Workforce Investment Act: One-Stop Centers Implemented Strategies
to Strengthen Services and Partnerships, but More Research and
Information Sharing is Needed (18-JUN-03, GAO-03-725).
To create a more comprehensive workforce investment system, the
Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 requires states and
localities to coordinate most federally funded employment and
training services into a single system, called the one-stop
center system. This report examines how selected one-stop centers
have used the law's flexibility to implement their own vision of
WIA and provides information on promising practices for (1)
streamlining services for job seekers, (2) engaging the employer
community, (3) building a solid one-stop infrastructure by
strengthening partnerships across programs and raising additional
funds. In addition, it provides information on the actions the
Department of Labor is taking to collect and share information
about what is working well for job seeker and employer customers
in one-stop centers.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-03-725
ACCNO: A07213
TITLE: Workforce Investment Act: One-Stop Centers Implemented
Strategies to Strengthen Services and Partnerships, but More
Research and Information Sharing is Needed
DATE: 06/18/2003
SUBJECT: Federal/state relations
State-administered programs
Strategic planning
Workfare
Best practices
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GAO-03-725
* Results in Brief
* Background
* One-Stops Used Strategies to Streamline Services for Job Seekers
* One-Stop Staff Ensured Job Seeker Access to Needed One-Stop
Services
* One-Stops Ensured That All Program Staff Understood the Range of
Services Available for Job Seekers
* One-Stop Centers Streamlined Services for Job Seekers through
Consolidated Intake Procedures and Case Management
* One-Stops Developed Strategies to Engage and Provide Services to
Employers in the One- Stop System
* One-Stops Dedicated Specialized Staff to Establish Relationships
with Employers and Industries
* One-Stops Worked with Intermediaries to Engage and Serve
Employers
* One-Stops Provided Services Tailored to Meet Employers' Specific
Workforce Needs
* One-Stop Centers Built a Solid Infrastructure by Strengthening Program
Partnerships and Raising Additional Funds
* One-Stop Centers Promoted Strong Partnerships by Facilitating
Communication and Collaboration among Partner Programs
* One-Stop Centers Raised Additional Funds to Improve One-Stop
Operations and Expand Services for Customers
* Little Is Known about the Impact of Strategies to Improve One-Stop
Services and Management
* While Labor Currently Has Several Impact and Process Evaluations
Underway, the Scope of These Studies Is Limited
* One-Stop Administrators Do Not Have Enough Opportunities to Share
Information about Promising Strategies in Serving One-Stop
Customers
* Conclusions
* Recommendations for Executive Action
* Agency Comments
* Characteristics of the 14 One-Stop Centers GAO Visited
* Promising Practices from Site Visits
* Aurora, Colorado
* Blaine, Minnesota
* Boston, Massachusetts
* Clarksville, Tennessee
* Dayton, Ohio
* Erie, Pennsylvania
* Kansas City, Missouri
* Kenosha, Wisconsin
* Killeen, Texas
* Pikeville, Kentucky
* Salt Lake City, Utah
* Santa Rosa, California
* Sunnyvale, California
* Vineland, New Jersey
* Comments from the Department of Labor
* GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
* GAO Contacts
* Staff Acknowledgments
* Related GAO Products
* Ordering Information.pdf
* Order by Mail or Phone
* Ordering Information.pdf
* Order by Mail or Phone
United States General Accounting Office
Report to Congressional Requesters
GAO
June 2003
WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT
One-Stop Centers Implemented Strategies to Strengthen Services and Partnerships,
but More Research and Information Sharing is Needed
a
GAO-03-725
Highlights of GAO -03-725, a report to
Congressional Requesters
To create a more comprehensive workforce investment system, the Workforce
Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 requires states and localities to coordinate
most federally funded employment and training services into a single
system, called the one-stop center system. This report examines how
selected one-stop centers have used the law's flexibility to implement
their own vision of WIA and provides information on promising practices
for (1) streamlining services for job seekers, (2) engaging the employer
community, (3) building a solid one-stop infrastructure by strengthening
partnerships across programs and raising additional funds. In addition, it
provides information on the actions the Department of Labor is taking to
collect and share information about what is working well for job seeker
and employer customers in one-stop centers.
GAO recommends that the Secretary of Labor collaborate with the
Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban
Development to develop a research agenda that examines the impact of
various approaches to one-stop program integration on outcomes, such as
job placement and retention, and jobseeker and employer satisfaction. GAO
also recommends that the Secretary conduct a systematic evaluation of the
promising practices Web site and ensure that it is effective.
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-725
To view the full report, including the scope and methodology, click on the
link above. For more information, contact Dianne Blank at (202) 512-5654
or [email protected].
June 2003
WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT
One-Stop Centers Implemented Strategies to Strengthen Services and
Partnerships, but More Research and Information Sharing Is Needed
Of the 14 one-stop centers in GAO's study that were identified as
exemplary by government officials and workforce development experts, all
had implemented a range of promising practices to streamline services for
jobseekers, engage the employer community, and built a solid one-stop
infrastructure. The one-stop centers GAO visited streamlined services for
job seekers by ensuring access to needed services, educating program staff
about all of the one-stop services available to job seekers, and
consolidating case management and intake procedures. In addition, all of
the one-stop centers GAO visited used at least one of the following three
methods to engage employers-dedicating specialized staff to work with
employers or industries, working with employers through intermediaries,
such as Chambers of Commerce or economic development entities, or
tailoring services to meet specific employers' needs. To provide the
infrastructure to support better services for job seekers and employers,
many of the one-stops GAO visited found innovative ways to strengthen
program partnerships and to raise additional funds beyond those provided
under WIA. Center operators fostered the development of strong program
partnerships by encouraging partner collaboration through functional work
teams and joint projects, and they raised additional funds through
fee-based services, grants, and contributions from partners and state or
local governments.
While Labor currently tracks outcome data--such as job placement, job
seeker satisfaction and employer satisfaction--and funds several studies
to evaluate workforce development programs and service delivery models,
little is known about the impact of various one-stop service delivery
approaches on these and other outcomes. Labor's studies largely take a
program-by-program approach rather than focusing on the impact on job
seekers of various one-stop integrated service delivery approaches, such
as sharing customer intake forms across programs, or on employers, such as
dedicating staff to focus on engaging and serving employers. Further,
Labor's efforts to collaborate with other federal agencies to assess the
effects of different strategies to integrate job seeker services or to
serve employers through the one-stop system have been limited. While Labor
has developed a promising practices Web site to facilitate such
information sharing, it is unclear how well the site currently meets this
objective.
One-Stop Customers Include Job Seekers and Employers
Contents
Letter 1
Results in Brief 5
Background 7
One-Stops Used Strategies to Streamline Services for Job Seekers 12
One-Stops Developed Strategies to Engage and Provide Services to Employers
in the One-Stop System 17
One-Stop Centers Built a Solid Infrastructure by Strengthening Program
Partnerships and Raising Additional Funds 23
Little Is Known about the Impact of Strategies to Improve One-Stop
Services and Management 28
Conclusions 34
Recommendations for Executive Action 35
Agency Comments 35
Appendixes
:Characteristics of the 14 One-Stop Centers GAO Visited 37 39
:Promising Practices from Site Visits
:Comments from the Department of Labor 53 56
: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
Aurora, Colorado 39
Blaine, Minnesota 40
Boston, Massachusetts 41
Clarksville, Tennessee 42
Dayton, Ohio 43
Erie, Pennsylvania 44
Kansas City, Missouri 45
Kenosha, Wisconsin 46
Killeen, Texas 47
Pikeville, Kentucky 48
Salt Lake City, Utah 49
Santa Rosa, California 50
Sunnyvale, California 51
Vineland, New Jersey 52
GAO Contacts 56
Staff Acknowledgments 56
Related GAO Products
Contents
Tables Table 1: WIA's Mandatory Programs, Their Related
Federal
Agencies, and Fiscal Year 2003 Program 8
Appropriations
Table 2: Selected Studies Supported by ETA 31
Figures GAO Site Visits to One-Stop Centers 4
Figure 1: Figure 2: One-Stop Customers Include Job Seekers and
Employers 11
Figure 3: Promising Strategies in Streamlining and
Integrating
Services for Job Seeker Customers 13
Figure 4: Promising Strategies for Engaging Employers 18
Figure 5: Promising Strategies for Improving the
One-Stop Center
Infrastructure 24
Abbreviations
ATA Area Transit Authority
ETA Employment and Training
GED General Educational Development
HHS Department of Health and Human Services
HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development
ITA Individual Training Accounts
JTPA Job Training Partnership Act
TANF Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
WIA Workforce Investment Act
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without further permission from GAO. However, because this
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copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material
separately.
A
United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548
June 18, 2003
The Honorable John A. Boehner Chairman Committee on Education and the
Workforce House of Representatives
The Honorable Howard P. McKeon Chairman Subcommittee on 21st Century
Competitiveness Committee on Education and the Workforce House of
Representatives
The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy Ranking Minority Member Committee on
Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions United States Senate
The Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in 1998 to begin
unifying a fragmented employment and training system and to better serve
job seekers and employers. To create a more comprehensive workforce
investment system, WIA requires states and localities to bring together
over $15 billion of federally funded employment and training services into
a single system, called the one-stop center system. Four separate federal
agencies-the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS),
Education, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-fund about 17
categories of programs that are required to provide services through the
one-stop system. Labor takes a lead role in this new system and is
responsible for assessing the effectiveness of Labor-funded programs and
for providing guidance to states and localities as programs deliver their
services through the one-stop system.
