Workforce Investment Act Title I-B Annual Report Program Year 2014

Transcription

1 Workforce Ivestmet Act Title I-B Aual Report Program Year 2014

2 2014 Workforce Ivestmet Act Title I-B Aual Report Texas Workforce Commissio Missio To promote ad support a workforce system that creates value ad offers employers, idividuals, ad commuities the opportuity to achieve ad sustai ecoomic prosperity. Table of Cotets PART I: Texas Workforce Solutios PART II: Statewide Performace PART III: Local Performace 2014 Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report 2

3 Part I: Texas Workforce Solutios Visio Texas Workforce Commissio The Texas Workforce Commissio (TWC) ad its Workforce Solutios parters will maximize the power of iovatio ad parterships to boost superior busiess outcomes ad realize a competitive advatage for all Texas i the global ecoomy. Market-Drive Approach For the Texas ecoomy to grow ad prosper, employers must covey to job seekers the skills their busiesses eed ad job seekers must recogize ad commuicate the skills they possess or obtai ew skills to meet busiesses eeds. A market-drive workforce developmet system plays a vital role i this process, actig as a hub for sharig iformatio related to jobs ad skills, facilitatig coectios betwee busiesses ad job seekers, ad providig assistace with job search ad traiig eeds. Usig a market-drive approach, Texas Workforce Solutios, Texas workforce developmet system, icorporates all potetial customers, icludig employers ad job seekers, as well as workforce service providers, ecoomic developmet etities, uiversities, commuity colleges, ad traiig providers. This approach esures that all workforce system customers are valued, iformed cotributors to ad drivers of the system, thus allowig state ad local policy makers to strategically pla for the curret ad future eeds of the state. Texas Workforce Solutios cotiuously moitors ad aalyzes the eeds of the state s workforce ad busiesses, to esure a solid approach that eables job growth, promotes a well-traied workforce ad esures Texas ability to compete o a global level. Regardig Texas, Forbes magazie writes, The $1.5 trillio Texas ecoomy is the secod biggest i the U.S., behid oly Califoria. Texas raks first for both curret ecoomic climate ad growth prospects. There are 118 of the 1,000 largest public ad private compaies i the U.S. based i Texas, icludig giats like AT&T, ExxoMobil ad Dell. The $1.5 trillio Texas ecoomy is expected to expad 4.1 percet aually over the ext five years, which is secod best i the atio. Texas prosperity ad pro-busiess eviromet have led compaies outside of the eergy sector to flock to the state i recet years. Toyota aouced plas to move its North America headquarters from Califoria to a ew campus i Plao, which will create 4,000 jobs. Sa Fracisco brokerage firm Charles Schwab is movig hudreds of jobs out of Califoria, with Austi ad El Paso targeted Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report

4 for compay expasio. Apple is udergoig a expasio that will roughly double its Austi workforce by hirig 3,600 ew employees ad Space Exploratio Techologies Corporatio (Space X) aouced plas to build a spaceport/commercial lauch complex ear Browsville, Texas, desiged specifically for orbital missios. Texas Ecoomic Outlook Based o iformatio collected by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accouts, job growth, sales tax collectios ad buildig permits sigal that the Texas ecoomy cotiues to outpace the atioal ecoomy. Over the past year, Texas added jobs i ie of the 11 major idustries, icludig professioal ad busiess services, trade, trasportatio ad utilities, leisure ad hospitality, educatio ad health services, costructio, govermet, fiacial activities, iformatio ad other services. Prerecessio Texas employmet peaked at 10,638,100 i August 2008, a level that was surpassed i November 2011, ad by May 2015 Texas added 1,148,800 jobs. The Uited States did ot recover all jobs lost durig the recessio util May 2014, ad by May 2015 added 3,314,000 jobs. Focus o Itegratio Texas has historically bee see as a leader i workforce itegratio. The Texas workforce developmet system icludes the Texas Workforce Commissio, 28 Workforce Developmet Boards (Boards), ad Workforce Solutios Offices, which provide locally customized services that address the eeds of each regio of the state. TWC ad the Boards cotiue to refie ad improve Texas itegrated structure i order to operate i the most efficiet ad effective maer possible, while esurig the workforce system is both flexible ad adaptable, ad most importatly, market-based ad customer-focused. Improved access ad efficiecy, alog with value-added services, are a few of the may beefits customers receive from a itegrated system. Oe such improvemet is that Texas workforce system ow supports the delivery of Adult Educatio ad Literacy services withi local commuities to assist those who eed educatio ad traiig i order to obtai the basic skills that will eable them to qualify for sustaiable employmet ad become self-sufficiet. Texas strog ecoomic foudatio is largely a credit to the diversity ad stability of its private-sector busiesses. The state boasts a estimated 485,000 total employers represetig hudreds of public ad private idustries. The overwhelmig majority of Texas employers cosist of small busiesses employig 100 or fewer workers. However, the largest percetages of private-sector jobs are with compaies that employ more tha 100 workers. It is vital that TWC ad its workforce parters collaborate with local ecoomic developmet etities to equip Texas employers both large ad small with a highly skilled workforce that will keep jobs i Texas ad keep compaies competitive i the global marketplace. Busiesses receive value-added assistace i a itegrated workforce system. Busiesses have access to pools of job seekers at all levels of educatio ad experiece, allowig potetial employers to tailor ew hires accordig to job requiremets; thus buildig a stroger workforce. Close ties to the local labor market eable Boards to coduct outreach by workig with busiesses to provide opportuities for work experiece ad o-the-job traiig ad allow low-skilled workers to build skill sets relevat to the curret market. Additioally, Boards are i a excellet positio to work more closely with other commuity parters to expad opportuities to all customers Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report 4

