[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
HELPING AMERICANS GET BACK TO WORK:
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORKFORCE
INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
AND THE WORKFORCE
U.S. House of Representatives
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, JUNE 15, 2017
__________
Serial No. 115-19
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and the Workforce
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web:
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/
committee.action?chamber=house&committee=education
or
Committee address: http://edworkforce.house.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
25-713 PDF WASHINGTON : 2017
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing
Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800;
DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC,
Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina, Chairwoman
Joe Wilson, South Carolina Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott,
Duncan Hunter, California Virginia
David P. Roe, Tennessee Ranking Member
Glenn ``GT'' Thompson, Pennsylvania Susan A. Davis, California
Tim Walberg, Michigan Raul M. Grijalva, Arizona
Brett Guthrie, Kentucky Joe Courtney, Connecticut
Todd Rokita, Indiana Marcia L. Fudge, Ohio
Lou Barletta, Pennsylvania Jared Polis, Colorado
Luke Messer, Indiana Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Bradley Byrne, Alabama Northern Mariana Islands
David Brat, Virginia Frederica S. Wilson, Florida
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon
Elise Stefanik, New York Mark Takano, California
Rick W. Allen, Georgia Alma S. Adams, North Carolina
Jason Lewis, Minnesota Mark DeSaulnier, California
Francis Rooney, Florida Donald Norcross, New Jersey
Paul Mitchell, Michigan Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware
Tom Garrett, Jr., Virginia Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
Lloyd K. Smucker, Pennsylvania Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire
A. Drew Ferguson, IV, Georgia Adriano Espaillat, New York
Ron Estes, Kansas
Brandon Renz, Staff Director
Denise Forte, Minority Staff Director
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky, Chairman
Glenn ``GT'' Thompson, Pennsylvania Susan A. Davis, California
Lou Barletta, Pennsylvania Ranking Member
Luke Messer, Indiana Joe Courtney, Connecticut
Bradley Byrne, Alabama Alma S. Adams, North Carolina
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Mark DeSaulnier, California
Elise Stefanik, New York Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
Rick W. Allen, Georgia Jared Polis, Colorado
Jason Lewis, Minnesota Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Paul Mitchell, Michigan Northern Mariana Islands
Tom Garrett, Jr., Virginia Mark Takano, California
Lloyd K. Smucker, Pennsylvania Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware
Ron Estes, Kansas Adriano Espaillat, New York
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on June 15, 2017.................................... 1
Statement of Members:
Davis, Hon. Susan A., Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Higher
Education and Workforce Development........................ 4
Prepared statement of.................................... 6
Guthrie, Hon. Brett, Chairman, Subcommittee on Higher
Education and Workforce Development........................ 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 4
Wilson, Hon. Joe, a Representative in Congress from the State
of South Carolina.......................................... 8
Prepared statement of.................................... 9
Statement of Witnesses:
Berlin, Mr. Heath, Information Insurance Manager, Naval
Healthcare Clinic.......................................... 17
Prepared statement of.................................... 19
Dubin, Mr. Louis, Chairman, Governor's Workforce Development
Board, State of Maryland................................... 29
Prepared statement of.................................... 31
Paczynski, Ms. Michelle, Deputy Assistant Director for
Workforce and Economic Development, South Carolina
Department of Employment and Workforce..................... 10
Prepared statement of.................................... 11
Painter, Mr. Ron, President and CEO of the National
Association of Workforce Boards............................ 22
Prepared statement of.................................... 24
Additional Submissions:
Blunt Rochester, Hon. Lisa, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Delaware:
Letter dated June 12, 2017 from the Council of State
Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation............ 62
Bonamici, Hon. Suzanne, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Oregon:
Letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committees on
FY 2018................................................ 65
Courtney, Hon. Joe, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Connecticut:
Slide: WIOA in Eastern Connecticut....................... 7
Espaillat, Hon. Adriano, a Representative in Congress from
the State of New York:
Letter from Campaign for Youth........................... 74
Ms. Paczynski:
Article: With Dropping Unemployment, SC Workforce Agency
Elevates Focus on People with Barriers to Work......... 77
Smucker, Hon. Lloyd K., a Representative in Congress from the
State of Pennsylvania:
Letter dated June 29, 2017 from Opportunity Village...... 108
HELPING AMERICANS GET BACK TO WORK: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORKFORCE
INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT
----------
Thursday, June 15, 2017
House of Representatives
Committee on Education and the Workforce,
Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development
Washington, D.C.
----------
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:07 a.m., in
Room 2175, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Brett Guthrie
[chairman of the subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Guthrie, Thompson, Barletta,
Messer, Byrne, Grothman, Stefanik, Allen, Mitchell, Smucker,
Davis, Courtney, DeSaulnier, Krishnamoorthi, Polis, Sablan,
Takano, Blunt Rochester, and Espaillat.
Also Present: Representatives Foxx, Scott, Wilson of South
Carolina, and Bonamici.
Staff Present: Caitlin Burke, Legislative Assistant;
Courtney Butcher, Director of Member Services and Coalitions;
Amy Raaf Jones, Director of Education and Human Resources
Policy; Nancy Locke, Chief Clerk; Kelley McNabb, Communications
Director; James Mullen, Director of Information Technology;
Krisann Pearce, General Counsel; Lauren Reddington, Deputy
Press Secretary; James Redstone, Professional Staff Member;
Mandy Schaumburg, Education Deputy Director and Senior Counsel;
Emily Slack, Professional Staff Member; Michael Woeste, Press
Secretary; Tylease Alli, Minority Clerk/Intern and Fellow
Coordinator; Austin Barbera, Minority Press Assistant; Denise
Forte, Minority Staff Director; Mishawn Freeman, Minority Staff
Assistant; Eunice Ikene, Minority Labor Policy Advisor;
Kimberly Knackstedt, Minority Disability Policy Advisor; Kevin
McDermott, Minority Senior Labor Policy Advisor; Udochi
Onwubiko, Minority Labor Policy Counsel; and Veronique
Pluviose, Minority General Counsel.
Chairman Guthrie. A quorum being present, he Subcommittee
on Higher Education and Workforce Development will come to
order. I will first yield to Chairman Foxx for 1 minute for an
opening statement.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you very much, Mr. Guthrie. I thank all of
you for being here. This hearing is incredibly important for
all of us as we look to see if the improvements to our
workforce development system that we intended with WIOA are
actually coming to pass. We are all here because we want to
help Americans access all the resources they need to get back
to work.
This morning President Trump will sign an executive order
aimed at promoting apprenticeships and skill-focused education.
I love that term and I think it is a great way to refer to what
we are doing. And it is a kind of focus that students and
workers have needed from the White House for a long time.
In just a few minutes I am going to excuse myself so I can
go tell President Trump on behalf of this entire committee that
we welcome his interest and his efforts to build a better
workforce.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding. I very much look
forward to reviewing the findings of the hearings.
And I yield back.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you, Chairman Foxx. I appreciate
that. Now I yield to Ranking Member Scott for 1 minute.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want
to thank you and Ranking Member Davis for convening today's
hearing. I think the conversation around changes that WIOA have
made in our Nation's workforce development system in preparing
Americans for high-skill jobs is a critical one. Today
Chairwoman Foxx and I will be witnessing the President; We
expect him to sign the executive order on apprenticeships. We
know that registered apprenticeship programs are proven on-the-
job training models. They allow workers to earn while they
learn, but when we send Federal dollars to promote and expand
new apprenticeships we need to have accountability. And that is
why I am hoping that we will not change the registration
process. Federal dollars for apprenticeship programs now go to
registered apprenticeship programs. You know what you get when
you graduate, they are transferrable; other employers know what
you can do and what you cannot do. If it is unregistered it is
going to be difficult to get some kind of accountability.
The Department of Labor and 25 State apprenticeship
agencies establish a baseline for labor standards in the
registered programs. So I hope today's announcement will not
undercut the proven model. And while I cannot stay to hear the
witnesses' testimony, I hope that part of this conversation
they can tell about registered apprenticeship programs and how
important they are and how they are aligned with WIOA. And I
hope we can also discuss the dangers of allowing Federal
funding to go to unregistered programs. But I think hopefully
we can work this out because there is a strong consensus that
apprenticeship programs are extremely invaluable to young
people trying to get good high-skill jobs.
So, Mr. Chair, thank you very much and I look forward to
working with you.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. I
now recognize myself for opening comments and welcome everyone
to today's subcommittee hearing. I would like to thank our
panel of witnesses and my colleagues for joining today's
important discussion on the implementation of Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act, WIOA.
It has been almost 3 years since the bipartisan Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act was signed into law and now it
is time for Congress to explore whether or not the included
reforms are being turned into action. Prior to the passage of
WIOA, the Federal Government had over 47 separate but
overlapping employment education programs across 9 different
Federal agencies. To make matters worse, most of the programs
targeted similar populations and provided similar services.
Additionally, the report also found that only five of the
programs had been evaluated for effectiveness and their success
rate in helping unemployed and underemployed workers find
employment. These programs were textbook cases of how the
Federal Government can create a web of well-intentioned
programs that are not serving the needs of the very Americans
for whom the services are designed. As a result, congressional
action was needed to fix these programs so American workers
could succeed in a recovering economy.
The bipartisan passage of WIOA streamlined the confusing
maze of workforce development programs, decreased
administrative overhead, required better coordination for adult
unemployed and youth programs, and increased accountability for
the use of taxpayer funds.
I am proud to say that so many members of this committee,
including Chairwoman Foxx, played an instrumental role in
creating the final version of WIOA that was signed into law.
Congress answered the call for workforce education and
development reforms, but has faced an uphill climb in getting
those reforms implemented on the State and local level. Despite
the overwhelming support for the passage of WIOA it faced
significant implementation delays during the previous
administration. For example, the Department of Labor missed key
deadlines when issuing guidance to State and local leaders.
According to the Government Accountability Office these delays
made it difficult to carry out many of WIOA's strategic
priorities. While we have a new administration the need for
congressional oversight is still essential to ensure a timely
and proper implementation of WIOA.
Our conversation today could not be timelier as President
Trump announces new measures to strengthen our Nation's
workforce, education, and development programs. While the
President's executive actions are encouraging, the
implementation of WIOA and congressional action to reauthorize
Federal support for career and technical education can provide
a lasting improvement to how our citizens found success through
workforce development education.
Our witnesses before us are some of the best stores of
WIOA's success and I look forward to hearing their stories
throughout today's hearing. Their testimony will only further
emphasize the need for Federal entities to implement the
reforms put forth in WIOA as Congress intended. Congress has
provided the necessary statutory reforms to our workforce
education and development programs and now, more than ever, it
is important we deliver on implementation ensuring that
American workers are being given the skills they need to thrive
in the 21st century economy.
I will now yield to my distinguished colleague and this
subcommittee's ranking member, Susan Davis, for her opening
remarks.
[The statement of Chairman Guthrie follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Brett Guthrie, Chairman, Subcommittee on
Higher Education and Workforce Development
Good morning, and welcome to today's subcommittee hearing. I'd like
to thank our panel of witnesses and my colleagues for joining today's
important discussion on the implementation of the Workforce Innovation
and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
It has been almost three years since the bipartisan Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act was signed into law, and now it is time
for Congress to explore whether or not the included reforms are being
turned into action.
Prior to the passage of WIOA, the federal government had over 47
separate but overlapping employment education programs across nine
different federal agencies. To make matters worse, most of the programs
targeted similar populations and provided similar services.
Additionally, the report also found that only five of the programs had
been evaluated for effectiveness and their success rate in helping
unemployed and underemployed workers find employment.
These programs were textbook cases of how the federal government
can create a web of well-intentioned programs that are not serving the
needs of the very Americans for whom the services are designed. As a
result, Congressional action was needed to fix these programs so
American workers could succeed in a recovery economy.
The bipartisan passage of WIOA streamlined the confusing maze of
workforce development programs; decreased administrative overhead;
required better coordination for adult, unemployed, and youth programs;
and increased accountability for the use of taxpayer funds.
I am proud to say that so many members of this committee, including
Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, played an instrumental role in creating the
final version of WIOA that was signed into law.
Congress answered the call for workforce education and development
reforms, but has faced an uphill climb in getting these reforms
implemented on the state and local level.
Despite the overwhelming support for the passage of WIOA, it faced
significant implementation delays during the Obama Administration.
For example, the Department of Labor missed key deadlines when
issuing guidance to state and local leaders. According to the
Government Accountability Office, these delays made it difficult to
carry out many of WIOA's strategic priorities.
While we have a new administration, the need for congressional
oversight is still essential to ensure a timely and proper
implementation of WIOA.
Our conversation today could not be timelier as President Trump
announces new measures to strengthen our nation's workforce education
and development programs.
While the president's executive actions are encouraging, the
implementation of WIOA and congressional action to reauthorize federal
support for career and technical education can provide a lasting
improvement to how our citizens find success through workforce
development and education programs.
Our witnesses before us are some of the best stories of WIOA's
success, and I look forward to hearing their stories throughout today's
hearing.
Their testimony will only further emphasize the need for federal
entities to implement the reforms put forth in WIOA as Congress
intended.