WIA is designed to give states and localities flexibility in deciding how
to implement the one-stop system, allowing local one-stops to try new
approaches and tailor their systems to the needs of local job seeker and
employer customers. Labor encourages states and localities to create a
customer-focused one-stop system that uses innovative approaches to help
job seekers find and maintain employment and help employers find skilled
workers. In past reports, we identified key areas critical to successfully
providing services to job seekers and employers, such as providing job
seeker services that are tailored and seamlessly delivered and serving
employers in ways that minimize wasted time and reduce frustration.1 As
the Congress moves toward reauthorization of WIA, you wanted to know how
some of the nation's 1,972 one-stop centers have built on these concepts
and used their flexibility to streamline and integrate services for job
seekers, involve the private sector, and coordinate operations and service
delivery across employment and training programs.
As requested, this report examines how some one-stop centers have used the
law's flexibility to implement their own vision of WIA and provides
information on promising practices for (1) streamlining services for job
seekers, (2) engaging the employer community, and (3) building a solid
one-stop infrastructure by strengthening partnerships across programs and
raising additional funds. In addition, we are providing information on the
actions the Department of Labor is taking to collect and share information
about what is working well for job seeker and employer customers in
one-stop centers.
Our report is based on in-depth site visits to 14 one-stop centers from
across the nation that government officials and workforce experts
identified as exemplary and on interviews with Labor Department officials.
Because no systemwide data exists by which to judge the success of various
one-stop approaches, we selected our sites based on information about
promising practices in one-stop centers and information about the
potential impact of those practices. We asked the following officials or
experts to identify exemplary one-stop centers: Labor headquarters and
regional officials; HHS, Education, and HUD headquarters offices; and
workforce development experts. We restricted the request for exemplary
1U.S. General Accounting Office, Workforce Investment Act: Coordination of
TANF Services Through One-stops Has Increased Despite Challenges,
GAO-02-739T (Washington D.C.: May 16, 2002) and Workforce Investment Act:
Implementation Status and the Integration of TANF Services,
GAO/T-HEHS-00-145 (Washington, D.C.: June 29, 2000).
Page 2 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
one-stops to a single site in each of the three key areas-serving job
seekers, engaging employers, and operating the one-stop center. The
officials and experts provided us with specific information on each site's
innovations and the potential impact of each promising practice. After
officials and experts identified approximately 50 one-stop centers across
the three areas, we winnowed down the list of one-stops by considering the
number of times a site was recommended and each site's characteristics,
including its location and the size of its service area. Figure 1 shows
the locations of the 14 sites we visited. The 14 one-stop centers
represented a geographic and a demographic mix, ranging from rural to
urban centers. (See app. I for information on each one-stop site.) Some of
the sites, such as Kansas City, Missouri, represented a mix of urban,
suburban, and rural customers. The one-stops we visited varied in the
average number of customers they served-from 500 to 42,500 each month. The
sites also represented a mix of one-stop operators-those responsible for
administering the one-stop centers-including nonprofit organizations,
consortia of one-stop partners, and local government entities. We
conducted our work between August 2002 and June 2003 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards.
Figure 1: GAO Site Visits to One-Stop Centers
Source: GAO site visits.
Results in Brief
The one-stop centers we visited embraced the customer-focused provisions
of WIA by streamlining one-stop services for job seekers. All of the
centers used at least one of three different strategies to build a
streamlined one-stop system-ensuring that job seekers could readily access
needed services, educating program staff about all of the one-stop
services available to job seekers, and consolidating case management and
intake procedures. Thirteen of the 14 one-stop centers we visited took
special care to ensure that job seekers could readily access needed
services. For example, officials in Erie, Pennsylvania, positioned a staff
person at the entrance to the one-stop to help job seekers entering the
center find needed services and to ensure that exiting job seekers had
received the services they sought. To educate program staff on all
one-stop services, almost all of the one-stop centers we visited used
cross-training sessions to help staff understand the range of services
available at the one-stop. For example, in Pikeville, Kentucky, regularly
scheduled cross-training workshops educated staff about the one-stop's
diverse array of services, such as adult education classes and services
for the disabled, so that they could better ensure that job seekers
received the tools they needed to become successfully employed. Finally,
10 of the 14 one-stops we visited streamlined services for job seekers by
consolidating intake procedures or case management across multiple
programs. For example, in Blaine, Minnesota, job seekers received
comprehensive services from a team of caseworkers who collaborated to meet
all job seekers' needs.
To engage employers and provide them needed services, all of the one-stop
centers we visited used at least one of three different strategies-
dedicating specialized staff to work with employers or industries; working
with employers through intermediaries, such as Chambers of Commerce or
economic development entities; or tailoring services to meet specific
employers' needs. All of the centers dedicated specialized staff to work
with employers or industries. For example, the Killeen, Texas, one-stop
center dedicated specialized staff to work with employers to identify job
openings and to act as a central point of contact so that employers were
not burdened with multiple calls from each of the one-stop programs. In
Santa Rosa, the specialized staff for employers were dedicated to specific
industries in order to better address local labor shortages. When the
tourism industry had a labor shortage, for example, a staff person was in
place who used his or her existing relationships with tourism employers to
more effectively match job seekers with job-specific training. In addition
to employer-focused staff, many of the one-stops worked with employers
through intermediaries, such as the Chambers of Commerce or economic
development entities, to expand the number of employer customers and
provide these employers with one-stop services. For example, the one-stop
staff in Clarksville, Tennessee, worked with Chamber members to provide
math training in order to improve the pool of entry-level employees for
the banking industry. In addition, almost all of the one-stops we visited
went beyond providing basic services to employers by tailoring services to
meet individual employers' unique labor needs, including specialized
recruiting and applicant pre-screening, customized training opportunities,
and assessments using employer specifications. The Pikeville, Kentucky,
one-stop offered a range of tailored services to employers that were
instrumental in attracting a major cabinet manufacturer to the area and
helping this company hire over 105 employees.
To provide the infrastructure to support better services for job seekers
and employers, many of the one-stops we visited found innovative ways to
develop and strengthen program partnerships and to raise additional funds
beyond those provided under WIA. Center operators fostered the development
of strong program partnerships by encouraging communication and
collaboration among partners, which enabled them to pursue common one-stop
goals and to support the development of a shared one-stop identity. For
example, in Blaine, Minnesota, partners at the one-stop center
participated in a joint project to apply for a local one-stop
implementation grant from the state of Minnesota. Blaine one-stop managers
told us that the planning process involved in applying for the grant
allowed partners to develop a better understanding of one another's
services and enabled them to identify common functions and thereby reduce
service duplication. Several one-stop managers reported that such
collaboration among partners was facilitated by the co-location of
programs in one building, which one-stops encouraged by offering
attractive physical space and flexible rental agreements. Many one-stops
also supported a strong infrastructure by raising funds through fee-based
services, grants, and contributions from partners and state or local
governments. The centers used the additional funds to improve operations
and to provide additional services. For example, managers at the one-stop
in Kansas City, Missouri, told us that their full-time grant writer was
able to generate two-thirds of the center's entire operating budget
through competitive grants available from the federal government as well
as from private foundations. This money allowed the center to expand its
services, including a new internship program in high-tech industries for
at-risk youth.
Background
While Labor currently tracks outcome data-such as job placement, job
seeker satisfaction and employer satisfaction-and funds several studies to
evaluate workforce development programs and service delivery models,
little is known about the impact of various one-stop service delivery
approaches on these and other outcomes. Labor's studies largely take a
program-by-program approach rather than focusing on the impact on job
seekers of various one-stop integrated service delivery approaches, such
as sharing customer intake forms across programs, or on employers, such as
dedicating staff to focus on engaging and serving employers. Further,
Labor's efforts to collaborate with other federal agencies to assess the
effects of different strategies to integrate job seeker services or to
serve employers through the one-stop system have been limited. In
addition, one-stop administrators do not have enough opportunities to
share existing information about how to improve and integrate services for
job seeker and employer customers. While Labor has developed a promising
practices Web site to facilitate such information sharing, it is unclear
how well the site currently meets this objective.
In order to better understand and disseminate information on how well
different approaches to program integration are meeting the needs of
one-stop job seekers and employers, we recommend that the Secretary of
Labor collaborate with the Departments of Education, Health and Human
Services, and Housing and Urban Development to develop a research agenda
that examines the impact of various approaches to program integration on
job seeker and employer satisfaction and outcomes, such as job placement
and retention. We also recommend that the Secretary conduct a systematic
evaluation of the promising practices Web site and ensure that it is
effective. In its written comments, Labor generally agreed with our
findings and recommendations.