5 Dedicated Busiess Service Uits (BSUs) provide busiesses access to customized service optios that address their specific busiess eeds. BSUs offer a rage of services desiged to help employers with hirig ad traiig eeds to maximize their competitiveess, icludig: Applicat recruitmet, screeig ad referral Listig ad maitaiig job orders through s olie job-matchig referral system, WorkITexas.com Assistace with ad participatio i job fairs Iformatio resources (e.g., labor market ad busiess statistics, employmet ad labor law, UI) Testig ad prescreeig job cadidates Basic employmet skills traiig ad referral to educatio ad traiig providers Customized traiig, icludig traiig through the state-fuded Skills Developmet Fud, ad o-the-job skills traiig Assistace with ad iformatio o the Work Opportuity Tax Credit Rapid respose ad dowsizig assistace i the evet of closigs or mass layoffs Texas Workforce Solutios itegrated approach to services allows staff to provide job seekers with a comprehesive service package that meets their eeds ad improves the probability of success. Itegratig programs withi Workforce Solutios Offices allows Texas to leverage resources, thus miimizig the impact of reductios i fudig ad icreased demad for services. Texas job seekers beefit from the wide variety of programs admiistered by Texas Workforce Solutios, icludig: Workforce Ivestmet Act (WIA) Wager-Peyser Employmet Service (ES) Uemploymet Isurace (UI) beefits iformatio Choices, the Temporary Assistace for Needy Families (TANF) employmet ad traiig program Supplemetal Nutritio Assistace Program Employmet ad Traiig (SNAP E&T) Subsidized child care Trade Adjustmet Assistace (TAA) Adult Educatio ad Literacy (AEL) programs The Texas workforce system serves studets ad their parets by providig today s youth with educatio, traiig ad workplace opportuities is essetial to the state s future growth ad success. I a effort to esure that youg people have the skills to meet future workforce eeds, Texas supports programs that iform studets from a early age of careers that are i demad ad projected to grow. TWC supports programs that idetify educatioal ad career paths for studets ad their parets, icludig vocatioal ad techical traiig, as well as those requirig two-year, four-year ad higher educatio degrees Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report

6 TWC s Labor Market ad Career Iformatio departmet develops ad distributes educatioal materials ad olie tools that help parets, educators ad studets idetify career pathways. TWC is workig closely with the Texas Educatio Agecy ad the Texas Higher Educatio Coordiatig Board to help commuities, schools ad studets trasitio to the ew career-focused iitiatives passed i House Bill 5, 83rd Texas Legislature, Regular Sessio (2013). The Workforce Iovatio ad Opportuity Act (WIOA) is legislatio overhaulig ad reauthorizig the provisios of the Workforce Ivestmet Act. Cogress passed WIOA by a wide bipartisa majority ad the presidet siged it ito law o July 22, WIOA focuses o streamliig programs, reportig ad admiistratio. Texas has log istituted the majority of programmatic chages madated by WIOA, such as providig participats most i eed with traiig ad placemet services ad usig commo performace measures across core programs for both adults ad youth. WIOA clearly recogizes Texas itegrated workforce system by the iclusio of prior cosistet state law laguage, commoly referred to as the gradfather provisios. I early 2015, TWC established several WIOA implemetatio workgroups composed of state ad local Board staff, i additio to other iterested parties. The purpose of these workgroups was to address key areas of implemetatio such as fiscal issues, performace measures, regioal idetificatio, ad service delivery, amog others. The workgroups made a umber of recommedatios, such as providig feedback to the Labor Market ad Career Iformatio departmet, which was ultimately icorporated ito the latest versio of the website ad data tools. Two service delivery workgroups shared best practices, idetified weakesses ad explored opportuities for improvemets withi the workforce developmet system; icludig the developmet of a meaigful Memorada of Uderstadig to solidify parters roles ad resposibilities ad the referral process i a itegrated service delivery model that supports WIOA s goals. Strategic Iitiatives Veteras Veteras costitute a priority populatio for TWC ad the workforce system. TWC s ow workforce is made up of early 12 percet veteras, compared to a average of just over five percet by all other state agecies. Additioally, through a umber of iitiatives, TWC promotes the hirig of veteras by others ad provides services ad programs for U.S. armed service members returig from Iraq ad Afghaista. College Credit for Heroes Program The College Credit for Heroes (CCH) program seeks to maximize college credits awarded to veteras ad active duty service members for their military experiece by developig streamlied degree paths ad workforce certificatios to expedite trasitio ito the Texas workforce. CCH was iitiated i 2011 ad has expaded over two phases to iclude regios across the state. Eleve Texas colleges ad uiversities have developed accelerated curricula for veteras ad active duty service members i fields such as emergecy medical services, surgical techology, respiratory therapy, ursig iformatio techology, firefightig, advaced maufacturig, logistics, wid egieerig ad oil field techology. CCH also created a olie applicatio ad databas e through which veteras ad active duty service members ca receive a official evaluatio of credit to be used at colleges ad 2014 Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report 6

