As most of you know, at ASTD’s International Conference held this past June in Washington, DC, a group of us went up to Capitol Hill and participated in our “Congressional Conversations” event.

Well, we are going back to the Hill to continue our conversations! Since Congress has been knee deep in the health care debate, it has been difficult to focus staff on other issues. But, now that the House has passed their version of the bill, members of the House and their staff can focus on other issues.

We are meeting over the next few weeks with members of the House Education and Labor Committee, and the Sub-Committee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness. We are planning on meeting with chairmen and ranking member of both the full committee and sub-committee.  Our hope is to offer ASTD as a resource and partner in upcoming training legislation, in particular the Workforce Investment Act reauthorization.  We want to build a working partnership with Congress in this process.  In future blog posts, I will update our progress as we continue to “converse” with Congress!

I also was able to attend the policy reception at the Chapter Leaders Conference a few weeks ago in Alexandria, VA.  ASTD invited the Executive Director of the US Chambers Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW), Karen Elzey to speak on the Chamber activities on Capitol Hill which included status of current training legislation.  Along with other themes, she strongly encouraged chapter leaders to get engaged in the policy efforts both at the federal and at the state level.  Though we expected a small gathering, over 60 chapter leaders attended! It appears that public policy is a hot topic with chapter leaders, as a sunrise session the next morning on public policy also attracted a very large response!

As many of you who read this blog know, we have highlighted training grants and other training appropriations through the Recovery Act.  The Department of Labor is working on many of those applications; and once they have been awarded, we will have information here.  Please stay tuned.  In some state, funds are making their way to down to local governments.  Here is a recent article from the LA Times about Recovery Act funds used in the city for workforce training:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-worker-traning11-2009nov11,0,7732258.story

You should contact your state workforce office to see how they are using their Recovery Act training funds to see if your firm can take advantage of any grants or other training opportunities.

 

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Hot off the presses! It is confirmed that Jeffrey Zients, the nation's first Chief Performance Officer, will be speaking at the upcoming conference hosted by The Public Manager and the American Society for Public Administration. The conference will be held November 2-3 in Washington, D.C. For more information on Zients, see the press release. To HEAR him speak, go to the conference. Register at www.thepublicmanager.org/2009conference. Early bird registration has been extended until October 30!

Tags: the public manager, conference, chief performance officer, government, public sector, barack obama, jeffrey zients

Categories: ASTD in the News | Conferences | Government | Public Policy

As many of your know, local and state workforce investment boards (WIBs) are in a position, as part of their role, to “certify” industry recognized certification and training programs that will enhance the skills of clients in their workforce systems.  Once WIBs certify programs, clients who qualify for public funds for training (individual training accounts) can use those funds with the approved programs.

Over the years as a member of both a state and local workforce board, I was very happy to vote to certify and approve programs that I felt helped our clients enhance their skills and helped to improve their possibilities of getting reemployed.  In my case, we tended to certify occupational skills and industry recognized certifications that were validated by those industries.  We wanted to ensure that we gave unemployed workers every chance to get reemployed quickly.

ASTD is now in a position, with the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance Certification (CPLP), to build partnerships with state and local workforce with its industry certification.  We have started that process in the Washington Metropolitan area.
 
ASTD has met with the leaders of two local workforce boards in Northern Virginia.  Both local boards were very interested (and impressed) with ASTD’s approach and the package for staff to use with their WIA clients.  ASTD is in the process of sending in the applications to both WIBs.  If approved, the CPLP will be recognized by all other local WIBs in Virginia (15) and could also be used by their clients.

So, what will this approval mean?  ASTD staff will be able to train One Stop Center staff about CPLP and will also be able to leave information for anyone entering the One Stop Centers to learn about CPLP.  This will be a great way of expanding the reach of CPLP throughout the One Stop systems in many states.  We are meeting soon with the DC WIB staff and have the information for Montgomery County to submit.

So, how can you get your local workforce board to certify CPLP for ASTD members (and potential members) in your chapter area?  If you’re coming to Alexandria in October for the Chapter Leaders Conference, Jennifer Homer will be holding a sunrise session on how chapters can partner with their local workforce boards and CPLP.  Stay tuned here for more information about CPLP and the partnership with local and state workforce boards as we move forward with this partnership initiative.

 

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For those of you who regularly read my blog, thank you for that.  You have heard me regularly speak about the importance of WIA reauthorization and what should be in the new legislation.