Congress has provided the necessary statutory reforms to our
workforce education and development programs, and now more than ever,
it is important we deliver on implementation, ensuring that American
workers are being given the skills they need to thrive in the Twenty-
First Century economy.
______
Ms. Davis. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Guthrie. I
appreciate your convening this important hearing and want to
thank all of our witnesses for being here. I also just want at
the outset to express my prayers and my concerns for the
victims and their families and we wish them a full recovery in
the events of yesterday.
Today's hearing is focused on the implementation of the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, what we know as WIOA.
This landmark bipartisan bill that chairman just spoke of,
whose primary author is the distinguished chairwoman of our
committee, Dr. Foxx, was signed by President Obama nearly 3
years ago. I was certainly proud to be among the 400 House
members who supported WIOA, and I know for those members of
this committee who were here, I know that they are proud of
that as well, and proud because it sought to help workers, to
benefit businesses, revitalize our economy, and strengthen the
middle class.
Specifically, WIOA sought to ensure working people of all
ages and all abilities could get the training and the skills
they need to obtain well-paying jobs. It also sought to ensure
employers, that they could hire a skilled workforce so our
country can compete in the global economy.
In my district the workforce system has become an incubator
for developing innovative training programs for young people.
Tech sector industry leaders, the workforce system, and
educators are coming together to develop programs where young
people emerge with life-enhancing productive skills sought in
the marketplace. WIOA encourages and even demands that these
groups come together to meet the needs of an ever-changing
economy.
The reality is that as budgets are cut, the first programs
to go are the newest and the most forward-thinking. The
innovation that WIOA is fostering could be halted, preventing
the expansion of these partnerships.
So, Mr. Chairman, fulfilling an innovative vision of our
workforce becomes even more challenging, challenging when you
consider the cuts put forth in the President's proposed budget.
These cuts would undermine the progress and advancements our
workforce system has made in the past few years. As you will
see on the screen, and we are going to put up some numbers
[laughter]--well, we always worry about the tech at the time
that you need it, right?
Well, hopefully that will get up there. The President
proposed funding cuts for the youth, for the adult training,
dislocated workers and adult education formula funds for each
of our home States by about 40 percent, cuts by about 40
percent from current funding levels for all of those programs.
In all, the President's budget proposed a staggering $1 billion
in cuts to these programs. And now that is on the screen, what
it indicates for many of the members their home State, not
their home district, but for their home State, the cuts in the
four different programs.
More importantly, we have not yet had a full year of WIOA
implementation data to analyze. It is unthinkable to consider
cutting critical programs without giving them a chance to
become established and successful in our communities.
Modernizing our Nation's workforce system is critical.
Researchers estimate that at our Nation's current rates of
training and educating, the United States will face a shortage
of 5 million skilled, educated workers by 2020. And by 2020, 65
percent of all jobs will require some form of postsecondary
degree or credential.
So in this hearing I hope we can take a close look at how
our workforce systems have improved since WIOA. But also, I
hope to hear how we can build upon these successes and surmount
any challenges, because together we must ensure that WIOA
fulfills its goals of improving the quality of job training
programs and aligning training to real-world labor market
needs. In particular, we must be sure to empower people with
disabilities, disconnected youth, and dislocated workers who
have faced barriers to entering our workforce systems for far
too long.
In the weeks and months ahead, I am hopeful that Congress
will reject the President's proposed cuts to job training
programs and make the right investments in our Nation's
workforce development system. But we should not stop there. We
should be working together on a bipartisan basis, just like we
did with WIOA, to help workers get ahead, to make college more
affordable and accessible, and restore balance to the economy
so all Americans can provide a better future for their
families.
Thank you very much, Chairman Guthrie, for convening
today's hearing and all the witnesses, again, for taking time
out to be with us today. Thank you.
[The statement of Mrs. Davis follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Susan A. Davis, Ranking Member, Subcommittee
on Higher Education and Workforce Development
Thank you, Chairman Guthrie. I appreciate you convening this
important hearing, and I want to thank all of our witnesses for being
here today.
Today's hearing is focused on the implementation of the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act - or WIOA. This landmark bipartisan law,
whose primary author is the distinguished Chairwoman of our Committee,
Dr. Foxx, was signed by President Obama nearly three years ago.
I was proud to be among the 400 House Members who supported WIOA
when it passed because it sought to help workers, benefit businesses,
revitalize our economy, and strengthen the middle class. Specifically,
WIOA sought to ensure working people of all ages and all abilities
could get the training and skills they need to obtain well-paying jobs.
It also sought to ensure employers could hire a skilled workforce so
our country can compete in the global economy.
In my district the workforce system has become an incubator for
developing innovative training programs for young people. Tech sector
industry leaders, the workforce system and educators are coming
together to develop programs where young people emerge with amazing
skills.
WIOA encourages and even demands that these groups come together to
meet the needs of an ever changing economy. The reality is that as
budgets are cut, the first programs to go are the newest and most
forward-thinking. The innovation that WIOA is fostering will be halted,
preventing the expansion of these partnerships.
Mr. Chairman, fulfilling an innovative vision of our workforce
becomes even more challenging when you consider the cuts put forth in
the President's proposed budget. These cuts would undermine the
progress and advancements our workforce system has made in the past few
years.
[INTERNAL NOTE: Please pause to allow for power point slide to be
projected on to the Committee hearing room's screen.]
[Additional submission by Mr. Courtney follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
As you'll see on the screen, the President proposed funding cuts
for the youth, adult training, dislocated workers, and adult education
formula funds for each of our home states by about 40 percent from
current funding levels. In all, the President's budget proposed a
staggering $1 billion in cuts to these programs.
More importantly, we have not yet had a full year of WIOA
implementation data to analyze. It is unthinkable to consider cutting
critical programs without giving them a chance to become established
and successful in our communities.
Modernizing our nation's workforce system is critical. Researchers
estimate that at our nation's current rates of training and educating,
the United States will face a shortage of 5 million skilled, educated
workers by 2020. And by 2020, 65 percent of all jobs will require some
form of post-secondary degree or credential.
In this hearing, I hope we can take a close look at how our
workforce systems have improved since WIOA. But also, I hope to hear
how we can build upon these successes and surmount any challenges.
Together, we must ensure that WIOA fulfills its goals of improving the
quality of job training programs and aligning training to real-world
labor market needs. In particular, we must be sure to empower people
with disabilities, disconnected youth, and dislocated workers who have
faced barriers to entering our workforce systems for far too long.
In the weeks and months ahead, I'm hopeful that Congress will
reject the President's proposed cuts to job training programs and make
the right investments in our nation's workforce development system. But
we shouldn't stop there. We should be working together on a bipartisan
basis - just like we did with WIOA -to help workers get ahead, make
college more affordable and accessible, and restore balance to the
economy so all Americans can provide a better future for their
families.
Thank you, Chairman Guthrie, for convening today's hearing and all
the witnesses for taking time out of their schedules to be with us. I
yield back my time.
______
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. I thank the ranking member for
yielding back and her comments. Pursuant to committee rule 7C,
all members will be permitted to submit written statements to
be included in the permanent record, and without objection, the
hearing record will remain open for 14 days to allow such
statements and other extraneous material referenced during the
hearing to be submitted for the official hearing record.
Today I welcome Mr. Wilson to the subcommittee and
recognize him to introduce our first witness.
Mr. Wilson of South Carolina. Thank you, Chairman Guthrie,
for inviting me to be here today. Chairman Brett Guthrie,
Ranking Member Susan Davis, members of the subcommittee, I am
grateful for the opportunity to introduce fellow South
Carolinian Michelle Paczynski. I appreciate also being here
with Chairman Virginia Foxx, who is working so closely with
President Donald Trump to help American families with
fulfilling lives. Ms. Paczynski serves as a deputy assistant
director for workforce and economic development at the South
Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. In her role
she advances a business inspired workforce system, one that
develops strategic partnerships that enhances the workforce
system's ability to produce a workforce pipeline for jobs.
I am grateful that she is before the subcommittee to
testify today. Through the efforts of Ms. Paczynski and other
members of the South Carolina Department of Employment and
Workforce, South Carolina has seen a remarkable success in
implementing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Of
special note is their use of innovative strategies, like career
and technical education program partnerships, apprenticeships,
technical colleges to develop talent pipelines, and addressing
infrastructure challenges to ensure that people find meaningful
jobs as we have achieved, and she has at Boeing, at MTU, at
BMW. We were just discussing all these; Michelin Tire
Corporation, Bridgestone Tire Corporation, and now soon Volvo,
to be located in South Carolina. Their success is clear and
tangible. South Carolina's unemployment rate is at a 16-year
low, and more and more businesses from around the country are
realizing that our talented workforce and pro business climate
make our State a great place to create or locate a business
with meaningful jobs.
I look forward to hearing Ms. Paczynski outline how South
Carolina's Department of Employment and Workforce has
implemented the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and
hope her perspective can provide examples and best practices
other States can use when looking to maximize their
implementation of the act and to help more of their citizens
find jobs.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to introduce
Ms. Paczynski. I yield back.
[The statement of Mr. Wilson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Joe Wilson, a Representative in Congress
from the State of South Carolina
Chairman Brett Guthrie, Ranking Member Susan Davis, members of the
Subcommittee, I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce a fellow
South Carolinian, Michelle Paczynski. I appreciate being present with
Chairwoman Virginia Foxx who is working so closely with President
Donald Trump to help American families with jobs, fulfilling lives.
Ms. Paczynski serves as the Deputy Assistant Director for Workforce
and Economic Development at the South Carolina Department of Employment
and Workforce. In her role, she advances a business-inspired workforce
system--one that develops strategic partnerships that enhances the
workforce system's ability to produce a workforce pipeline for jobs. I
am grateful that she is participating to testify to testify before this
subcommittee.
Through the efforts of Ms. Paczynski, and other members South
Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, South Carolina has
seen remarkable success in implementing the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act. Of special note, is their use of innovative
strategies, like career and technical education program partnerships,
apprenticeships, technical colleges, developing talent pipelines, and
addressing infrastructure challenges, to ensure that people can find
meaningful jobs, as we have achieved with Boeing, MTU, BMW, Michelin,
Bridgestone, and now Volvo. With the vision of former Governors Jim
Edwards and Carroll Campbell, South Carolina has grown to be the
nation's largest manufacturer and exporter of tires as well as
America's largest exporter of cars.
Their success is clear, and tangible--South Carolina's unemployment
rate is at a 16 year low, and more and more businesses from around the
country are realizing that our talented workforce and pro-business
climate make our state a great place to create or locate a business
with meaningful jobs.
I look forward to hearing Ms. Paczynski outline how South
Carolina's Department of Employment and Workforce has implemented the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and hope her perspective can
provide examples and ``best practices'' other states can use when
looking to maximize their implementation of the Act and to help more of
their citizens find jobs.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to introduce Ms.
Paczynski.
I yield back.
______
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you, Mr. Wilson. And I will
continue this morning's introductions. Mr. Heath Berlin is an
information insurance manager at the Naval Healthcare Clinic,
Annapolis. Beat Navy. I have to say that. When I say Annapolis
it is just in me. Mr. Ron Painter is the president and CEO of
the National Association of Workforce Boards. And Mr. Louis
Dubin is the chairman of the Governor's Workforce Development
Board for the State of Maryland.
I will now ask the witnesses to raise their right hand.
[Witnesses sworn]
Chairman Guthrie. Let the record reflect the witnesses
answered in the affirmative.
Before I recognize you to provide your testimony, let me
briefly explain our lighting system. You will each have 5
minutes to present your testimony. When you begin, the light in
front of you will turn green. When 1 minute is left, the light
will turn yellow. When your time is expired, the light will
turn red. When the light turns red I will ask you that you wrap
up your remarks as best as you are able. Members will have 5
minutes each after your testimony to ask questions.
First, I will recognize for 5 minutes for opening testimony
Ms. Paczynski.
TESTIMONY OF MICHELLE PACZYNSKI, DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR
WORKFORCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT
OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKFORCE
Ms. Paczynski. Thank you, Representative Foxx,
Representative Scott, Representative Wilson, Chairman Guthrie,
Ranking Member Representative Davis, and the members of the
subcommittee. It's an honor and privilege to be here today to
talk about the progress we have made because of the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act. We are putting South
Carolinians to work.
South Carolina's economy is strong and growing as
businesses continue to relocate and expand in our State. We
have a record number of people working and an unemployment rate
at a 16 year low. Congress' efforts to pass the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act has provided South Carolina the
ability to tackle workforce development through innovative
ways, to better engage businesses, and educate and empower our
workforce.
Our transformational journey began with collaboration.
Under WIOA, the State Workforce Development Board is considered
to be the State's architect and ambassador for workforce
development. With majority representation by business leaders
from the State's high-growth industries South Carolina's Board
convened the Workforce Partners and executed a memorandum of
understanding. This contract was the platform for stakeholders
to move forward in unison towards retooling the workforce
system and educating our existing and emerging workforce. WIOA
fueled South Carolina's ability to deploy initiatives that
address business and industry's concerns of a fractured
workforce system.
