www.nationalskillscoalition.org

In this Issue House Committee Releases Perkins Career and Technical Education Act Reauthorization Bill …1 Senate appropriations bill makes cuts to workforce programs, funds year-round Pell and Apprenticeship …2 Senators introduce bipartisan TANF reauthorization bill, would expand access to education and training …3 House anti-poverty task force releases agenda, calls for increased work requirements, reduced federal role…5 Senators introduce EARNS Act to expand apprenticeship programs …9 Department of Labor announced $50.5 million to fund ApprenticeshipUSA State Expansion Grants …12 Grant provides childcare to parents in training programs …13 Department of Labor releases $100 million for America's Promise Grants …14 DOL Awards $10.4 million in Apprenticeship Accelerator Grants …15 DOL Awards $10.4 million in Apprenticeship Accelerator

House Committee Releases Perkins Career and Technical Education Act Reauthorization Bill The House Education and Workforce Committee on June 28 released the “Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act,” a new bill that would reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act through Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. The bill makes a number of policy changes intended to strengthen alignment between Perkins-funded CTE programs and other education and training programs, including activities funded under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

Among other things, the bill would:

• Establish funding levels for FY 2017-2022, with authorized levels increasing from $1.13 billion in FY 2017 to $1.21 billion in FY 2022;

• Strengthen alignment between postsecondary performance measures under Perkins with the common indicators of performance for core programs under WIOA, including requiring measures for employment, median earnings, and attainment of recognized postsecondary credentials. The law would eliminate the current requirements that state eligible agencies negotiate performance rates with the Department of Education, but would require states to publicly report performance on the indicators;

• Authorize small amounts of funding for “innovation” grants to eligible consortia to create, develop, implement or scale up evidence-based programs to improve CTE outcomes;

• Reduce the period covered by a Perkins state plan from six years to four years, require input from business and industry (including industry or sector partnerships, where appropriate), and require greater alignment with the state vision and strategy identified under WIOA, including descriptions of career pathways to be developed at the state and local levels;

• Eliminate the “Tech-Prep” program currently authorized under Title II of Perkins, which was last funded in FY 2010.

July 2016

WASHINGTON UPDATE

WASHINGTON UPDATE 2

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

Grants …16 NSC submits comments on WIOA performance reporting …16 NSC submits comments on SNAP E&T reporting requirements …17 White House and Department of Labor release $21m in Summer Jobs and Beyond Grants …17 Envisioning postsecondary data …19 Federal agencies issue joint letter of commitment on career pathways …20 NSC joins other national organizations to release new vision for CTE …22

While a hearing date has not yet been announced, it is expected that the committee may try to mark up the draft as early as the first week of July, with a goal of trying to advance the bill through the House before they adjourn for the summer on July 15th. National Skills Coalition will submit comments to the committee outlining our recommendations for the bill, including increasing the overall funding levels for both the state formula grants and the innovation fund, and strengthening connections to state and local sector partnership initiatives.

Senate appropriations bill makes cuts to workforce programs, funds year-round Pell and Apprenticeship On June 9th, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 29-1 to approve the bipartisan Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) spending bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. The bill sets topline Labor-HHS funding at $161.9 billion, $270 million below FY2016 levels. The House will follow with a mark-up of their version of the Labor-HHS bill on July 7th.

Department of Labor

The bill would reduce funding for Department of Labor programs by $134 million below FY2016, to $12.04 billion. The bill would reduce funding for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) stat formula by $73.8 million, about 3%, at a critical time in WIOA’s implementation. The largest of these cuts were to Adult and Youth programming under WIOA Title I. The bill would maintain the 15 percent state set-aside for WIOA formula grants authorized under the law.

The bill would maintain a $6 million investment in Workforce Data Quality Initiative Grants and maintain FY2016 funding levels for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers and Ex-offenders activities.

The bill also increases funding for apprenticeships to $100 million for FY2017, including an emphasis on expanding access to apprenticeship for underrepresented populations.

Department of Education

The appropriations bill reduces funding for the Department of Education by $220 million from FY2016 levels to $67.8 billion.

WASHINGTON UPDATE 3

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

Overall, funding for Perkins Career and Technical Education state grant and Adult Education and Family Literacy State Grants is consistent with FY2016 funding levels.

The Subcommittee’s bill does include an expansion of Pell funding to reinvest in “year-round” Pell, meaning students could qualify for Pell for summer courses. Year-round Pell is estimated to impact 1 million students who will be able to continue courses in the summer under the Pell program. The bill increases the maximum Pell award for the 2017-2018 school year at $5,935, with year-round Pell recipients capped at 150% of that max.

