DOCUMENT RESUME ED 473 592 CE 084 498 Implementation of the Workforce Investment Act: Promising TITLE Practices in Workforce Development. Hearing before the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventh Congress, Second Session (September 12, 2002). INSTITUTION Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Committee on Education and the Workforce. REPORT NO House-Hrg-107-77 PUB DATE 2002-00-00 NOTE 142p. AVAILABLE FROM U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402. For full text: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/ cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi? dbname=107_hou se_hearings&docid=f:82406.pdf. PUB TYPE Legal/Legislative/Regulatory Materials (090) -- Opinion Papers (120) EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adult Basic Education; Adult Education; Agency Cooperation; At Risk Persons; Business; Cooperative Planning; Delivery Systems; Dislocated Workers; Educational Needs; Employee Attitudes; Employer Attitudes; Employment Opportunities; Employment Patterns; Employment Services; Federal Aid; *Federal Legislation; Federal State Relationship; Hearings; Job Applicants; Job Placement; Job Skills; *Job Training; *Labor Force Development; Labor Legislation; Labor Market; Labor Needs; Labor Supply; Labor Turnover; *Policy Formation; Position Papers; Private Sector; Program Evaluation; Program Implementation; *Public Policy; Public Sector; Retraining; State Federal Aid; State Programs; Strategic Planning; Welfare Reform; Youth Employment; Youth Opportunities IDENTIFIERS *Best Practices; Congress 107th; Reauthorization Legislation; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; Welfare to Work Programs; *Workforce Investment Act 1998 ABSTRACT This report presents the testimony and submissions presented at the first of a series of Congressional hearings on workforce development and reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act. Statements were given by the following individuals: (1) Buck McKeon, U.S. (United States) Congressman from. California; (2) John Tierney, U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts; (3) Bruce Stenslie, Director of the Ventura County, California, Workforce Investment Board and Deputy Director of the Ventura County Human Services Agency; (4) Danny Wegman, President of Wegman's Food Markets; (5) Diane D. Rath, Chair of the Texas Workforce Commission and Commissioner Representing the Public, Austin, Texas; and (6) Timothy Barnicle, Co-Director of the Workforce Development Program, National Center on Education and the Economy. The bulk of the document consists of the written statements of these witnesses and a sampling of promising best practices from the nation's Workforce Investment System. (AJ) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. L.-- '/ £.7 07- IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORKFORCE c\I INVESTMENT ACT: PROMISING PRACTICES IN c:3) kr) WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 7t- Q ;.T-1 HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21" CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, SEPTEMBER 12, 2002 Serial No. 107-77 Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and the Workforce 82-406 pdf For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 FAX: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0001 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. AVAILABLE BEST COPY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE JOHN A. BOEHNER, Ohio, Chairman THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin GEORGE MILLER, California MARGE ROUKEMA, New Jersey DALE E. KILDEE, Michigan CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina MAJOR R. OWENS, New York PETER HOEKSTRA, Michigan DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey HOWARD P. "BUCK" McKEON, California PATSY MINK, Hawaii MICHAEL N. CASTLE, Delaware ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey SAM JOHNSON, Texas TIM ROEMER, Indiana JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania ROBERT C. "BOBBY" SCOTT, Virginia LINDSEY 0. GRAHAM, South Carolina LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana LYNN N. RIVERS, Michigan CHARLIE W. NORWOOD, JR., Georgia RUBEN HINOJOSA, Texas BOB SCHAFFER, Colorado CAROLYN McCARTHY, New York FRED UPTON, Michigan JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts VAN HILLEARY, Tennessee RON KIND, Wisconsin VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan LORETTA SANCHEZ, California THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado HAROLD E. FORD, JR., Tennessee JIM DeMINT, South Carolina DENNIS KUCINICH, Ohio JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia DAVID WU, Oregon BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia RUSH D. HOLT, New Jersey JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois HILDA L. SOLIS, California TODD RUSSELL PLAITS, Pennsylvania SUSAN DAVIS, California PATRICK J. TIBERI, Ohio BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota RIC KELLER, Florida TOM OSBORNE, Nebraska JOHN ABNEY CULBERSON, Texas JOE WILSON, South Carolina Paula Nowakowskl, Chief of Staff John