The South Carolina Talent Pipeline Initiative, also known
as Sector Strategies, was the incubator for regional industry-
focused methods to build a skilled workforce that identify and
address skill needs across key industries rather than focusing
on transactional workforce needs of individual businesses.
A critical component that was identified in analysis of our
workforce system was a lack of public transit for employment
and education. In an effort to empower regions' strategies to
build their workforce, the State Workforce Development Board is
investing State-level WIOA funds into communities that have
designed innovative public transit models. WIOA champions the
prioritization of services for those who face significant
barriers to employment. South Carolina has experienced great
success educating and employing ex-offenders into high-growth
industries. Historically, ex-offenders were released into the
same environment from which they came, lacking the education
and skills needed to succeed outside a prison. Using Title III
money South Carolina piloted a job center behind the wire,
deploying a case manager and laptops onsite to provide the same
services and information provided to job seekers in a one-stop
center. Of the 516 people who have completed the program and
have since been released, 75 percent are earning wages. Seeing
the outcomes from this pilot, the State Workforce Development
Board invested State-level WIOA funds to expand employment
services into additional correctional facilities.
WIOA has also reinforced our emphasis on apprenticeships as
the premier tool for businesses to recruit and retain workers.
South Carolina provides businesses with a $1,000 tax credit per
apprentice for up to 4 years. With 893 active apprentice
programs in South Carolina, the State boards sought to braid
apprenticeships with services provided to priority populations
and awarded State-level WIOA funds into competitive grants.
WIOA emphasizes that relationships between the public and
private sectors is crucial in the workforce system's ability to
provide businesses with workforce solutions. Several members of
our State Workforce Development Board also serve as
representatives on the State Chamber of Commerce Board of
Directors and as a result many of our workforce initiatives
align with the State Chamber's 2025 education goals.
In conclusion, WIOA has significantly expanded South
Carolina's ability to strategically align resources, programs,
and policies to build a skilled workforce and more effectively
serve businesses.
Thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Paczynski follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you for your testimony. I will now
recognize Mr. Berlin for 5 minutes for his testimony.
TESTIMONY OF HEATH BERLIN, INFORMATION INSURANCE MANAGER, NAVAL
HEALTHCARE CLINIC
Mr. Berlin. Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and
members of the subcommittee.
So I'm here as a successful candidate of the WIOA. And the
program in Maryland is called the Maryland Tech Connection. So
I'll just give you a little bit of how I came to be in contact
with workforce development and ----
Chairman Guthrie. Would you pull your mic up a little
closer to you? It would be easier to hear everything.
Mr. Berlin. Sorry. On December 31, 2015, New Year's Eve,
the company I worked for, Resilience Technology Corporation,
was acquired by another company, Integrata Security. After
about a month, Integrata laid all the employees off. Some of us
were called back a few weeks later, but by May of 2016,
everybody was laid off. So I started looking for jobs, lots of
interviews, lots of job fairs, things like that, without
getting any traction. In July, I went to the Anne Arundel
Workforce Development Center in Arnold, Maryland, and
registered for one of the WIOA workshops. The next available
one was in August as they were filling up. So after the
workshop I met with a woman named Carla Win, who accepted me
into the program. I qualified because of receiving unemployment
benefits. And together with her, we sort of mapped out a
strategy of what I needed to get reemployed and what the
obstacles I was finding to employment. And some of those were
certifications, the Network Plus, Security Plus, and Certified
Ethical Hacker certification, which I had trained for
previously, but never had taken the exams because, you know,
previous employers had said they would pay for it and, you
know, by the time I really needed them, there was nobody there
to pay for it, particularly me. So they were able to provide
funding for the Certified Ethical Hacker education course and
exam and also vouchers for the CompTIA Security Plus and
Network Plus exams.
So I completed those and continued searching for a job;
however, I wasn't successful. I had lots of support from the
program. There was career coach Carl Cushinksi, who was very
helpful in helping me focus my resume, practicing interviews
before going to the actual interviews. And even though, you
know, every day I would spend all day on the computer applying
for jobs, phone interviews, video conference interviews, face-
to-face interviews, I just wasn't getting anywhere.
So by November, I hit the 6-month mark, unemployment ran
out, and I was still unemployed, at which time Carl introduced
me to Alfredo Quieroga, we call him Q, who delivered--I guess
he was the instructor and the guy that enrolls people in
Maryland Tech Connection, which the program itself focuses on
people who have been long-term unemployed, which they defined
as greater than 6 months. So I met with Q in an informational
seminar that he held at the Glen Burnie Workforce Development
Center and made an appointment for testing. You report to the
Laurel Anne Arundel Workforce Development Center for aptitude
testing, sort of to see what maybe your passion is. You know,
the program itself sort of has two tracks it seems to focus on
with industry partners, one being IT and IT security, the other
being biomedical science and technology. So the aptitude tests
sort of help you define what you know and what you're good at
and what your passion is, as well as maybe what soft skills you
have or need. And after taking these tests you're assigned to
the program. Luck of the draw.
Anyhow, long story short, while in the program I discovered
the Earn and Learn Program. While I had been looking for a job,
I interviewed with this company called Phalanx, who wanted to
hire me, but they were a startup so they didn't have money. So
when I reached back out to them after being in the program for
2 days and explained the Earn and Learn Program, they
immediately got on board and asked for more information and
said if we could work it out, if there would be the funding to
bring me on board with some sort of subsidy while I was getting
up to speed, they would be glad to hire me right away.
So within a month of entering into the program I was
employed full-time with Phalanx Security.
[The statement of Mr. Berlin follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you for your testimony. I
appreciate it. I enjoyed hearing your testimony.
Mr. Painter, you are recognized for 5 minutes for your
testimony.
TESTIMONY OF RON PAINTER, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF WORKFORCE BOARDS
Mr. Painter. Chairman Guthrie, Ranking Member Davis, and
subcommittee members, I thank you for the opportunity to
testify before the subcommittee today regarding WIOA, which
this committee crafted and Congress overwhelmingly approved in
2014.
My name is Ron Painter and I'm the president and CEO of the
National Association of Workforce Boards, which represents the
Nation's 550 workforce boards and the over 15,000 volunteers
who serve on those boards, a majority of whom are from the
private sector. Boards coordinate, help launch, and oversee
workforce development strategies for their cities, regions, and
States, partnering with local elected officials, education,
economic development, our entities in WIOA, adult literacy,
Wagner-Peyser, voc rehab, and a large network of stakeholders
in their region. There is an astonishing amount of churn in
America's labor market. The most recent year saw over 60
million separation from jobs and over 62 million hires. State
and local workforce boards strive to understand the changes in
labor markets that are evidence in this churn and to align the
workforce development system accordingly so that people get to
work quickly with the skills that are in demand.
Workforce development boards leverage State and local
general revenue funds, private philanthropic funding, and fee
for service revenue. But the Federal funds are key to making
all of this happen. We urge the 115th Congress to renew its
commitment to a world-class skilled workforce through adequate
funding of education at all levels in the workforce development
system by maintaining the funding levels for WIOA in fiscal
year 2018.
WIOA brought numerous changes to the workforce development
system, including requiring the Departments of Labor and
Education to implement a common performance accountability
system across the six core programs, which will provide a more
consistent outcome data on which to base evaluations. While the
most extensive full evaluation of workforce is still underway
there are initial results from this gold standard evaluation.
In the preliminary findings we conceded the availability of
intensive services, people-to-people work that Heath
experienced, increased earnings and employment for program
participants. Evidence is also demonstrating that the most
effective type of skill development is one linked directly to
specific work and skills and demands within a region. Work-
based training models, which are the core of WIOA, including
registered apprenticeships and industry-specific training, are
very impactful and alone call for increased funding to WIOA.
Let me mention quickly three examples. IT coding program in
Eastern Kentucky, an initiative of the Eastern Kentucky
Concentrated Employment Program, called Teleworks USA,
identifies and developed legitimate remote work opportunities
and helps people prepare for and land these jobs in numerous
counties across the State. This effort, though, has thus far
been estimated to have an economic impact of more than $13.1
million in new wages to Eastern Kentuckians by network
employees inside and outside the State.
In Connecticut, Electric Boat, which builds nuclear
submarines for the U.S. Navy and its supply network in the
region, have benefited from an initiative led by the Eastern
Connecticut Workforce Board called the Eastern Connecticut
Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative. Electric Boat's work is
expected to yield over 500 additional skilled workers and
employers find that the initiative's trainees are better
prepared for success. Likewise the boards in Newport News,
Virginia, working with Huntington Ingalls on the shipyard. In
Pittsburgh, a large urban healthcare provider struggled to hire
and retain environmental service workers. These workers have a
direct correlation to infection control, readmission, and
customer satisfaction. Partners for Work, the workforce board
in Pittsburgh, partnered with the Energy Innovation Center,
itself a consortium of education and business, to build a mock
hospital unit and design curriculum with a clear pathway to
work. Thus far 100 percent of the participants have been placed
with starting wages of $12.50.
These examples demonstrate that workforce boards are core
to their communities by convening industry sectors to ascertain
skill needs, designing solutions with community college and
others, funding some of those solutions, and successfully
recruiting and placing participants. We assure you that
advances in better data gathering and analytics, guided by the
private sector's twin focus of effectiveness and continuous
improvement further offer promise for an even more effective
delivery system.
And, again, we urge Congress to reject the proposed cuts.
I thank you for the opportunity to testify and I look
forward to answering questions.
[The statement of Mr. Painter follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you for your testimony. Mr. Dubin,
you are now recognized for 5 minutes for your testimony.
TESTIMONY OF LOUIS DUBIN, CHAIRMAN, GOVERNOR'S WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT BOARD, STATE OF MARYLAND
Mr. Dubin. Thank you very much. Good morning. Thank you,
Chairman Guthrie, and members of the committee, for inviting me
to testify today. It's actually quite thrilling to be here
today.
I'm Louis Dubin, chairman of the Maryland Governor's
Workforce Development Board, our State board, and managing
partner of Redbrick LMD, a diversified real estate investment
and management and development firm.
The State board is made up of 53 members representing
business, workforce, education, union, and partner State
agencies. As required by Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act, WIOA, our State board has a business majority and all
members of the board are appointed by the governor. The goal of
the State board is to build partnerships and relationships that
align the needs of business and job seekers through a
purposeful approach with key stakeholders to support workforce
and economic growth in the State of Maryland. Maryland is open
for business, and this is part of that theme. Inclusion,
diversity, and determination are really the cornerstones of our
success.
We've created five business-led task force groups based on
industry sectors. This is one of our real keys to I think our
secret sauce. Those sectors include cybersecurity, IT,
healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, skilled trades,
changing demographics, and marketing branding. We created an
ambassador program where each of the board members had a
responsibility to reach out to colleagues in their respective
areas of expertise and invite them to join the conversation as
part of the task force. We currently have over 100 workforce
stakeholders--these are all volunteers--that meet to advise the
governor and make recommendations on workforce development
programs and strategies targeted to these specific in-demand
industries and populations in the State. It's narrow, it's
focused.
State board built a framework to allow for collaboration
and conversation among all workforce stakeholders centered
around an anchor organization that has displayed best practices
in a specific industry sector. For example, we had our
cybersecurity task force hosted by the National Security
Agency, which was attended by over 20 stakeholders on our
cybersecurity task force. NSA described their recruitment
process and communication with educational institutions,
assessment procedures, and career training programs. This type
of purposeful engagement allows both government and private
sector to collaborate with the State and local workforce
system, community college, and university leaders to develop
relevant curriculums and transfer best practices so they can
become part of the workforce ecosystem. Inclusion, diversity,
determination, these task force connections have led to
employers building relationships with individual school
district leaders. Together they provide K-12 school
professionals professional development to teachers, counselors,
principals, and parents. Now they can guide students and make
them aware of potential opportunities to participate in
robotics competitions, cyber competitions, and exercises that
can lead to a career in cybersecurity and IT.
One of our State's leading nonprofits, Living Classrooms,
runs two charter school and afterschool programs, recently won
the divisional robotics championship with a team of inner-city,
at-risk youth and competed and placed in an international
robotics competition recently. Out of 1,300 teams
internationally we got 51, 51st. Big successes. Living
Classrooms is an example of how we can look at all of our
State's resources, public and private, community and faith-
based, to provide our students with the skills they need to
succeed in the workforce. Living Classrooms is doing wonders in
Baltimore and D.C., but there are also terrific examples in
rural communities. Congressman Barletta, the SHINE afterschool
program in your district is an example of a rural afterschool
partnership that is preparing our students for the future.
Partnering with Carbon Career & Technical Institute, Lehigh
Carbon Community College, SHINE provides an innovative
educational model by teaming technical experts with academic
teachers, and through hands-on career projects connects
students to math, science, with a real-world application.
Inclusion, diversity, determination.
In April, Governor Hogan announced an apprenticeship awards
to local community partners through the Apprenticeship
Innovation Fund, which was developed with the U.S. Department
of Labor with a $2 million grant to advance apprenticeships in
Maryland.
There are many possibilities for creating opportunities to
assist the development of apprenticeship programs, not only in
traditional industries such as construction and other skilled
trades, but also by expanding into the nontraditional
industries, such as information technology, healthcare, and
cybersecurity. We have Apprenticeship Services, TranZed.