The subcommittee also spent $1.2 billion in surplus of Pell funds on programs that are outside of the scope of the Pell program.

While the Senate bill received strong bipartisan support in committee, the overall status of the appropriations process remains uncertain. Congress is currently scheduled to adjourn for the summer recess on July 15th, and the House has yet to mark up their own Labor-HHS bill, meaning that final decisions on FY 2017 funding for key workforce and education programs will almost certainly be left until lawmakers reconvene in September.

National Skills Coalition opposes the Senate’s proposed cuts to critical workforce programs like WIOA, but we support the Senate’s decision to restore year-round Pell and the additional investments in apprenticeship. We encourage advocates to reach out to their members of Congress and educate them on the importance of investing in the skill of the US workforce. We will continue to monitor appropriations activity on the Hill, and provide updates to the field as new information becomes available.

Senators introduce bipartisan TANF reauthorization bill, would expand access to education and training On June 23, Senators Angus King (I-ME), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced the bipartisan “Enhancing and Modernizing Pathways to Opportunity, Work, Education, and Responsibility (EMPOWER) Act of 2016,” which will lift Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) training restrictions and will make it easier for TANF to align with other workforce programs.

The bill would reauthorize TANF for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 through FY 2021 and provide a number of important updates to the program. The bill would, among other things:

WASHINGTON UPDATE 4

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

• Explicitly include the encouragement of employment entry, retention, and advancement as one of the purposes of the TANF program;

• Eliminate the “two-parent” work participation rate, which requires states to ensure that 90 percent of two-parent families are engaged in qualifying work activities, compared to the “all-families” rate of 50 percent;

• Eliminate the financial penalty for a state failing to reach target work participation rates, replacing it with a requirement that a failing state increase its Maintenance of Effort (MOE) spending;

• Similar to a proposal in the Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget request, limit federal TANF expenditures to services for families at or below 200 percent of the poverty line;

• Eliminate limits on so-called “non-core” work activities – including job skills training or education directly related to employment – that currently can be counted towards individual work participation requirements only after an individual has completed 20 hours of other work-related activities;

• Allow states to receive partial credit for individuals working, but not meeting their full work requirements;

• Similar to a proposal in the President’s FY 2017 Budget Request, require states to phase in increases in spending on TANF “core” activities (including cash assistance, child care services, and work-related activities), with states required to expend at least 60 percent of TANF funds on these activities by 2021;

• Redefine “vocational educational training” to include post-secondary, vocational, or career and technical education, and extends the limit on participation in such activities from 12 to 36 months;

• Eliminate the age cap on secondary school attendance as a work activity, which is currently limited to individuals 19 and younger;

• Require states to develop indicators and targets for former TANF beneficiaries, starting in FY 2019, including employment and earnings for adults leaving assistance. State performance would be published by the Department of Health and Human Services on an annual basis, though states would not be subject to financial penalties for failure to

WASHINGTON UPDATE 5

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

achieve performance rates.

The full text of the bill may be found here; a detailed section-by-section analysis is here.

National Skills Coalition applauds Senators King, Ayotte, Brown, and Capito for their leadership on the EMPOWER Act, which is consistent with NSC’s recommendations to expand access to education and training for TANF recipients.

It is unclear whether a major TANF reauthorization will be able to move forward before the end of the year. The House Ways and Means Committee introduced a discussion draft in July 2015 that would have made significant changes to the law, but ultimately only element of that larger package has made it through the full House: a bill introduced by Rep. Todd Young (R-IN) that would redirect $100 million from the TANF contingency fund to support social impact partnerships, and which was amended prior to House passage to include a one-year reauthorization of the overall TANF block grant. As noted below, House Speaker Paul Ryan has released a series of task force reports designed to lay out a policy agenda for the next Congress, including major changes in the structure of key welfare programs like TANF and SNAP, which suggests that efforts to advance substantive reforms in TANF will need to wait until 2017. National Skills Coalition will continue to weigh in with policymakers on the importance of ensuring that TANF recipients can get the skills and credentials need to get and keep family-supporting jobs. House anti-poverty task force releases agenda, calls for increased work requirements, reduced federal role On June 6, the House Republican Task Force on Poverty, Opportunity, and Upward Mobility – one of six cross-committee working groups announced by House Speaker Paul Ryan in February – released a broad set of policy proposals intended to stake out the party’s anti-poverty agenda for the remainder of 2016 and beyond. The new report includes proposals for sweeping changes to safety net programs including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and federal housing programs under the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and also sets forth principles and recommendations for a range of other federal investments, including career and technical education programs under the Carl D. Perkins Act and postsecondary funding under the Higher Education Act.