The Workforce Investment Act created a new, comprehensive workforce
investment system designed to change the way employment and training
services are delivered. When WIA was enacted in 1998, it replaced the Job
Training Partnership Act (JTPA) with three new programs-Adult, Dislocated
Worker, and Youth-that allow for a broader range of services, including
job search assistance, assessment, and training for eligible individuals.2
In addition to establishing three new programs, WIA requires
2While WIA was enacted in 1998, Labor did not require states to implement
major provisions of WIA until July 1, 2000.
Page 7 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
that a number of employment-related services be provided through a
one-stop system, designed to make accessing employment and training
services easier for job seeker customers. WIA also requires that the
one-stop system engage the employer customer by helping employers identify
and recruit skilled workers. While WIA allows states and localities
flexibility in implementing these requirements, the law emphasizes that
the one-stop system should be a customer-focused and comprehensive system
that increases the employment, retention, and earnings of participants.
The major hallmark of WIA is the consolidation of services through the
one-stop center system. About 17 categories of programs, totaling over $15
billion from four separate federal agencies, are required to provide
services through the system. (See table 1.)
Table 1: WIA's Mandatory Programs, Their Related Federal Agencies, and Fiscal
Year 2003 Program Appropriations
Federal agency Mandatory program Fiscal Year 2003
appropriations
Department of Labor WIA Adult $898,778,000
WIA Dislocated Worker 1,461,145,495
WIA Youth 994,458,728
Employment Service (Wagner-Peyser) 756,783,723
Trade adjustment assistance programs 972,000,000
Veterans' employment and training 167,199,097
programs
Unemployment Insurance 2,634,253,000
Job Corps 1,522,240,700
Welfare-to-Work grant-funded 0
programs
Senior Community Service Employment 442,306,200
Program
Employment and training for migrant and 77,330,066
seasonal farm workers
Employment and training for Native Americans 55,636,000
Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Program 2,506,948,000
Education
Adult Education and Literacy 571,262,500
Vocational Education (Perkins Act) 1,513,170,925
Department of Health Community Services Block Grant 645,762,085
and Human Services
Department of Housing HUD-administered employment and 65,000,000
and Urban Development training
Total $15,284,274,519
Source: GAO-03-589 and Labor.
WIA allows flexibility in the way these mandatory partners provide
services through the one-stop system, allowing co-location, electronic
linkages, or referrals to off-site partner programs. While WIA requires
these mandatory partners to participate, WIA did not provide additional
funds to operate one-stop systems and support one-stop partnerships. As a
result, mandatory partners are expected to share the costs of developing
and operating one-stop centers. However, several of the programs have
limitations in the way the funds may be used, giving rise to one-stop
funding challenges.3
Beyond the mandatory partners, one-stop centers have the flexibility to
include other partners in the one-stop system. Labor suggests that these
additional, or optional partners, may help one-stop systems better meet
specific state and local workforce development needs. These optional
partners may include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)4 or
local private organizations, for example. States have the option of
mandating particular optional partners to participate in their one-stop
systems. For example, in 2001, 28 states had formal agreements between
TANF and WIA to involve TANF in the one-stop system.5 In addition,
localities may partner with other programs to meet the specific needs of
the community.
3Several of the mandatory one-stop partner programs are subject to
restrictions on the use of their funds, such as which populations they may
serve and limits on the amount of allowable administrative spending. See
U.S. General Accounting Office, Workforce Investment Act: Better Guidance
Needed to Address Concerns Over New Requirements,
GAO-02-72 (Washington D.C.: Oct. 4, 2001).
4TANF provides low-income families with income support and
employment-related assistance.
5For more information on TANF participation in one-stop centers, see
GAO-02-739T.
One-stop centers serve two customers-job seekers and employers (see fig.
2). In serving job seekers, one-stop centers are encouraged to develop
strategies to achieve a streamlined set of services. In past reports, we
identified key areas critical to successfully integrating services under
WIA, such as ensuring that job seekers have ready access to employment and
program information, reducing job seekers' confusion by providing them
with a streamlined path from one program to another, providing job seeker
services that are tailored and seamless, and helping job seekers identify
and obtain needed program services without the burden of completing
multiple intake and assessment procedures.6 One-Stop centers provide job
seekers with job search and support services, while the job seekers act as
an available labor pool for the one-stops' employer customers. In serving
employers, one-stops have the flexibility under WIA to provide a variety
of tailored services, including hiring, assessments and training services
that meet the specific needs of each employer.7 The degree to which the
one-stop system engages and provides services to employers is left to the
discretion of state and local officials. However, Labor suggests that
employer involvement is critical for one-stop officials to better
understand what skills are needed, what jobs are available, and what
career fields are expanding.
6For more information, see GAO-02-739T and GAO/T-HEHS-00-145.
7WIA has a general requirement for local boards to promote the
participation of private sector employers in the workforce investment
system and specifically requires that employers and the private sector
community represent a majority of the state and local workforce investment
boards' memberships and that the chairperson of each board be elected from
those members.
Page 10 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
Figure 2: One-Stop Customers Include Job Seekers and Employers
Source: GAO illustration. Clip art source: Art Explosion.
In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the WIA programs, WIA
requires that states and localities track performance and Labor holds
states accountable for their performance. The measures gauge outcomes in
the areas of job placement, employment retention, and earnings change, as
well as skill attainment and customer satisfaction.8 In addition to the
WIA programs, most of the 17 employment and training programs have their
8For more information, see U.S. General Accounting Office, Workforce
Investment Act: Improvements Needed in Performance Measures to Provide a
More Accurate Picture of WIA's Effectiveness, GAO-02-275 (Washington D.C.:
Feb. 1, 2002).
Page 11 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
One-Stops Used Strategies to Streamline Services for Job Seekers
own performance measures. There are no overall one-stop performance
measures.
The one-stop centers we visited embraced the customer-focused provisions
of WIA by streamlining one-stop services for job seekers. All 14 one-stop
centers we visited used at least one of three different strategies to
build a streamlined one-stop system-ensuring job seekers could readily
access needed services, educating program staff about all of the one-stop
services available to job seekers, and consolidating case management and
intake procedures (see fig. 3). To ensure that job seekers could readily
access needed services, one-stops we visited allocated staff to help job
seekers navigate the one-stop system, expanded services for one-stop
customers, and provided support to customers with transportation barriers.
Ensuring access is designed to minimize confusion for job seekers as they
navigate one-stop services. To educate program staff about one-stop
services, centers used cross-training sessions in which partners informed
one another about the range of services available at the one-stop.
Finally, centers sought to reduce the duplication of effort across
programs and the burden on job seekers navigating programs by
consolidating case management and intake procedures across multiple
programs through joint service plans for customers and shared computer
networks.
Figure 3: Promising Strategies in Streamlining and Integrating Services for Job
Seeker Customers
Source: GAO illustration. Clip art source: Art Explosion.
One-Stop Staff Ensured Job Seeker Access to Needed One-Stop Services
Nearly all of the one-stop centers we visited implemented specific
strategies to ensure that job seekers had access to needed services. We
previously reported that the range of services provided by multiple
programs in the one-stop center caused confusion for job seekers. To
minimize confusion, nearly all of the sites we visited looked for ways to
ensure job seekers would have ready access to program information and a
clear path from one program to another within the one-stop system. For
example, when one-stop center staff in Killeen, Texas, and Clarksville,
Tennessee, referred job seekers to another partner, the staff personally
introduced the job seeker to the referred program staff to prevent job
seekers from getting lost between programs. Similarly, officials in
Erie,Pennsylvania, positioned a staff person at the entrance to the
one-stop to help job seekers entering the center find needed services and
to assist exiting job seekers if they did not receive the services they
sought. (See app. II for more examples from each of the sites we visited.)
In addition to improving access to one-stop center services on-site, some
of the one-stops we visited found ways to serve job seekers who may have
been unable to come into the one-stop center for services. For example, in
Boston, Massachusetts, the one-stop placed staff in off-site locations,
including family courts, correctional facilities, and welfare offices to
give job seekers ready access to employment and program information.
Specifically, Boston one-stop staff worked with an offender re-entry
program that conducted job fairs inside the county prison to facilitate
incarcerated offenders' transition back into the workplace.
One-stops also improved job seeker access to services by expanding
partnerships to include optional service providers-those beyond the 17
program partners mandated by WIA. These optional partners ranged from
federally funded programs, such as TANF, to community-based organizations
providing services tailored to meet the needs of local job seekers. The
one-stop in Dayton, Ohio, was particularly proactive in forming optional
partnerships to meet job seekers' service needs. At the time of our visit,
the Dayton one-stop had over 30 optional partners on-site, including the
Montgomery County Combined Health District, which operated a health clinic
on-site; Clothes that Work!, which provides free business attire to
low-income women; and an alternative high school. The most common optional
partner at the one-stops we visited was the TANF program-which was an
on-site partner at 13 of the 14 sites. One-stop managers in Clarksville
told us that co-location with the Tennessee Department of Human Services,
which administers TANF, benefited all job seekers because the department
helped to fund various services, including computer classes, soft skills
classes, and parenting classes that could be provided to those not
eligible for TANF. Additionally, Killeen, Texas, one-stop staff told us
that co-location with TANF helped welfare recipients address barriers to
employment by facilitating easier access to other services, such as
housing assistance and employment and training programs.