7 uiversities throughout the state. As of Jue 1, 2015 the website has received over 89,000 visits ad more tha 10,000 requests for evaluatios. Results from the first two years show that Texas veteras ad active duty service members have bee awarded a average of 25 credit hours each through the CCH website. A additioal goal of the project is to expad the etwork of parterig colleges ad uiversities through memorada of uderstadig parterships. Because the award of academic credit is cotiget o approval from the receivig Texas college or uiversity, icreasig awareess amog these istitutios is imperative. Istitutios that become CCH parters make a commitmet to review CCH evaluatios ad make every effort to maximize the award of college credit to veteras ad active duty service members for their military experiece ad traiig. To date, the etwork of CCH parter schools has grow to more tha 37 istitutios of higher educatio, with the Texas A&M Uiversity System beig the most recet additio. Descriptios for the Phase I ad Phase II projects are available at vetsvcs/college-credit-heroes.html. Phase III expads the CCH project by awardig fudig for additioal college parters to create acceleratio curricula i ew fields. Phase III also icludes oe gratee whose program cosists of parterships with idustry leaders to create jobs for veteras ad provide paid iterships. Durig the 84th Texas Legislature, legislatio was adopted to make CCH a permaet program ad require a aual legislative report that outlies programmatic status, best practices, ad recommedatios for awardig college credit for military experiece ad traiig. Hirig Red, White ad You! Hirig Fair Texas Workforce Commissio is proud to aouce the fourth aual Hirig Red, White ad You! (HRWY) statewide hirig fair to take place o November 12, I cooperatio with 28 Workforce Solutios parters, HRWY coects Texas veteras ad their spouses with Texas employers that value the experiece, disciplie ad other exceptioal qualities iheret i a military backgroud. Durig its first three years, HRWY coected more tha 31,000 veteras with over 4,700 employers. Veteras Workforce Outreach Iitiative Hard-to-serve veteras have oe or more barriers to employmet, such as homelessess; a history of substace abuse; physical, metal, or learig disabilities; posttraumatic stress disorder; ex-offeder status; or recet discharge from military duty. The Veteras Workforce Outreach iitiative is desiged to support Natioal Veteras Outreach Program, Ic. s goals of: Outreachig hard-to-serve veteras who are ot curretly beig served through Workforce Solutios offices Addressig employmet barriers faced by hard-to-serve veteras Reitegratig hard-to-serve veteras ito meaigful employmet Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report

8 Employmet barriers are addressed ad resources are accessed to overcome barriers uder the guidace of a case maager. Veteras beefit from a rage of services, which may iclude: Assessmets Job developmet ad job placemet Idividual case maagemet services icludig guidace, ecouragemet ad resources Support services icludig: Trasportatio Wheelchairs ad crutches Ret ad utility assistace Food assistace Metal health assistace, Fiacial assistace icludig cliical couselig The iitiative was fuded from a competitive Request for Proposals. Oe gratee, America GI Forum, was awarded Workforce Ivestmet Act statewide discretioary fuds ad the program was implemeted i Sa Atoio, Housto, the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area ad El Paso. Durig the period of February 2013 through October 2014, the project provided 811 veteras with assessmet ad case maagemet services ad 514 were placed ito employmet at a average wage of $12.25 per hour. Vetera ad Idustry Partership (VIP) Texas Workforce Commissio has dedicated traiig dollars from the state s Skills Developmet Fud to focus specifically o traiig veteras i parts of the state where demad is high for occupatios i the three prioritized idustries: petrochemical maufacturig, advaced maufacturig ad iformatio techology. Fuds have bee provided to 16 commuity colleges that will parter with idustry ad Workforce Developmet Boards to idetify high-demad occupatios ad provide traiig to veteras to prepare them for those jobs. Priority is give to occupatios related to the followig idustries: Advaced maufacturig traiig will be offered at commuity colleges i the Tarrat Couty, North Cetral Texas, Greater Dallas ad Alamo local workforce developmet areas Iformatio techology traiig will be offered at commuity colleges i the Borderplex, Rural Capital, Cetral Texas ad Capital Area workforce areas Petrochemical maufacturig traiig will be offered at commuity colleges i the Southeast, Gulf Coast, Golde Crescet ad Coastal Bed workforce areas Texas Wide Ope for Veteras Usig Workforce Ivestmet Act Icetive Grat Award Fuds, Texas Workforce Commissio established a vetera s portal to reach out to existig soldiers ad veteras ad provide them with iformatio about opportuities i Texas. Iformatio icluded i this portal will promote the state s ecoomic, educatioal ad employmet opportuities available to veteras. The Texas Wide Ope for Veteras website at lauched December 3, As of Jue 30, 2015, the site has received 25,321 visits from users i all 50 states ad various foreig coutries. Of these, 36 percet visited via a mobile device. Visitors are returig for more as well over 16 percet of users are returig visitors. The Cotact Us form has prove beeficial. TWC has assisted both veteras ad employers by addressig their commets, questios, ad cocers i a efficiet ad timely maer Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report 8

9 Texas Veteras Leadership Program Veteras returig from military actio face umerous challeges whe trasitioig ito civilia life. A cosistetly higher-tha-average uemploymet rate, homelessess, ad service-related ijuries ca impede their success. Texas Workforce Commissio s Texas Veteras Leadership Program (TVLP) is a resource ad referral etwork that assists veteras of Iraq ad Afghaista to address such challeges. TVLP has twety Veteras Resource ad Referral Specialists (VRRSs) who cover the 28 workforce areas across the state to reach out to veteras ad provide a comprehesive, itegrated approach to addressig veteras uique challeges. VRRSs operate withi Workforce Solutios offices, where they ca work more closely with Workforce Solutios offices staff ad parter program staff, icludig Texas Vetera Commissio represetatives, providig veteras with the persoalized attetio they eed. Additioally, TVLP collaborates with umerous commuity-based orgaizatios to meet the eeds of the veteras. TVLP has two VRRSs workig with the Army Career ad Alumi Program at Fort Bliss ad Fort Hood, Texas. From July 2008 through July 1, 2015, TVLP has cotacted 19,374 veteras ad provided services to 15,990 veteras of Operatio Iraqi Freedom, Operatio Edurig Freedom ad Operatio New Daw. State of Texas Soldier Employmet Iitiative The State of Texas Soldier Employmet Iitiative (STSEI), a collaboratio of efforts ad resources amog the U.S. Army, U.S. Departmet of Labor (DOL), ad workforce system parters, eded o Jue 30, Established through a DOL grat, STSEI coducted ehaced outreach ad employmet services to veteras before they separated from or upo separatig from the U.S. Army, Army Reserve or Army Natioal Guard. Four states Texas, Georgia, Illiois ad North Carolia were selected for grats to participate i this pilot program. STSEI specifically targeted U.S. Army veteras who were eligible for or were curretly receivig Uemploymet Isurace beefits through the Uemploymet Compesatio for Ex-Service Members program. The primary goals were to: Build ad ehace parterships betwee participatig etities Improve data sharig Develop iovative outreach ad reemploymet strategies that eable veteras to become reemployed more quickly TWC ad Texas Veteras Commissio iitially hired four STSEI staff members to outreach service members statioed at Fort Hood, Fort Bliss, Camp Mabry ad Elligto Field. They targeted service members who were approachig their separatio from the U.S. Army ad service members who were returig from deploymet with the Army Reserve or the Natioal Guard. Oe STSEI staff member was assiged to each base to serve as the STSEI primary poit of cotact. Curretly, there are two remaiig TWC STSEI staff members providig services at Fort Hood ad Fort Bliss. Additioally, Texas Veteras Leadership Program s VRRSs idetified ad outreached veteras receivig UCX beefits, to assist them with their reemploymet efforts. STSEI outreached over 22,989 Army UCX claimats. TWC has bee trackig the average umber of weeks U.S. Army UCX claimats have bee drawig UCX. The startig average was 24.6 i September As of April 2015, the average umber of weeks U.S. Army UCX claimats have draw UCX has decreased to Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report