Overall, the task force report expands on ideas that Speaker Ryan has proposed

WASHINGTON UPDATE 6

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

in past years – most notably in a series of budget proposals released during his time as chair of the House budget committee - arguing that federal anti-poverty efforts are generally ineffective and calling for reduced spending and consolidation of many means-tested programs. The task force adopts a very broad definition of federal “welfare” programs, counting 80 different federal programs across 13 different agencies including Pell Grants, workforce programs under WIOA, and federal tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, and suggests that combined federal and state expenditures on programs for low-income individuals amounts to approximately $1 trillion per year.

In a section entitled, “Repairing the Nation’s Safety Net to Expand Opportunity,” the task force sets out four key principles that will guide reform efforts and brief policy recommendations that will guide their legislative efforts moving forward:

1) “Expecting work-capable adults to work or prepare for work in exchange for welfare benefits.” The report calls for a range of policy changes intended to tighten existing work requirements for anti-poverty programs and expand work requirements to other programs, including:

• Requiring states to engage more TANF recipients in work and work-related activities, relative to current work participation rates.

• Better connecting child support enforcement programs to workforce development activities

• Requiring Unemployment Insurance (UI) beneficiaries to engaged as early as possible with reemployment strategies

• Reforming Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to reduce cash assistance for recipients – particularly youth – and focusing more on direct access to support services

• Expanding work requirements for SNAP recipients

• Requiring housing programs to align with TANF benefits, including authorizing states and local areas to impose work and educational training requirements and time limits beyond which benefits would be discontinued for non-working but work-capable adults

2) “Getting incentives right so everyone benefits when someone moves from welfare to work.” The report suggests that there are often disincentives for individuals and states in transitioning program participants from public

WASHINGTON UPDATE 7

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

assistance into work, and recommends:

• Increasing local control and flexibility– providing state and local governments with flexibility to “repackage” welfare benefits through demonstration projects to provide a more holistic approach for families they serve. In exchange, states and local areas would be held accountable for outcomes, and each demonstration would include an evaluation component

• Adjusting federal matching rates in anti-poverty programs to encourage accelerated outcomes, for example by increasing federal matching percentages when individuals begin services, and lowering the federal match over time

• Creating individual choice in housing programs by increased portability of housing vouchers

• Consolidating a range of existing programs, particularly food assistance and housing programs

3) “Measuring the results.” The report generally asserts that most federal programs are not backed by evidence, and that those programs that are evaluated often have limited results. The task force:

• Notes the existence of the Evidence-Based Policy Commission Act signed into law in March 2016 and suggests this will provide recommendations relating to federal data infrastructure

• Recommends that social programs could be shifted to a “tiered evidence” funding model, where funding for programs would be divided into three categories: funding for developing and testing new ideas; funding for rigorous evaluation; and funding for expansion of models that prove effective

• Recommends shifting social programs to pay-for-performance or social impact financing

• Recommends that all social programs undergo more evaluation, including potentially redirecting existing program funding to support greater evaluation

• Recommends expanded data sharing across federal agencies – specifically notes the National Directory of New Hires as an example

WASHINGTON UPDATE 8

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

4) “Focusing support on the people who need it most” – this set of recommendations is largely focused on reducing improper payments, particularly through the Earned Income Tax Credit, Unemployment Insurance, SSI, and SNAP. The task force calls for greater alignment of data across agencies to eliminate error rates, and greater use of data analytics tools to identify fraud.

In the second major section of the report, entitled “Improving Skills and Knowledge of our Workforce,” the report provides recommendations covering a range of different topics, including early childhood development, juvenile justice reform, and banking and pension reforms. Importantly, this section also provides a set of principles for reauthorization of the Perkins Act and the Higher Education Act

Under the heading of Improving Career and Technical Education, the task force notes that Perkins is due for reauthorization, and suggests that House Republicans will prioritize:

• Empowering state and local leaders by providing substantially greater flexibility in the state and local funding formulas under Title I

• Reducing current performance reporting requirements • Expanding partnerships with local businesses • Limiting the federal role in oversight of state and local CTE systems

Under the heading of Strengthening America’s Higher Education System, the task force suggests that the current higher education system is “unaffordable, bureaucratic, and outdated,” and suggests that HEA reauthorization will focus on:

• Empowering students and families to make informed decisions, including students who are not pursuing the traditional four-year college experience. Suggests that current federal efforts to provide information on colleges should be simplified, and federal agencies should coordinate more effectively to provide information that is useful to students. Also suggests greater emphasis on financial aid counseling

• Simplifying student aid – generally, calls for consolidating existing federal aid programs so that there is a single federal higher education grant program, loan program, and work study program, and also calls for restoration of year-round Pell to accelerate student degree attainment

