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Employment and
Training Council Responds
to the Skills Gap Crisis
By Josie
Hathway
The U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Employment and Training Council (ETC) assembled in Seattle at the 68th Annual Conference of Mayors to examine one of the most pressing issues facing cities – the skills gap – and the ability of the national workforce development system to deliver results to fill the growing gap between the skills of workers and the skills demanded by today’s economy. The ETC is comprised of mayor’s workforce directors and provides input on policy direction to mayors and the Administration and Congress. U.S. Metro-Economies Sara Johnson, North American Research Director and Chief Regional Economist for Standard and Poor’s DRI, presented the recent report on the U.S. Metro Economies which shows that U.S. Metro Areas are the engines of growth in the new economy. Johnson reported that metro areas generate 84 percent of U.S. employment and nearly all high-tech jobs, and that high-tech industries will lead the U.S. economy’s real output growth. The key for cities is to ensure that the workforce development system is responsive to business, so that metropolitan areas are able to attract business and assist existing businesses in expansion. Johnson said, "Economic data and insights including understanding industry trends, evaluating competitive strengths and weaknesses, creating a responsive economic infrastructure, formulating collaborative policies to support private-sector innovation and growth, are all key to a metro area development strategy." Several mayors joined the ETC meeting and concurred with the need for the workforce development system to be part of the "big picture" strategy of economic development, rather than being driven by federal and state regulations and processes. Mayor Charles Scoma, City of North Richland Hills, Texas, reported on the coalition he is forming between business, education and workforce development to address the worker shortage and the need for upgrade training. The unemployment rate in his city is 2 percent. Businesses want to stay in North Richland Hills but they need workers. This coalition is reaching out to surrounding counties and cities, including Fort Worth and Arlington, where the workers reside. ETC members discussed how the high tech industry has created a new "blue collar worker" who works in technology related jobs that provide the infrastructure for the technology industry, such as data base developers, maintenance and call servicers. These occupations are growing, pay well and may not require a high school diploma. The opportunities are many, but in order to make this opportunities accessible to the labor pool, workforce development must engage in addressing the larger issues of transportation access, the impact of urban sprawl, affordable housing, child care and all the infrastructure needed to support workers who are desperately needed to keep the economy strong. Workforce Investment Act of 1998 ETC members examined the implementation of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) which is Congress and the Administration’s answer to creating a responsive workforce development system. The cornerstone of this new system, which is effective nationwide on July 1, 2000, is the One-Stop career center network, which is accessible to all workers, job seekers and employers. WIA is only in place for five years, ending in 2003, and is already underfunded. (see Legislative Update) ETC members are concerned that if the value of workforce development is not promoted, Congress’ investment in the system will continue to decline. ETC members also expressed a real frustration about the mismatch of some of the requirements of WIA and the need to have a responsive economic, workforce development infrastructure. Public Relations One such frustration in WIA is the performance measurement system, which in essence requires reporting in such detail and misses the big picture of measuring the effectiveness of the entire system, which is what will count with Congress in 2003. The ETC is determined to tell the story of the value of the system through a public relations campaign. Expert advice on public relations was provided by Bob Frause, CEO of The Frause Group. Frause said, "When planning a public relations campaign keep it simple and focus on your product. Don’t worry about money, don’t worry about the law, just focus on your mission." Frause assured that investments from Congress will follow when there is national awareness. He recommended packaging the program with a national brand that is supported by regional approaches. Fause said, "It’s about leadership. You are in a unique situation in time because workforce development is on everyone’s mind. Now is the time to let people know about your One-Stop career centers." Workforce Investment Boards Workforce Investment Boards (WIB) provide policy and oversight for the One- Stop system. The ability to maintain the interest and involvement of the boards, which are required by law to be comprised of at least 51% private sector members, is key to keeping business at the forefront of the system. Steven Leahy, Executive Vice President of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Jan Levy, Executive Director of Leadership Tomorrow, provided