They've received over 2 awards to provide pre-apprenticeship
services to over 200 apprentices in the cyber and IT space.
They'll provide outreach services to new employers, recruit and
attract new apprentices through engagement with local schools,
and assist job seekers with interview and technical skills.
Inclusion, diversity, determination.
We also have a benchmarking program, which is a little too
long for my 5 minutes today that we've outlined in our written
testimony that I appreciate you all reading as well.
But thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to
give our comments.
[The statement of Mr. Dubin follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. I thank all the witnesses for
their testimony. We will now move to member questions and I
will recognize myself for 5 minutes for the purpose of asking
questions.
So, Mr. Dubin, in your experience, you just finished your
testimony, what is the most important element to making the
success of your State Workforce Board? What is the secret to
your secret sauce I guess is there?
Mr. Dubin. I mean, I think a lot of it is inclusion and
people that are being included in the conversation in process
having a stake, whether it's an educator, whether it's a job
seeker. We have representation of really all different kinds of
people that are in that workforce ecosystem on the task forces
and there's a lot of energy behind it. And we require you in
person, you know, attending a certain number of meetings if
you're going to be on the board it somewhat disciplines. I
think that's part of it, is just the citizens of our State that
have a stake in the workforce system, which most people do,
getting involved and really making this ambassadorship program
an important cornerstone to build upon. And telling our board
members, we have over 50 board members that this is one of the
expectations we have of you of recruiting people. You know,
it's that web, it's those connections that end up ultimately
getting people trained and ultimately purposeful and meaningful
employment.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. I appreciate the answer to
that.
Mr. Berlin, I was interested to learn that your employment
program focused on job seekers of similar age. After receiving
the services did this focus seem to make sense? And of the
services you were providing, that uniquely benefit job seekers
your age, are there any you would recommend that other
workforce development agencies should consider?
Mr. Berlin. Other age groups or?
Chairman Guthrie. So you were an age-particular workforce
program, similar age workforce program? You thought that was
beneficial to be of your age?
Mr. Berlin. Well, of the participants in the class that I
was in were of a similar age.
Chairman Guthrie. Right. You thought that was helpful or
you thought it should have been just diverse or all ages or you
are sharing similar experiences I would guess?
Mr. Berlin. Well, I think it was helpful because we all had
sort of common life experiences, common purposes, common
experience in looking for jobs. I mean, it was a diverse group,
you know, ethnically. You know, I think probably the youngest
people were in the mid, maybe early 30s. But in general
everyone was pretty close in age to me.
Chairman Guthrie. I guess my question, and you are
answering it, is that having people in the similar situation--I
mean, diverse in other--I am talking just age, it is helpful
because you are having the same experience instead of having
somebody looking for their first job or somebody looking for a
change in career. So I appreciate your answer in that. Thank
you.
So, Ms. Paczynski, in enacting the Workforce Innovation
Opportunity Act, Congress envisioned a business-led workforce
development system that encourages increased efficiency,
program innovation, and competition. What steps has South
Carolina taken to increase competition and provide expanded
program options to State businesses?
Ms. Paczynski. We've worked very closely with our State
Chamber of Commerce, who is the voice of business and industry,
as well as other trade associations. And they've informed us
that it's the accelerated training, the credentials, and the
certificates that are essential to fill the jobs today, to
address that skill mismatch, and soft skills. And the soft
skill area in our State, developing a curriculum designed by
the soft skill needs of our business and industry, and
deploying that Statewide. Those are areas in which we've
highlighted on, coupled with apprenticeships, making sure that
not only that we can put in place apprenticeships for adults
and youth, but incentivizing it for businesses. That $1,000 tax
credit is essential.
Chairman Guthrie. Well, thank you. And it is all important
what you are doing. Every business person that I know is saying
we need access to a better skilled workforce. So we appreciate
what efforts you are doing.
That concludes my questions and I will yield back and
recognize Ranking Member Davis; 5 minutes for questions.
Ms. Davis. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And I wanted
to say that I was really impressed by everything that you had
to say. And I think in many ways, with your very eloquent way
of providing that experience that you have had, that you make
the case that WIOA is progressing, is making a difference. And
at the same time, we know that there is not a lot of reporting
that we have been able to benefit from yet because the full
program has really only been there for a year. But I wonder if,
you know, given that do any of you believe that a 40 percent
cut in WIOA programs, kind of across the board for all the
different--particularly the four different programs, would
further our country's need for high standard training and good
jobs?
Anybody feel that would make a difference? Would it make us
focus differently, consolidate any of those programs? No? Okay,
just for the record I wanted to be sure I was hearing you
correctly because I do think you were very enthusiastic.
I also wanted to perhaps very quickly, and if you could
just give one example, what do you believe would be the impact
of changes if we did try to, whether it is consolidation,
whether it is cutting of programs, what effect would that have?
Is there one particular program that you think would really be
effective?
Mr. Painter, do you want to start, as you are a
representative of the workforce boards?
Mr. Painter. Thank you, Congressman Davis. We've been
asking our members, like what impact do the cuts have? And
certainly you can begin to see it quickly and rapidly when you
start looking at a reduction in the number of adults like Heath
that are supported in training. You're going to look at an
retrenchment in the amount of training resources that are given
to any one individual to try. And it's always a dilemma, do you
serve more with a little bit or do you serve people deeply with
the resources that they may need. But I think clearly as we
look at the boards we see cuts across the board in the number
of individuals who would be trained. I think it also starts to
put deep pressure on the system because the kinds of things
that we see in the early evaluation that are important are
these intensive services. And that's where one individual talks
to another individual, works with them on what kind of
assessment, what kind of aptitudes they have, what kind of
options and opportunities are available. So when you start
impacting the training and then you start impacting the
infrastructure of how people who are currently get there.
Ms. Davis. Thank you. I wanted to just go down and see if
others have just a different thought about where you think
those cuts would go. Again, because we are talking about newer
programs, innovative programs that could be actually first on
the chopping list.
Ms. Paczynski, do you want to respond? I think your
microphone is not on.
Ms. Paczynski. Thank you, Representative Davis. In South
Carolina, we would likely serve fewer individuals and fewer
businesses. However, the state of our economy will ultimately
determine how we will move forward with workforce development.
Ms. Davis. Thank you. Mr. Berlin, where would you have been
if perhaps those relationships were not available to you to
build on for your?
Mr. Berlin. Right. Yeah, commenting on the funding cuts and
stuff like that is a bit beyond me, but I can tell you that I
do not know that I would be here today talking about having
been successfully employed again if those programs were not
available to me. And I think it would be a shame if other
people that were in my similar circumstances did not have that
available.
Ms. Davis. Thank you. Mr. Dubin? In fact, you spoke very
enthusiastically about apprenticeships, and one of the things
if I could ask you this question, is that we know that the
President is announcing a new direction supposedly today and I
am wondering whether you think that there is a risk in not
having programs that are going to have a high level of
accountability as we look at apprenticeship programs or other
certified programs. What risks do you see?
Mr. Dubin. Well, I hoped there would be some corresponding
additional programs that I think are going to be announced, or
some of that, today. So I'm not privy to what those are, but I
would hope there would some corresponding programs. I am very
enthusiastic on apprenticeships and CTE. I know it's a whole
other discussion, but I would hope that the dialogue includes
not only apprenticeships, but CTE in our schools, that are
pathways into very meaningful employment. In many cases these
young people--we have a lot of CTE success stories come to our
State board. They're making a lot more than their colleagues a
few years before graduating from high school and they just
started to save and some of them have bought their first house.
Ms. Davis. Thank you. I know my time is up and we have to
be reminded that these are Federal dollars that are going into
those programs so that there is an important element. Thank
you.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. Ranking member yields back. I
now recognize Mr. Mitchell for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Mitchell. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have an interesting
experience in that I began in workforce development in 1978. I
am dating myself. Those have been around for a while; remember
SDA. And I experienced SDA, JTPA, WIA, and WIOA. Different
place on WIOA. We operated those programs. When I started out I
worked for the State of Michigan in the Bureau of Employment
Training. What is amazing to me is it has taken this long to
get an evolution that we, in fact, recognize that you have two
customers: you have the employer community and you have
individuals needing assistance to go to work, because it has
taken that long to make this evolution. If you think about it,
quite an interesting world where it is largely government-
driven back at SDA and JTPA days to finally recognizing that we
really have to serve the business community and the individuals
seeking employment
The ROI is currently improving for both taxpayers and
individuals seeking assistance, and that is a wonderful thing
to see finally we can get a better handle on measuring that. I
am concerned, however. A couple of things I want to address
with questions. One is about the idea that two things have been
said. Well, we have gotten improvements and with more money we
can get more improvements. I spent 30 years in private business
and we did not just throw money at it to get improvements, it
was improving how we deliver the system. Help me out. Maybe
Miss Paczynski can help me. What was the unemployment rate in
South Carolina in 2010 to 2012? What was the unemployment rate
then, roughly? Pick a number.
Ms. Paczynski. I would say I don't have that number in
front of me, but significantly higher than the current 4.3.
Perhaps right around 8 percent, but I don't know for certain.
Mr. Mitchell. Yeah. And in my State it was double digits.
It was truly brutal in Michigan. And yet at this point in time,
some members of the committee and others argue that we need to
fund to WIOA at the exact same level that we funded it
historically, with, of course, various cost of living increases
or, you know, adjustments. But the unemployment rate is down
dramatically. Your service population is reduced, especially
among the dislocated workers. And I think we need to be honest
about that as you talk about it in the appropriations process
in Congress that what do we need to meet the needs of
individuals and businesses and not just, well, we spent that
last year, so we need to spend it this year. That is a
government mentality, that is not realistic private sector
mentality. And so as we talk forward we need to do that here in
Congress and I would encourage all of you to do that. Yeah, we
require adjustments.
The other fallacy, and all of you here know that, is that
if this reduction--and I am not here rallying for a 40 percent
reduction in workforce development funds, trust me on that--
that all of it is reduced from training grants, from what
trains people.
Mr. Painter, how much is allocated for the workforce board,
State administration?
Mr. Painter. Administrative expenses under WIOA are limited
to 10 percent.
Mr. Mitchell. At the Agency?
Mr. Painter. At the workforce board level, yes.
Mr. Mitchell. And then at the State it is how much? Do you
know?
Mr. Painter. It would be the same 10 percent.
Mr. Mitchell. That is 20. And then when I worked at the
State, and it is still the case now, there is also something
called the indirect cost rate, which is another 5 or 7 percent.
So pretty quickly, my point is, is that we peel off money out
of the system with a whole series of levels of administrative
costs, and we are assuming any reduction in grants is going to
simply result in this chart. It is not true, it is not
accurate. And one of the things we need to do as a system, both
here in Congress and I encourage you to do, is look at how much
we are putting in admin and what do we need to do to in fact
focus the money as much as we can and reduce those
administrative costs. That is what we did as a business.
One quick question, also, if I could, and maybe, Mr. Dubin,
you could help me. One of the things we have experienced in
Michigan is challenges with linking the workforce development
programs, private sector programs with the K-12 education
system. We still have not gotten that where it is working well
so we can begin the current technical ed for children, young
people, when they are still in school so they transition out to
an apprenticeship or something like that. What recommendations
do you have that would help with that?
Mr. Dubin. Well, our superintendent of schools sits on the
board. Actually, most of our cabinet in the State sits on the
Workforce Development Board, and many of them come to the
meetings. And the time before last we had our superintendent of
schools and most of the meeting was around CTE and education
and the awareness of that. And we had many employers there, we
have the union and other representatives there and on the
board, and the board is somewhat of an educational opportunity
and we use it as that. We usually have two or three
presentations each board meeting about subject matter or some
of these programs people may not really know about. And just
having the superintendent of schools, that's a good first step
I think.
Mr. Mitchell. I think you are right. And one final comment,
Mr. Chair, is that my robotics same says they can take your
robotics team. [Laughter] Thank you. Thank you. I yield back.
Chairman Guthrie. I thank you, gentleman, for yielding
back. I now recognize Mr. Courtney for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Courtney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really appreciate
you and the ranking member putting the spotlight on WIOA. I was
at the Executive Office Building the day the law was signed
into law on July 22, 2014. It was a beautiful sight. President
Obama, Vice President Biden, Chairwoman Foxx, bipartisan group
responding to an issue that I think every single member has
heard loud and clear from their district. And the other thing I
remember from it, there was not a single TV camera in the room
and when you tried to sort of find the press coverage it was
just buried. And, you know, I guess you can sort of draw a lot
of conclusions from that.
But again, I appreciate Mr. Painter bringing up the EWIB
Board in Eastern Connecticut, which is my district. Again, the
ramping up of ship production, submarine production, has been a
phenomenon that has been going on over the last 3 or 4 years.
The demand for welders, electricians, machinists, is off the
charts, along with engineers and designers.