Many one-stop centers, such as in Killeen, Texas, and Vineland, New
Jersey, ensured access to one-stop services by addressing customers'
transportation challenges. Staff in Killeen partnered with the libraries
in rural areas to provide computer access to one-stop resume writing and
job
One-Stops Ensured That All Program Staff Understood the Range of Services
Available for Job Seekers
search services and an on-line TANF orientation. In Kansas City, Missouri,
the one-stop management decided to locate the one-stop center next to the
bus company, the Area Transit Authority (ATA). This strategic decision
meant that all bus routes passed by the one-stop center, thus ensuring
that customers with transportation challenges could access one-stop center
services. Additionally, the ATA partnered with the one-stop to create an
Urban Employment Network program to assist job seekers with transportation
to and from work. The ATA provided bus service 7 days a week from 5:00 in
the morning until midnight and set up a van service to operate during
off-peak hours.
To help ensure that job seekers receive services tailored to meet their
needs, nine of the one-stops we visited focused on educating all one-stop
staff about the range of services available through the one-stop.9 In
earlier work, we identified challenges for job seekers in receiving the
right set of services to meet their needs.10 One-stop officials at the
centers we visited reported that staff who were cross-trained could better
assess the particular needs of job seekers, including identifying barriers
to getting a job, and were able to provide job seekers with more
appropriate referrals.11 Cross-training activities ranged from conducting
monthly educational workshops to offering shadow programs through which
staff could become familiar with other programs' rules and operations.
Officials in Salt Lake City, Utah, reported that cross-training improved
staff understanding of programs outside their area of expertise and
enhanced their ability to make referrals. The Pikeville, Kentucky,
one-stop supported cross-training workshops in which one-stop staff from
different partner programs educated each other about the range of services
they could provide. After learning about the other programs, Pikeville
staff collaboratively designed a service delivery flow chart that
effectively routed job seekers to the appropriate service providers,
providing a clear entry point and a clear path from one program to
another. In addition, the Vocational Rehabilitation
9While WIA requires that specific programs provide services within the
one-stop system, WIA does not require that one-stop staff are
cross-trained to understand the array of one-stop services.
10 GAO-02-739T and GAO/T-HEHS-00-145 .
11Officials from some of the sites we visited told us that they believe
the best service delivery approach included one-stop staff that
specialized in their own program area but were also cross-trained in the
services and basic eligibility requirements of other programs in the
one-stop system.
One-Stop Centers Streamlined Services for Job Seekers through Consolidated
Intake Procedures and Case Management
staff at the Pikeville one-stop told us that cross-training enabled other
program staff to more accurately identify hidden disabilities and to
better refer disabled customers to the appropriate services.
In the one-stop centers we visited, cross-training occurred among the
majority of on-site co-located partners as well as between some of the
on-site and off-site one-stop programs. One-stop managers in Dayton, Ohio,
told us that cross-training staff resulted in increased referrals to
service providers that had previously been unknown, such as to smaller
programs within the one-stop or to local neighborhood programs that could
better meet the specific needs of particular job seekers. Specifically,
Dayton managers also reported that cross-training one-stop staff
dramatically improved referrals to the Child Support program,12 thereby
enhancing efforts to establish paternity, a requirement for determining
eligibility for TANF.
To provide streamlined service delivery, 10 of the 14 one-stops we visited
consolidated their intake processes or case management systems, reducing
the need for job seekers to go through multiple intake processes. This
consolidation took many forms, including having case workers from
different programs work as a team to develop service plans for customers
and having a shared computer network across programs. As a result, case
workers reduced the duplication of effort across programs and job seekers
were not burdened with completing multiple intake and assessment
procedures. For example, the Youth Opportunity Program and Workforce WIA
Youth program staff at the one-stop in Kansas City, Missouri, shared
intake and enrollment forms to streamline the delivery of services to
youth. In Blaine, Minnesota, job seekers were originally served by
multiple service providers, meeting independently with each provider for
each program service received. Caseworkers from the various one-stop
programs in Blaine met regularly to collaborate in developing and
implementing joint service plans for customers who were co-enrolled in
multiple programs. As a result, the number of caseworkers involved had
been reduced significantly, and job seekers received a more efficient and
tailored package of services. To efficiently coordinate multiple services
for one-stop customers in Erie, Pennsylvania, the staff used a networked
computer
12The Child Support Enforcement and Paternity Establishment Program
collects support from noncustodial parents and helps establish paternity
for TANF families.
Page 16 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
One-Stops Developed Strategies to Engage and Provide Services to Employers in
the One-Stop System
system with a shared case management program, so that all one-stop program
staff could share access to a customer's service plan and case file.
All of the one-stops we visited implemented at least one of three
different approaches to engage and provide services to
employers-dedicating specialized staff to establish relationships with
employers or industries, working with employers through intermediaries,
and providing tailored services to meet employers' specific workforce
needs (see fig.4). All of the one-stops dedicated staff to establish
relationships with employers, minimizing the burden on employers who
previously may have been contacted by multiple one-stop programs. A few of
these one-stops also had employer-focused staff work with specific
industries in order to respond better to local labor shortages. Many of
the one-stops also worked with employers through intermediaries, such as
the Chambers of Commerce or economic development entities, in order to
market one-stop services and expand their base of employer customers.
Finally, most one-stops went beyond providing basic services to employers
by tailoring services to meet individual employers' needs, such as
specialized recruiting and applicant pre-screening, customized training
opportunities, and assessments using employer specifications. Tailored
services were used to maintain employer involvement and increase
employment opportunities for job seekers.
Figure 4: Promising Strategies for Engaging Employers
Source: GAO illustration. Clip art source: Art Explosion.
One-Stops Dedicated Specialized Staff to Establish Relationships with
Employers and Industries
To help employers access the workforce development system, all of the
one-stops we visited dedicated specialized staff to establish
relationships with employers. One-stop officials told us that engaging
employers was critical to successfully connecting job seekers with
available jobs. Specialized staff outreached to individual employers and
served as employers' primary point of contact for accessing one-stop
services. For example, the one-stop in Killeen, Texas, dedicated
specialized staff to serve not only as the central point of contact for
receiving calls and requests from employers but also as the primary tool
for identifying job openings available through employers in the community.
A one-stop manager in Killeen told us that in the past, staff from each
partner agency would outreach to employers to find jobs for their own job
seekers. Now they have eliminated the duplication of effort and burden on
employers by designating specialized staff to conduct employer outreach
for all one-stop programs.
In addition to working with individual employers, staff at some of the
one-stops we visited also worked with industry clusters, or groups of
related employers, to more efficiently meet local labor
demands-particularly for industries with labor shortages. One-stop
managers at these sites told us that having staff work with industry
clusters helped them better respond to labor shortages because it enabled
staff to develop a strong understanding of the employment and training
needs of those industries. These one-stops were better prepared to match
job seekers with appropriate training opportunities, enabling those job
seekers to become part of a qualified labor pool for these industries. For
example, the one-stop in Santa Rosa, California, assigned staff to work
with employers in local high-demand industries, including health care,
high tech, and tourism. These staff established relationships with
employers from these industries, assessed their specific workforce needs,
and shared this information with one-stop case workers. Specifically, when
Santa Rosa's tourism industry was in need of more skilled workers, the
one-stop worked with the local community college to ensure there were
certification courses in hotel management and the culinary arts, for exam.
The one-stop in Aurora, Colorado, also dedicated staff to work with
specific industries. For example, in response to a nursing shortage of
1,600 nurses in the Denver metro area, staff from the Aurora one-stop
assisted in the creation of a healthcare recruitment center designed to
provide job placement assistance and access to health-care training.
One-Stops Worked with Intermediaries to Engage and Serve Employers
In addition to dedicating specialized staff, all of the one-stops we
visited worked with intermediaries to engage and serve employers.
Intermediaries, such as local Chambers of Commerce or economic development
entities, served as liaisons between employers and the one-stop system,
helping one-stops to engage employers while connecting employers with
one-stop services. For example, the one-stop staff in Clarksville,
Tennessee, worked with Chamber of Commerce members to help banks in the
community that were having difficulties finding entry-level employees with
the necessary math skills. To help connect job seekers with available job
openings at local banks, the one-stop developed a training opportunity for
job seekers that was funded by Chamber members and was targeted to the
specific skills needed for employment in the banking community.13
Similarly, staff at the one-stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin, were in frequent
contact with the Kenosha Area Business Alliance, a community development
corporation, to identify and address hiring and training needs of the
local manufacturing industry. This partnership not only helped employers
access human resources assistance-such as recruitment, networking, and
marketing-but it also assisted employers with assessment and training of
new and existing employees. Specialized staff at most of the one-stops we
visited also worked with local economic development entities to serve
employers or recruit new businesses to the area. For example, the staff at
the Erie, Pennsylvania, one-stop worked with a range of local economic
development organizations14 to develop an outreach program that assessed
the workforce needs of employers, linked employers with appropriate
services, and developed incentive packages to attract new businesses to
the community.
13The one-stop in Kansas City, Missouri, provides another example of how
specialized staff at the one-stop worked with the local Chambers of
Commerce to better connect employers with job seekers, specifically
disabled job seekers. While staff at the Kansas City one-stop identified
job seekers with disabilities, the Chamber worked with local employers to
educate them about hiring disabled workers and integrating them into the
workplace.
