a wide array of additional services. The comprehensive, affiliate and mobile WorkOne offices are led by the regional workforce boards. Each board has implemented a system that connects partners either physically in the WorkOne office or virtually through partnership with the core program providers. Specifically, the boards have strategies and regional plans to implement the Adult and Dislocated Worker core programs through the WorkOne system. A critical need for Indiana’s businesses is finding enough trained and qualified employees to meet their needs. Thus, the Adult and Dislocated Worker system is focused on assessment, identification and training of workers to meet the demands of Indiana’s businesses. This work requires coordination with all of the core programs. Key examples include working with Adult Basic Education partners and the WorkINdiana program to identify Hoosiers who need their High School Equivalency or are skills deficient and then coordinate that work with short term training that will lead to an entry level career position in critically needed business fields. The partnership between Adult Basic Education and the one-stop system has been critical for this to be effective. Overall, Indiana has had an integrated environment in our WorkOne Career Centers for a number of years.

As to youth, workforce development programming assists young people (ages 14-21 if in-school youth; ages 16-24 if out-of-school youth) who face significant barriers to education and/or employment by providing resources and support to overcome those barriers and successfully transition to self-sufficiency. This is accomplished by assessing a participant’s skills, interests, needs, and goals; creating customized service plans in collaboration with the participant; and expanding the participant’s connection to the local economy, educational opportunities, and community services. Prior to the implementation of WIOA, the majority of services focused on in school youth. Indiana has transitioned to focus serving on out of school youth as required under WIOA, and is meeting the 75% funding requirement in nearly all of its local areas. One of Indiana’s significant youth programs is Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG), which is a statewide drop-out prevention program that targets at-risk high school juniors and seniors as well as out of school youth who have already dropped out of high school. The program’s goals are to provide skills assessment and remediation to ensure students receive a high school diploma or its equivalent; assist in the attainment of employability skills to pursue employment or post-secondary education; and to help ensure graduates remain employed after graduation or transition to post-secondary education or training. Indiana’s JAG model provides tutoring assistance and adult mentoring. Participants receive individualized attention and identification of specific barriers to success, which may include academic problems, life skills, personal skills, and social or economic barriers. Students receive one year of follow-up service after graduation. Each senior completes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), applies to two colleges and has the opportunity to take the American College Testing (ACT), Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or some pre-postsecondary enrollment examination.

JAG continues to thrive with 137 active programs across Indiana thanks in large part to the continued support of the Indiana General Assembly and Governor Eric Holcomb. JAG achieved a graduation rate of 95 percent (state average 87 percent) in 2016 and won the national award for highest scholarship dollars earned by students ($26 million) for the fifth-straight year. Last year, 11 of Indiana’s 12 regions received the prestigious “5 of 5” Award for exceeding national goals in the following categories: graduation, post-secondary education, enrollment, securing entry level jobs leading to career advancement opportunities, and positive student outcomes.

Title II - Adult Education:

The Adult Basic Education program is charged with ensuring delivery of foundational skills development, academic and career counseling services, and career pathways to adults and out-of-school youth for the purpose of employment, reemployment, or enhanced employment. The ABE program consists of regional consortia throughout the state, constructed within the DWD economic growth regions. Each consortium is responsible for ensuring that all adult learners within its service area have access to both educational and career advising services. In Program Year 2017 almost $20 million in state funding ($14million for ABE and $5million for WorkINdiana) will supplement the $10M in federal WIOA Title II funding to carry out these initiatives. In addition to these federal and state dollars, local and regional contributions will total over $11 million, much from the local school systems and education-based organizations. All of this funding together will focus on delivering services to support the adult learner.

Adult Basic Education (ABE) enrolled 26,993 adult learners through its programs in 2016. Fifty-seven percent of these students completed at least one level gain (10,679), or earned their Indiana High School Equivalency (4,870). The majority of students earned multiple level gains for a total of 30,251 level gains in PY 17. The cost per Adult Education student attaining a level gain, which is equivalent to two K-12 grade levels, or their Indiana High School Equivalency, was $1,526. For perspective, the average cost per year for public K-12 students in School Year 2013 was $9,556.