WASHINGTON UPDATE 9

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

• Promoting innovation through greater access to online learning, expanding opportunities for “contemporary” students to obtain their GED, and creating better pathways to competency-based education

• Reducing federal reporting requirements while strengthening “accountability” for higher education institutions, refocusing accreditation to look at academic quality and student learning

National Skills Coalition strongly opposes efforts to reduce federal funding for anti-poverty programs and to impose work requirements on public assistance recipients without investments in education, training, and support services to enable individuals to successfully transition into family-supporting jobs and careers. While we believe some of the task force proposals may have merit – particularly around restoring year-round Pell and expanding business-CTE partnerships – overall we believe the task force recommendations will likely do more harm than good for low-skilled workers and other disadvantaged populations. We would urge the task force to focus its efforts instead on expanding access to high-quality education and training programs that would enable low-income individuals to get and keep good jobs and increasing investments in proven strategies, such as sector partnerships and career pathways strategies that can help businesses grow and succeed. Senators introduce EARNS Act to expand Apprenticeship programs On May 18th, Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the Effective Apprenticeships to Rebuild National Skills (EARNS) Act to expand apprenticeship in the U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tim Scott (R-SC), Al Franken (D-MN) and Susan Collins (R-ME) co-sponsored the legislation.

The bill represents an important investment in expanding apprenticeship in this country. Apprenticeship pairs on-the-job training with classroom instruction, and it’s one of the best ways to prepare workers to participate in the workforce and to train loyal, skilled employees so businesses compete in today’s economy. The bill would promote apprenticeship and expand programs to reach more workers; increase awareness among students, parents, workers, and employers about the value of apprenticeship; and, it would align the apprenticeship system so business, labor, postsecondary education, and workforce development could coordinate to increase the number of highly skilled workers in in-demand industries and occupations.

WASHINGTON UPDATE 10

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

Specifically, the EARNS act would authorize $100 million in federal funding to increase access to apprenticeship across the country, with the following provisions:

1. Increase opportunities for Apprenticeship and Pre-apprenticeship programming: Authorize $75m in funding for expanding access to pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs. This funding would be divided into a number of key priorities and is intended to be flexible enough for the Department of Labor (DOL) to have the ability to use the funding for each of the following activities at varying levels as apprenticeships become more established across the country.

o Establishment of the Office of Apprenticeship: the EARNS Act codifies the Office of Apprenticeship within the DOL and for the first time establishes a set of statutory responsibilities for the office, including regulating apprenticeship standards, promoting awareness and quality of pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship, promoting greater diversity in both apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship, providing technical assistance to sponsors of registered apprenticeship programs or those who are interested in starting programs, and coordinating with other workforce and education program activities like those required under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.

o Competitive Grants for Pre-Apprenticeship programs: the EARNS Act would create a competitive grant process to provide partnerships between education providers (including Career and Technical Education (CTE) providers and community colleges), state apprenticeship agencies (SAA), employers or industry associations, and a state or local workforce development board with resources to operate pre-apprenticeship programs. Labor and community based organizations are also required partners, “to the extent possible.” This funding could be used to cover training costs, curriculum development, assessment and enrollment of participants, instructor training, stipends for participants, and coordination of activities with apprenticeship programs and to improve alignment with CTE and workforce development board programming.

o Registered Apprenticeship Awareness: the EARNS Act would also require the Departments of Labor, Education, and

WASHINGTON UPDATE 11

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

Commerce to work together to disseminate information on apprenticeship to employers, educators, students, workers, workforce development experts, and state and local officials.

o Institutionalize the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA): EARNS act would also institutionalize the ACA as an advisory board – comprised of employers, labor management partnerships and other stakeholders – to inform efforts to expand apprenticeship. The ACA will be responsible for working with the Office of Apprenticeship to improve the apprenticeship system and registration process and disseminate best practices for engaging underrepresented workers and youth with the apprenticeship system.

o Evaluate Effectiveness of Apprenticeship System: the EARNS act would require DOL to engage an outside entity to evaluate the effectiveness of apprenticeship programs and the success DOL has had in meeting the goals of each of the provisions in the bill, including increasing employment, the number of workers attaining postsecondary credentials, the return on investment of all funding mechanisms, and longitudinal outcomes for participants.

o Funds to States: the EARNS act would require at least 10% of this authorized $75 million be reserved to go to states to help support the activities listed above.

2. Expanding Linkages with Postsecondary Education: Authorize $5m in funding to ensure connections between registered apprenticeship and postsecondary education. This funding will be used to institutionalize the Registered Apprenticeship College Consortium, a current initiative of DOL and the Department of Education to align credit attainment at colleges with credential attainment under registered apprenticeship.