14Erie CareerLink worked with numerous economic development entities, such
as the Erie County Executive, Economic Development Corporation of Erie
County, and Northwest Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center, which are
agencies and organizations dedicated to promoting the local economy by
attracting new employers to the region and by providing support for local
employers.
One-Stops Provided Services Tailored to Meet Employers' Specific Workforce
Needs
In addition to dedicating specialized staff to engage employers and
working with intermediaries, all of the one-stops we visited tailored
their services to meet employers' specific workforce needs by offering an
array of job placement and training assistance designed for each employer.
These services included specialized recruiting, pre-screening, and
customized training programs. For example, when one of the nation's
largest cabinet manufacturers was considering opening a new facility in
the eastern Kentucky area, the one-stop in Pikeville, Kentucky, offered a
tailored set of services to attract the employer to the area. The services
included assisting the company with pre-screening and interviewing
applicants and establishing an on-the-job training package that used WIA
funding to offset up to 50 percent of each new hire's wages during the
90-day training period. According to a company representative, the
incentive package offered by the one-stop was the primary reason the
company chose to build a new facility in eastern Kentucky instead of
another location. Once the company arrived, the Pikeville one-stop
administered the application and assessment process for job applicants and
held a 3-day job fair, resulting in the company hiring 105 people through
the one-stop and planning to hire an additional 350 employees.
To help industries address labor shortages and strengthen local
businesses, several of the one-stops we visited actively developed and
marketed training opportunities for current and potential new employees,
helping to keep jobs in the community and promote local economic growth.
For example, Pikeville, Kentucky, encountered a labor shortage in the
local coal mining industry. Because of the high cost of training for
inexperienced miners, many companies considered hiring experienced coal
miners from foreign countries. To help companies save on training costs
and hire workers from the local area-one of historically high
unemployment-the Pikeville one-stop created an on-the-job training program
using WIA funds, which paid for half of new miners' salaries during their
training period. The co-owner of a local mining company, who hired 15
percent of his workforce through the one-stop, told us that, without the
assistance of the one-stop, he would not have been able to hire as many
miners. Because he saved money on training costs, the co-owner said he was
also able to promote his experienced workers to more advanced positions
and provide better benefits, such as health insurance, for all his
employees.
Tailored services were used not only to attract new employers, but to
retain employers in the one-stop system and train new workers for
employers struggling to find job-ready staff. For example, for over 9
years, the Clarksville, Tennessee, one-stop has provided tailored hiring
services, including drug-testing and pre-screening of applicants, for a
nearby manufacturing company. As a result, the company has hired over 75
people through the one-stop. One-stops also provided customized workshops
and classes to help employers train new and current workers. When a local
nursing home expressed concern about hiring non-English-speaking workers,
the one-stop in Blaine, Minnesota, created a job-specific English as a
Second Language course that was taught on-site at the nursing home by
one-stop staff.
Many of the one-stops we visited also provided employers with tailored
business support services and educational resources. One-stop managers
told us that these services helped the one-stops attract and retain
employer involvement in the one-stop system and enhanced employers'
ability to maintain a skilled workforce. For example, some one-stops we
visited allowed employers to use office space in the one-stop for
interviewing job applicants. A few of the one-stop centers had specific
business centers on-site, such as the Business Resource Center in Killeen,
Texas. The center served entrepreneurs and over 400 small businesses by
providing information about starting a small business, such as tax
information, economic development information, marketing resources, and
business workshops. Similarly, the Sunnyvale, California, one-stop
addressed the specific needs of customers seeking entrepreneurial
opportunities by co-locating with a patent and trademark library that is
electronically linked to the national trademark office. Finally, several
one-stops offered employers help with accessing business tax credits. For
example, when the employer services staff at the one-stop in Vineland, New
Jersey, realized the application process for tax credits was cumbersome
for employers, they began automatically completing the required paperwork
for employers so that the employers could more readily apply for the tax
credit incentives.15
15Officials at the Vineland one-stop told us that tax credits serve as an
incentive for businesses to participate in certain federal workforce
programs such as the Empowerment Zone, Welfare-to-Work, and Education
Opportunity Programs.
Page 22 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
One-Stop Centers Built a Solid Infrastructure by Strengthening Program
Partnerships and Raising Additional Funds
To build the solid infrastructure needed to support better services for
job seekers and employers, many of the one-stops we visited developed and
strengthened program partnerships and raised funds beyond those provided
under WIA. Center operators fostered the development of strong program
partnerships by encouraging communication and collaboration among partners
through functional teams and joint projects. As shown in figure 5, this
collaboration allowed one-stop partners to better integrate their
respective programs and services. Many one-stops also worked toward
improving one-stop operations and services by raising additional funds
through fee-based services, grants, and contributions from partners and
state or local government. The revenue raised through these activities
helped one-stops improve operations and services despite the lack of WIA
funding for one-stop operations and restrictions on the ways in which
one-stop programs can spend their funds.
Figure 5: Promising Strategies for Improving the One-Stop Center Infrastructure
Source: GAO illustration. Clip art source: Art Explosion.
One-Stop Centers Promoted Strong Partnerships by Facilitating Communication
and Collaboration among Partner Programs
In order to build a cohesive, well-functioning one-stop infrastructure, 9
of the 14 one-stop centers we visited gave partners the opportunity to
collaborate through functional teams and joint projects. One-stop managers
told us that collaboration through teams and joint projects allowed
partners to better integrate their respective programs and services, as
well as pursue common one-stop goals and share in one-stop decision
Page 24 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
making. For example, partners at the Erie, Pennsylvania, one-stop center
were organized into four functional teams-a career resource center team, a
job seeker services team, an employer services team, and an operations
team-which together operated the one-stop center. As a result of the
functional team meetings, partners reported that they worked together to
solve problems and develop innovative strategies to improve services in
their respective functional area. For instance, to improve intake and
referral processes, the Erie job seeker services team created a
color-coded intake form shared by multiple partners. Certain customers,
such as veterans and dislocated workers, received intake forms that were a
different color from those of other customers, so that staff could easily
identify the different customer groups and direct each toward the services
that best met their needs. Similarly, in Salt Lake City, Utah, partners
created a committee to address issues of common concern, such as
cross-program referrals, cross-training of partner staff, and employer
involvement. Staff from the Vocational Rehabilitation Program in Salt Lake
City told us that this committee helped to increase referrals to their
program by producing flow charts of the service delivery systems of
various partner programs to identify points at which referrals and staff
collaboration should occur.
In addition to fostering integration across programs, one-stop managers
said that the joint decision making done through functional teams
facilitated the development of a shared one-stop identity. Pikeville,
Kentucky, one-stop managers told us that shared decision-making was
instrumental in developing a common one-stop identity and in ensuring
partners' support for the one-stop system. The process of creating a
shared one-stop identity in Pikeville was also supported by the adoption
of a common logo, nametags, and business cards, and was reinforced by a
comprehensive marketing campaign, which gave partners a common message to
rally behind. Pikeville one-stop managers told us that, as a result of
this shared one-stop identity, partner staff no longer focused exclusively
on serving their individual program customers; rather, staff developed a
"can-do" attitude of meeting the needs of all one-stop customers. In
addition, managers told us that because of their shared one-stop identity,
partners were more willing to contribute resources to one another and to
the center as a whole. For instance, in order to streamline services for
job seekers, the Adult Basic Education Program administered skills
assessments to all one-stop customers, regardless of which program they
were enrolled in.
One-stop managers at several of the sites we visited told us that the
co-location of partner programs in one building facilitated communication
and collaboration. For this reason, one-stop managers at several of the
centers we visited reported that they fostered co-location by offering
attractive physical space and flexible rental agreements.16 For example,
in Pikeville, Kentucky, the local community college donated free space to
the one-stop on its conveniently located campus, making it easier to
convince partners to relocate there. Partners were also eager to relocate
to the Pikeville one-stop because they recognized the benefits of
co-location for their customers. For instance, staff from the Vocational
Rehabilitation Program said that co-location at the one-stop increased
their customers' access to employers and employment services. Pikeville
managers also told us that co-location at the community college made it
easier for partners to share information and made them more visible to
students likely to need employment services in the near future. In
addition, because co-location sometimes presents a challenge to partners
with limited resources, several centers offered flexible rental agreements
to make it easier for partners to co-locate. For example, the Kansas City,
Missouri, one-stop enabled the Adult Basic Education Program to co-locate
by allowing it to contribute instructors and General Educational
Development (GED) classes instead of paying rent. Partners in some
locations, including Dayton, Ohio, and Kenosha, Wisconsin, donated space
to enable other partners to be on-site.
Several one-stops where all partners were not co-located found ways to
create strong linkages with off-site partners. For example, in addition to
regular meetings between on-site and off-site staff, the one-stop in
Aurora, Colorado, had a staff person designated to act as a liaison and
facilitate communication between on-site and off-site partners. When an
on-site partner specializing in senior services raised concerns about the
lack of employment opportunities for its customers, the liaison set up a
meeting with Vocational Rehabilitation, an off-site partner, to enable
both parties to begin exchanging referrals to jobs and services.