The Adult Education program in Indiana continually works to coordinate with the WorkOne system to ensure workforce services are available to those accessing adult education services. One significant program is the WorkINdiana program, which enables adult education students working toward their high school equivalency or improving their basic skills to simultaneously earn an industry-recognized occupational certification. Students may select certification training from a list of approved certifications. To ensure success, WorkINdiana encourages regional partnerships between WorkOne Centers and Adult Basic Education centers, career and technical education centers, community colleges, and local economic development representatives. Together these partners determine which careers from the certification framework are most relevant to their regions and then implement the requisite training programs. Students are encouraged to be co-enrolled in Title I programs to ensure a full range of supports and financial services are made available. In PY16, 886 students enrolled in WorkINdiana training with 673 approved career certification programs located at 219 sites across the state.

Title III - Wagner Peyser:

Indiana’s Wagner Peyser program covers the full range of labor exchange activities in our WorkOne system. In the comprehensive one-stop offices, the Department of Workforce Development employs over 120 employees through Wagner Peyser funding. These employees partner with the other staff who implement key components of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Their tasks include, but are not limited to, initial client evaluation and assessment, job search assistance, re-employment assistance through the Indiana’s Jobs for Hoosiers program, employer recruitment and other employer services. Indiana’s state merit staff are closely tied to our employers across the state and provide a full range of services directly to our employers to assist them filling their open positions.

In addition to staff the Wagner Peyser grant provides tools for state staff and their partners to manage the labor exchange services necessary to match an employer with a potential employee. Some of these tools include Indiana’s labor exchange system called Indiana Career Connect. Assessment tools to help employees and employers evaluate the skills needed for critical positions such as Indiana Career Explorer (ICE), WorkKeys, cTorq, Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) to name a few. Additionally, Wagner Peyser provides partial funding for the case management system. Indiana is in the middle of a transition of that system to Geographic Solutions.

The Hoosier Initiative for Re-Entry (HIRE) program is a collaboration with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and the Indiana Department of Correction dedicated to creating a cohesive relationship between ex-offender clients, WorkOne Centers, businesses, non-profit organizations, and local law enforcement agencies. The collective goal of this group is to help place rehabilitated, trained, and determined clients back into the workforce. Re-Entry Coordinators (funded partly with Wagner Peyser dollars) meet with clients in individual and group training sessions to develop the strong work ethic skills that employers are seeking. Basic skills such as integrity, sense of responsibility, emphasis on quality, discipline, and a sense of teamwork are vital to keep a company functioning at its peak. After release and job placement, DWD staff meets regularly with participants and employers to identify work related issues or needs, and to discuss any program changes. It costs Indiana roughly $20,000 per year to incarcerate one offender. DWD is in the process of finalizing a three year recidivism and return on investment study.

Title IV - Vocational Rehabilitation:

Vocational Rehabilitation is an engaged partner to increase educational access to job-seekers that may need VR services and supports to be successful in other state and federal programs. VR is able to provide services to assist with barriers stemming from an individual’s disability that assists in access to existing programs or aids in successfully completing a program. VR is working with State programs, like JAG and local educational agencies, to identify ways to collaborate to serve student and youth populations through pre-employment transition services. Project SEARCH is a VR program that is a worksite-based school-to-work program that provides employment and education opportunities for students with disabilities transitioning from high school. The program benefits employers by increasing workforce diversity and reducing recruitment and training costs. Many employers experience improved job retention, enhanced community image and increased customer satisfaction. Additionally, the Randolph-Sheppard Business Enterprise Program (http://www.in.gov/fssa/ddrs/4901.htm) provides entrepreneurial opportunities for legally blind clients of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS). These blind entrepreneurs manage a wide variety of food-service operations, including cafeterias, coffee shops, vending locations, and highway area vending sites. Through this program, blind individuals receive training and opportunities to become productive, tax-paying citizens and independent business owners.