3. Subsidies to Sponsors: Authorize $20m, annually, in subsidies of up to $25,000 to sponsors developing new or expanded apprenticeship programs. This funding will be directed from DOL through workforce development boards to sponsors.

This bill builds on $90m of appropriated funds in Fiscal Year 2016 (FY2016). DOL will use $60m of this FY2016 funding to increase state level capacity and innovation for delivering apprenticeship, including $9.5m for Accelerator Grants for state planning. $30m of the funding will be dedicated to increasing

WASHINGTON UPDATE 12

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

diversity, partnerships and awareness of apprenticeship through a series of contracts estimated to be awarded in the summer of 2016.

NSC has endorsed the EARNS Act and looks forward to working with Congress and the Administration to further expand apprenticeship opportunities across the country.

Department of Labor announced $50.5 million to fund ApprenticeshipUSA State Expansion Grants On June 22, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced $50.5 million to fund ApprenticeshipUSA State Expansion Grants. DOL anticipates awarding grants to 33 states from $700,000 to $3.2 million for planning activities over 18 months.

These grants are part of the $90 million Congress appropriated in FY2016 to DOL for the expansion of Apprenticeship and follow the award of $10.4 million in Apprenticeship Accelerator Grants to 51 states and local areas earlier in June.

States are eligible for up to $3.2 million, depending on the current number of apprentices in each state. States with 7,000 or more apprentices are eligible for $1.3-3.2 million, those with 2,500-6,999 apprentices are eligible for $900,000-$2.45 million and those with 2,499 or fewer apprentices are eligible for $700,000-$2.0 million.

The awards are intended to increase apprenticeship opportunities by funding states to develop a Governor-supported expansion strategy, building state capacity to support this strategy and align Registered Apprenticeship with other workforce, education, and economic development strategies in the state, increase intermediary capacity to support employer demand, increase opportunities for underrepresented populations through equity and diversification, promote Registered Apprenticeship state wide, collect data and report on apprenticeship status in states, and plan for the continuation of these activities after the 18-month grant program.

In order to meet these goals, states are able to use funds to:

• Support individuals enrolled in Registered Apprenticeship Programs by covering costs and providing supportive services, provide classroom training, develop apprenticeship curricula and standards;

• Support the development of career pathways models through pre-apprenticeship;

• Develop incentives or tax credits for employers, intermediaries and

WASHINGTON UPDATE 13

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

industry organizations;

• Convene stakeholders for information exchanges, institutes and training; and

• Modernize data collection and IT systems.

The Senate’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Services (Labor-HHS) bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 includes $100 million in funding for Apprenticeship, $10 million over funding provided for FY2016. If Congress funds this line item for FY2017, DOL anticipates awarding a second and third round of ApprenticeshipUSA State Expansion Grants in order to fund additional planning and additional states.

Applications are due by 4:00 pm EST on September 7, 2016.

Grant provides childcare to parents in training programs On June 14th, Department of Labor awarded $54 million – more than twice the anticipated funds – to 14 partnerships across the country under the Strengthening Working Families Initiative. Partnerships received between $3 million and $4 million which will be used to support programming to address the barriers parents encounter to entering training programs. Innovative approaches under the grant include co-location of the training program with child care services, provision of childcare during nontraditional work hours or at different locations, flexibility in child care services to respond to parents’ emergencies and general expanded access to childcare and supportive services necessary to enroll and succeed in a job training program.

Grantees are listed below:

• Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (MA)

• Alachua Bradford Regional Workforce Board, dba CareerSource (FL)

• City of Long Beach Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Net (CA)

• City of Phoenix (AZ)

• Community College of Aurora (CO)

• Family Footprint (SC)

• Memphis Bioworks Foundation (TN)

WASHINGTON UPDATE 14

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

• Moore Community House (MS)

• OAI Inc. (IL)

• OIC of Broward, dba OIC of South Florida (FL)

• Rochester Rehabilitation Center (NY)

• The WorkPlace (CT)

• Total Action Against Poverty in the Roanoke Valley, Inc. (VA)

• Vermont Technical College (VT)

Department of Labor releases $100 million for America's Promise Grants On June 6, 2016 the Department of Labor released $100 million in funding for “America’s Promise Job-Driven Grants,” which the Administration had announced earlier this year. The grant announcement also builds on the America’s College Promise plan announced in 2015.