16In fostering co-location of partner programs, the one-stops we visited
were following a trend toward increased co-location at one-stop centers
nationwide. We found that the number of states with co-located mandatory
and optional programs increased appreciably between 2000 and 2001. We
considered a mandatory program to be co-located in a state if more than 50
percent of the state's one-stops had the program on-site. For more
information, see GAO-02-696.
Page 26 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
One-Stop Centers Raised Additional Funds to Improve One-Stop Operations and
Expand Services for Customers
Managers at all but two of the one-stops we visited said that they were
using the flexibility under WIA to creatively increase one-stop funds
through fee-based services, grants, or contributions from partner programs
and state or local governments. Managers said these additional funds
allowed them to cover operational costs and expand services in spite of
the lack of WIA funding to support one-stop infrastructure and
restrictions on the use of program funds. For example, one-stop operators
in Clarksville, Tennessee, reported that they raised $750,000 in fiscal
year 2002 through a combination of business consulting, drug testing, and
drivers' education services. Using this money, the center was able to
purchase a new voicemail and computer network system, which facilitated
communication among staff and streamlined center operations.17 Similarly,
in Sunnyvale, California, one-stop managers said they raised $20,000
through downsizing and training services for employers, and used this
money to expand the one-stop's training services.
Centers have also been proactive about applying for grants from public and
private sources. For example, the one-stop center in Kansas City,
Missouri, had a full-time staff person dedicated to researching and
applying for grants. The one-stop generated two-thirds of its entire
program year 2002 operating budget of $21 million through competitive
grants available from the federal government as well as from private
foundations. This money allowed the center to expand its services, such as
through an internship program in high-tech industries for at-risk youth.
One-stop centers also raised additional funds by soliciting contributions
from local or state government and from partner agencies. For instance,
Boston one-stop managers reported that the state of Massachusetts matched
the one-stop's Wagner-Peyser funds dollar for dollar, which enabled the
center to fund its resource room and library. In addition, the Dayton,
Ohio, one-stop received $1 million annually from the county to pay for
shared one-stop staff salaries and to provide services to job seekers who
do not qualify for services under any other funding stream. Dayton
one-stop partners also contributed financial and in-kind resources to the
center on an as-needed basis.
17While several centers had adopted fee-based services as a method of
raising funds, it is important to note that managers of at least one
center said they chose not to charge for services because they felt this
might deter some employers or job seekers from accessing needed services.
Page 27 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
Little Is Known about the Impact of Strategies to Improve One-Stop Services
and Management
In addition to raising money through grants, managers at the one-stop in
Santa Rosa, California, told us that they made more efficient use of
existing funds by having staff use a funding source determination
worksheet to maximize training funds from various sources. The worksheet
is continually updated to show how much funding is available through each
program, allowing caseworkers to choose the most economical source for
eligible customers' Individual Training Accounts (ITAs)18 based on the
amount of money available through each funding stream and the date it is
scheduled to expire.
While Labor currently tracks outcome data-such as job placement, job
seeker satisfaction, and employer satisfaction-and funds several studies
to evaluate workforce development programs and service delivery models,
little is known about the impact of various one-stop service delivery
approaches on these and other outcomes. Labor's studies largely take a
program-by-program approach rather than focusing on the impact on job
seekers of various one-stop integrated service delivery approaches, such
as sharing customer intake forms across programs, or on employers, such as
dedicating staff to focus on engaging and serving employers. Further,
Labor's efforts to collaborate with other federal agencies to assess the
effects of different strategies to integrate job seeker services or to
serve employers through the one-stop system have been limited. In
addition, one-stop administrators do not have enough opportunities to
share existing information about how to improve and integrate services for
job seeker and employer customers. While Labor has developed a promising
practices Web site to facilitate such information sharing, it is unclear
how well the site currently meets this objective.
18Individual Training Accounts are training vouchers that participants can
use to procure the training of their choice, so long as the training
program is on a state's eligible training provider list.
Page 28 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
While Labor Currently Has Several Impact and Process Evaluations Underway,
the Scope of These Studies Is Limited
Labor currently tracks performance measures under the three WIA programs
using 17 separate outcome measures, including job placement and job seeker
and employer customer satisfaction, designed to gauge the success of WIA
funded services.19 However, managers at a few of the one-stop centers we
visited told us that customer satisfaction data, for example, could not be
linked to specific services or strategies, so one-stop managers could not
use the data to improve services for their job seeker and employer
customers. While outcome measures are an important component of program
management in that they assess whether a participant is achieving an
intended outcome-such as obtaining employment-they cannot measure whether
the outcome is a direct result of program participation.20 Other
influences, such as the state of the local economy, may affect an
individual's ability to find a job as much or more than participation in
an employment and training program. Many researchers consider impact
evaluations to be the best method for determining the effectiveness of a
program-that is, whether the program itself rather than other factors
leads to participant outcomes.
19WIA's measures are only tracked for those customers who receive
staff-assisted core, intensive or training services using WIA funding.
They are not tracked for those who receive self-service core services. For
more information, see GAO-02-275 .
20For more information, see U.S. General Accounting Office, Food Stamp
Employment and Training Program: Better Data Needed to Understand Who Is
Served and What the Program Achieves, GAO-03-388 (Washington D.C.: Mar.
12, 2003).
Page 29 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
While Labor is currently supporting a large number of impact and process
evaluations21 of various workforce development programs and initiatives,
none of these studies include an evaluation of the impact of different
integrated service delivery approaches on outcomes, such as job placement
or retention, or job seeker and employer satisfaction (see table 2).
Examples of integrated service delivery initiatives that we observed at
one-stops and that Labor could evaluate include cross-training one-stop
staff, sharing customer intake across programs, and consolidating case
management for customers enrolled in multiple programs. While these
integrated service delivery approaches were common at the one-stops we
visited, little is currently known about their impact on one-stop customer
outcomes and satisfaction. In addition, there is a lack of information
about which approaches to serving employers are most effective, such as
dedicating staff to engage and serve employers or tailoring services for
employers by offering customized training or pre-screening job applicants,
for example. Employment and Training Administration (ETA)22 officials
provided us with information on their current research, such as the
Microanalysis of the One-Stop-a process evaluation that Labor has
initiated to analyze how job seekers and employers access the array of
available one-stop services. While this study offers an analysis of the
implementation and operation of integrated service delivery, it does not
measure the impact of this integration on one-stop customers' satisfaction
or outcomes. In addition, the impact evaluations that Labor is currently
undertaking typically take a program-by-program approach and do not
measure the effectiveness of integrated services. For instance, Labor's
evaluation comparing the impact of various approaches to implementing
21Impact evaluations measure a program's effect on participant outcomes,
such as job placement and retention, by isolating the program effect from
the effects of other factors. Process evaluations, on the other hand,
offer an analysis of the processes involved in program implementation. To
isolate a program's effect, impact evaluations often divide participants
into two groups: those who receive program services and a similar group
who do not (the control or comparison group). Some impact evaluations
assign participants randomly to one group or the other, which increases
the likelihood that the two groups are roughly equivalent on all
characteristics that could affect outcomes. When participants are randomly
assigned, the comparison group is called a control group. Aspects of
program implementation that process evaluations typically assess include
the extent to which a program is reaching the appropriate target
population, whether a program's delivery of services is consistent with
its design specifications, and the amount of resources being spent on the
program.
22ETA is an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor that oversees WIA
and provides job training, employment, labor market information, and
income maintenance services primarily through state and local workforce
development systems.
Individual Training Accounts only includes WIA program participants, and
its evaluation of self-directed job search in a one-stop environment
focuses only on UI recipients.
Table 2: Selected Studies Supported by ETA
Page 31 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
Title Description of study Expected release date
Center for Employment Impact evaluation that Mid-2003, with a
Training examines the post-program follow-up
impacts on
(CET) Replication Impact employment, earnings, and report in late 2004
Study arrests among youth who
participated
at CET replication sites.
Includes control group.
Connecting UI Remote Process evaluation that Information not
Services to examines how best to available
strengthen the
One-Stop Services connection between UI and
Demonstration one-stop services.
Project
Employment Retention and A joint study with HHS,
Career Labor is contributing Fall 2007
funds for an impact,
Advancement Evaluation process and cost-benefit
analysis of the role of
one-stops in job
retention and advancement.
Includes control groups.
Evaluation of Impact evaluation that
Self-Directed Labor examines the impact, Summer 2005
efficiency and
Exchange Services in a effectiveness of
One-Stop self-directed labor
exchange services on UI
Environment recipients' earnings and
job search behavior.
Includes comparison
group.
Evaluation of the Impact evaluation to
Individual Training determine the Late 2003
effectiveness of three
Account Experiment progressively more
intensive job search
assistance approaches.
The most intensive
approach includes a
training component.
Includes control group.
A joint study with
Evaluation of the Education, Labor Released 2000
School-to-Work contributed funds for a
process
Out-of-School Youth evaluation of the
Demonstration implementation of
school-to-work strategies
at
and Job Corps Model Job Corps Model Centers
Centers and other programs serving
out-of-
school youth.