10 Texas Skills to Work Usig the Uemploymet Compesatio for Ex-Service Members grat, Texas Workforce Commissio also developed Texas Skills to Work o the web at This is a olie tool iteded to assist trasitioig service members with traslatig their military experiece ito civilia terms. This tool ca be used to improve a vetera s résumé by better coectig their military skills with civilia jobs that value those abilities. Additioally, the Skills to Work tool ca match a vetera s skill to olie job postigs available through the Coferece Board s Help Wated Olie (HWOL) database. Uemploymet Isurace Claimats Recogizig that settig performace expectatios ca drive behavior, several years ago TWC adopted a strategic focus to make certai populatios a priority. TWC s focus o these populatios provides the followig beefits: A faster retur to work for job seekers Skilled workers with recet work experiece for employers Oe such populatio is Uemploymet Isurace (UI) claimats. Several years ago, i a attempt to reduce the average duratio that UI claimats remai o UI ad to further the focus o claimats; TWC implemeted the Claimats Placed withi 10 Weeks performace measure. I additio to assistig UI claimats i quickly recoectig with employmet, this strategy also positively impacts fudig for the state s UI trust fud. TWC cotiues to cotract this measure to the Workforce Developmet Boards. Rapid Reemploymet Services Social Security Act 303(a)(10) ad 303(j)(1) require states to idetify which claimats will be likely to exhaust regular Uemploymet Isurace (UI) beefits ad refer those claimats to reemploymet services i order to make a successful trasitio to ew employmet. The U.S. Departmet of Labor ad Employmet ad Traiig Admiistratio refers to the system as Worker Profilig ad Reemploymet Services; i Texas, it is kow as Rapid Reemploymet Services (RRES). States must use either a statistical model or a characteristic screeig methodology to determie which claimats are likely to exhaust beefits ad thus subject to the RRES program. Texas uses the Rapid Reemploymet Model for that purpose. TWC reviews Rapid Reemploymet Model (RREM) bieially to address chages i labor market ad ecoomic coditios. I October 2014, TWC itroduced the RREMv5 profilig model to idetify UI claimats who are cadidates for RRES. Data used to develop RREM was retrieved from the state s UI Beefits System ad cotaied 15 statistically sigificat factors, which were categorized ito 48 variables. The model is based o the collective ifluece of factors, as o sigle characteristic idicates the likelihood of exhaustio. The model cosiders key characteristics of claimats as well as ecoomic idicators i the Workforce Developmet Board (Boards) area to assess each claimat s risk of exhaustig UI beefits. TWC strogly ecourages Boards to desig services that provide early itervetio with claimats. Equally importat is the provisio of cotiued comprehesive services for claimats throughout the life of their claim cycle. TWC ecourages Boards to dedicate staff to claimats ad to establish claimat protocols that iclude cotiued oe-o-oe reemploymet services. The loger idividuals draw UI, the more likely they are to exhaust their beefits. Thus, it is importat that the key poits withi the UI claim cycle are reflected i Boards service delivery strategies Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report 10

11 Log-term Uemployed A iitiative to support the developmet of employmet strategies for the log-term uemployed ad the delivery of services was specifically desiged to assist these idividuals i recoectig to employmet. A workgroup cosistig of Workforce Developmet Board (Boards) represetatives made recommedatios for usig Program Year 2013 Workforce Ivestmet Act Icetive Grat Award Fuds to assist Texas log-term uemployed. The Commissio approved the followig recommedatios o November 4, 2014: $750,000 to be distributed to Boards that do ot already have grat fudig for servig the log-term uemployed, to be used for service delivery $115,417 to facilitate sharig best practices ad strategies for servig the log-term uemployed The fourtee Boards participatig i this iitiative are curretly providig services to log-term uemployed idividuals. TWC will moitor the Boards use of these fuds, the strategies implemeted ad the outcomes. Job-Drive Natioal Emergecy Grat TWC partered with eight Workforce Developmet Boards to provide targeted participats with Job-Drive (JD) Natioal Emergecy Grat (NEG) work-based traiig opportuities for emergig, i-demad occupatios. Targeted participats iclude dislocated workers, with a particular emphasis o the log-term uemployed ad Uemploymet Isurace recipiets who have bee profiled as likely to exhaust their beefits. TWC used O-the-Job-Traiig ad Registered Appreticeship programs for the work-based learig compoet ad will add to existig employer parterships i high-growth fields. TWC also used paid iterships to ehace the résumés of the log-term uemployed, as well as vocatioal traiig that led to credetials ad certificatios. Additioally, TWC implemeted its proposed Employability Boot Camps, which provided the log-term uemployed with tailored reemploymet services to facilitate rapid job placemet. TWC plas to leverage its parters resources, icludig Workforce Iovatio ad Opportuity Act programs, Uemploymet Isurace, Wager- Peyser Employmet Service, public assistace programs ad veteras programs, i order to provide the full complemet of reemploymet services to the JD NEG participats. Foster Youth TWC recogizes foster youth as aother priority populatio. Sice 2004, TWC has fuded foster youth trasitio ceters servig both curret ad former foster youth, 14 to 25 years old. The trasitio ceters address critical life barriers facig youth who have aged out, or are close to agig out, of the foster care system. Trasitio ceters are desiged to provide foster youth access to educatio, employmet ad traiig services, life-skills classes, metorig opportuities, ad appropriate support services through a comprehesive oestop service delivery system approach. Youth at these ceters also receive comprehesive case maagemet services ad fiacial support through the Texas Departmet of Family ad Protective Services Preparatio for Adult Livig program. Youth are provided a safe eviromet where they receive the ecessary services to become self-sufficiet Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report

