Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth Activities

Statewide activities funds are being used and prioritized to carry out the following required activities:  

Operating a fiscal management and accountability system:  The State of Michigan has established, in accordance with the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Section 116(i), fiscal control and fund accounting procedures that are necessary to ensure the proper disbursement of, and accounting for, funds paid to the State through allotments made for adult, dislocated worker, and youth programs to carry out workforce investment activities.

 The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) administers numerous federally funded programs providing training, employment, and reemployment services.  The Michigan Strategic Fund Finance and Administrative Services under the LEO-WD functions as the cognizant/oversight agency and is responsible for budget, procurement, office service, and accounting support.  In its effort to provide efficient and effective services to its customers, the LEO-WD focuses heavily on performance management.

 Michigan Training Connect (Dissemination of the State’s list of Eligible Training Providers):  The WIOA Section 122(c) specifies that states must establish an application procedure for training providers and programs to maintain their eligibility and the eligibility of their programs.  States in partnership with the local boards, the One-Stop system, and its partners play a leadership role in ensuring the success of the eligible training provider system.  The Michigan Training Connect (MiTC) serves as an important tool for participants seeking training to identify appropriate providers and relevant information such as cost and program outcomes.  Using the MiTC, career planners can assist participants in identifying training providers offering programs in high-demand industries that result in positive outcomes and recognized credentials.  This robust system provides up-to-date information about in-demand occupations, training programs that address the skill needs of employers, and information about available jobs and occupations.

 Technical and Regional Assistance to local areas:  The State will continue to publish and disseminate performance outcomes on a quarterly basis for all local areas.  These reports allow the State and local areas to monitor performance outcomes in order to establish trends and identify measures requiring corrective action.  Furthermore, performance data is available at the contractor level.  The WIOA program staff will monitor performance, identify issues, and provide technical assistance, as needed.

 Programmatic reviews ensure that the Michigan Works! System achieves quality program outcomes that meet the requirements and objectives of the WIOA and federal and state regulations.  Michigan will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of local programs by conducting comprehensive programmatic reviews and oversight activities for the entire Michigan Works! System.  The WIOA programmatic reviews will provide guidance and direction to local programs in order to assist in providing quality workforce development services to our customers and provide a framework for continuous improvement efforts under the WIOA.  Program reviews also offer the opportunity for disseminating information about effective program practices to the entire Michigan Works! System.  State staff will continue to conduct programmatic reviews to ensure effective grant monitoring and oversight utilizing a comprehensive set of monitoring and oversight activities, including on-site monitoring, quarterly desk reviews, and ongoing technical assistance and training.

 Use of the LEO Monitoring Guides by WIOA State Coordinators is required, although Agency staff is encouraged to modify and enhance guides as needed to meet the specific needs of each review.  In addition, Monitoring Guides are living documents that are updated regularly to reflect changes in law, regulation, and/or policy, as well as to include any improvements which will make the guides easier and more effective to use.  

 High Concentrations of Youth:  In accordance with the WIOA Section 129(b)(1)(F), LEO has allocated the WIOA Statewide Activities funding to provide additional assistance to local areas that have a high concentration of the WIOA eligible youth.  The local areas selected to receive funding were chosen based upon evaluation of American Community Survey census data comparing the percentage of WIOA eligible youth to the total population of youth in each local service delivery area.  A statewide average was then determined and any local area that exceeded the statewide average for eligible youth was selected to receive funding. The funds were awarded in order to carry out the following activities: 

• Provide an objective assessment of the academic levels, skill levels, and service needs of each participant, including a review of basic skills, occupational skills, prior work experience, employability, interests, aptitudes (including interests and aptitudes for
  non-traditional jobs), supportive service needs, and developmental needs of such participant, for the purpose of identifying appropriate services and career pathways for participants.  A new assessment of a participant is not required if the provider carrying out such a program determines it is appropriate to use a recent assessment of the participant conducted pursuant to another education or training program.
   
• Develop service strategies for each participant that are directly linked to one or more of the indicators of performance described in the WIOA Section 116(b)(2)(A)(ii), and that shall identify career pathways that include education and employment goals (including, in appropriate circumstances, non-traditional employment), appropriate achievement objectives, and appropriate services for the participant (taking into account the objective assessment previously conducted),except that a new service strategy for a participant is not required if the provider carrying out such a program determines it is appropriate to use a recent service strategy developed for the participant under another education or training program.

• Provide: 

1. Activities leading to the attainment of a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent, or a recognized post-secondary credential;
    
2. Preparation for post-secondary educational training opportunities;
    
3. Strong linkages between academic instruction and occupational education that leads to the attainment of recognized post-secondary credentials;
    
4. Preparation for unsubsidized employment opportunities as appropriate; and
    
5. Effective connections to employers, including small business employers, in-demand industry sectors and occupations of the local and regional labor markets.
    