Evaluation of the Trade Impact evaluation to Interim reports
Adjustment measure the impacts of the 2005/2007,
Trade Adjustment
Assistance Program Assistance Program on final 2008
(planned) participants' employment,
earnings, and
receipt of fringe
benefits. Includes
comparison group.
Evaluation of WIA Process evaluation to Interim report
Implementation assess the early published, final
experience of states
implementing WIA, 2004
including those states
that opted to implement
before July 1, 2000.
Process, impact and Information not
Growing America Through cost-benefit analysis to available
measure the
Entrepreneurship (GATE) effectiveness of combining
a variety of small
business initiatives
Demonstration Project into one program offered
through the one-stop
system. Study is in
collaboration with the
Small Business
Administration. Includes
control group.
H1-B High Skills Training Process and impact Interim report
Grant evaluation to determine released,
the near and long-
Evaluation term impacts of the H1-B impact study report
Technical Skills training late 2006
initiative,
including impacts on
society, employers,
participants, and the
government sector. Impact
evaluation includes
control group.
(Continued From Previous Page)
Title Description of study Expected release date
Center for Employment Impact evaluation that Mid-2003, with a
Training examines the post-program follow-up
impacts on
(CET) Replication Impact employment, earnings, and report in late 2004
Study arrests among youth who
participated
at CET replication sites.
Includes control group.
Connecting UI Remote Process evaluation that Information not
Services to examines how best to available
strengthen the
One-Stop Services connection between UI and
Demonstration one-stop services.
Project
Low-Wage Worker Retention Process evaluation to
and assess the effectiveness Oregon in late 2004;
of new strategies
Advancement Demonstration for improving low-wage California in late
workers' employment 2005
status, retention
Projects rate, wage gain, career
advancement, public
assistance usage,
and other elements.
Microanalysis of the Process evaluation that Information not
One-Stop analyzes how individuals available
flow through
one-stops and the extent
to which they access the
array of
available services.
Impact evaluation to
National Job Corps Study evaluate the impact of Released 2001
the Job Corps program
on student employment
outcomes. Includes
control group.
Worker Profiling and Process evaluation to
Reemployment identify promising Released 2002
strategies for improving
Service Significant reemployment services
Improvement administered to
unemployed individuals
Demonstrations through state worker
profiling and
reemployment service
systems.
Impact and process
Youth Opportunity Areas evaluation to measure the Late 2005
effectiveness of the
Demonstration Evaluation Youth Opportunity Area
Demonstration. Impact
evaluation
includes comparison
group.
Quantum Opportunities Impact evaluation to Interim report
Program assess whether the QOP released 2003,
program has a
(QOP) Replication positive effect on high final report 2005
school graduation rates,
enrollment in
postsecondary education,
employment, and earnings.
Includes
control group.
Source: ETA, 2003.
Note: GAO identified approximately 40 studies supported by ETA of
workforce development programs and initiatives. This table is indicative
of studies that ETA is supporting; we excluded studies that were similar
to studies listed here or that did not assess programs involved in the
one-stop system. For more information about these and other studies that
ETA is supporting, see the ETA Five-Year Strategic Plan for Pilots,
Demonstrations, Research, and Evaluations July 2000-June 2005 (
http://wdr.doleta.gov/opr/fulltext/document.asp?docn=6162.)
ETA officials told us that a major barrier they face to conducting a
broader array of impact studies is their limited research budget-$35
million for demonstration grants and $9 million for evaluations in fiscal
year 2003. In a few cases, Labor has sought to address these funding
limitations by collaborating with other federal agencies to fund studies.
For example, Labor is helping HHS fund the $26 million Employment,
Retention and Advancement Study, an evaluation assessing strategies to
promote employment retention and advancement among welfare recipients and
low-wage workers. Labor is also collaborating with the Department of
Education on a process evaluation examining the implementation of
One-Stop Administrators Do Not Have Enough Opportunities to Share
Information about Promising Strategies in Serving One-Stop Customers
school-to-work programs at selected Job Corps centers. Such collaboration
not only enables Labor to address funding limitations, but it also has the
potential to facilitate evaluations of service delivery approaches that
span multiple programs overseen by different agencies. However, in spite
of these benefits, Labor is currently engaging in only a limited number of
such collaborations. Moreover, none of these collaborative studies are
specifically directed towards evaluating the impact of one-stop services
or integrated service delivery approaches.
While Labor has developed several mechanisms for providing guidance and
allowing local one-stop administrators to share information on how to move
beyond the basic requirements of WIA toward improving and integrating
one-stop services, these efforts have been limited. Labor's primary
mechanisms for disseminating information about promising practices at
one-stop centers are a Web site, forums, and conferences.
The promising practices Web site, which is funded by Labor and is operated
by Northern Illinois University's Center for Governmental Studies,
represents a promising step toward building a mechanism to support
information sharing among one-stop administrators. However, neither ETA
nor the Web site's administrators have conducted a customer satisfaction
survey or user evaluation of the site, so little is known about how well
the site currently meets its objective to promote information sharing
about promising practices. Much of the information available on the Web
site comes from submissions by one-stop centers or research organizations,
yet Web site administrators told us that these submissions have not been
screened to ensure that their content is useful. Furthermore, relevant
literature stresses that information presented through Web sites should be
accessible, useful, and well organized. When we attempted to use the Web
site, we found that useful information on the site was difficult to
access. In order to find information about promising practices through the
site, one must conduct a search by key word, which often did not yield
satisfactory results. Search results were organized alphabetically, not by
relevance, and some of the results addressed the search topic only
marginally. In addition, search results included a disorganized mixture of
external documents, links to other Web sites, and submissions. For
instance, a search under the keywords "service integration" yielded six
results, including two links to external Web sites, two external
documents, and two promising practices submissions. Of these six results,
two did not directly address promising practices in the area of service
integration.
In addition to the Web site, Labor hosts regular regional meetings and
cosponsors several national conferences to promote information
dissemination and networking opportunities for state and local grantees
and stakeholders. Labor also hosted several forums during WIA
implementation to allow information exchanges to occur between the
department and state and local one-stop administrators. While these
conferences and forums provide a venue for one-stop managers to talk with
one another about what is and is not working at their centers,
participation is limited to those who can physically take part.
The workforce development system envisioned under WIA represents a
Conclusions
fundamental shift from prior systems, and barely 3 years have passed since
it was fully implemented. States and localities are learning how to use
the flexibility afforded by WIA to develop systems that work for their
local areas and that implement WIA's vision of a customer-focused system.
The one-stop centers we visited are coordinating with the 17 mandatory
partners, and often multiple optional partners, to create a one-stop
system that strives to streamline services for job seekers and make
employers a significant part of the one-stop system. While the one-stops
we visited ranged in terms of their location-from urban to suburban to
rural-we saw numerous examples of one-stops streamlining services for job
seekers, developing business-related services to meet the needs of
employers, and supporting a one-stop infrastructure that provides the full
range of assistance needed by job seekers and employers to serve local
workforce needs.
While these strategies show promise for improving services to job seekers
and employers alike, there is no clear understanding of whether these
integrated service delivery approaches are actually increasing job seeker
and employer satisfaction or outcomes, such as job placement and
retention. Labor's current research efforts focus within individual
programs and have yet to take into account that customers are now served
by a one-stop system where multiple programs from four federal agencies
provide services. Moreover, few efforts have been made to share
information on promising practices. It is unclear whether one effort, a
promising practices Web site supported by Labor, is effective in meeting
its objective to promote information sharing about promising practices.
Without the right research or information sharing tools, it is difficult
to know which one-stop practices are, in fact, successful and how the
system might be improved in the long run.
In order to better understand and disseminate information on how well
Recommendations for
different approaches to program integration are meeting the needs of
one-stop job seekers and employers, we recommend that the Secretary of
Labor
o collaborate with the Departments of Education, Health and Human
Services, and Housing and Urban Development to develop a research
agenda that examines the impacts of various approaches to program
integration on job seeker and employer satisfaction and outcomes, such
as job placement and retention and
o conduct a systematic evaluation of the promising practices Web site
and ensure that it is effective.
We provided a draft of this report to Labor for comment. Labor agreed with
Agency Comments
our recommendations and expressed appreciation for our acknowledgment of
the progress made by local one-stop centers. However, Labor suggested we
recognize other research activities undertaken by ETA and its efforts to
share promising practices. We have incorporated Labor's comments in our
report, as appropriate. A copy of Labor's response is in appendix III.
Specifically, Labor agrees with our recommendation that better information
is needed to assess the impact of integrated services on customer outcomes
and satisfaction, but noted that it collects performance information that
includes job seeker and employer customer satisfaction data. In addition,
Labor told us it is working on implementing common performance measures
for the one-stop system. As we noted in the report, outcome measures are
an important part of program management, but alone, do not allow for an
understanding of whether the outcome is a direct result of program
participation. We continue to stress the need for more impact studies in
order to understand whether integrated services are making a difference.