12 Future Workforce Appreticeship TWC s appreticeship traiig programs prepare ad trai idividuals for careers i the skilled trades ad crafts. Appreticeship combies O-the-Job Traiig (OJT), which is supervised by experieced jourey workers, with job-related, i-perso classroom istructio i which participats lear the practical ad theoretical aspects of a highly skilled occupatio. TWC fudig pays a portio of the job-related classroom istructio costs, which aids employers i gaiig a competitive edge i the marketplace ad provides the appretice with a career track leadig to higher wages. Learig takes place durig paid OJT, which is sometimes referred to as ear while you lear, allowig idividuals to gai etry ito high-wage occupatios while avoidig large studet loa debts. Appreticeship traiig programs meet the skilled workforce eeds of idustry, traiig qualified idividuals for lifelog careers. Traditioal idustries iclude costructio ad maufacturig, ad emergig idustries iclude health care, iformatio techology, eergy, telecommuicatios ad more. The followig list icludes several of the occupatioal appreticeships curretly supported by TWC fudig: Carpeter Electroic systems techicia Electricia Millwright Electric Distributio Liema TWC provides appreticeship traiig fuds to local educatio agecies to support the cost of related classroom istructio i registered appreticeship traiig programs. I 2015, the Texas legislature provided $1,590,438 i geeral reveue fuds for appreticeship traiig programs. TWC provided $1,278,034 i additioal fudig, icludig Workforce Ivestmet Act fuds, to support appretices ad appreticeship traiig programs. I fiscal year 2015, TWC traied 4,648 idividuals through appreticeship programs. Texas Sciece ad Egieerig Fair The aual Texas Sciece ad Egieerig Fair, hosted by the Uiversity of Texas at Sa Atoio (UTSA) College of Scieces, brought more tha 1,000 Texas middle ad high school studets to the home of the Alamo. The evet, partially supported by Workforce Ivestmet Act statewide discretioary fuds, icludes a competitio for regioallevel wiers to showcase their STEMrelated research projects. UTSA maages facilities for the fair ad coducts activities, such as the display of studet projects, competitios, judges ad awards selectio. Wiers ca go o to participate i the Itel Iteratioal Sciece ad Egieerig Fair ad seior divisio wiers are ivited to atted the Goveror s Sciece ad Techology Champios Academy o full scholarship Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report 12

13 Goveror s Sciece ad Techology Champios Academy Studet wiers i the seior divisio of the Texas Sciece ad Egieerig Fair are awarded scholarships to atted Goveror s Sciece ad Techology Champios Academy (GSTCA). Texas A&M Uiversity hosted the 2015 GSTCA, also referred to as the Aggie Academy for STEM Champios. Mii-courses were coducted o campus i two Texas Idustry Clusters; Biotechology ad Life Sciece ad Advaced Techologies ad Maufacturig. Additioally, studets participated i a olie self-paced summer bridge program preparig them for college calculus through rigorous precalculus review. After class hours, they atteded o-campus educatioal activities focusig o physics ad chemistry. Nursig Metorship Four istitutes of higher educatio were awarded a total of $463,674 Workforce Ivestmet Act Statewide Activity Fuds to coduct a ursig metorship program. The program is a capacity-buildig grat desiged to meet the high demad for registered urses (RNs) i Texas by providig icetives to eligible RNs to serve as preceptors to ursig studets i professioal ursig degree programs located i medically uderserved areas Photo Courtesy of the Uiversity of Salford (MUAs) ad medically uderserved populatios (MUPs). The objective is to icrease the umber of licesed RNs who are willig to serve as ursig preceptors i order to provide ursig studets i MUAs ad MUPs with the opportuity for a hads-o cliical teachig experiece. Iovatio at the Local Level As the first poit of cotact for most job seekers ad busiesses seekig workforce developmet services, Workforce Developmet Boards (Boards) are i a positio to craft forward-lookig opportuities to meet the eeds of their customers. Through collaboratio with outside parters ad other Boards, state of the art techology alog with old-fashioed customer service, Texas Boards work hard to serve their customers. The followig are a few examples of the Boards successes i fiscal year Gulf Coast Studets Lear about Middle Skills Occupatios Providig high school studets with labor market iformatio ad educatig them about regioal i-demad jobs is a relatively simple udertakig. Doig so i a fu ad egagig way, while motivatig studets to cotiue o educatioal pathways that lead to high-skill, highgrowth careers, is a bit more complicated. This summer, Workforce Solutios Gulf Coast (Gulf Coast), i collaboratio with JPMorga Chase & Co, Project GRAD ad Loe Star College, provided selected juiors ad seiors from the Housto ad Aldie idepedet school districts with the opportuity to egage i projectbased learig i a college settig. The two-week 2014 Chase Middle Skills Istitute preseted iformatio o etry-level jobs i Housto s buddig eergy sector, workplace skills traiig, ad optios for fiacig a postsecodary educatio. The term middle skills refers to occupatios like machiists, welders, pipefitters ad roustabouts, which require more educatio tha a high school diploma, but less tha a four-year college degree Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report