And the statistics that you shared in terms of what the
Eastern Connecticut Manufacturing Pipeline Program has
produced, frankly, is only just a part of the story. I mean,
about the 4-, 500 that have come through these programs and
have been snapped up immediately. The employment rate is 100
percent for people that are going through there with great
jobs, with good benefits. The fact of the matter is, is that
the registrants into the program is about 10 times as large,
over 3,000 people have gone into the portal to sign up. And
again, we are moving forward in terms of getting people
enrolled in future classes.
But two things: number one, it shows that this sort of
narrative that Americans don't want to get involved with dirty
manufacturing is a false narrative. I mean, the fact of the
matter is that there really are takers out there who if they
are given the opportunity to close the skills gap, they will do
it.
And the second, obviously, is that the capacity in the
system is still not enough in terms of, you know, satisfying
both the demands signal, because EB will probably hire well
over 1,000 people this year, and that is going to continue into
the next probably 10 years at a steady clip. And so it is
demand on both sides in terms of workers and employer to meet
the needs.
The American Ship Building Association actually talked
about, you know, the 350-ship Navy, which came out of the Obama
Secretary of Navy, Secretary Mavis, but embraced by President
Trump as well. We are looking at about 18-, 25,000 new workers,
and these are really skilled positions, if we are going to meet
the Nation's demand for this. And there really is no other sort
of strategy other than WIOA in terms of really trying to take
on something that large.
The other point I would just simply make in terms of the
follow-up of the prior--and I am going to ask a question, but
if you look at the funding levels for 2017's Omnibus that we
just passed in April, it is still below what was in the
authorized levels in WIOA. Again, the bipartisan WIOA, which
authorized, you know, higher levels of funding than what was in
the 2017 budget, and then that is the budget that Ms. Davis,
you know, used as her baseline in terms of the cuts that were
proposed in President Trump's budget, 40 percent. So we are
talking about a level that is lower than what was authorized by
a bipartisan bill and we are cutting from that another $40,000.
So the capacity in the system in my district in terms of
dealing with those 3,000-plus people who have entered the
portal and registered is going to be reduced under this budget.
And, you know, if there are efficiencies that we need to look
at, you know, in terms of overhead, let us do it. But the fact
is that we are going to lose all the momentum that is happening
all over the country with these types of drastic cuts.
And, again, what you are seeing is, again, not just in
Eastern Connecticut, Mr. Painter, right? I mean, this is
something that is aerospace, you know, other sectors that
skills gap exists, is that correct?
Mr. Painter. Yes. You know, I don't visit a board, I don't
hear from a board that says we have no issue around a skilled
workforce. It's all over the place. A lot of conversation now
around where the unemployment level is and what about the folks
who are still out there, outside of the labor market, what is
the situation with the workforce. But you're right,
Congressman. And I think it's where we fought hard for
business-led boards at the State and local level because we
firmly believe, as Mr. Dubin pointed out, that when business
gets involved we do look at things like effectiveness and we do
look at efficiencies.
When I first got into this business, 1988, job training
began to have performance standards or an accountability
system. We have to perform in order to maintain local
designation, we have to perform as States. So I think what I
hear universally from directors is that if WIOA did nothing
else, it focused the workforce system on, to borrow a phrase,
job 1, and that is getting talent to business. And that's what
we're about.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. Thank you to the gentleman for
yielding. I now recognize Mr. Smucker for 5 minutes for
questions.
Mr. Smucker. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, Mr. Berlin,
thank you for being here. We appreciate you sharing your story.
Question for Ms. Paczynski and Mr. Dubin. My district is
home to numerous groups that serve individuals with
disabilities, including groups like VisionCorps, UniqueSource,
and SourceAmerica. And through recent conversations that I have
had with some of these groups regarding the interpretation of
WIOA, I am concerned that jobs for people with disabilities are
being threatened by inconsistent implementation of portions of
WIOA. I understand that in recent weeks 19 State vocational
rehabilitation agencies have stopped making placements to
nonprofit agencies for AbilityOne program jobs. And the
guidance that they are referencing is a Department of Education
FAC entitled ``Integrated Location Criteria, the Definition of
Competitive Integrated Employment.''
Now, in my district these jobs are located in integrated
settings, pay well above minimum wage. In many communities
AbilityOne jobs are among the best jobs available, especially
important given the fact that 80 percent of people with
disabilities don't have jobs at all. These jobs take place on
military installations, at GSA buildings, and at many Federal
agencies where daily interaction with the general public and
other government employees is a daily occurrence. And in fact,
in addition, these jobs pay an average hourly rate of $13.27.
State VR agencies have been making placements to AbilityOne
jobs through nonprofits for many years. So not only have
thousands of individuals with disabilities found meaningful
employment, but they have also reduced their reliance on public
assistance programs while becoming proud taxpayers.
So my question is, are your States still making VR
referrals? If not, why? What are you doing in South Carolina
and Maryland to protect access to jobs for your constituents
with disabilities?
Ms. Paczynski?
Ms. Paczynski. Yes, thank you, Representative Smucker. In
South Carolina, we are partnering very closely with our
vocational rehabilitation partner. They are involved with us
from creating strategies to allying priority populations with
the job openings. They are with us hand and foot, elbow to
elbow, as we talk about better business engagement. They are
with as we move forward and we're putting forth apprenticeships
for priority populations. They are there with us, helping with
some of those referrals so that the individuals are getting the
same access to those apprenticeship opportunities that we know
are so successful for work-based learning opportunities.
Mr. Smucker. Thank you. Mr. Dubin, what is your experience
in this area?
Mr. Dubin. Good example, last month we actually had a neuro
diversity, I guess, seminar at Towson State University on the
autism spectrum and the unique challenges. I was graced with
being able to attend that and I learned an awful lot. And I
also learned that some of these barriers really are not
disabilities, they are unique abilities in other things. And
the autism spectrum is one of those where there's a lot of
Maryland companies, especially on the IT side and cyber side
that with that spectrum there are some unique skill sets. So it
was really interesting, and I would encourage other states to
have some of these types of meetings to educate people on the
unique needs and abilities of what you're describing.
Mr. Smucker. Thank you. And I am going to change the
subject. I don't have much time, but really interested in
hearing what your States are doing on apprenticeship programs.
I come from a construction contracting background, so we made
use of apprenticeships, but also, I mean, look at what other
countries are doing and other States. I think bringing business
to the table is such a fundamental part of making that
successful. So I would be just interested hearing ways that you
have worked to--you both have talked about effective
apprenticeship programs in your States, how have you gotten the
businesses engaged?
Ms. Paczynski. For us the construction industry is one of
our top sectors and it was the construction industry that came
to us and said we would be willing and would like to have
apprentices. And from the returning citizen population we can
really make this work. If it were not for construction leading
that way, business representatives informing us of that
opportunity, I don't know that we would have made the progress
that we have seen today.
Mr. Smucker. Thank you. Mr. Dubin, 10 seconds.
Mr. Dubin. ABC in Maryland, Associated Builders and
Contractors, and the NSA, those are two big partners of our on
apprenticeships. And, yes, the NSA does have apprenticeships
for high school students.
Mr. Smucker. Thank you.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. Good timing, Mr. Smucker. I
now recognize Mr. Takano for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Painter, we have
touched on these 40 percent cuts by the administration,
proposed cuts. The administration has also discussed how having
States take a larger role in Federal programming, including
WIOA, could maybe compensate for this. And we all know that
State budgets are incredibly strained. Would the States even be
able to make this sort of financial adjustment in your opinion?
Mr. Painter. Thank you, Representative Takano. I'm not a
scholar of the State budgets, but there are not that many
States--in fact, it would be a minority of States--that are
putting funding into workforce development. A number of States
have customized job training programs which blend with WIOA
funding on economic development projects.
Mr. Takano. Great. Thanks. I want to follow up on the
apprenticeship theme. The media has reported that the
administration will unveil a new apprenticeship program that
will allow Federal dollars to flow essentially to unregistered
apprenticeship programs. This concerns me. The registration
process provides a national standard for apprenticeship
programs and it has, for instance, established labor standards,
like wage scale and antidiscrimination provisions. And I am
concerned that this administration will undercut a tried and
proven model.
Now, Ms. Paczynski, South Carolina has become a model for
expanding apprenticeships, going from 90 programs in 2007 to
nearly 900 programs--congratulations on that--in industries
that range from advanced manufacturing to healthcare to
information technology. And what is impressive is that these
are all registered programs.
Can you comment on why South Carolina has used the
registration process to support program quality and why
participating employers are willing to register their programs
in your State?
Ms. Paczynski. For our business community registered
apprenticeships offers a solution to the skill gap. And
certainly in our State we've incentivized apprenticeships to
further foster the use of that as a tool. We believe firmly
that the willingness of business and industry to bring in the
emerging workforce when coupled with an apprenticeship makes it
an ideal learning situation for both the business and the
youth. So we've seen great success because of our willingness
to engage businesses and it is a matter, though, of removing
some of the red tape that does come with the process.
Mr. Takano. I want to know more about that at some, maybe
offline, but businesses have not found registering their
apprenticeships to be overly burdensome it doesn't seem like.
From what I have here, all of the apprenticeships are
registered in South Carolina. So it doesn't seem like it is
necessarily for the administration to say that this money that
he is proposing should flow to unregistered programs.
Ms. Paczynski. Well, in South Carolina, registered
apprenticeships is actually coupled with our State technical
college system. So it becomes an educational tool that's used
for businesses predominantly, especially with our new business
and our growing business.
Mr. Takano. This is very interesting to me. So South
Carolina runs their Apprenticeship Carolina model through State
community colleges and all of your 16 community colleges are
engaged in the development and implementation of these
programs. Now, can you tell us why that partnership with
community colleges and other stakeholders is so important to
the success of your approach?
Ms. Paczynski. Certainly, it has to do with the educational
piece and the skills that come from understanding what the
business needs are and creating that apprenticeship to meet
those needs.
Mr. Takano. Could you have achieved the results you are
getting without the support and services from these public
sector partners, such as the community colleges?
Ms. Paczynski. I think they have been absolutely
instrumental in the success, yes.
Mr. Takano. Well, thank you for that. Mr. Painter, do you
have anything to add to this?
Mr. Painter. With regard to the registration, what we're
finding is I point to the West Michigan Workforce Board, which
working in medical technicians actually, working with
employers, help develop and file, and they are the sponsor of
the registered apprenticeship. So it is a process that, you
know, requires some skill. The registered apprenticeship also
helps us in terms of the individual, having the credentials
that are recognized more broadly across the industry.
Mr. Takano. So it is about recognizable credentials. So
what may seem like red tape to some folks--I mean, it looks
like South Carolina has been able to overcome some of that
burden and all of their 900 apprenticeships are registered
apprenticeships. I am impressed with that. I just question what
the administration is doing in terms of allowing--I applaud
that he wants to have money going to apprenticeships, but I
question about whether he should allow that to flow to
unregistered apprenticeships.
Thank you.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. I thank the gentleman for
yielding and I recognize Mr. Allen for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Allen. Thank you, Chairman, and thank you all for
participating today in this important hearing. A couple of
things that I have observed talking to the business community
in my district in Georgia. Well, first is workforce
participation. You know, I understand the employment numbers
in, of course, Georgia competes with South Carolina regularly
for these businesses, but both States are enjoying a low
employment number, but I was interested in South Carolina, as
far as workforce participation numbers. These are people that
maybe have dropped out of high school, that are either folks
who have dropped out of the workforce who are not seeking
employment and are able-bodied. Do you have any idea what that
number is in South Carolina as far as the workforce
participation rate?
Ms. Paczynski. I do not have that figure with me, but we
can get that to you afterwards.
Mr. Allen. Okay. I would be interested to know is there a
way to target those folks to get them interested in not only
completing their high school diploma, but also getting into
career education and some type of CTE program?
Ms. Paczynski. In South Carolina, certainly, you know, we
recognize very much our partnership with adult education. And,
of course, they are in the communities and that essentially is
our outreach to those that may have disappeared for a bit, is
going into the communities and engaging them there, and then
bringing them further into the services that are available.
Mr. Allen. Well, we know that over in Ag, the other
committee I serve on, that we have about 45 million people,
say, participating in SNAP program. And certainly a percentage
of these folks, you know, if given the opportunity for proper
training, and we have had folks like that testify there, that
if given the opportunity for proper skill training and then the
opportunity for a job, they move off of most of these programs.
And we got about 25 million people we need to get that done, so
that is why I am interested in that.
As far as the graduation rates, I called all of our county
superintendents right at the end of the school year--I have 18
counties in the district--and just checked in, talking about
graduation rates. I have one rural county that has a 94 percent
graduation rate. And I said how do you do this? And he said
career track at a very young age. We take young people into the
businesses, they see that, hey, I can do this, and they get on
a track. And it has been very successful.
Mr. Dubin, from your standpoint in Maryland, are you
looking at your high school dropout rate and where it is and
how you can take these young people that we lose and get them
involved in the workforce and get them involved in a career
that they would be very happy to participate in?