The Administration anticipates awarding 20-40 4-year grants of between $1million and $6 million to regions throughout the country to train middle-skill workers in information technology, healthcare, advanced manufacturing and financial and education service industries. The recipients of the grants will be partnerships between the workforce development system, economic development agencies, education and training providers and at least five employers. These partnerships are intended to facilitate greater employer engagement in part through a focus on work-based learning strategies, such as apprenticeship, on-the-job training programs and paid internships coupled with classroom education, facilitating the industry and sector partnerships and career pathways strategies states and local areas are required to implement under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

Grantees’ work will focus on sector based career pathways, training workers for jobs that will lead to middle- and high-skill positions within the target industry. The grant application requires partnerships to focus on the following strategies:

• Short-term or accelerated training, including integrated employment and training programs, competency-based programs, and online course work or distance learning.

• Longer-term intensive training, particularly for participants who may need this more intensive training to achieve the skills and credentials

WASHINGTON UPDATE 15

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

necessary to access middle-skill career pathways.

• Upskilling incumbent workers for advancement within their current industry.

Applicants are required to provide leverage funds for at least 25% of the project costs. The grant awards will be based on the minimum participants served, with partnerships required to serve at least 890 participants to be eligible for the largest, $5 million to $6 million, award. Applications are due by 4:00 pm EST on August 25, 2016.

Increased investments in community college and industry partnerships are an important part of National Skills Coalition’s 2016 legislative agenda, and Senator Franken (D-MN) and Representative Duckworth (D-IL) have introduced the Community College to Career Fund Act, which would support industry driven career and technical education. Read more on NSC’s 2016 agenda here.

DOL Awards $10.4 million in Apprenticeship Accelerator Grants On June 2, the Department of Labor awarded $10.4 million in Accelerator Grants to 51 states and local areas to expand apprenticeship to new geographic areas, industries, workers, and employers. The funding availability was announced earlier this year, with the June 2nd announcement awarding almost $1million more than originally anticipated. The $200,000 grants were awarded to all 50 states, except for Wyoming and Georgia, and to Puerto Rico, Guam, and the District of Columbia.

The funding is part of the $90 million Congress appropriated in Fiscal Year 2016 to invest in expanding apprenticeship across the country. Recipients of the 2-year Accelerator Grants can use the funds improve outreach activities to expand the pipeline of workers with access to apprenticeship, to do labor market analysis and develop strategies to integrate apprenticeship into a workforce, education and human service plan, develop and disseminate reports or resources that help sponsors or employers start new apprenticeship programs and to increase data collection capacity of state and local areas.

DOL intends to announce up to $50 million in State Expansion Grants in the next few weeks. These grants will fund activities that improve collaboration between employers and states and facilitate creation of new apprenticeship programs serving a variety of diverse communities and sectors.

WASHINGTON UPDATE 16

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

New analysis illustrates frontline workers’ skill gaps & pursuit of learning The US Department of Education has released a new analysis of frontline workers’ skill needs and their pursuit of formal and informal learning opportunities.

The analysis, detailed in a blog post from the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), digs deeper into the demographics of adult workers who have limited literacy skills.

The OCTAE post draws on data released earlier this spring from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). It confirms that even among the subset of adults who are currently employed, the numbers are sobering: Approximately 22 million American workers score at Level 2 or below in literacy. (PIAAC scoring goes up to Level 5.)

Among these workers, nearly 70 percent have at least a high school diploma, and 60 percent make less than $20,000 a year. The majority -- 60 percent -- hold jobs in the retail, health, hospitality/food service, manufacturing, or construction industries.

Intriguingly, the OCTAE analysis found that half of these workers had participated in formal or informal skill-building opportunities in the previous year. Recent program profiles on the NSC Skills Blog have highlighted on examples of such skill building in the health and retail sectors.

Check out the full OCTAE post to learn more.

National Skills Coalition is a strong advocate for the importance of adult education in facilitating workers’ skill-building. Learn more about our partnership with adult education organizations and see our fact sheet on the need for greater investment in adult education.

NSC submits comments on WIOA performance reporting NSC has submitted comments to the Office of Management and Budget in response to the Department of Labor’s Information Collection Request (ICR) for performance accountability, information and reporting under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

In April the Department of Labor in coordination with the Department of Education published notices in the Federal Register announcing the ICR and soliciting comments concerning the collection of data that will be used for WIOA performance reporting. The ICR contains important new information

WASHINGTON UPDATE 17

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

about the Departments’ plans for performance reporting by states, local areas, and providers. This new information has major implications for WIOA performance accountability.

Our comments share a number of concerns with the proposals contained in the ICR: the proposed use of supplemental data, the Eligible Training Provider Performance Report, the metric for skill gains for WIOA Title II, and the operational definitions for the primary indicators of credential attainment and youth earnings.

You can read NSC’s comments here.