The workforce development programs of the mandatory and optional partners, including Career and Technical Education (CTE), Community Services Block Grant, Indian and Native American programs, HUD Employment and Training programs, Job Corps, Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives and Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program, National Farmworker Jobs program, Senior Community Service Employment program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (unless the Governor determines TANF will not be a required partner), Trade Adjustment Assistance programs, Unemployment Compensation (UC) programs, and YouthBuild, are listed below:

CTE:

In Indiana Career and Technical Education is funded through the federal Carl D. Perkins program along with state funding. The program prepares students in secondary and post-secondary education for industry-recognized credentials and transition to higher education and/or workplace readiness. Indiana’s CTE delivery system consists of 46 area Vocational districts, nearly 300 school corporations and post-secondary institutions offering certification and two-year degree programs, administered by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and the Indiana Department of Education. Following the Perkins Act two-plus-two model the CTE program encourages secondary and post-secondary institutions to develop instructional plans that provide a minimum of two years of secondary CTE study followed by two years of post-secondary instruction, with an associate degree and accompanying certification as the preferred goal of the latter. In accordance with the state’s vision for all post-secondary CTE students to achieve challenging academic and technical standards as well as to prepare them for placement in current or emerging professions, the following career pathways were identified in which post-secondary funds were to be obligated: Science, Engineering and Technologies, Health Services, Business, Management and Administration, Information Technology, Transportation and Logistics, Architecture and Construction, and Manufacturing and Processing. In addition to focusing on delivering “plus two” educational opportunities within defined pathways, the importance of credential attainment including both educational credentials and occupational certifications is also emphasized. There is also strong emphasis on job placement for post-secondary CTE students. Accordingly, placement-enhancing activities are encouraged, including the development of experiential education (job shadowing, internships, co-operative experiences) and employment services and counseling (job-seeking skills instruction, development of on-the-job-training experiences, and other placement activities).

Community Services Block Grant:

The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) is the designated state agency to act as the lead agency for purposes of carrying out state activities for the federal Community Services Block Grant. IHCDA’s mission is to ensure all Hoosiers have the opportunity to live in safe, affordable, quality housing in economically stable communities. This mission is furthered by a number of goals. One of these goals is to improve the lives of citizens through efforts to enhance employment. IHCDA provides services to low-income individuals and families through a large number of local community action agencies. These agencies partner with one-stop centers to administer workforce activities such as job programs, employment counseling services, micro-enterprise programs, and referral services.

Indian and Native American programs:

The American Indian Center of Indiana, Inc. (AICI) is the Indiana Section 166 grantee for the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Native American Programs Division. The service area of this organization includes all but six counties in Indiana (Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaPorte, Marshall, Starke, and St. Joseph counties). These six counties fall under the designated service area of the Michigan Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. AICI works cooperatively throughout the state of Indiana within the one-stop centers to provide workforce development activities under WIOA. AICI focuses its services on American Indians, Alaska Natives, or Native Hawaiians. Additionally, the Commissioner for the Department of Workforce Development sits on the Indiana Native American Indian Affairs Commission Board.

HUD Employment and Training Programs:

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants out Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars to the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA). OCRA uses this funding to administer the Workforce Development Program (WDP), which provides Indiana communities access to resources to develop and maintain a high quality workforce increasing the skills and capacity of current and future members of Indiana’s workforce.

Job Corps:

Indiana has two Jobs Corps Centers: Atterbury and IndyPendence. These centers offer no-cost education and career technical training programs administered by the U.S Department of Labor. These programs are intended to help young people, ages 16-24, improve the quality of their lives through career, technical, and academic training. These centers also offer other services, such as, career planning, on-the-job training, job placement, food service, driver’s education, health and dental care, a bi-weekly basic living allowance and clothing allowance. A Job Corps representative participates on the local workforce development board and the youth advisory committee in the Regions where the Job Corps facility are located.

Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives and Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program:

This program operates in Indiana’s WorkOne centers. Under normal operating circumstances, all WorkOne customers are greeted by the welcome team and moved on to the appropriate staff for assistance. The majority of veterans should be served by Wagner-Peyser or WIOA staff rather than the Jobs for Veterans State Grant (JVSG) Veterans’ staff. This allows JVSG Veterans’ staff efforts to focus on veteran customers with Significant Barriers to Employment (SBE). Welcome team staff should identify those veterans with SBE’s and direct those veterans to the Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program specialist for assistance, intensive services and case management. In the event that a DVOP is not available, the veteran or spouse should be referred to the appropriate Wagner-Peyser or WIOA staff and not held up until a DVOP is available.

Senior Community Service Employment program (SCSEP):

Indiana SCSEP (both the National Grantee and State Grantee, which is DWD) are active partners with the One-Stop delivery system. The State sub-grantee and one of the national sub-grantees are both WIOA One Stop operators, thus creating a more coordinated partnership in those regions. Indiana will continue to integrate all SCSEP participants into One Stop and WIOA activities.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF):

The TANF program is run out of Indiana’s Family and Social Services Agencies (FSSA), Division of Family Resources. FSSA also houses the state’s vocational rehabilitation program. The employment and training services being provided to TANF cash recipients are currently being contracted out to a single statewide vendor, who coordinates with the WorkOne system. TANF is also coordinating with VR, such that VR is providing information to assist the VR contractor in understanding VR and its eligibility requirements in order to provide appropriate referrals and assist the “shared consumer” in achieving his/her employment outcome.

Trade Adjustment Assistance programs (TAA):

The state, through DWD, and its WorkOne system utilize Rapid Response events for entities and worker groups that have identified the need through the filing of a TAA petition. When available, the state provides onsite, and at other off site locations, rapid response information sessions. These sessions include the dissemination of TAA information including; procedures for filing, benefits, and other necessary information. The state utilizes Rapid Response funds to deliver this information to all groups regardless of their affiliation.

UC:

The Worker Profiling Reemployment Services (WPRS), Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment, and Jobs for Hoosiers (JFH) programs capture unemployed Hoosiers at the fourth week of their claim and include: UI eligibility review, claimant-centered labor market information, referral to a self-directed job search, and an orientation to the one-stop services. In addition, REA participants complete an Individual Reemployment Plan (IRP) and additional services such as job search workshops, job search assistance, employment counseling, and referrals to other employment services.

YouthBuild:

Indiana receives funding for four YouthBuild programs: Evansville, Indianapolis, Anderson and Gary. The Region 12 Workforce Development Board (EmployIndy) received one of these grants (YouthBuild Indy) and manages this national education, work readiness and leadership training program. Participants receive support towards a high school equivalency diploma and pathways to college or vocational training, including credentialed construction training. Participants also worked toward improving the quality of life in Indianapolis by transforming abandoned, blighted homes into valuable housing for low income families. In August 2014, EmployIndy was awarded a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to continue YouthBuild Indy through 2017. The other three programs are not operated by the workforce boards, but each of these three regions have partnered with their respective YouthBuild program to identify what services the WorkOnes can and will provide for YouthBuild participants.

A detailed analysis of the State’s workforce development activities, including education and training activities, can be found in DWD’sWorkforce Programs report: http://www.in.gov/dwd/2565.htm.

All core programs and required onestop delivery system partners listed above will continue to work together to meet the needs of the workforce and employers. Some examples of how core partners are working together to meet the needs of the workforce and employers are:

• Indiana Career Ready: DWD recently developed the innovative and comprehensive Indiana Career Ready (ICR) online portal. ICR is a clearinghouse of DWD’s best resources for job seekers, employers, students, parents, counselors and education/training providers. Hoosiers can now go to one place - IndianaCareerReady.com - to search for jobs, receive résumé and interviewing assistance and explore education/training and professional development opportunities among many other resources. Likewise, Hoosier employers can create job descriptions, post jobs and identify candidates all in one location. ICR also integrates with existing online tools like Indiana Career Connect (ICC), Indiana’s job board, and Indiana Career Explorer (ICE), a career exploration tool for youth and adults.
• Innovation Networks: DWD piloted “Innovation Networks” in two areas of the state. The vision is to create a network of education and training providers that are responsive to the needs of employers, are committed to leveraging shared resources, teach against the same set of skills and competencies as well as serve all Hoosiers, including secondary students, post-secondary students, adult education students and incumbent workers. Due to the success of the pilot programs, DWD is scaling the concept statewide through Skill UP! Indiana Round 3. The intended outcomes of the Innovation Networks include:
  • Understanding employer demand for high-wage, high-demand occupations that require training and education beyond high school, but less than a bachelor’s degree. This includes identifying the skills and competencies associated with those occupations;
  • Ensuring that education and training providers create curriculum and programs that address employer needs;
  • Providing Hoosiers with the opportunity to pursue career and technical education (CTE) that is easily accessible and relevant to high-wage, high-demand positions available in their county/region;
  • Increasing the number of high school graduates, adult learners and incumbent workers with an industry-recognized credential within high-wage, high-demand fields; and
  • Establishing a network of shared resources, including physical space (co-location), funding sources, equipment and curriculum.
• Next Level Jobs: The 2017 General Assembly approved funds for the Indiana Workforce Ready Grant program and the Employer Training Grant program. These workforce development programs are part of Governor Eric Holcomb’s Next Level Indiana agenda to continue the positive momentum of our state. DWD, in coordination with the Commission for Higher Education (CHE), are working to take the state’s workforce to the next level with a focus on high priority industries and the high-demand jobs driving Indiana’s 21^st century economy forward.
  • Workforce Ready Grant program - covers tuition costs for students who enroll in a high-value certificate program from Ivy Tech Community College or Vincennes University. Eligible certificate programs are associated with high-demand, high-wage jobs within the following industries: Advanced Manufacturing, Building & Construction, Health & Life Sciences, IT & Business Services and Transportation & Logistics.
  • Employer Training Grant program - reimburses employers in high-demand business sectors up to $2,500 for each new employee that is trained, hired and retained for 6 months. There is a $25,000 cap for each employer and covered training must be associated with high-demand, high-wage jobs that require more than a high school diploma, but less than an associate degree.
• Indiana Career Explorer Pilot Program: Indiana Career Explorer (ICE) is an assessment program that: (1) evaluates student and adult interests and aptitudes and their correlation to career pathways; (2) connects users with resources to enroll in postsecondary education; and (3) provides labor market information to the county level to best understand in-demand careers, expected future earnings and locations of current job opportunities. Pursuant to Senate Enrolled Act 198 (Public Law 230), the ICE tool and career exploration curriculum is being implemented through a pilot program for eighth graders in 15 Indiana schools during the spring of 2018. Career exploration courses and approved tools will be required for all 8^th graders upon conclusion of the pilot program.
• Sector Strategies: Sector strategies work continued by bringing together stakeholders through a core team and SWIC Taskforce, including the Department of Workforce Development (DWD), the Department of Education (DOE), the Commission for Higher Education (CHE), the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). Framework awareness and consistency as well as implementation work occurred, such as mapping where sector partnerships exist and tools to assist in development and sustainability. Two regional convenings and the second annual Indiana Sectors Summit were hosted, bringing together multiple stakeholders to launch, advance, or sustain sector partnerships and provide technical assistance to proposals of Skill UP 3;
• Skill UP 1 and 2: Two rounds of grant activities were launched and/or continued for the creation of a strong talent pipeline and to equip Hoosiers with the skills necessary to fill the one million jobs projected to be available over the next 10 years.
• Work Based Learning and Apprenticeships: Indiana took part in the first round of National Governor’s Association’s Policy Academy on Work-Based Learning and was awarded the second round to be a mentor state. The focus is to develop strategies to scale high-quality, work-based learning opportunities for young adults, connecting 16- to 29-year-olds with middle-skills career opportunities in STEM-intensive industries. Indiana hosted the kickoff meeting for the second round of the NGA Work-Based Learning Academy. The policy academy team works in conjunction with the SWIC’s work-based learning taskforce. In addition, Governor Holcomb has tasked tasked DWD with setting up an Office of Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning, working in partnership with federal DOL to expand apprenticeships and work-based learning opportunities in Indiana.