As you may know, though, Congress earlier this year held several hearings in both the House and Senate on WIA, a promising series of events.  It now looks like from all indications that nothing significant will happen with WIA, probably not until after the new year.  The reality is that health care and other legislative priorities are taking up much of the legislative agenda for now, and it appears that it will be that way for the foreseeable future.

So, it begs to ask the following questions.  Is all of this “worry” about a new WIA bill worth it?  Will there be significant changes in the system or should we just keep the status quo and move forward?  Let me opine on what my experience has shown.
 
As you probably know, the Workforce Investment Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1998.  In 1999, I was elected vice-chair of the local workforce board in Northern Virginia; and in 2001, Governor Warner appointed me to the State Workforce Board of Virginia. Though both boards were very large at the time (and still are), it was the first time I could remember in our state that education, employers, government and economic development actually sat in a room and discussed state and local workforce needs.  At the time, I was pretty impressed.

Over the course of time, like any pieces of legislation, WIA needed to be reauthorized in 2002-03 timeframe.  As in many pieces of legislation, politics took over; and the bill has been delayed and delayed due to that reason.  Now, everyone seems to be waiting for the current administration to come up with their priorities for WIA.

Many of us in the workforce training community (who have worked in the system) feel that this is our last best hope for awhile to get this legislation reauthorized and make the bill even better.  Many states have used this legislation to overhaul their state workforce systems, one stop systems and state grant programs; specifically to better reflect the needs of employers.  Many best practices have been shared with Congress, and we need to keep the pressure on them to move forward with reauthorization.

In my opinion, this would be the only federal legislation what would require all the relevant parties to convene at the state and local level to have a strategic discussion around workforce, education and training needs of employers and to give local areas resources above and beyond those in education alone to help meet those needs.  I also believe that the one stop career system (some states systems are clearly better than others) will be a huge catalyst in getting unemployed Americans back to work. So, I say “let’s go for it”; and get the bill we really want.

ASTD will continue to be in dialogue with policy makers at all levels to give its thoughts and feedback as the legislation makes its way through Congress.  We will keep you posted on the policy section of the ASTD website; and, as always, will keep you updated in my blog postings. If you have your own thoughts about reauthorization, please share them here on this blog posting.

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Everyone knows that Congress is out on summer break in August.  For someone who has lived in the Washington Metropolitan area for 25 years, the town tends to slow down, along with the traffic every August.  You can plan on it during most years.  But, this isn’t like most years.  Along with the health care debate, there seems to be a lot of activity around Capitol Hill.

Policy activity has not slowed down for us at ASTD.  There were three very exciting happenings this past week, and we would like to share those with everyone.

First, our team had a meeting with Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) to better introduce him to ASTD, our mission and to discuss his non-profit initiatives in conjunction with the Recovery Act.  Congressman Moran sits on the House Appropriations Committee, a very important committee and they approve budgets on the House side.  He will be a good connecting for our future work with Congress. 

Second, we have confirmed our webinar with the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration to help our members better understand and possibly partner with the public system on the Recovery Act grants which are currently “on the street” to apply for.  Our hope is that our members, especially in the green and renewable energy industries, will partner and apply for these current grants.  Here is information on the webinar:

Leveraging Public Partnerships and Resources to Train Your Workforce

Date: Wednesday, September 2
Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET

Speakers from the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration and ASTD

Finding and retaining a skilled workforce is challenging even in a down economy. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), or the stimulus legislation, has created new grants and funding streams for industries that are in need of help. Many companies want to understand how to find a partner at the local level and work together to apply for funding. Join ASTD for this unique opportunity to hear directly from the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration about immediate grant opportunities in the energy and healthcare sectors and how your organization can partner at the local level with the publicly-funded workforce system.

Pre-register here: https://astdevents.webex.com/astdevents/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=598882724

The third item from last week was very exciting news!  Members of the ASTD team met with the Executive Director of the Local Workforce Investment Board (WIB) in Northern Virginia to discuss the opportunities and possibilities of ASTD offering the CPLP Certification through their WIB and their One Stop Career Center System.  More details to come soon, but our plan it to meet with other local WIBs in the Metro DC area to explore similar possibilities. 

 

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As mentioned in several previous blog postings, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) allocated $750 Million to the Department of Labor (DOL) in competitive grants to help grow the energy, green and other “new economy” workers.  $500 million in grants were announced earlier this summer; and last week, DOL announced the remaining $250 million for health care worker training and for “high growth industries”. The goal for DOL is to allocate 45-65 grants totaling $2-$5 million each.