Lawrence, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON 20 CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS HOWARD P. "BUCK" McKEON, California, Chairman JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia, Vice Chairman PATSY MINK, Hawaii JOHN BOEHNER, Ohio JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts MICHAEL N. CASTLE, Delaware RON KIND, Wisconsin SAM JOHNSON, Texas RUSH D. HOLT, New Jersey LINDSEY 0. GRAHAM, South Carolina DAVID WU, Oregon MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana LYNN N. RIVERS, Michigan FRED UPTON, Michigan BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan ROBERT E. ANDREWS, Ncw Jersey BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia RUBEN HINOJOSA, Texas TOM OSBORNE, Nebraska iii Table of Contents OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN BUCK McKEON, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE 2 OPENING STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JOHN TIERNEY, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE 4 STATEMENT OF BRUCE STENSLIE, DIRECTOR, VENTURA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD, AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE 'VENTURA COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY, VENTURA, CA 6 STATEMENT OF DANNY WEGMAN, PRESIDENT, WEGMANS FOOD MARKETS, INC , ROCHESTER, NY 8 STATEMENT OF DIANE D. RATH, CHAIR, TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION, AND COMMISSIONER REPRESENTING THE PUBLIC, AUSTIN, TX 10 STATEMENT OF TIMOTHY BARNICLE, CO-DIRECTOR, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, NATIONAL CENTER ON EDUCATION AND THE ECONOMY, WASHINGTON, D.0 12 APPENDIX A - WRITTEN OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN BUCK McKEON, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE 27 APPENDIX B - WRITTEN STATEMENT OF BRUCE STENSLIE, DIRECTOR, VENTURA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD, AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE VENTURA COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY, VENTURA, CA 33 APPENDIX C - WRITTEN STATEMENT OF DANNY WEGMAN, PRESIDENT, WEGMANS FOOD MARKETS, INC., ROCHESTER, NY 49 APPENDIX D - WRITTEN STATEMENT OF DIANE D. RATH, CHAIR, TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION, AND COMMISSIONER REPRESENTING THE PUBLIC, AUSTIN, TX 57 iv APPENDIX E - WRITTEN STATEMENT OF TIMOTHY BARNICLE, CO-DIRECTOR, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, NATIONAL CENTER ON EDUCATION AND THE ECONOMY, WASHINGTON, D.C. 65 APPENDIX F SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD, A SAMPLING OF PROMISING PRACTICES FROM THE NATION'S WORKFORCE INVESTMENT SYSTEM, TIMOTHY BARNICLE, CO-DIRECTOR, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, NATIONAL CENTER ON EDUCATION AND THE ECONOMY, WASHINGTON, D.C. 81 APPENDIX G DOCUMENT/BROCHURES AVAILABLE IN PERMANENT ARCHIVE FILE, 'VENTURA COUNTY'S WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD, BUILDING OUR FUTURE WORKFORCE, VENTURA, CA 147 Table of Indexes 149 1 HEARING ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT: PROMISING PRACTICES IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Thursday, September 12, 2002 Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness Committee on Education and the Workforce U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:45 a.m., in Room 2175, Raybum House Office Building, Hon. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. Present: Representatives McKeon, Isakson, Boehner, Ehlers, Tiemey, Wu, Andrews, and Hinojosa. Staff present: Stephanie Milburn, Professional Staff Member; Travis McCoy, Legislative Assistant; Heather Valentine, Press Secretary; Patrick Lyden, Professional Staff Member; Alexa Callin, Communications Staff Assistant; Deborah L. Samantar, Committee Clerk/Intern Coordinator. Peter Rutledge, Minority Senior Legislative Associate/Labor; Michele Varnhagen, Minority Labor Counsel/Coordinator; Dan Rawlins, Minority Staff Assistant/Labor; and Suzanne Palmer, Minority Legislative Assistant. 2 Chairman McKeon. A quorum being present, the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness will come to order. Mrs. Mink is still in the hospital, and we don't have any further update. Maybe Mr. Tierney will have more to say. But we just want all of you to know that we send our best wishes to her and hope for her speedy return. Mr. Tierney will be sitting in the chair as the Ranking Member in her absence today. We are meeting today to hear testimony on the implementation of the Workforce Investment Act. Under Committee rule 12(b), opening statements are limited to the Chairman and the Ranking Minority Member of the Subcommittee. Therefore, if other Members have statements, they may be included in the hearing record. With that, I ask unanimous consent for the hearing record to remain open 14 days to allow Member statements and other extraneous material referenced during the hearing to be submitted in the official hearing record. Without objection, so ordered. I will begin now with my opening statement. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN BUCK McKEON, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE Good morning. Thank you for joining us for this important hearing today to hear testimony on the implementation of the Workforce Investment Act. This will be our first hearing on workforce development issues as we look toward reauthorization next Congress. In 1988, under this Committee's leadership, Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act to reform the nation's job training system that formerly was fragmented, contained overlapping programs, and did not serve either job seekers or employers well. We have consolidated and integrated employment and training services at the local level in a more unified workforce development system. The Act created three funding streams to provide for adult employment and training services, dislocated workers' employment and training services, and youth development services. These services are directed by the local Workforce investment boards, which are required to have a majority of their members representing business. One of the hallmarks of the new system is that in order to encourage the development of comprehensive systems that improve services to both employers and job seekers, local services are provided through a one-stop delivery system. At the one-stop centers, assistance ranges from core services such as job search and placement assistance, access to job listings, and an initial 3 assessment of skills and needs; intensive services such as comprehensive assessments and case management; and, if needed, occupational skills training. In addition, to further promote a seamless system of services for job seekers and employers, numerous other federal programs also must make their services available through the one-stop systems. During consideration of the welfare reauthorization bill, the House made the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program a mandatory partner in the one-stop system, unless the governor declines to do so. This will serve to further coordinate federal funding streams. Clearly, the WIA system contains the Federal Government's primary programs for investment in our nation's workforce preparation. Even though the system is still maturing since its full implementation in July of 2000, states and local areas have created comprehensive services and effective one-stop delivery systems. In addition, the training services provided through WIA are invaluable in assistant adult workers in areas of the country facing skill shortages. Nonetheless, there have been problems with the system, resulting from the implementation of the law. For example, we have heard of the need to increase the contribution of the mandatory partners in the one-stop career centers; to simplify the local and state governance process; and to strengthen the private sector's role. Over the next year, we will examine all of these issues in an effort to enhance the system so that it will continue to meet the training and employment needs of the information-based, highly skilled 21st century workforce. One of the largest aspects that we will have to address is the ongoing problem of funding under WIA. For the last couple of years, the Department of Labor has recommended reductions for the workforce system due to the excessive carryover amount in the state coffers. While Congress has rejected these cuts, it has augmented the concern over the Federal Government's commitment to the system by rescinding funding from the dislocated worker program. All of these funding reductions come at a time when the General Accounting Office (GAO) has reached the conclusion that the Department of Labor lacks accurate information for determining states' available funds, mainly because states report expenditures and obligations inconsistently, and the Department does not consider obligations when it reports to Congress on available funds under WIA. The GAO also believes that states are on track to expand all of their funding in the statutorily authorized three-year time frame. Next year, the Committee will focus attention on addressing some of the funding and reporting issues raised by the GAO. The Committee will explore whether this lack of information on strategies for better managing expenditures is subjecting states to reductions, thereby creating funding instability and inhibiting strategic planning. Given that this system is implemented at the state and local level, I believe that it is critical that we hear from those in the field that work with these programs on a daily basis before we reauthorize WIA. As a result, in the near future those in the field working with adults and at-risk youth will be able to log on to the Committee's web site and make recommendations on improving the law. We have offered similar opportunities for both the reauthorization of the Higher 4 Education Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and have had great success. Today we will begin the process of hearing from states, localities, businesses and other entities that oversee and direct the workforce development system. In addition, the Subcommittee will hear from an individual who works for a national organization that provides technical assistance