Mr. Dubin. I can't give you the exact numbers and
statistics, but I can give you something empirical quickly. A
young lady from Frederick, Maryland, recently came in and told
her story to our board. She was going to drop out of high
school. She really wasn't going to go on the college track, but
she loved working in the lab. And long story short, we had a
CTE program that really took advantage of her skill sets in the
lab. She ended up going through CTE, which was part of a
community college, I think it was Frederick Community College
program as well. When she graduated she was making around $15
an hour. When she got her certifications and the rest of her
credentialing, she was making over $20 an hour at 20 or 21
years old and on her way to buying a house. So those are good
stories. This was a young lady that came in, very tearfully,
sort of not testifying, but we do these presentations at each
of our board meetings, and told that story. So I don't have the
exact statistics, but those are the kinds of impacts we're
having.
Mr. Allen. How did she know about this program?
Mr. Dubin. It was a very in-demand program. We have limited
resources in CTE in Maryland. That's a whole other issue. But
it was very in-demand and she was thinking of dropping out and
I think her guidance counselor told her about it.
Mr. Allen. Okay. Okay. So your high school counselors know
about the programs you offer there?
Mr. Dubin. Oh, yes, sir.
Mr. Allen. Okay. All right. So that is a good source. That
is great. As far as, Mr. Berlin, the new law is emphasizing the
importance of providing a wraparound service ----
Chairman Guthrie. I believe the gentleman's time has
expired.
Mr. Allen. Oh, excuse me. I yield back.
Chairman Guthrie. No problem. I now recognize Miss Blunt
Rochester for 5 minutes for questions.
Ms. Blunt Rochester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to
thank the panel and also congratulate Mr. Berlin on your
success. I, like my colleague, Mr. Mitchell, have been around
for a while through JTPA, SDA, WIN, Manpower. I was Secretary
of Labor when the Workforce Investment Act was initially signed
and then worked for University of Massachusetts, Boston, at the
Institute for Community Inclusion when WIOA was signed. And I
can say, like many of you, there has been I would say a
tremendous progression. When I think of the concepts of dual
customer and the fact that we have to focus on both the
employer and the job seeker; when I think about demand driven,
that we are really focused on what does the business community
need, using labor market information, and also looking at
evidence based practices; there is a lot going on across the
country.
And I would say instead of less money, I am not going to
say we need more in this environment, but I would say when the
unemployment rate is low it is when you get to people who are
maybe harder to employ, whether it is prison to work or whether
it is welfare to work, it requires intensity. And so I would
really like to focus on people with disabilities and get some
feedback from you.
Currently there are 56 million people with disabilities
across our country and yet only about 29.2 percent are
employed. And historically, our systems have not done a good
job of employing people with disabilities. And what WIOA was so
successful at was saying that there was a presumption of
ability that people could work and should work and have the
right to work. And so I was hoping you could share a little bit
more about your stories and their experiences of employing
people with disabilities and improving employment outcomes for
people with disabilities.
And I will start with Mr. Painter.
Mr. Painter. Thank you, Congresswoman. I have to admit that
it's not an area I'm steeped in, so I reached out to the
Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities. We work a lot with
respectability and ask Philip and his crew like what was going
on. And I was really pleasantly surprised to hear his statement
that they wanted to draw my attention and yours to the success
of youth with disabilities under WIOA.
Fully 15.6 percent of WIOA youth program participants were
youth with disabilities. That means that over 13,000 youth with
disabilities had unprecedented access to skill training and job
placement. Fully 65 percent of them with disabilities entered
into employment, ultimately a savings of over $300,000 per
beneficiary. So we are making, I think, substantial progress.
Ms. Blunt Rochester. Any of the other panelists have
experiences and outcomes with people with disabilities?
Ms. Paczynski. Representative Rochester, in South Carolina,
I don't have outcomes, but we certainly have a lot of effort.
And we have a coalition in our State that brings all the
partners together that work with individuals with disabilities.
And they engage the business community to find out what was the
gap between individuals who had the skills and the hiring
process, and from that really started to come to the table with
some strategies on how we could move forward.
We have a marketing campaign that has moved forward and we
are expecting to see results from this. Certainly our State
Workforce Development Board has identified that individuals
with disabilities is a focus. And we've brought it to the
attention of the business community and it's been well
received.
Ms. Blunt Rochester. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else?
Okay.
And, Mr. Chairman, if I could enter a letter into the
record from the Council of State Administrators of Vocational
Rehabilitation.
Chairman Guthrie. Without objection, so ordered.
Ms. Blunt Rochester. Thank you. The other question that I
had was, also, we talked a little bit about some minimum wage
jobs, and so, Mr. Painter, can you provide examples of steps
that States have taken to reduce some minimum wage jobs?
Mr. Painter. I can get that information to you. We'll
certainly look at it and talk to our members.
Ms. Blunt Rochester. I would just close by sharing that I
will be getting information from the Institute for Community
Inclusion on projects that have been happening across the
country in different places, very creative and innovative ways
to help people who are on Social Security Disability move into
jobs. And I think as we talk about the future we need to be
looking at how we can continue the positive progression that
WIOA has begun.
Thank you. I yield back.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you for yielding. I will now
recognize Mr. Byrne for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Byrne. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning,
everybody. I am the former chancellor of postsecondary
education for the State of Alabama Community College System,
former chair of a State Workforce Planning Council, member of
the State Workforce Board, and we staff the State Workforce
Board. So I am really pleased to hear all the progress we are
hearing around the country.
We passed WIOA my first year in Congress. So most of the
hard work was already done before I got here, but I was really
pleased to support it because it was in line with a lot of the
things that I had learned, the lessons I had learned from my
positions. And what we were really focused on to try to get
more private sector leadership and try to respond to the needs
of employers. So that was our intent. Sometimes we don't always
hit the mark.
And so what I would like to know, particularly from you,
Mr. Painter, and you, Mr. Dubin, how we do or can we do better
with the law than we did with WIOA?
Mr. Painter. Congressman, thanks for the question. I think
if there is anything that makes me more happier, I don't know
what it is, as I travel the country, but to see the kind of
business engagement that we have. For example, in Benton
Harbor, Michigan, Whirlpool has trained three of the staff for
our workforce board there, Kinexus in Six Sigma. They were the
highest in their class. They are now working to look at how we
do these things of increasing the effectiveness and the
efficiency inside the system.
When you look at the training programs, when you look at--
we just recently honored Lockheed Martin in the aviation
consortium around the Tarrant County in the Dallas area because
of the involvement. Businesses work hand-in-glove with the
workforce boards not only to help identify what impact the
aviation industry has in the Dallas region, but to develop a
very unique video or a game that you can play on your
smartphone called ``FLYBY DFW,'' which was designed by young
people, built by young people with the workforce board and with
business, and now engages lots of young people in learning more
about the aviation industry. I think there are examples across
the country like that. Congressman Thompson is very involved
with career in technical education. We honored Wyoming
Machines, which is in Minnesota. Two sisters started a company.
They are very involved with not only the community college
system, but the workforce boards in events like women in
technology and reaching back. So it is happening.
Mr. Byrne. The question is can we do better?
Mr. Painter. Without question I think that's--you designed
and I take very seriously continuous improvement as part of one
of the core tenants of WIOA. And as the National Association of
Workforce Boards we constantly talk to the workforce boards
about we can do better. And I think that's where business
engagement likewise helps us understand how.
Mr. Byrne. Thank you. Mr. Dubin?
Mr. Dubin. You know, my observations are really I guess
twofold. One, we've made it on our State board, you know, it's
important to do service. So in the business community or in the
ecosystem of workforce we've made it to be, you know, something
that's very, very important in terms of public service. A lot
of us serve on the boards of our churches and community groups
and nonprofits. This is very, very, very important. So we've
made that a focus and we put the arm on businesses in our
communities. So we've been selecting well, we've been trying to
get that big web, you know, out there.
I think it comes down to people being willing to give of
their time and energy as a volunteer. I'm a volunteer. You
know, I have a day job and this is something that's become a
passion because it's a great way to serve. And that's part of
the message I think we need to get out. This is a great way to
serve and it's productive, because if you're smart about it
you're also finding populations and groups of people that you
can employ. And I think it's a really good thing. So I think
service is getting that message across.
Mr. Byrne. Well, I just wanted to close my time by saying
this, I hear a lot of talk about money, and money is important.
Golly, I know that having run these programs. But sometimes the
most impact we have comes from when we bring in people from the
private sector and the people from the private sector do things
that government simply can't do. I wasn't very good at
persuading a 15-year-old to be interested in career technical
education, but if I brought in the local employer that would
actually employ that 15-year-old when he or she finished that
program, we got their attention and we got their mother and
dad's attention as well.
So I really want to commend your work and the work that we
hope that we have begun under WIOA to get more private sector
people involved because that's where the rubber is really going
to hit the road.
And I yield back.
Chairman Guthrie. The gentleman yields back. Mr. Polis is
recognized for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Polis. Thank you so much, Chairman Guthrie and Ranking
Member Davis. This is a very important topic. When WIOA passed
in 2014, it really made important changes to better align our
workforce development system with the skills that people need
to succeed in the 21st century. I am proud that our Colorado
State plan really seeks to do just that. The plan focuses on
engaging the business community and industry to align the
workforce training programs, as well as leveraging data to
support strong accountability and innovation.
We recently launched CareerWise, a program that aligns our
educational workforce systems through a new public-private
partnership I am very excited about with the State and industry
leaders. CareerWise has a goal of placing 20,000 high school
students in apprenticeship by 2027, which would give students
real-world, on-the-job experience, put them on a path towards a
good-paying career.
Mr. Painter, in your testimony you mentioned support from
WIOA grants for coding programs in Eastern Kentucky. In our
State there are several coding boot camps, like Galvanize and
the Turing School, which graduate students and help place them
into good-paying jobs just waiting to be filled. But because
these programs don't have higher education accreditation, they
are not eligible for Federal education aid, they are largely
self-paid. But some are exploring potentials for receiving
State workforce grants, another potential avenue to help lower
income families be able to avail themselves of those
opportunities.
Can you speak more about short-term accelerated programs
like coding boot camps and what States can do to ensure
quality, accountability, but also accessibility for the
programs to receive funding?
Mr. Painter. Thank you, Congressman. And Colorado is one of
my favorite workforce systems to visit. You have a
collaborative DNA, I think, or a gene in your DNA in Colorado.
What we are seeing are these kind of short-term boot camps, and
they're across industries. You can look at examples in
Minnesota where the workforce board put together with the
healthcare sector a boot camp that has been able to reduce
turnover. So that's real money to business. When individuals
know that they're ----
Mr. Polis. Did the workforce center originate that or were
they just kind of a partner in the conversations?
Mr. Painter. They were a partner with business. Business
came to them and said how do we reduce turnover in some of our
entry level positions? So they designed a boot camp so the
individual really does understand what the work is. There are
examples in manufacturing, where workforce boards have designed
boot camps around manufacturing. The robotics competition was
mentioned earlier. It's an incredible program ----
Mr. Polis. Are there any barriers to WIOA participation
that we should be aware of or act to remove?
Mr. Painter. I think when the funding is solely based on
WIOA, you know, we talked earlier about cuts, when we're
picking up the bill for these boot camps and we can't find the
funds to braid, then they are certainly at risk.
Mr. Polis. Another question, Mr. Painter, and we will go to
anybody else who wants to address it. As you know,
entrepreneurship is absolutely critical for our future success.
Today's garage company could be tomorrow's employer of
thousands of people. And recent research from the Coffin
Foundation found that about 20 percent of gross job creation
comes from brand new businesses.
Can you talk about how WIOA supports entrepreneurship and
is there more that Congress can do to support opportunities and
entrepreneurship from self-employment to creating tomorrow's
great company?
Mr. Painter. We've come a long way in workforce boards
supporting entrepreneurial training. One of the most gratifying
projects is if you look at Gainesville, Florida, the Innovation
Center at the University of Florida, the workforce board works
hand-in-glove with them so that companies that need the next
employee can find on-the-job training contracts through the
board. Incumbent worker training is provided to entrepreneurs
and startups to move those companies. So when you look at the
wall of companies that have graduated, if you will, from the
Innovation Center, it is replete with companies that have
received WIOA support.
Mr. Polis. Would somebody else like to address the
entrepreneurship within WIOA and how we can further encourage
that? No?
Finally, Mr. Painter, a critical component of supporting
Colorado's WIOA implementation is funding, of course. And as
you mentioned, President Trump's proposed budget makes drastic
cuts. Can you share more about what the effect of those budget
cuts would be if they were to occur? And what would be the
trickle-down effect to local workforce boards where the rubber
meets the road?
Mr. Painter. Local workforce boards are going to
experience--you know, there is a certain amount of
infrastructure, there is a certain amount of fixed cost that's
in the system because we must maintain one-stops in every local
area across the country. It's going to have an impact on--we
look at 5,000 youth, you know, an average cost of $5,000 per
youth served. I talked to a board recently that has 34,000
young people 16 to 24 not in the labor force. They have money
to serve 1,000. Budget cuts are going to impact even that. We
can't even serve the number of individuals now who are
eligible.
Mr. Polis. Thank you. And I yield back.
Chairman Guthrie. The gentleman yields back. Recognized is
Mr. Grothman for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Grothman. Thank you very much. I think I will aim these
at Ms. Paczynski, but if anybody else wants to talk you can
feel free to chime in.
