Workforce Developments

Stimulus money starts to arrive at local workforce development offices

We're starting to see stories in the press about stimulus money from the ARRA arriving in local workforce development programs. How much are they getting, and what will they do with the money to help people get back to work?

Here are just a few examples:

• Fairfield County (Ohio) Job and Family Services' will receive $680,000 for workforce programs
• Brockton (Massachusetts) Workforce Investment Board is getting $2.15 million
• In Torrington, Wyoming, stimulus funds are being used for commercial drivers license training, an industry with projected job growth
• The Eastern Carolina Workforce Development Board in North Carolina will get $2.7 million to serve 1,200 to 1,500 people in the nine county region
• Georgia has launched a new Be Work Ready program with stimulus funds.

How much is your local workforce board or one-stop getting in stimulus funds?

What will you do with the money?

Send me your stories, or comment below.

US unemployment on track to outpace Europe

The New York Times is reporting that unemployment in the U.S. may overtake the unemployment rate in the European Union for the first time.

In fact, unemployment for American men (9.5% in March) has already beaten out the rate for the combined 15 E.U. countries (8.4%). Unemployment for American women is two percentage points lower at 7.5%, compared to 8.5% in Europe.

Check out the historical stats in detail here, as compiled by Eurostat. Through good economic times and bad, since 1993 the U.S. rate has stayed lower than the European rate, until now.

Unemployment has risen sharply in the U.S. as the economy has tanked. Why? In many European countries where it is harder to fire and where some governments are supporting employment, the rise hasn't been as dramatic. Also, some European countries didn't have the big economic boom, so they aren't experiencing the collapse.

All of which may have implications for future U.S. policy.

Help design an initiative to serve "marginalized males of color"

Public/Private Ventures is looking for input to help them develop an online Practitioners Network that will

"provide technical assistance, up-to-date research, and other resources and tools for organizations working to improve outcomes for 'marginalized males of color' - African American, Latino and other males of color who are at high risk for poor economic, educational, social and health-related outcomes."

If you serve that population, they want to hear from you. Click here to take their survey.

P/PV is interested in getting information from workforce development programs, as well as programs providing all of the following services:

• Education
• Violence reduction
• Adult prisoner and juvenile offender reentry
• Sexual and reproductive health
• Civic engagement
• Mentoring
• Fatherhood and parenting

DOL rules for green jobs training grants

The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (DOLETA) has just issued guidance on how it plans to use Recovery Act (ARRA) funds to make grants for green jobs training programs.

It's not a small chunk of change. Out of $750 million in the Recovery Act set aside for competitive grants for worker training and placement in high growth and emerging industries $500 million will be granted to projects preparing workers for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Training and Employment Notice (TEN) 44-08, as the guidance document is known, is available here. Info about all DOL grants is here. DOLETA's page on how it's using Recovery Act funds is here.  

DOLETA is expecting to make grants in five major areas:

State labor market information improvement grants. That means we get to do some background research before jumping into programs.

Energy training partnership grants. Looks like these are primarily for labor-management organizations or partnerships that include them. Some of these will be set aside for areas heavily dependent on the auto industry.

Pathways out of poverty grants. Targeting low income adults and youth, eligible parties will be community- and faith-based organizations or partnerships that include them.

State sector training grants. Sector initiatives hit the big time! Some of these funds will also be set aside for auto-dependent areas.

Green capacity building grants. Designed to build the capacity of current DOL grantees to "prepare targeted populations for employment in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors."

DOLETA expects to issue solicitations for grant proposals in June 2009 with application closing dates in the summer. So read up and get ready now.

Finding resources in the Recovery Act (ARRA): An interactive tool

If you're trying to get details on resources are being made available to help families and children through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), you might want to check out this interactive online tool.

The tool was created by Zero To Three, a national nonprofit that "informs, trains and supports professionals, policymakers and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers."

The tool is basically a slideshow with extensive hyperlinks allowing you to jump straight into details about specific programs you're interested in. Programs are organized into three categories, those for Good Health, Strong Families and Positive Early Learning Experiences. WIA and other DOLETA programs are included in its listings.

The tool indicates which programs are new, shows how much each is getting, and links to outside sites for more details where appropriate.

This resource goes well beyond the field of workforce development, but may be useful to workforce development program planners, as so many of the people we're helping have families who need additional assistance beyond what we're providing. This might help you get thinking outside the DOL silo and help you identify programs for partnerships.

To get started with the interactive tool, click here.

Google makes it easy to see the unemployment rate

This post is from Bryan Lundeen of the Solano County Workforce Investment Board. Bryan writes about technology and its uses in workforce development - and much more - on his blog, World of Big Bry.  

Where is the current unemployment rate in comparison to five years ago? Or ten? In comparison to other states and counties?

In California, EDD publishes a "monthly data release" which shows current unemployment rates and states on their website. "Each month the EDD releases revised and preliminary civilian labor force, unemployment rates, and industry employment by geography for California, metropolitan areas, counties, and sub-county areas." This data can be useful to job seekers, their coaches, and workforce development staff that try to follow trends in unemployment. However, like a lot of "useful data" found on the internet, it can be difficult to understand. One way to do that is to show statistics in comparison to other statistics.

This month, Google started making searching for public data much easier. Go to Google and in the box type your state, and the phrase unemployment rate. For example: South Dakota unemployment rate.