on implementation. The witnesses will describe the transition to WIA since the law's enactment. We hope to learn of promising practices and how you have used the flexibility of WIA to drive workforce development in your areas. In addition, the witnesses will offer recommendations on reauthorization, and the Subcommittee welcomes your insights. WRITTEN OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN BUCK McKEON, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE SEE APPENDIX A Chairman McKeon. I now yield to Congressman Tierney for his opening statement. Mr. Tierney. I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome all of our witnesses here today. I don't have an awful lot to add about our colleague, Patsy Mink, except that she has been in the hospital and in intensive care for some time since September 1st. We are all hoping that she has a speedy recovery. We are keeping a tab on that, and we will express your wishes to her for getting well, along with our own. We appreciate your thoughts in that regard. OPENING STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JOHN TIERNEY, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for having these hearings, and for having had the opportunity to work with you in the past on this issue. This is an issue that, by and large has had a great bipartisan effort, and I think everybody is intent on working within the education, labor, and business communities to make sure that our workforce is the best that it can possibly be, and that our employers and employees all derive as much as they possibly can out of the resources that the federal and local governments are able to apply. I am concerned, as you are, Mr. Chairman, that we have had an attempt by the Administration to rescind funds in the past, and was happy to join with you on correspondence to our colleagues, to the White House, and to the Administration in an effort to overturn that concept. I also think that it is not healthy that the budget proposes a reduction of $655 million, which is not going to help move forward the efforts that we need on this. It would cut the adult program by $50 million, cut dislocated worker programs by $166 million, and cut the youth program by $127 million, which is simply unacceptable in terms of having this program go forward. 5 I think we are going to hear some examples of what good can be done under this program this morning, and I am anxious to get to that. We have had a number of different opportunities throughout New England, as well as in my district in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to talk to people that are actively involved on the Workforce investment boards. They talk about integrating the adult basic education services, they talk about clarifying WIA's expectation of whether it's going to be work-first or training with a heavy emphasis from most of the business community to have more training, to get people ready to work in jobs that are going to be more meaningful and more rewarding for them, and hopefully for their employers. We talk about making sure that there's universal access for core services, and intensive training services for lower-income individuals. We would, as you mentioned, like to talk about mandating resource sharing among partners at both the federal and the state level, and mandating TANF as a partner, so that it works more seamlessly and probably gets everybody the resources they need in a better way. We have pages of different suggestions from people. We look forward to talking about all those in the upcoming hearings. I thank you again for conducting these hearings, and look forward to working with you, and thank again our witnesses for being here today, in particular Mr. Barnicle, who is an old friend of all of my colleagues and mine from Massachusetts. And we happen to know personally his good work, and we look forward to working with him. Thank you. Chairman McKeon. Thank you, Mr. Tierney. Now I will introduce our witnesses. First, we will hear from Bruce Stenslie. Mr. Stenslie is the Director for the Ventura County Workforce investment board and Deputy Director of the Ventura County Human Services Agency. He represents a progressive workforce board that advocates welfare development through integration of workforce education, welfare, and economic development programs. Our second witness is Danny Wegman. Since 1976, Mr. Wegman has served as the President of Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., located in Rochester, New York. Mr. Wegman graduated with honors from Harvard University with a degree in economics and still went into the food business. [Laughter.] I grew up in the grocery business. He is active in the community, serving on the Board of Directors for the United Way in Rochester, on the board of directors for the Rochester Business Education Alliance, as well as other service-oriented activities. Then we will hear from Diane Rath. Ms. Rath is Chair of the Texas Workforce Commission and the Commissioner Representing the Public. Before assuming that position, Ms. Rath served as the Senior Director of Public Affairs for Kinetic Concepts, Inc. She has also served 1 0