NSC submits comments on SNAP E&T reporting requirements On May 20, NSC submitted comments on the Food and Nutrition Service’s (FNS) interim rule on reporting measures for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T). As the Workforce Data Quality Campaign explains, SNAP E&T would report nationwide data on participant outcomes for the first time under the new rule.

The SNAP E&T metrics described in the interim rule closely align with the Workforce and Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) metrics on employment and earnings. In addition to requiring information on participant outcomes, the interim rule also requires states to report information on participant characteristics, including gender, age, high school diploma attainment, speaking English as a second language, voluntary or mandatory participation in SNAP E&T, and whether or not the participant is an able-bodied adult without dependents (ABAWD).

Overall, NSC supports FNS’s effort to provide better information on who is being served by SNAP E&T and their outcomes. Our comments make recommendations for improving the reporting measures so that they are consistent with WIOA measures, provide a fuller picture of who is receiving E&T services, and show the labor market outcomes associated with different E&T activities.

You can read NSC’s comments here.

White House and Department of Labor release $21m in Summer Jobs and Beyond Grants On May 18th, the White House and Department of Labor awarded $21m in grants to target summer and year-round jobs for youth. The grants are part of

WASHINGTON UPDATE 18

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

the White House’s Summer Opportunity Project, launched in February. The Administration also announced the opening “Summer Impact Hubs,” in 16 communities across the country. These Hubs are interagency efforts intended to support youth-targeted job and support services, by encouraging state, local, and federal cooperation between agencies serving youth.

The grant program focuses on providing out-of-school and out-of-work youth with job opportunities in the summer and then helping these youth link those opportunities to year-round work experiences. Each of the grant recipients will target exposure to career pathways in in-demand industries.

Recipients of the grant funding are targeting in-school and out-of-school youth, providing pathways to long-term careers and access to career pathways, and are supporting these youth people’s success by proving additional academic and wrap-around services. Recipients include:

• Utica, NY’s “New American’s Career Pathways Project” which will provide 400 refugee students with summer jobs and academic tutoring;

• “Pathways to Sector Employment for Youth” project in Portland Oregon which will provide entry-level jobs in health care, IT, manufacturing, and infrastructure to both in-school and out-of-school youth after targeted course work and summer work experiences;

• Chicago, IL’s “Beyond Summer Jobs” program will provide 240 out-of-school youth, and 60 in-school youth with summer jobs that lead to permanent, unsubsidized employment with one of 10 employers engaged in the project;

• The “Detroit’s Young Talent” program in Michigan includes the creation of a one-stop reengagement program to provide youth with case management, career planning, and link youth to work experiences in high-demand industries.

In addition to the targeted grant funding, the White House also announced work with 16 governmental agencies to develop “Summer Impact Hubs” in 16 locations across the country. The different agencies will each support aspects of the work and youth services – Department of Health and Human Services will provide guidance on using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in support of youth employment, the Department of Education will provide technical assistance through a series of webinars on Summer Opportunity, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has committed to providing employment for more than 1,000 youth for the summer.

WASHINGTON UPDATE 19

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

Summer Impact Hub Locations

1. Baltimore, MD

2. Clarksdale, MS

3. Detroit, MI

4. Flint, MI

5. Gary, IN

6. Houston, TX

7. Indianapolis, IN

8. Jonesboro, AR

9. Los Angeles, CA

10. Memphis, TN

11. Newark, NJ

12. New Orleans, LA

13. Pine Bluff, AR

14. Pine Ridge, SD

15. St. Louis, MO

16. Washington, D.C

Envisioning postsecondary data A paper series released today on Envisioning the National Postsecondary Data Infrastructure provides recommendations to strengthen data needed to improve student success, including federal and state policy reforms that would leverage employment data to measure post-college labor market outcomes.

Through its Postsecondary Data Collaborative, the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) engaged leading experts to address problems with disconnected, duplicative, and incomplete postsecondary data systems. The resulting papers offer complementary recommendations on topics including state data systems, student financial aid information, and protecting

WASHINGTON UPDATE 20

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

privacy and security.

"College to Career: Leveraging Employment Data to Measure Labor Market Outcomes," authored by Workforce Data Quality Campaign Director Rachel Zinn, assesses the current landscape of employment data. The report proposes technical enhancements to help agencies and institutions more effectively collect and share information, and provides policy recommendations to better inform students and other key stakeholders.

Authors discussed their reports during an event in Washington, DC, which was webcast on May 18. Key recommendations that emerged across the papers include:

• All approaches must work together to improve our data infrastructure – there is no silver bullet

• Improve linkages between existing datasets

• Continue federal funding of data system improvements

• Improve the quality of postsecondary metrics

• Require new data elements; eliminate others

• Improve access to data, as appropriate

• Clarify legal barriers to promote data use while maintaining adequate protections

• Keep individual data private and secure

In the coming months, WDQC will work with Postsecondary Data Collaborative and other partners to mobilize support for selected policies highlighted in the paper series, with the goal of turning research into policy impact.