14 There are opportuities i abudace for studets cosiderig middle skills occupatios, Workforce Solutios Gulf Coast Executive Director Mike Temple said. By itroducig them to these occupatios early, ad providig iformatio about how they might approach ad fiace postsecodary schoolig, we re workig to build a educated ad traied workforce for the regio. The 2014 Chase Middle Skills Istitute educated studets about realistic optios they have at their doorstep optios that ot oly itroduce them to a stable career, but also develop ad stregthe the Housto-Galvesto workforce ad ecoomy. Studets were give time to role-play each day through hads-o weldig, toolig ad machie programmig experiece ad were also coached i employability skills, eve gettig a chace to practice job iterviewig skills i frot of a live pael of huma resource represetatives. I call this istitute career awareess o steroids, said Caroly Watso, the relatioship maager of global philathropy at JPMorga Chase & Co. Awareess is typically a oe-day job fair but this was a very targeted, itetioal approach. Eato, a global techology leader i power maagemet, was oe of the employers ivolved i the 2014 Chase Middle Skills Istitute. Represetatives discussed the compay s positio i the idustry ad what a global maufacturer is lookig for i employees. We traditioally work with studets who have already chose their careers ad are workig o icreasig their core competecy, said Alla Clark, Eato s global techical marketig ad traiig maager. This istitute gets to the studets before they make a decisio o a career path. Studets lear where employmet opportuities are headig ad where they should alig themselves. After the pilot year, each orgaizatio leared what was successful ad where improvemets ca be made i the future. All of the parters pla to retur ext summer to itroduce the subsequet roud of studets to regioal high-skill, high-growth careers, the workplace ad techical skills eeded to get a job ad optios for fiacig a essetial postsecodary educatio. West Texas Eergy Cosortium Meets the Needs of Area Employers The West Texas Eergy Cosortium (WTxEC) was formed i 2013 to help etities i the Clie Shale play area collaborate to meet the eeds of employers i the boomig eergy idustry. WTxEC covers a 49-couty regio ad allows idustry, ecoomic developmet, educatio, busiess, elected officials, workforce, oprofits ad commuity leaders to etwork, collaborate, lear ad explore solutios together to address commo challeges. Sice the cosortium s iaugural meetig i May 2013, istitutios of higher educatio ad local school districts have begu the work that will help studets i West Texas fid work i the oil ad gas idustry. A key goal of ours is to help address workforce traiig ad developmet issues idetified by the eergy sector i the icreasigly active West Texas regio, said WTxEC Chairma Victor G. Carrillo. Our Educatio ad Workforce Committee, uder the leadership of Dr. Ia Roark ad Dr. Reece Blicoe, has made sigificat progress toward the goal of developig regioally 2014 Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report 14

15 aliged, idustry-recogized traiig programs i high-skill, high-wage, ad high-demad fields by likig eight West Texas commuity ad techical colleges. Executive Dea of Career, Techical ad Workforce Educatio Odessa College Dr. Ia Roark oted that historically, commuity college districts have ot collaborated across service area lies, but the cosortium has chaged that. Accordig to Roark, Odessa College ad the other seve commuity college districts that are members of the cosortium; Cisco College, Howard Colleges i Sa Agelo ad Big Sprig, Rager College, Texas State Techical College, Wester Texas College ad Midlad College uaimously approved a regioal pla i March. This was a huge first step, Roark said. It is more importat to collaborate ad build regio-wide systems for workforce developmet i oil ad gas because it s the primary idustry i this regio tha to operate the way we have i the past. Roark explaied that they are workig together to fid solutios because studets cross the boudaries regularly ad they should be able to cotiue their educatio without beig derailed by chagig districts. He hopes that he ad the other parters will be able to implemet the regioal pla sooer rather tha later i order to better serve those studets. The cosortium has also egaged with parters at the K 12 level to help trai local workers for highpayig jobs. Browwood Idepedet School District (BISD) Superitedet Dr. Reece Blicoe said his district ad others are workig with area colleges, such as Rager College, to establish dualcredit programs. Oe such program is BISD s weldig program, which gives studets the opportuity to work oce a week with a welder from Loadcraft, a major employer i the area. Both seior studets who participated i the project last year were offered jobs. We have two or three differet weldig operatios here that are makig the devices that hold the sad i the frackig idustry, Superitedet Blicoe explaied. The weldig istructor said these kids are axious to lear. They wat those jobs. West Texas Eergy Cosortium s (WTxEC) members cotiue to work together to fid ways to serve their regio. We are proud of their efforts ad look forward to other ew ad iovative ways to address key workforce eeds i West Texas, said WTxEC Chairma Carrillo. Commuity Partership i Coastal Bed Area Pays Off Efforts to lure a Chiese-owed seamless pipe maufacturer to the Coastal Bed area are payig off i the form of a $1 billio ivestmet i the regio, as well as the promise of creatig 600 to 800 jobs. I 2007, Tiaji Pipe (Group) Corporatio (TPCO), a subsidiary of Tiaji Pipe Group of Chia, set out a atiowide request seekig cities iterested i housig a 1.6-millio-square-foot steel pipe maufacturig facility i their area. The Corpus Christi Regioal Ecoomic Developmet Corporatio (CCREDC) recogized the tremedous ecoomic beefit a plat like that could provide the regio, so it threw its hat i the rig Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report