The first result that shows up is a small thumbnail graph of the unemployment rate of that state. Then click on the link for that statistic and you will find a search application that graphs all the states and counties in the U.S. based on statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Click the little plus sign next to your state too see counties.

Let us say you want to show someone the comparison of rates between Hughes County and Meade County. Make a check mark in each of the boxes next to the county name in the list under South Dakota. You should see a graph like this one:

If there are other lines from other counties displayed you can uncheck those. Then up the in the upper right hand corner of the graph you will see the word Link. Click that and a little box will open that gives you the link to that graph.

Just brainstorming here: what uses can we find for this?

1. Make a decision on where you want to commute?
2. Maybe you want to move and know what the unemployment rate compares to other cities?
3. You are a One-Stop and you want to design an information dashboard for your clients?
4. You are a job coach and you want to market to cities that have higher unemployment rates than where you usually market?

What other uses can you find for this data?

For more information:

• Link to Google Unemployment statistics
• Google Help explanation of this new feature
  

Promoting a green recovery: Sec Solis talks new Dept of Labor priorities

As President Obama released his 2010 budget (news coverage here) last Thursday, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis appeared online in a pre-recorded video to give an overview of the part her department will oversee. Then she opened it up for questions that she answered in a live text chat online. After the first hour, DOL staff took over answering questions.

You can watch the video and read all the questions and answers here. Staff reports they will continue answering questions over the next few days.

I submitted a question during the live chat via Twitter, and am looking forward to reading their answer: Does DOL have plans to incorporate social media into programs & svsc, or fund grantees for that?

A few highlights from the live and ongoing chat:

On DOL's new priorities:

My priorities for the Department's FY 2010 budget include promoting a "green" recovery, beginning to restore the capacity of our worker protection programs to vigorously carry out their mission, ensuring that our programs are transparent and accountable, and promoting diversity and stakeholder inclusion in every aspect of the Department.

On unemployment:

While the Obama Administration's efforts are beginning to turn the economy around, millions of Americans, who are willing to work but cannot find a job, are being helped by the current Federal unemployment benefit extension. As we get closer to the end of the year, when the current program is scheduled to expire, the Administration will be taking a close look at economic conditions and the continued need for benefits.

On apprenticeship:

The Department is actively working on a comprehensive set of Solicitation for Grant Award which will, amongst other policy goals, encourage greater partnerships with and promotion of Registered Apprenticeship programs. Also in our ARRA Policy Guidance, we are encouraging the publicly funded workforce system to more actively reach out to Registered Apprenticeship programs, including labor management organizations.

Finally, in the past year, ETA has provided over $10 million in discretionary resources to support and promote Registered Apprenticeship. $6.5 million was made available to national organizations to incorporate elements of the revised regulatory framework governing the National Apprenticeship System. $2.5 million was made available to State Apprenticeship Agencies to assist in their efforts to modernize their Apprenticeship systems. Finally, technical assistance resources were provided for a series of Action Clinics around the country to promote greater collaboration with Registered Apprenticeship.

On the Career Pathways/Community College program:

This program was not cut. The 2009 budget included $125 million for Community-Based Job Training Grants. The 2010 budget renames and refocuses that program as Career Pathways Innovation Fund and increases funding to $135 million. The new program will focus on developing career pathways in community colleges for high-growth careers in partnership with workforce investment boards, faith-based groups and other community groups.

On Workforce Investment Act reauthorization:

We have received numerous letters identifying issues relevant to reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act, and we are appreciative of your interest and input. The Department looks forward to working with Congress and stakeholders as legislation takes shape. President Obama has called on Congress to work with him to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act, and the Department's FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request continues to support efforts to improve the effectiveness of the workforce system. The Administration is conducting a comprehensive review of federal job training programs to assess their effectiveness, which will inform the Administration's proposal for an improved workforce system.

Labor Secretary Solis live and unplugged - TODAY

Secretary Solis will appear live on the web today to talk about the fiscal 2010 budget.

They're taking questions now - you can send them via email, phone or Twitter. Here's how.

The live video webcast will be from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. ET. Click here to watch.

UPDATE: The webcast is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.

Ban the box!

Whether or not the formerly incarcerated can find legitimate employment is a key factor in their ability to stay out of prison and care for themselves and their families.  Obviously, a criminal history makes it much harder for them to find jobs. 

In fact, that is the most common question that we get at our San Quentin workshops:

How can I find a job with a record? 

Over the last several years, a number of municipalities across the United States have adopted hiring policies for public jobs which eliminate the criminal history question from the application. 

These "ban the box" policies are intended to allow qualified individuals with criminal histories to have a fighting chance in the application process.  According to this great summary from the Second Chance Campaign of New Jersey, comprehensive city hiring policies include:

 

• the use of background check only for certain jobs when it is necessary based on objective critieria
• background checks later in the hiring process
• an opportunity to correct criminal history information and submit evidence of rehabilitation
• mitigating factors to be considered when evaluating applicants with criminal histories

Cities that have passed these policies include Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and probably most recently, New Haven, CT.  Here is a matrix from the Safer Foundation of the hiring standards for the municipalities with a ban the box policy.  

Obviously, employers have legitimate concerns regarding liability and the trustworthiness of who they hire.  No one is suggesting that a bank hire a former bank robber, or that sex offenders be allowed to work with children.  But if we as a society are serious about giving people a second chance, we need to examine policies which may be punishing qualified applicants unfairly long after their time has been served.