Workforce Response to Hurricane Katrina
By Shannon Holmes
October 3, 2005
The United States Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council (WDC) held its 17th Annual Congressional Forum September 19 in Washington (DC). At the forefront of the discussion were Hurricane Katrina and the response to Katrina by the local workforce delivery system.
Response to Hurricane Katrina
In the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the local workforce development delivery system was able to respond immediately to the needs of displaced individuals and families. WDC members from Houston, Fort Worth (TX), Nashville and St. Louis serving evacuees shared with their colleagues the stories of how they were addressing evacuees’ needs and providing services.
Despite the fact that the local workforce development system is set up to get people to work or get the proper training to secure employment, there was total consensus among WDC members that the majority of people displaced by the hurricane were not ready to go back to work in their temporary “home city.” In cities like Houston, where over 250,000 evacuees ended up, the workforce system became a clearing house for social services. The first priorities for the majority of evacuees were getting more than temporary shelter, feeding their families, and enrolling their children in school. There was also the acknowledgment by WDC members that evacuees from areas like Houston, Fort Worth and northern Louisiana would go back home as soon as they could. Evacuees sent to other places around the country seemed more likely to end up adopting the new city as home for an array of reasons.
In many cases, cities were told by officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that they would be receiving a certain number of evacuees. Within 24 hours, the cities had set up all the services required to serve their temporary residents, only to have either no evacuees sent or far fewer than were prepared for. This coordination effort and quick response time showed that when there is local control, a crisis can be responded to without going through “red tape.”
WDC members determined that this natural disaster and the unprecedented response by the local workforce delivery system provided the opportunity to show that this system does work as intended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The success of the responsiveness shows the uniqueness of the local workforce development system and the system should be further invested in, not changed or have funding cut back.
Keynote Address
During the luncheon keynote address Maria Kniesler Flynn, Administrator of the Office of Policy Development and Research in the Employment and Training Administration at the Department of Labor, updated the group on the action that the Department has taken in response to Hurricane Katrina and the assistance that is being provided to the displaced residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The Department of Labor has awarded $191 million in National Emergency Grants (NEGs) to the three states directly affected. Texas, because they received the majority of the evacuees, were given an NEG plus a $12 million grant from the President’s High Growth Jobs Initiative. Additional steps the Department has taken include setting up an informational hotline for unemployment insurance, creating Jobs Connections to connect state job bank networks, and providing guidance on the waivers affecting identification of evacuees in the hiring process and replacing identification.
With respect to the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, Flynn stated that the Administration maintains their same position, which includes:
Change to the administrative costs definition;
Streamlining performance measures to only include the Office of Management and Budget Common Measures;
Community Job Training Initiative; and
Allowing Personal Re-employment Accounts count as allowable service activities
Workforce Investment Act
Jane Oates, Senior Education Advisor for Senator Edward M. Kennedy (MA), Ranking Member, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee discussed the status of the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act during the remainder of the first session of the 109th Congress and the outlook for reauthorization in the second session. Oates stressed that HELP Committee Chairman Senator Michael Enzi (WY) and Kennedy remain determined to keep the legislation to reauthorize the local workforce delivery system bi-partisan. The WIA reauthorization bill is still likely to pass the Senate this year, with a possible conference with the House, prior to the adjournment.
Furthermore, Oates informed WDC that legislation was being proposed by Senators Enzi and Kennedy to address education and job training needs in the wake of Katrina. The measures proposed would include:
Providing the Secretary of Labor the authority to create short-term jobs;
National Emergency Grants (NEGs) to go through governors or local elected officials targeted at affected areas or secondary states;
A hold harmless for K-12 to last year’s pupil counts so that federal funding can still be distributed to school districts; and
Waivers for certification of teachers, nurses, doctors and pharmacists.
She also stated that there needs to be a way to elevate the local workforce systems across the country because the affects from this natural disaster are going to be felt nationally for some time.
Appropriations for FY 2006 and 2007
Lee Foley of Lee Foley, Partner at Foley, Maldonado, and O’Toole, and James Bergeron, Vice President of MARC Associates spoke on budget issues. Bergeron said that prior to the August recess, the appropriations process had moved forward in a timely manner, but that now, everything in the appropriations process is in flux because of the need to respond to Hurricane Katrina. The $62.1 billion in emergency funding is not added to the current budget, but does make it uncertain how it will impact discretionary spending. He further indicated that the reconciliation process, which targets cuts to programs that serve low income Americans, although delayed for a few weeks, will move forward.
Foley informed WDC that the past recession “was the worst recession since the last recession in U.S. history.” With the slowest post war job recovery and longest, highest unemployment, Foley stated that he is surprised that there has been less investment in job training since 2001 and not more. Despite efforts from the Administration to cut or shift programs, Congress has supported the local workforce system and not funded the proposals put forth by the President.
Other speakers included Sigurd Nilsen, Director of Education, Workforce and Income Security at U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO), who gave an overview on the reports on workforce development that GAO has released and those still underway that will be released within the next 12 months.
Paul Harrington, Associate Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, provided WDC members with information about the labor market of New Orleans and Louisiana in comparison to the rest of the country prior to Hurricane Katrina and a possible outlook for the recovery of the region.
Over the past few years there has been an increased focus of making a more cohesive relationship between the local workforce system and community colleges. To address this issue Dr. James McKenney, Vice President of Economic Development and International Programs at the American Association of Community Colleges, and Gerri Fiala, Director of Workforce Research at the National Center on Education and the Economy, described ways in which the local service delivery system and community colleges could work together to ensure that individuals are receiving the best services possible.
WDC members attended the meeting from various cities from across the country including: Akron (OH), Albany, Baltimore, Boston, Cambridge (MA), Canton (OH), Chicago, Cleveland, Denton (TX), Detroit, Elkhart (IN), Fort Wayne (IN), Gary (IN), Hartford, Highland (IN), Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Long Beach (CA), Los Angeles, Louisville, Lubbock (TX), Macon (GA), Nashville, Neenah (WI), New Haven, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Providence, Saint Louis, San Diego, Scranton (PA), and Seattle. President of the Workforce Development Council Ray Worden, Workforce Development Bureau Manager for the City of Long Beach, CA, chaired the meeting.
|