   Local WIOA Youth programs are required to include each of the fourteen program elements listed in WIOA Section 129(c)(2) as options available to all youth participants.
    

Integrated Education and Training:  The Department of LEO has allocated funding to support Integrated Education and Training (IET) programs that have already been developed by adult education providers and/or that will be developed jointly by our local Michigan Works! Agencies (MWAs) and adult education providers.  The intent of IET programming in Michigan is for WIOA Title II adult education providers to partner with a local MWA and/or an existing training provider to co-enroll participants in WIOA Title I and Title II services, when appropriate. 

The IET program must be part of a regionally or locally defined career pathway.  The IET program must include three required components – (1) adult education and literacy activities, (2) workforce preparation activities, and (3) occupational training.  The three required components must occur simultaneously within the overall scope of the IET program and must each be of sufficient intensity and quality.

Evaluations:  The State will continue to conduct evaluations and research projects on activities under the WIOA core programs to establish and promote methods for improving such activities to achieve high-level performance within, and high-level outcomes from, the statewide workforce system.  Such projects will be coordinated with, and designed in conjunction with, state and local boards and with State agencies responsible for the administration of all respective core programs; and, further, that the projects will be coordinated with the evaluations provided for by the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education under the WIOA.  Evaluations include analysis of customer feedback, outcome and process measures for the workforce investment system, as required.

 The Michigan Talent Dashboard includes existing workforce data on our employment, environmental, and other key initiatives related to our workforce investment system.  The Michigan Works! System Dashboard provides information on key performance measures in aggregate form and then, further broken out by each of our local service delivery areas.

 In addition to funding the above-referenced WIOA activities, statewide activities funds are being used for those activities deemed most essential to the basic functions of the workforce investment system, including oversight of the local workforce investment boards and the WIOA programs.  Statewide funds are being used to carry out the following allowable activities:

 State Level Administration includes the following functions: 

• Staff costs for program oversight and monitoring. 
• One-Stop Management Information System and related staff costs:  The state uses a single integrated data collection system, known as the One-Stop Management Information System.  This ensures that all local providers collect, report, and maintain the same data elements.  The current One-Stop programs represented in the One-Stop Management Information System are: 
• The Wagner-Peyser funded services,
• The Welfare Reform Programs,
• The WIOA Programs, and
• The Trade Adjustment Assistance.

• The Department of Information Technology costs associated with maintenance and system upgrades to the One-Stop Management Information System, the Management of Awards to Recipients System, the Michigan Adult Education and Reporting System, and Michigan Training Connect (Michigan’s Eligible Training Provider List) system upgrades.
   
  Michigan Works! Service Center Operations:  The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity has allocated the WIOA Statewide Activities funding to provide funds to be used in support of Michigan Works! Service Center operations.  The allocation for each MWA is based on a formula derived from the relative size of the local area’s labor force; however, the number of customers served by the service center(s) and the number of service centers in the local area, both full service centers and satellite centers, were taken into account in determination of the final awards.
   
  Service center operation funds may be used in support of all activities to improve customer service, inform and educate the public about service centers and upgrade facilities.  The use of service center funding to purchase or maintain participant reporting systems or job matching systems that duplicate those provided by the state is prohibited.
   
  Memorandum of Understanding with Office of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives:  The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget’s Office of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives.  The Memorandum of Understanding provides for the collection, development, and analysis of economic, demographic, and labor market information in support of initiatives designed to strengthen Michigan’s workforce and talent systems and address the immediate talent shortages, shrinking workforce and long-term talent needs of employers.  The information is intended to provide customized information in order to provide an adequate basis for effective decision making, program management, and review of workforce/talent development efforts in the state.
   
  Special Projects Funding:  Funds have been set aside for yet-to-be-determined special projects generated by LEO.  Special projects could include, but are not limited to, workforce and economic information and data needs, support for statewide planning activities around the WIOA, support for regional and local activities, surveys, evaluations.  Funds may also be utilized to provide additional support for service center operations, commensurate with the level of any remaining set aside funds.
   
  Capacity Building and Professional Development Funds to Michigan Works! Agencies:  To most efficiently and effectively utilize these funds to benefit the entire Michigan Works! system, funds are allocated to support activities in addressing the goals of local strategic plans and the needs of local employers for a skilled workforce.  The funding is awarded regionally but benefits the entire workforce system.  Funds may be utilized for, but not limited to, supporting state and local partnerships to build equitable pathways to high-wage careers, enhancing system capacity to provide opportunities for individuals with barriers to employment to enter in-demand industry sectors or occupations and nontraditional occupations, and developing and improving local program performance and goals through assisting ongoing system development and proficiency, including professional development and technical assistance.