According to the grant announcement for health care, DOL is interested in projects that provide training and support career progression along the nursing career pathway as well as short-term skills certification or credentialing that enables incumbent workers to advance along a career ladder in health care. The options include licenses, certificates, and degrees from accredited nursing programs that lead to the Associate Degree of Nursing (ADN) or vocational licensure for LPNs and positions as CNAs. DOL is also interested in academic strategies that help incumbent workers advance from an ADN to the bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) since many RNs with an ADN find it beneficial to enter bachelors programs to prepare for a broader scope of nursing practice.

In this grant, DOL is also soliciting grant applications that address current and forecasted workforce shortages that provide workers with paths to career enhancement opportunities in high growth, high demand, and economically vital sectors of the American economy. ETA will target education and skills development resources toward helping workers gain skills needed to build successful careers in local growing industries.

Required partners in this grant must include at least one entity from each of the following three categories: The public workforce investment system, such as local Workforce Investment Boards and their One Stop systems;  public and private employers, such as health care providers when appropriate, and industry-related organizations; and the education and training community, which includes the
continuum of education from secondary schools to community and technical colleges, four-year colleges and universities, apprenticeship programs, technical and vocational training institutions, and other education and training entities.

Grant applications are due 10/5/09.  Call your local partners to see how you can participate in this grant.

You can find out more about this and the other grant available at the DOL-ETA web site:

http://www.doleta.gov/grants/

 

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Two weeks ago, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), took a short break from the health care issue to discuss the publicly funded workforce system and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) reauthorization.  It doesn’t appear that the bill will be reauthorized anytime soon, but I am more hopeful now that I was before due to several reasons.

As most of you know, the WIA has been overdue for reauthorization for 5 years, all of it due to politics.  The bill gets re-appropriated every year, so states and local boards still get their funds for training and other workforce related services.  The issues are all around what I like to call the “rules” of WIA.  What are the guidelines that will service the workforce system that will make the most sense?  In most cases both sides agree on most items (sounds crazy but true). It’s the “details” that seem to be the most contentious between the parties.

So, we go to last week’s hearing.  This was not the first hearing for the HELP committee on WIA, but it was the first public hearing for the new Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employment Training Administration, Jane Oates.  Along with Oates was Undersecretary of Education, Martha Kanter, who also testified on WIA.  For someone who has personally worked in the system for a long time, it was very interesting and satisfying to see education and labor discuss mutually agreed interest in WIA.  Oates made the comment and pointed out that we (the federal government) require Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Education (mandatory WIA partners) to work together at the state and local level; and that we should also “up here” at the federal level work together for the betterment of the system, suggesting that her colleagues in Education and HHS should do the same as everyone else in the system. She offered to start those meetings at the federal level now.

She also stressed the points that most of everyone agrees on, that the sequential services mandates in WIA should be removed in the new bill and that youth services need more streamlining.  I think you will hear more from her in the future as the bill moves through Congress.

The second panel to speak to the senate was another group of people who work in or have benefited from the resource allocated from the WIA system.  I, along with others, are still hoping that both committees in Congress working on WIA will eventually talk about, and invite those to speak to, the “rules” of the WIA system.  They shouldn’t just talk to those who receive the resources and are happy about receiving those resources.

I am hoping that this bill will be reauthorized soon!

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For those of you who have read through my Blog: first, thank you for reading; second, we have been tracking and highlighting the Recovery Act funds since February and the first set of training grants are now available to apply for.

As background, there were over 5 billion dollars in the Recovery Act allocated for training.  Over 4 billion have been already allocated, mostly to state and local workforce boards.  The rest will be granted out, most of that to green jobs to grow the nation’s green economy.
 
The first rounds of grants were announced last week, and here is a brief overview.  These grants are designed to help build and expand the green economy. Below you will find a link to the Department of Labor (DOL) site for more specific application information.  Here are the grants, listed in order of size of the total grant.

1. State Energy Sector Partnership Grants ($190 million), with applications due 10/20/09. These grants are designed for partnerships with state workforce boards, state workforce agencies, local workforce boards and one stop career centers. Training needs to be targeted towards the industries identified in the Green Jobs Act of the Workforce Investment Act.