16 By Jauary 2008, CCREDC started receivig visits from TPCO seior officials, ad hudreds of meetigs soo followed. Coastal Bed ad Del Mar became a part of the presetatios as well. By August 2008, the tow of Gregory, about 12 miles ortheast of Corpus Christi, was selected as the site of the ew facility that will maufacture seamless steel pipes that are crucial i oil exploratio. This type of pipe helps avoid the potetial for ay defect i the corrosio resistace of the weld area; just i time ad i the perfect place to beefit from the icreased oil exploratio ad drillig i the Eagle Ford Shale play. I 2011, TPCO broke groud o the first phase of the project, a ed fiishig lab ad a odestructive testig facility. Accordig to Del Mar College Executive Director of Strategic Commuicatios ad Govermet Relatios Claudia Jackso, this was whe weekly meetigs started with TPCO ad Workforce Developmet of the Coastal Bed (Coastal Bed) about obtaiig a Skills Developmet Fud grat to help provide traiig for ew, existig, ad future employees. By 2012, TPCO, Coastal Bed ad Del Mar joied forces agai to put o a job fair to take applicatios for machie ad crae operators, egieers, lab techicias, quality assurace ad iformatio techology. By November 2013, TPCO partered with Del Mar to provide job traiig, usig a $117,223 Skills Developmet Fud grat from Texas Workforce Commissio (TWC). The grat is beig used to custom-trai 74 ew workers i pipe maufacturig ad will eable them to acquire the specific skills eeded for plat operatios. Upo completio of traiig, the workers will ear a average hourly wage of $ Phase oe, cosistig of two buildigs totalig 200,000 square feet, has ow bee fully operatioal sice mid-jue 2014, ad TPCO curretly has 26 employees. Johsto said that phase two, cosistig of a 100,000-square-foot steel-makig shop, will begi later this year ad expects to have 70 employees by the ed of By 2017, Johsto expects the plat to have 400 to 600 employees. Etrepreeurs Gai Solid Footig through Cetral Texas Busiess Resource Ceter Durig the recet recessio, Departmet of Labor (DOL) ecouraged etrepreeurship as a way to stabilize the ecoomy ad put people back to work ad leaders i Cetral Texas agreed. They kew that may of the veteras i its extesive military populatio ofte expressed iterest i opeig their ow busiesses. The leaders also recogized that the Cetral Texas Busiess Resource Ceter would help accomplish the goals sought by DOL. However, local leaders also kew that etrepreeurship would lead to failure if future busiesspeople were ot prepared ad supported with the ecessary resources. New busiess owers eed a strog busiess foudatio, fiacig, marketig, implemetatio strategies ad market-drive, quality products Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report 16

17 I 2002, i a effort to support local job seekers desires to become etrepreeurs, Workforce Solutios of Cetral Texas (Cetral Texas), Cetral Texas College ad the Greater Killee Chamber of Commerce formed a partership to create the Cetral Texas Busiess Resource Ceter (BRC). Over the years, BRC has become better kow ad its services more highly regarded. I fact, it has bee so successful that the parters have cotiued to provide fiacial support ad smaller surroudig cities have begu hostig BRC workshops i their commuities. I 2014, Cetral Texas eared the Service to Workers Award at the Texas Workforce Coferece i recogitio of its role with BRC. The partership was more tha just a verbal agreemet. Each member of the group fiacially supported BRC. Resources, high-quality busiess couselig, traiig, ad assistace to ew etrepreeurs ad existig busiess owers are provided at little or o cost because of the parters. I additio to cash cotributios, each parter brigs uique assets to the table. For example, Cetral Texas provides space for BRC at the workforce ceter i Killee. The colocatio ad itegrated service structure facilitate services to job seekers who are iterested i startig a ew busiess. Physical proximity promotes efficiet commuicatio ad referral betwee workforce specialists ad BRC staff. The locatio also gives job seekers access to a full rage of services, such as child care ad trasportatio, all i oe locatio. This year BRC hosted its Eighth Aual Fort Hood Regio Govermet Vedor Coferece ad Expo, which provided 200 local etrepreeurs with the opportuity to iteract with bakers, marketers, lawyers, accoutats, isurace agets ad may other resources ecessary to start or grow their busiesses. We have coferece sessios throughout the day, ad it s basically a opportuity for people to come ad lear how to do busiess with the govermet, icludig local, state ad federal agecies, BRC Director Marcus Carr said. Prime cotractors are set up i the expo area to basically meet with idepedet workers ad lear what their compaies do. The goal is to figure out if they ca do busiess together. The extesive rage of workforce services, combied with BRC s etrepreeurial busiess offerigs, results i better service ad icreased optios ad opportuities for local job seekers. Sice its iceptio, BRC has grow i scope ad service structure. Betwee July 2013 ad Jue 2014, BRC assisted 1,150 idividuals, provided small busiess couselig for 508 people, ad coducted 87 workshops ad evets that were atteded by 761 idividuals, about 75 percet of whom were veteras. Evaluatig the Past Evaluatio ad Research Projects Evaluatio 2014, Accomplishmets ad Outcomes of the Texas Workforce System I Jauary 2015, the Texas Workforce Ivestmet Coucil (TWIC) released the 2014 update to Advacig Texas: Strategic Pla for the Texas Workforce System FY 2010 FY The report icludes performace data for 19 workforce programs, as well as five secodary ad postsecodary academic educatio programs admiistered by TWIC s eight parter agecies. It also documets sigificat accomplishmets of system parters durig the fifth year of implemetatio, providig iformatio o the five compoets that TWIC is required by state statute to address: Formal ad less formal performace measures Implemetatio of the system strategic pla Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report