I have always been very interested in people with different
abilities. Yesterday stopping by my office, a gal who I have
known before, she is 35 years old working at Walmart, you know,
taking care of herself, and just a tremendous story and a story
I wish I could repeat it again and again and again. It seems to
me that this program doesn't necessarily always offer the
flexibility we would want for people in her position. It is my
understanding that rehabilitation services administration has
advised State vocational rehab offices not to refer people with
disabilities to jobs falling under AbilityOne contracts or
State set-aside programs. Is that possibly true?
Ms. Paczynski. In South Carolina, vocational rehabilitation
is braided within the workforce system. We are true partners in
finding people employment.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. If a person learns of any available
job, are the States being prohibited from providing any
necessary supports? And I would like any of the rest of you to
answer, too, if that applies to your State.
Ms. Paczynski. We are, again, we are moving forward in a
partnership for individuals going through the vocational
rehabilitation system.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. I will ask this one more specific.
Under section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which is
amended through this law, it bars anyone with a disability
under the age of 25 to work under a section 14(c) certificate
for less than minimum wage unless they have failed one or more
jobs. Do you believe that is true?
Ms. Paczynski. I do not have information on that.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. Okay. I will emphasize to you, and I
want you to get back to the committee, I sometimes feel we are
not doing enough to provide flexibility for people with
different types of disabilities as they transition into being
self-supporting in life and would like your input to the
committee in that regard.
Now, I will give you a general broader question. It is true
that under President Trump's proposed budget there are some
cutbacks in these programs. I would like each of you in your
States to tell me percentage-wise how much of these programs
right now are State funded as opposed to funded by your local
businesses or State and local governments.
Ms. Paczynski. I would have to get back to the committee
with that information.
Mr. Grothman. Do you have an approximation?
Ms. Paczynski. I do not have an approximation.
Mr. Grothman. Sixty percent, 15 percent?
Ms. Paczynski. I would like to get back to the committee
with that information.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. Any of the rest of you? Yes, Mr. Dubin?
Mr. Dubin. About 90 percent federally funded.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. Mr. Painter? Mr. Berlin? In your areas?
Mr. Painter. It has to be the vast majority of the money is
Federal money. I mean, I know when we were looking at who's
paying the cost for the American job centers, that was Wagner-
Peyser and then WIA, the adult dislocated worker and youth
projects, that were paying well over 90 percent.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. Mr. Berlin?
Mr. Berlin. So I was a candidate ----
Mr. Grothman. You really wouldn't be able to ----
Mr. Berlin. So I wouldn't have that information.
Mr. Grothman. Let us know. Okay. Do you feel that there are
any Federal requirements here, and I will ask any of you that
we could lift that would give you more flexibility, that would
make things better? In other words, are there ever, as you
administer these programs or deal with these programs,
situations you say, oh geez, why do we have to fill out this
form, or why can't we do that?
Mr. Dubin. I believe that there is really a lot of
prohibitions around marketing. I mean, one of the basic things
I asked is why aren't we, you know, getting the message out a
little bit more commercially, like we're used to? And I'd have
to get back to you on the specifics, but I face some real
barriers in tapping dollars to do something any of us in
business would, that's market ourselves in a commercial way.
So I'll get back to you with recommendations there that are
more specific.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. Ms. Paczynski, do you have any--as you
deal with these programs you kind of feel like either why do I
have to fill out this form or why can't I do this?
Ms. Paczynski. I would say that when it comes to reporting
effectiveness in serving businesses each State would have its
own performance measure indicators based upon what their
businesses are indicating what success looks like.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. So you don't feel in any way your hands
are tied by Federal rules or regulations?
Ms. Paczynski. We continue to move forward with the
implementation. And so at this time I do not have anything to
offer.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. I will yield the remainder of my time.
Chairman Guthrie. The gentleman's time has expired. I now
recognize Mr. DeSaulnier for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. DeSaulnier. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I really
appreciate the work that all of you do and, Mr. Berlin, the
experience you have had.
So my question is going to come from a viewpoint that
having been involved in a workforce investment board as a small
business owner and then been involved at the State of
California as an elected official, I carried a bill that both
had the Chamber of Commerce and the Labor Federation as their
sponsors. And I thought I had found nirvana. And the bill just
required that--and this was during the recession, so there was
a real sense of urgency around the country, and it was true for
California as well--about getting people to work in an
environment that no one had seen before in terms of how do we
get people to work? So the bill just said that 25 percent of
all your funds has to go to training. Some of our boards
thought I was the anti-Christ for presenting this. And I don't
want to sound like--well, Ms. Foxx has accused me when I bring
this up of sounding like a Republican, so Mr. Chairman and
Ranking Member, accept this--I have seen really high-performing
workforce investment boards and I have seen some that aren't so
high-performing. So we are loathe to prescribe too much, but
Mr. Dubin and then Mr. Painter, how do we get the level of I
think urgency that our clients need, both the employers and the
employees that you seem to have struck, Mr. Dubin, in Maryland,
to get those high-performing boards to bring the lower-
performing boards up to the same level? And I see too many
boards in California that are checking boxes, that don't have
that level of urgency, and want to do what you seem to have
done in Maryland. So maybe you could address that?
Mr. Dubin. Well, first, in Maryland, I feel like I have a
real mandate from our governor. So if it starts there, if it
starts at the top, you feel, you know, pretty broad-shouldered
in going and putting arms on people and asking them to come and
participate. So it comes with leadership.
We're also self-imposing our own benchmarking right now.
We're going to be benchmarking and setting the bar higher than
the Federal standards. So on some of the concerns about the
Federal standards, I'm not an expert on all the paperwork and
all the rest, but I will tell you that the standards and the
ways that we will be judging ourselves, the efficacy of service
and delivery, is around human beings being employed and the
stickiness of that employment. And we literally have a task
force now that I'm participating on as well, with our
Department of Labor in the State of Maryland, on that
benchmarking and I think we have an opportunity to sort of be
one of the national leaders in that benchmarking. And perhaps
that's a way in teaching those benchmarks that are being
thought through in 2017 to bring the standard and raise the bar
for some of the less-performing boards.
Mr. DeSaulnier. So you have found that to be effective,
just by having those performance standards? You know, I am sure
there are boards that perform better than others in your State
and you are seeing all of the levels come up by doing this.
Mr. Dubin. We anticipate that will happen. That's why we're
doing sort of our State higher bar than WIOA benchmarking and
standards.
Mr. DeSaulnier. Mr. Painter?
Mr. Painter. Thanks for the question, Congressman. It
certainly concerns us as well that we want high-performing
workforce boards across the U.S. I think one of the victims
when budgets get tight is that you start letting go of internal
training. And I think when we look at a labor market that has
as many transactions in the course of year as the U.S. labor
market, I think to a degree, collectively, we have been remiss
in not investing more money in the thousands of people who
offer assistance to people like Heath across the country. I
would really like to see us spend more money on internal
capacity-building for workforce development professionals.
Mr. DeSaulnier. On a separate issue, but one of my
colleagues from Michigan brought this up, and I have a lot of
respect for him, having unemployment rates be sort of the
performance mark in whether we should lower budgets. But that,
I think, is just one thing we should consider.
Mr. Painter, maybe you can sort of respond to that, that we
have people who are out of the workforce right now, we have
people on disability, we have got people who need to be
retrained. So unemployment is not the only measurement we
should be looking at in terms of reinvesting in these issues.
Mr. Painter. No, I would agree. I think the situation we're
in--I had the opportunity the other day to talk to an economist
who was talking about the situation we're in, that this is
really a skill development pathway that we have to pursue in
order to get ourselves out of what we are hearing from
employers in terms of not being able to find qualified workers.
To find those individuals who are on the periphery of the labor
market today takes marketing, takes more effort, takes the
innovation that we're seeing out of some of the workforce
boards with better websites, reliance on smartphone messaging
to individuals. But, you know, again, I hate to sound like a
broken record, but again, that takes resources to do that kind
of change.
Mr. DeSaulnier. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. Mr.
Barletta is recognized for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Barletta. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Dubin, thank you
for being here and I appreciate you recognizing the SHINE
program. I have long been a champion of SHINE from the very
first day that I toured the program.
And for those who don't know, it is an afterschool program
operating in my district that is geared toward students from
kindergarten through 8th grade. The SHINE program has been
proven to help kids improve attendance, behavior, test scores.
Teachers have come forward and saw a remarkable difference in
these students that were not showing up to school as much,
their attendance may not have been as good and they were not
participating, and all of that has changed because of that
program. And SHINE has showed me that when you awaken the minds
of young children with hope and possibility of what their
futures can be that there is no stopping them.
That is why I am happy that you chose to highlight one of
SHINE's many strengths, connecting students with career and
technical experts so that they are exposed to job opportunities
that they otherwise might not even know exist. We all know that
we must bridge the skills gap to help more of our constituents
realize good-paying jobs and to help our local businesses
thrive. This is good for our communities and it is good for
America.
But I believe we must also work to remove the stigma that
is associated with nontraditional technical careers. Studies
show that educating students about their options at a younger
age is central to achieving this goal. After all, even if we
have job training programs in place they are nothing without
dedicated and enthusiastic students to take advantage of them.
So, Mr. Dubin, through your experiences on the Maryland
Workforce Board, do you have any suggestions on how we can
better incentivize workforce development organizations to
engage with afterschool programs like SHINE and how can
communities work within the existing framework of WIOA to
establish and identify these partnerships?
Mr. Dubin. I think the first is with the educators. You
know, sometimes you get some of the resistance from the
educators because they are teaching, you know, different sorts
of skills. You know, educators have their own idea about
pedagogy, their own idea about the experiences in school. And I
think that's where some of the block may be, to be candid, is
having that dialogue and having the, you know, will at the
State level to have those discussions with your State school
superintendants or what have you. So I think it's a big one.
In Maryland, we have very successful CTE programs, we just
need to find avenues for more funding. I'll be very clear about
it. I'm a big proponent of, you know, funding. And where you
get those dollars there's usually big waiting lists. And so,
you know, funding to CTE, the educators. A lot of employers
that are looking for skilled people, people that need to be
trained, in our State they are very much our partners with CTE.
I think that we're under capacity in what we're producing on
the CTE side actually.
Mr. Barletta. I had a local employer approach me just a
couple of weeks ago and said he had 100 good-paying jobs, but
literally cannot find people to fill them. In fact, his biggest
hurdle he said was getting people to pass the drug test. And I
hear this more and more often and it is discouraging when there
are so many people unemployed, there are so many jobs that are
available, and we know what we have got to do, teach the
skills, but I think somewhere we have got to get back to teach
basic skills, like showing up to work on time and, you know,
don't call in sick 5 minutes before you are supposed to show
up.
Mr. Dubin. And if I may, that's one of the reasons the
State of Maryland also spends some considerable resources on
soft skills. Soft skills are important. Soft skills are very
important. Not everyone, you know, had the advantage of growing
up with people around them that taught them the things you need
to be successful. And so I'm also a big proponent of soft
skills training. And we see it at the board all the time, those
big success stories because that little extra element of soft
skills gave someone the ability to go and do an interview and
get a job.
Mr. Barletta. And I am going to close with another
commercial. If anyone has not heard about the SHINE program, go
online because it can be a model around the country. We have
taken kids who may have lost interest and totally redirected
their lives. When I went in these kids were building robots and
remote-controlled cars and it was just amazing, and I think we
have really got to refocus who we are helping.
Thank you.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. I
recognize Mr. Espaillat, 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Espaillat. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I ask unanimous
consent to enter into the record a letter from the Campaign for
Youth, which underscores the importance of WIOA's Federal
investment in youth.
Chairman Guthrie. Without objection, so ordered.
Mr. Espaillat. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Painter, as
others have mentioned here today, WIOA prioritizes a service
for those with the greatest barriers to employment, including
low-income and out-of-school youth. I know this firsthand
because I benefitted from a summer youth job program in New
York--in fact, it was my first job opportunity as a young
teenager--and can attest to how critical funding for these
programs are. While WIOA focuses funding on out-of-school
youth, the law still encourages services to low-income and in-
school youth. This means that local workforce systems must
engage and partner with school districts to serve these young
people.
What does that mean for big urban areas like New York City
that have a large school system and, unfortunately, a very high
dropout rate?
Mr. Painter. I think as Congressman Barletta mentioned,
workforce boards across the country, I'm very happy to say, are
funded by--NAWB is funded by the Kellogg Foundation to pursue a
two-generation strategy. When we got the award we put out a
notice to local boards. We gave them 10 days to respond back to
us. Thirteen of them came back and asked us to help fund local
efforts who are working in Montgomery County, Maryland;
Maricopa, Arizona; and El Paso, Texas. What we discovered is
that workforce boards, through their business partnerships, are
involved with the pre-K through 12 system in all aspects,
working at career days, working with career and tech centers on
what kind of occupations are in demand, what are the
certifications that industries in the region are looking at.
I think, again, with regard to out-of-school youth there
are places like Cincinnati, Ohio, Hamilton County, where
virtually 100 percent of the youth money is spent on out-of-
school youth. It is one of the major changes in WIOA and I am
happy to say that we are making substantial progress in trying
to figure out how to reach out-of-school youth and reengage
them, many times through projects like robotics and hands-on
kind of work-based learning.