their expertise on managing boards. They provided excellent tools including a "Future Self-Assessment" survey, which assesses the readiness of the board and the staff to tackle the future. Levy said, "An effective board is very much engaged in the work of the organization, it is future oriented, it has a clear understanding of how success is defined and it is engaged in high level overview, not operational detail." Leahy followed, "You are, in a sense, creating a hybrid which requires an incredible balancing act, because you must include and integrate both the best practices of managing boards and the requirements of the law." WIA Implementation ETC members benefited from the expertise of U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) officials on some critical elements of WIA as follows: • Individual Training Accounts (ITA): Doug Holl, Program Manager, Division of Adults and Dislocated Workers, engaged in discussion with ETC members about building a national ITA system which allows customers to select a training provider from a state list and pay through a voucher. Discussion included the payment process, capacity building, standards for eligible training providers, and the struggle between informed customer choice and preventing a bad choice. Holl advised ETC members to engage WIBs on where to invest training dollars, whether in areas of job growth, worker retention, workers in at-risk industries, etc. • Administrative Costs: Lance Grubb, Director of Grants and Contract Management Office, announced that DOL is looking for a mechanism to provide the new definition of administrative costs because the final regulations most likely will not be available by July 1, when WIA is effective. Grubb assured that DOL would not enforce the old definition that is currently in the Interim Final Rule, which is effective until 60 days after publication of the final regulations. The U.S. Conference of Mayors worked closely with DOL to revise the definition. • Youth Policy and Youth Councils: Irene Lynn, Director, Office of Youth Opportunity, announced that DOL will require a separate report on summer employment activities for this first transition summer between the old law and WIA. DOL will collect information on the number of participants and their characteristics including whether they are enrolled in school or drop-outs, in order to have data on the impact of the transition to comprehensive year-round activities. Lynn also introduced a new publication - Recipes for Success: Youth Council Guide to Creating a Youth Development System Under WIA, which provides technical assistance and training materials for youth councils. The publication was prepared for DOL by John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development in cooperation with Sar Levitan Center for Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University and the National Youth Employment Coalition. Legislative Update Mona Mohib for the, Director, of Intergovernmental Affairs, DOL, provided greetings from Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman and an update on the budget. Mohib reported that the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS) appropriations bills have cleared both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The House bill (H.R. 4577) made significant cuts below the President’s requests – approximately $1.7 billion in cuts to labor programs. The Senate’s bill (S 2553) failed to support additional investments. President Clinton has indicated that he would veto both bills in their present form. Mohib provided the following updates on Conference priorities: • Youth Training Formula Grants (including summer youth employment) – Level funded by both the House and the Senate at the FY ‘00 level of $1,001 million. The President requested a $22 million increase for FY ’01, which according to DOL would provide services to an additional 12,575 low-income youth. Mohib provided late breaking news about an amendment being offered by Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL) for increases in Labor-HHS including $254 million for summer and year-round youth, which did not pass on the House floor. • Youth Opportunity Grants (YOG)– The House cut $200 million from the President’s FY’01 budget request of $375 million, and the Senate level funded the program at the FY ’00 level of $125 million. The President’s request of an increase of $125 million would provide an additional 12 to 15 grants and serve a total of 85,000 youth nationwide. The House’s cut reduces the current program by 30 percent, which would deny services to 40,000 youth, of which 15,000 youth are currently in YOG programs. These cuts will eliminate expansion of the program and potentially reduce third year grants to the existing 36 local areas with Youth Opportunity Grants which fund competitive grants for out-of-school youth, especially in inner cities and other areas where unemployment rates are high. • Adult Employment and Training – The House bill cut $93 million from the FY 2000 level for adult employment and training services. According to DOL, this cut means 37,200 adults would not receive job-training services under WIA. The Senate level funded the program. • Dislocated Workers – The House bill not only did not fund the President’s request of a $389 million increase, but also reduces funding below the FY 