Federal agencies issue joint letter of commitment on career pathways On May 10, thirteen US government agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, the Social Security Administration, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, have issued a letter of commitment affirming the importance of aligning workforce and

WASHINGTON UPDATE 21

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

education systems to support career pathways.

The letter is directed toward state, regional, local, and tribal officials as well as other stakeholders in adult education, workforce development, and human services. It encourages these stakeholders to connect to offer necessary skills training and support services to ensure participants in career pathways have success in their career search and progression.

The letter emphasizes the role of two federal initiatives in supporting the creation of effective career pathways: the 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act(WIOA), and the Vice President’s Ready to Work: Job-Driven Training and American Opportunity report. A federal definition of career pathways was formally codified in WIOA, intended to improve systems alignment. You can find more information in NSC’s Aligned by Design webinar and fact sheet series.

The joint letter is an outgrowth of the Obama Administration’s interagency Skills Working Group, which launched in 2014. The Working Group coordinates skills-related activities across the White House National Economic Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and the thirteen Federal agencies listed above. In 2014, Working Group members held a National Dialogue on Career Pathways in which NSC staff participated.

The letter lists a number of ways in which federal agencies have already incorporated career pathways approaches in their investments, technical assistance, and other activities. These include the release of a Career Pathways Toolkit from the Department of Labor, the release of a report on the evolution of career pathways from the Department of Education, and the creation of a multi-agency Career Pathways Exchange, which provides a free monthly newsletter and other online resources.

In addition, the Department of Education has a current funding opportunity open for the Performance Partnership Pilot, or P3 initiative. These grants allow states, localities and tribes flexibility in the form of blended funding and waivers of certain programmatic requirements in order to test innovative strategies to improve outcomes for disconnected youth. While not limited to career pathways approaches, the P3 initiative does explicitly permit their use. The P3 initiative is a joint effort of the Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences.

WASHINGTON UPDATE 22

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

NSC joins other national organizations to release new vision for CTE On May 9, National Skills Coalition joined with seven other national organizations to release “Putting Learner Success First,” a collective vision for the future of career and technical education (CTE) in the United States. The new document – which is supported by Advance CTE, the Association for Career and Technical Education, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National Association of State Boards of Education, the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges, and the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation – provides an important call to action for policymakers and stakeholders to strengthen CTE to ensure that jobseekers and businesses have the skills they need to compete in today’s economy.

“Putting Learner Success First” outlines five guiding principles for transforming CTE, as well as key action steps to implement those principles. Specifically, the framework calls for a system in which:

• All CTE programs are held to the highest standards of excellence. This includes developing and implementing rigorous review and approval processes for CTE programs, aligning funding to high-quality programs of study, and developing and processes for employers to inform, validate and participate in the implementation of CTE programs

• All learners are empowered to choose a meaningful education and career. This includes developing and implementing a career advisement system that allows learners to be successful in a career pathway, and providing learners with real-world experience linked to career interest

• All learning is personalized and flexible. This includes identifying, building, and scaling programs and models that fully integrate academic and technical expectations and experience; building and scaling competency-based systems at the secondary and postsecondary levels; and aligning secondary and postsecondary programs to ensure seamless transitions

• All learning is facilitated by knowledgeable experts. This includes modernizing K-12 instructor certification programs, prioritizing professional learning opportunities, and building and supporting a pool of experts from relevant sectors to supplement learning opportunities

• All systems work together to put learner success first. This includes establishing a statewide vision to providing all leaners with career pathways; coordinating federal and state policies, programs, and funding to maximize investments and reduce inefficiencies; developing and supporting sustainable partnerships and intermediaries; and

WASHINGTON UPDATE 23

www.nationalskillscoalition.org

building indicators of career readiness into federal and state accountability systems.

The vision document is the result of the Future of CTE Summit, a 2015 convening hosted by NSC and partner organizations that brought together a range of state and local leaders from secondary and postsecondary education systems, workforce development, businesses, and the philanthropic community. NSC staff, board members, and local partners participated in the event, and worked closely with our national partners in the development of the final report.

NSC is proud to support the vision of “Putting Learner Success First,” which is consistent with NSC’s recommendations for reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. With Congress considering significant updates to the Perkins Act for the first time since 2006, “Putting Learner Success First” provides an important framework for policymakers to ensure that our nation’s CTE systems are aligned with the skill needs of workers and industries. We look forward to working with our national partners to build on this foundation in the months and years to come.