Mr. Espaillat. In fiscal year 2016, New York City alone
received more than $65 million in total from WIOA funding for
employment programs serving two groups of New Yorkers: the
youth and adults. New York City has utilized its funding to
reconnect our disconnected youth to educational and workforce
opportunities and has played an integral role in providing
adults with the necessary skill sets to enter the workforce.
For example, the Workforce1 Centers, one of which is located in
Harlem, in my district, received WIOA funding and connected
25,000 New Yorkers to jobs. Earlier this year, the Workforce1
Healthcare Career Centers, a specialized center with industry
expertise in healthcare, worked closely with the center Plans
for Healthy Living and the second-largest managed long-term
care provider in New York State. This employer was facing
severe challenges to find the appropriately qualified
registered nurses, which seems to be a great need, not just in
New York State, but across the country. But the healthcare
center successfully sourced, screened, and referred a number of
qualified registered nurses to the employer. The result was a
phenomenal increase: 21 individuals got hired over the course
of the 1 month as registered nurses, earning between 74- to
$86,000 per year, and the employer was thrilled to fill so many
positions so quickly.
Can you explain what are the real and lasting impacts of
essentially cutting in half our investment in these critical
programs, specifically in New York?
Mr. Painter. Well, I think as you mentioned, Congressman, I
mean, in many places WIOA is the foundation of these
connections between out-of-school youth, and in some cases in-
school youth, through the work of the boards. There is nothing
else. WIOA is the foundation of making these connections.
In New York, as you mentioned, again, it is one of the key
partners in the projects that are going on in New York City, as
it is elsewhere. When you think about summer youth employment
it is a braiding of funding at the local level between, as Mr.
Dubin pointed out, business kicking in, local philanthropic,
CDBG, CSBG, and WIOA funds, all braided to try and provide the
work experience that we know is essential for young people to
get to experience. And I'm happy to say, like you, I am a
former summer youth employment participant.
Chairman Guthrie. Gentlemen, time has expired.
Mr. Espaillat. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you. And I now recognize Mr.
Thompson for 5 minutes for questions.
Mr. Thompson. Thank you, Chairman. Thanks to the members of
the panel for being here today. I am very proud of the work
that we have done over the past number of years here on this
Education and Workforce Committee, starting with a strong
bipartisan piece of legislation that we are doing oversight on
today, WIOA. And, Chairman, thank you for doing the oversight.
I have found it is not good enough to pass effective and
righteous pieces of legislation, but, unfortunately, we are at
the mercies of unelected bureaucrats on how it gets
implemented. And in providing that oversight, make sure that
things stay true to the intent of Congress.
This WIOA was written with, you know, I am sure there are a
number of principles you could reflect on, but the whole Learn
to Earn and skills-based education principles, and those are
principles we brought forward with the Every Student Succeeds
Act, which is being implemented now. And next week I am hopeful
on the floor we will have the Career and Technical Education
Bill, which obviously was authored following those same two
principles. And sometime in the future we will do the Higher
Education Act, which, quite frankly, those two principles work
for the Higher Education Act as well, Learn to Earn and skills-
based education.
My first question is, knowing the basic elements of WIOA
that we really felt were so important, how well have we
achieved at bringing business and industry a/k/a job creators
into a majority level on our web boards?
Mr. Painter. Congressman, I'll take that first. I think I'm
happy to observe you, sir, have done a very active board that
----
Mr. Thompson. I am a recovering web board member.
Mr. Painter. You are. The first time I ever heard of the
term ``mechatronics'' as an industry I heard from your
workforce board as you worked closely with business. That's
what we're seeing across the country, that there are
initiatives at community colleges, there are initiatives
elsewhere that have been brought about because of the workforce
board's role in convening businesses, in working with sector
partnerships in their local area that have brought to the
attention of the whole workforce development system the need to
sometimes change curriculum, focus more on a particular
certification than they have in the past. I think we are making
progress.
Mr. Thompson. Good. But the essential question, the basic
point, the starting point, is are we at 100 percent compliance
with all of our web boards having a majority stakeholder
interest being job creators today? That was an essential
element of WIOA.
Mr. Painter. Let me say, many times people don't call me to
tell me wonderful success stories. They call me to tell me--
whether it's a State director or a local--it's a problem. I'm
not aware ----
Mr. Thompson. Welcome to our world.
Mr. Painter.--that we have compliance problems. Yes. I'm
not aware we have those compliance--I'm not aware of boards
that are not in compliance.
Mr. Thompson. Okay. No, I just was interested because my
assumption is we are in compliance, we are moving ahead with
implementation. So, you know, at one time when I was on a
workforce board there was a bit of a conflict of interest. It
was the training and education facilities that had the stronger
representation. Not that they are not great people, they are
great partners, but our vision with WIOA was the people who
knew where the jobs were going to be today and tomorrow were
the ones we want governing our workforce investment boards.
So assuming that we are in compliance, have we seen better
employment success as a result of implementation of in-demand
skills-based education?
Mr. Painter. I am going to say I can provide you examples,
but I'm going to say yes, yes, we have. We have seen the
example that I cited in Pittsburgh, 100 percent placement.
Mr. Thompson. Great.
Mr. Painter. It was not too long ago a guy was in West
Virginia where the workforce board and the community college
put together some basic training for advanced manufacturing.
The placement rate was 100 percent. So I think we are seeing
the industry move to a very targeted approach.
Mr. Thompson. That is great. That is better than my
experience under the old rules where we were training some
arbitrary list at the State capital that had nothing to do with
the economic job opportunities in our region.
Mr. Painter. That's why we appreciated, Congressman, local
control and local direction for the program.
Mr. Thompson. There you go. Absolutely. Very quickly, I was
interested to follow up on the young lady from Delaware. WIOA,
which obviously I am a big fan of, but, you know, you don't get
everything quite right and I do have some concerns. Have you
seen any impacts on individuals with significant physical and
intellectual needs?
I love being--I at one time, and, unfortunately, a lot of
that has gone away--being in shelter workshops on payday. Now,
I worked with people facing life-changing disease and
disability for 28 years, so I am committed to lifting people,
empowering people, moving people to, you know, good gainful
employment. But some folks have such complex disabilities that
they just don't reach that level and there was nothing more--it
was a celebration on payday when those checks were handed out,
even though they were a couple of dollars maybe. And I am
finding that one of the impacts of WIOA perhaps, I am not quite
sure, is that the opportunities for people who just have such
significant physical and intellectual disabilities they cannot
get to that minimum wage plus employment.
And so I have run out of time, but if you have any insight
into the impacts in your areas, your States, on those
individuals, I would love to get that in writing.
Chairman Guthrie. Thanks. The gentleman yields. I recognize
Ms. Bonamici for 5 minutes for questions.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Ranking
Member, and thank you for allowing me to join these two
subcommittees. Even though I do not serve on the subcommittees
this is such an important issue and I look at it also from my
K-12 Committee experience and background. There are so many
overlapping issues I think as we have seen from the discussion
today. We all hear about the skills gap when we are back at
home and this has been true regardless of how unemployment is.
Of course, there are different challenges, as my colleague from
Delaware pointed out, when there is low unemployment. The need
is different, maybe more intense because there are people with
disabilities or the long-term unemployed and still have
significant challenges.
One of the things I wanted to note is that the level of
expertise, and I appreciate all of your expertise as people who
work in the field and, Mr. Berlin, your success story. Thank
you for sharing that. The level of expertise on this committee
I think is really impressive of people who have real world
experience. I am someone who hears about the skills gap and is
working hard to address it in a couple of ways. And we talked
about the CTE legislation, which I am very excited about. I
hope this time we can get it through the Senate as well as
through the House.
Mr. Dubin, you spoke in your testimony about work study and
working with Mr. Byrne on a bipartisan proposal to help with
work study funding, but also to help align work study jobs with
the students' career interests and career path; afterschool
programs, which was noted in testimony how important
afterschool programs are. I am extremely concerned about the
proposed cuts to, for example, 21st century learning. We need
to make sure that all of those programs are there so that we
minimize the need to fix the skills gap, that we have more
people ready for the workforce. Soft skills was addressed.
The funding challenges are significant and I would like to
introduce, Mr. Chairman, into the record a letter from the
Campaign to Invest in America's Workforce. This is addressed to
the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in support of
funding workforce programs. These are such a good investment.
So I would like to introduce that into the record.
Chairman Guthrie. Without objection, so ordered.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you.
Like Representative Courtney and Chairwoman Foxx, many of
us, I was at the bill signing for WIOA. It was my first bill
signing as a member of Congress. It was pretty exciting. It was
so bipartisan. And I was very proud of that bill and now we are
seeing it being implemented. One of the things that I
appreciated and, you know, listening to a lot of the hearings
when we were working on it, is the coordination and the
emphasis on coordination between employers, Federal agencies,
workforce training programs, educational systems, nonprofits,
and I note, Mr. Dubin, you talked about collaboration that is
happening in your State.
One of the things I wanted to talk about, in my district in
Northwest Oregon, Easter Seals facilitates the Washington
County Senior Community Service Employment Program, which is an
Older Americans Act program, but they work together. And I also
oppose the budget cuts--well, actually the budget that seeks to
completely eliminate this program--Easter Seals colocates the
Senior Community Service Employment Program in Oregon's
WorkSource Centers, which is part of America's Job Center
network. So as a result of this colocation, the participants
get to serve optimal access to the training, resources, and
opportunities they need to develop new skills and reenter the
workforce. And I tell you, there is age discrimination out
there. Older Americans have a much more challenging time.
So, Mr. Painter, can you discuss a little bit the benefits
of coordinated colocation and how these types of programs
benefitted from this integration?
Mr. Painter. Thank you, Congresswoman. In a previous life,
as a local director, I got to administer senior community
service employment. So firsthand we got to see the impact that
it has in providing older Americans with an opportunity to
reenter the workforce, to acquire different sets of skills.
You're right, the coordination is critical. It's critical that
we have an approach to business, that it's a strategic approach
to business, that it's not necessarily pitting one group at
another, but it's looking at the business strategy and then
coming back and as a collective team, which is happening more
and more, how can we solve this problem and what talent
resources do we collectively have. And then working, as Heath's
example, using on-the-job training, using internships. Platform
to Employment out of Connecticut is a remarkable example of how
you can take work, on-the-job training, internships, work
experience, and craft that. But it takes that coordination
among the providers.
Ms. Bonamici. Terrific. And as I yield back I just want to
align myself with Mr. Takano's concerns about the possibility
of eliminating the registration process for apprenticeships. I
would be more than interested in hearing examples of how the
registration process for apprenticeships, if it is not working
well, if we need to streamline it or fix it. I would be very
concerned about eliminating it.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
Chairman Guthrie. I thank the gentlelady for yielding back.
And that concludes members' questions. I would like to thank
our witnesses for taking the time to testify before our
subcommittee today.
And before I recognize our ranking member for any closing
comments I just want to say what she said in the beginning,
when we send letters to each other here we call them ``Dear
Colleagues,'' but we actually have a dear colleague that is
recovering and we have four other people who served this House
and, therefore, served this country that are recovering today.
But we also, as the day went on yesterday, talked to so many
other of our dear colleagues who were part of a traumatic
experience, one that was--I guess the guy started outside of
third base, shooting, going in, and he was in left field, right
next to him, but the guy shot into the infield. And so we have
a lot of people that are going through that. So be mindful as
we go throughout the day that we have a lot of people hurting
and we have had a lot of prayers answered as well.
So I recognize Ranking Member Davis for any closing
comments.
Ms. Davis. Thank you, Chairman, Mr. Chairman. And I
appreciate those comments as well. I wanted to thank you all so
much. I think it has been a very thoughtful discussion. We
really appreciate your experiences and your expertise as well.
And I just wanted to mention so quickly, because I think we
have a sense of the breadth and the depth of so many, you know,
fabulous examples throughout our country where people are
really centered on trying to find the very, very best way to
help both employees and employers and make the marketplace one
that works for everyone.
And one of the issues that we have touched on a little bit,
but not fully is that one of apprenticeships. And I think that
what we now have a proposal out there is to be again very
thoughtful as how we approach that. You know, it is always in
the details, that it is very, very important, and we want to be
sure that we don't cut off opportunities in some areas in order
to do something different that in many cases may not have the
same kind of accountability. We are talking about American
taxpayer dollars and we want to be sure that those taxpayer
dollars go to those programs that we have the ability to really
be able to understand whether they are helpful or not, whether
they are doing what we say they are going to do.
So you have touched on some of that. We are certainly going
to be having far more discussions in the future, Mr. Chairman.
And I thank you all very much for being here.
Chairman Guthrie. Thank you very much. And they've been
very informative and really appreciate your testimony.
And without being objection, there being no further
business, the subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Additional submission by Ms. Blunt Rochester follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Additional submission by Ms. Bonamici follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Additional submission by Mr. Espaillat follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Additional submission by Ms. Paczynski follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Additional submission by Mr. Smucker follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
[all]