2000 level by $207 million, which according to DOL would mean that 215,800 fewer dislocated workers would receive services. The Senate also eliminated the President’s increase and funded the program at the FY 2000 level. • One-Stops – The House bill eliminates the existing $110 million in funding for the One-Stop system. The Senate bill level funds the One-Stop system at $110 million and eliminates the President’s request of a $44 million increase. • Welfare-to-Work – The Senate bill includes language to extend the Welfare-to-Work program for an additional two years through 2003. The House bill does not include an extension for WTW. TANF Reauthorization The highest concentration of welfare recipients is still in cities. In light of the threatened end of the Welfare-to-Work program and the reauthorization of the welfare reform law which includes Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the ETC engaged in a discussion of future directions for moving people off welfare and into work. Alvin Collins, Director, Office of Family Assistance, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provided the Administration’s perspective. Collins described the following four themes that HHS has asked states to use in administering TANF: 1) Success at Work: includes investments in childcare, transportation, employment, education, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and minimum wage increase that make work pay for working families; 2) Reaching All Families: includes leveraging TANF money to reach those not traditionally served such as non-custodial families, people suffering from substance abuse and domestic violence and youth; 3) Transform Welfare Departments: includes developing links to other partners, training for staff and focusing on the community; 4) Maintain the Investment: includes making the commitment to re-invest TANF savings and not spending TANF dollars on priorities that are not part of moving people from welfare to work. Collins indicated that HHS does not currently have a position on TANF reauthorization but listened carefully to ETC concerns. ETC members pleaded against creating dual workforce systems by making welfare offices into job training centers which would further isolate welfare recipients who should access the One-Stop systems. The ETC requested a joint reauthorization of TANF between DOL and HHS. Collins committed to working with ETC around this issue. Site Visit A highlight of the ETC meeting was the site visit hosted by the Seattle King-County Private Industry Council. First stop on the tour was ANEW, the Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Employment Program for Women and Men. ANEW’s mission is to create opportunities for women and men to enter and progress in construction, manufacturing and government operations careers by linking education, labor, industry and the community. In 1997, the average wage of participants was $11.20 per hour. For 1998, the average wage was $10.99 per hour and for 1999, the average wage was $11.58 per hour. Fifty percent of the graduates entered into the construction trades, 30 percent entered manufacturing and 16 percent entered government operations. Eighty percent of the graduates started in jobs that offered benefits. Of particular interest to ETC members is ANEW’s Re-Licensing Project which assists people in retrieving their driver’s license through court advocacy. This effort is highly successful due to the support of the judges. The ETC also visited the new site for Seattle’s recently awarded Youth Opportunity Grant, which will serve youth in the New Holly Neighborhood. New Holly is a family filled neighborhood of mixed use housing, including Section 8, public housing and privately owned homes. Youth will access services in the New Holly Neighborhood Campus which includes a public library, a gymnasium, a "Teen House" open in the evenings, a Career Development Center, a computer lab, the Children’s Museum/Art Program, a Youth and Family Center, South Seattle Community College and a youth tutoring program. This newly constructed center was alive with teenagers, children and moms and dads who were obviously quite thrilled with their neighborhood center. Special Guests The ETC held a joint discussion with members of the Washington State Association of workforce directors and committed to joining efforts around public relations and education of Congress on the value of workforce development. ETC members proposed to work also work with the National Association of Counties, the National Association of Workforce Boards, and all the existing state associations of local workforce directors. Secretary Herman’s Regional Representative for the Northwest, Pat Stell, also joined the ETC at the meeting and offered her assistance and that of the other Secretary Representatives. Stell urged ETC members, "If you get into snarls in WIA implementation, call on us. We know the leadership who can identify individuals to work with and we understand politics. Think of us as "translators"". Stell’s has an extensive background with organized labor and has served on local workforce boards. Contact Josie Hathway on the Conference staff if you are interested in more information about joining The U.S. Conference of Mayors Employment and Training Council at (202) 861-6725.     
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