18 Adult educatio actio ad achievemets Board activities ad aligmet Workforce programs that focus o welfare-to-work iitiatives The 2014 update serves as the foudatio of system ad parter agecy actios i the cotiued implemetatio of Advacig Texas ad evaluatio of its objectives ad performace targets ( Based o the update, performace targets were established or revised for several actio ad project plas. This pla eded its six-year implemetatio period o August 31, Lookig to the Future Vocatioal Rehabilitatio Services At the federal, state ad local levels, TWC cotiues to make great strides toward a streamlied ad coordiated oe-stop delivery system servig adults ad youth with disabilities ad employers that employ these idividuals. Further stregtheig the workforce delivery system, the 84th Texas Legislature, Regular Sessio (2015), passed legislatio to trasfer vocatioal rehabilitatio services curretly housed withi the Texas Departmet of Assistive ad Rehabilitative Services (DARS) to TWC o September 1, To this ed, TWC will coordiate with DARS durig the comig year regardig the trasfer of the followig programs: The vocatioal rehabilitatio program for idividuals with visual impairmets The vocatioal rehabilitatio program for idividuals with other disabilities The Idepedet Livig Services program for older idividuals who are blid The Criss Cole Rehabilitatio Ceter TWC is coordiatig with DARS o the developmet of a Combied State Pla, to stregthe ad support workforce placemet efforts for idividuals with disabilities. As part of this effort, TWC has scheduled public meetigs to gather stakeholder iput ad address ay cocers. The goal of these meetigs is to avoid ay disruptio of services ad provide a seamless itegratio ad trasitio to ew legislatio. Exterships for Teachers Iitiative The statewide Extership for Teachers Iitiative will allow middle school ad high school teachers ad couselors to egage i activities i a particular idustry ad lear how classroom cotet ca be applied i the workplace. The extership will iform participats o the skill sets required for a give idustry, ad teachers ad couselors ca the iform, educate ad guide studets to idustries that match their skill sets. Coectig classroom cotet to the real world ad workplace will help studets uderstad ad develop the academic ad techical skills they eed to eter the workforce. Parterships will iclude workforce area busiesses i the fields of advaced maufacturig, eergy productio, biosciece/biotechology, health care, law eforcemet, space exploratio, logistics, food processig, cotact ceters, iformatio techology, local govermet, oil ad gas extractio, miig, warehousig ad storage ad costructio. A total of $558,079 i grat fuds was awarded to eight Workforce Developmet Boards (Boards). These Boards aticipate servig a total of 429 teacher/couselor participats Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report 18

19 Cotiued Flexibility through Waivers Texas cotiued to take advatage of federal waiver opportuities durig fiscal year 2014 to seek relief from provisios that restrict flexibility ad iovatio or that make iefficiet use of staff time. With iput from Workforce Developmet Boards ad other stakeholders, TWC has developed waiver requests coverig a broad array of workforce issues. TWC s waivers iclude: Icreased local cotrol of program delivery Improved Board ability to respod quickly to chagig eeds withi the workforce area Icreased flexibility at the local level to serve busiess ad idustry Elimiatio of duplicatio with streamlied admiistrative processes, allowig more moey for services Icreased accoutability at the state, local ad service provider levels Waivers ad correspodig guidace are posted o TWC s website at Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report

20 PART II: Statewide Performace Texas, i its ogoig effort to remai at the forefrot of workforce developmet, was a early implemeter of Commo Measures, as oe of the two pilot states implemetig the Workforce Ivestmet Streamlied Performace Reportig System (WISPR). For almost two decades Texas operated a itegrated workforce system of the sort evisioed by WIOA. It is i this spirit that Texas looks forward to beig a early adopter of WIOA measures i Program Year (PY) The Texas Workforce Commissio (TWC) recetly reorgaized to cosolidate ad elevate may of its aalytic fuctios i the ew Divisio of Operatioal Isight. The divisio s missio is to aalyze system data to geerate isights that program areas ca use to improve operatioal quality ad efficiecy as well as service delivery to customers. I PY 2014, Texas achieved 100 percet or better of the egotiated target o six of the ie Commo Measures ad 96.5 percet o the remaiig three. Performace o Adult Average Earigs well below target for the last few years, largely due to a shift toward servig more low-icome idividuals rebouded i PY 2014 to above 96 percet of target Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report 20

21 Table 1 - Summary of WIA Performace for Texas Performace Measure Performace Level Performace Level Percet of Target Numerator Deomiator Adult Etered Employmet 69.0% 75.1% 108.9% 12,321 16,397 Adult Employmet Retetio 81.0% 79.2% 97.8% 13,896 17,549 Adult Average Earigs $12,375 $11, % $161,836,943 13,550 Dislocated Worker Etered Employmet 78.0% 80.4% 103.1% 4,401 5,473 Dislocated Worker Employmet Retetio 89.0% 89.8% 100.9% 4,418 4,919 Dislocated Worker Average Earigs $18,200 $18, % $78,976,579 4,349 Placemet i Employmet or Educatio 69.0% 70.1% 101.6% 3,343 4,768 Attaimet of Degree or Certificate 62.5% 62.8% 100.4% 2,444 3,894 Literacy ad Numeracy Gais 59.0% 65.1% 110.3% 1,449 2,226 Itegrated Reportig Texas is committed to leveragig iformatio techology to provide maagemet ad stakeholders with iformatio about workforce system fuctios ad performace. To that ed, Texas has developed a itegrated reportig system that captures the data elemets ad applies the methodologies required by Commo Measures ad WISPR. This system is o the cuttig edge of performace reportig. At DOL s request, Texas cotiues to metor other states o implemetig Commo Measures ad itegrated reportig. As a result, may states have used Texas Commo Measures ad itegrated reportig developmet materials as a blueprit for their ow efforts. This is likely to accelerate i PY 2015 ad beyod, as DOL works to implemet itegrated reportig uder WIOA through a system similar to WISPR. Program Costs I PY 2014, the Texas Workforce System spet a average of $3, per participat receivig WIA services. Table 2 provides iformatio o the cost per participat for WIA adult, dislocated worker, ad youth programs Workforce Ivestmet Act Aual Report