2. Pathways Out of Poverty Grants ($150 million), with applications due 9/29/09. These grants are designed to help national and local non-profits provide career pathways for unemployed individuals, high school drop outs, reentry of prisoners to the workplace and those individuals living in high poverty areas.  The grants are to be used for training in the industries identified in the Green Jobs Act of the Workforce Investment Act.

3. Energy Training Partnership Grants ($100 million), with applications due 9/04/09. These grants are designed for partnership with state and local workforce boards, one stop career centers and employers to provide training for targeted populations. Priority will be given to unemployed workers, returning veterans and reservists.  The grants are to be used for training in the industries identified in the Green Jobs Act of the Workforce Investment Act.

4. State Labor Market Information Improvement Grants ($50 million), with applications due 8/14/09. These grants are designed to help state workforce boards and state workforce agencies to improve their labor exchange information for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries. Applicants must show that projects will be implemented through partnerships within the state.

5. Green Capacity Building Grants ($5 million), with applications due 8/5/09. These grants are designed to help those currently receiving federal funding in certain programs outlined in the grant proposal.  The grants will be used to help provide entry level training in careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.
 
Here is the link back to the DOL site for more information: http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm

This is a great opportunity if your organization is involved within the green industries to build community partnerships and help fund training programs.
Check with your local or state workforce board for more information also.
 
Good luck if you apply!

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It took me a couple of weeks to come down from the excitement and enthusiasm we felt after our Congressional Conversations experience in DC during the International Conference.  We had a plan, we had a great group of volunteers to help put the plan together, and we successfully executed the plan.  We had our members going to the Hill educated on the issues and on how to engage members of Congress and their staffs the key issues we see regarding training in this Congressional session.  They were all motivated and excited to have their “Congressional Conversations”!

Our members had their meetings, and some even got to meet and take pictures with their members of Congress.  Some had time to visit parts of Capitol Hill, many of whom had not been to before.  Some went up to the steps of the Supreme Court (took pictures); others took pictures in front of the Capital building.  Others took their gallery passes they received from their members’ offices and went to see either the House or Senate in session (some saw both).

After the visits, we went back to the convention center to debrief the event and talk about next steps in keeping engaged in public policy issues, both at the national and at the local chapter level.  We had a very good discussion, and action plans were made to keep connected and keep informed.
 
One item that we discussed which is probably coming up real soon is the $750 million in competitive grants available thought the Recovery Act (ARRA).  Most of these resources will be used for creation and expansion of Green Jobs, but $250 million of these funds will be used to enhance and expand regional economies.  Stay tuned to both the Department of Labor (DOL) site and the ASTD site for more information and possible webinars about these grants. ASTD will also be working the next few weeks on talking to the committees working on the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) reauthorization.  Our hope is to talk to both members of both houses of Congress and staff involved with the bill.  Again, stay tuned for more details when we get particulars about the new bill.

Here is a link back to at June ASTD Links article about our event:

http://www.astd.org/content/publications/newsletters_journals/memberOnly/ASTD_Links/IssuesandArchives/2009/June/News.htm

Thanks again to all of those who help and participated in the Congressional Conversation event!

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Our bags are packed, and we are ready to go!  As you probably know by now, ASTD will be heading to Capitol Hill next week to meet with members of Congress.  We will have about 50+ members attending this event. We will be talking to members (and their staffs) about two important issues. Our main goal is to meet with our Congressional members and to start to develop a working partnership with them on training and workforce development legislation.

We will be discussing the ARRA (Stimulus Package), thanking them for investing in more worker training and retraining, letting them know about the research ASTD has done around skills gap and that it’s very important to ensure that recovery funds are tied to specific employer needs.  We will be suggesting that the upcoming grants which are part of the recovery package are used to invest in worker training in green and high growth industries
.
The second item we will be discussing is the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA).  The bill is now being discussed in sub-committee on the House side.  We will be reinforcing themes that we have talked about over the past several years as this legislation has been debated before.  We would like to see local boards smaller and more focused on the needs of employers.  We would like to see better representation of local industry.  We would like to see better performance metrics of the training resources and that the One Stop System is more customer friendly to both employers and workers.

After our meetings, we will be heading back to the convention center to debrief and chat about how our meeting went and next steps in keeping these important connecting moving forward. We will talk about how to keep all of us engaged in this “conversation” with Congress. If you are coming to the conference and are not able to come to the Hill, feel free to join us for the debrief session.  If you would like to stay connect to our policy efforts, email ASTD at press@astd.org.

See you in DC!

 

 

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