Labor agrees with our recommendation that Labor conduct a systematic
evaluation of the Web site to ensure that it is effective. Labor told us
that it is undertaking a strategic review of its Web sites, including the
promising practices site that is intended to identify ways to improve
customer access to information. Labor also said that it is engaged in
other activities to effectively share information about what is working
well in one-stop centers. For example, ETA hosts regular regional meetings
for state administrators and funds a number of efforts that produce,
recognize, and share promising practices within the workforce system.
We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Labor,
appropriate congressional committees, and other interested parties. In
addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO's Web site at
http://www.gao.gov.
Please contact me on (202) 512-7215 if you or your staff have any
questions about this report. Other major contributors to this report are
listed in appendix IV.
Sigurd R. Nilsen
Director, Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues
Appendix I
Characteristics of the 14 One-Stop Centers GAO Visited
Page 37 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
Estimated
GAO one-stop Name of one-stop monthly
center site center Operator Geographic Major customer
visits location industries flow
Aurora, CO Arapahoe/Douglas Arapahoe/Douglas Suburb of Retail, 6,000
Denver construction,
Works! Works! (local accommodation
&
government food services
consortium)
Blaine, MN Anoka County Partner Suburb of Manufacturing, 5,100
consortium retail,
Workforce Center Minneapolis healthcare
Boston, MA The Work Place Partnership Located in Healthcare, 800
between downtown finance &
Jewish Boston insurance,
Vocational
Service professional &
(nonprofit)
and the City of technical
Boston services
Clarksville, Workforce Workforce Close to Manufacturing, 4,600
TN Essentials, Essentials, Nashville, retail,
Inc. Inc. (nonprofit) otherwise healthcare
rural
Dayton, OH The Job Center Consortium of Urban city Manufacturing, 42,500
retail,
partners, led by healthcare
an
independent
director
Erie, PA Erie Team PA Partner Small urban Manufacturing, 2,800
consortium,
CareerLink led by Greater metropolitan healthcare,
Erie area retail
Community Action
Committee
(nonprofit)
Kansas City, Covering Healthcare,
MO Full Employment Full Employment rural, retail, 4,500
urban,
Council Council and suburban manufacturing
(nonprofit) areas
Kenosha, WI Kenosha County Kenosha County Mixed urban Manufacturing, 4,000
Job and rural retail,
Center county healthcare
located on
Lake
Michigan
Killeen, TX Central Texas Central Texas Suburban, Healthcare, 11,000
rural area. retail,
Workforce Workforce Center Fort Hood is manufacturing
nearby.
Pikeville, Pike County Eastern Kentucky Located in Retail, 500
KY JobSight rural mining,
Center Concentrated Appalachia healthcare
in eastern
Employment Kentucky
Program
(nonprofit)
Salt Lake South County Utah Department Located in Retail, 24,500
City, UT of Salt Lake manufacturing
Employment Workforce City
Center Services
Appendix I Characteristics of the 14 One-Stop Centers GAO Visited
(Continued From Previous Page)
Estimated
GAO one-stop Name of monthly
one-stop
center site center Operator Geographic Major customer
visits location industries flow
Santa Rosa, Job Link Partner Largely Manufacturing, Not
CA consortium rural retail, available
healthcare
Sunnyvale, Connect! NOVA (North Urban and Manufacturing, 2,500
CA Valley suburban,
Job Training located in professional &
the heart of
Consortium), Silicon technical
6 Valley services
county
consortium
with city of
Sunnyvale
as lead
member
Vineland, Cumberland Cumberland A mix of Manufacturing, Not
NJ County County urban, retail, available
One-Stop Office of suburban, healthcare
Employment and rural
& Training communities
in
southwestern
New
Jersey
Sources: U.S. Census county Business Patterns, U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau
of Labor Statistics, and GAO site visits, 2003.
Appendix II
Promising Practices from Site Visits
While sites were identified as exemplary based on their promising
practices in one of three key areas-serving job seekers, engaging
employers, and operating the one-stop center-we found that all 14 of the
one-stops we visited exhibited numerous promising practices in multiple
areas. The selection of promising practices described below represents
some of the strongest or most unique examples from each site.
Arapahoe/Douglas Works! Colorado Workforce Center
Aurora, Colorado
14980 E. Alameda Drive Aurora, CO 80012
o Working with intermediaries to engage and serve employers
-Arapahoe/Douglas Works! works closely with local Chambers of Commerce and
economic development entities to conduct outreach to employers. Each year
Arapahoe/Douglas Works! and the local Chamber hold an employer recognition
awards event, which not only markets the one-stop system to business, but
also encourages workplace innovation by honoring three employers with
awards for work-life balance, community partnerships, and outstanding
youth employer.
o Dedicating specialized staff to address local industry needs - Because
of a local nursing labor shortage, the one-stop dedicated specialized
staff to establish an on-site healthcare recruitment center to help job
seekers find training opportunities in the healthcare field.
* Promoting partner collaboration - In addition to regular meetings
between on-site and off-site staff, the one-stop has a staff person
designated to act as a liaison and facilitate communication between
on-site and off-site partners.
* o Developing optional partnerships to expand services -
Arapahoe/Douglas Works! partners with the Department of Corrections
to provide transition services for juvenile offenders.
o Raising additional funds to expand services - Arapahoe/Douglas Works!
raised about $620,000 through contracts with local schools to provide
workforce development services for at-risk high school students. The
one-stop also raised about $80,000 through an on-site learning lab for
students at risk of dropping out of school.
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
Anoka County Workforce Center
Blaine, Minnesota
1201 89th Avenue NE Blaine, MN 55434
o Ensuring partner staff understand the range of services -Staff
periodically participate in center-wide meetings where they make
presentations to one another about their program's services and role at
the center. In addition, partners lead workshops on how to better serve
their particular customer base. Officials reported that cross-training
results in increased referrals across partner programs.
o Streamlining services through consolidated case management - The
caseworkers from the various one-stop programs meet regularly to
collaborate in developing and implementing joint service plans for
customers who are co-enrolled in multiple programs.
o Tailoring services to meet employers' specific workforce needs - The
one-stop developed an English-as-a-Second-Language course tailored to the
needs of a local nursing home. The course was taught on-site at the
nursing home by one-stop staff.
o Promoting partner collaboration -Partners collaborate in functional
teams to manage the one-stop. Collaboration among partners was
enhanced when they jointly applied for a One-Stop Implementation grant
from the state of Minnesota. Because of the strong sense of
cooperation among them, partners pooled their resources when possible
to ensure the continued funding of services.
o Raising additional funds to expand services - An H1-B grant and a
grant from the McKnight Foundation enabled the center to expand
services for customers. The grants enabled the center to implement a
training program in healthcare-related fields and develop a social
services and car donation program for people who do not qualify for
any other program.
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
The Work Place
Boston, Massachusetts
99 Chauncy Street Boston, MA 02111
o Ensuring job seekers' access to services - Because the majority of the
Work Place's partners are located off-site, the one-stop placed staff
in off-site locations, including family courts, correctional
facilities, and welfare offices to give job seekers ready access to
employment-related services.
* Dedicating specialized staff to establish relationships with
employers -The Work Place has staff dedicated to recruiting,
engaging, and maintaining employer involvement. The Work Place
has focused on measuring employer satisfaction and soliciting
employer feedback to guide them in improving their employer
services. The center has established employer focus groups to
identify the services employers used and their satisfaction with
those services.
* o Tailoring services to meet employers' specific workforce needs
- The Work Place screens applicants and provides referrals to the
Marriott Hotel's Pathways to Independence program, a nationwide
job readiness program for people with multiple barriers to
employment. About 75 percent of program graduates over the past 5
years were recruited through The Work Place.
o Developing optional partnerships to expand services - The Work Place
has developed an optional partnership with the Suffolk County House of
Corrections to provide community reintegration services for prisoners
prior to their release. One of the programs is an offender reentry
program that conducts job fairs inside the county jail to facilitate
incarcerated offenders' transition back into the workplace.
o Raising additional funds to expand services - The state of
Massachusetts matches the Boston one-stop's Wagner-Peyser funds dollar
for dollar, which enables the center to fund its resource room and
library.
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
WorkForce Essentials, Inc.
Clarksville, Tennessee
110 Main Street Clarksville, TN 37040
o Ensuring job seekers' access to services - The Clarksville one-stop
provides a clear path for job seekers to follow between one-stop
services. When job seekers are referred to another partner program,
staff personally walk them over to the referred program staff to
prevent them from getting lost between programs.
o Dedicating specialized staff to establish relationships with employers
-WorkForce Essentials, Inc., dedicates staff to conduct employer
outreach in order to provide employer services and identify employment
opportunities for job seekers. One-stop operators said that outreach
to employers has helped engender employer trust in the organization
and the job seekers it serves.
* Working with intermediaries to engage and serve employers - The
Clarksville one-stop staff worked with Chamber of Commerce
members to provide math training in order to improve the pool of
entry-level employees for the local banking industry. This helped
connect job seekers with available job openings at local banks.
* o Tailoring services to meet employers' specific workforce needs
- The one-stop provided tailored hiring services, including drug
testing and pre-screening of applicants, for a manufacturing
company, resulting in the company hiring over 75 people through
the one-stop.
o Developing optional partnerships to expand services- Managers in
Clarksville told us that co-location with the Tennessee Department of
Human Services, which administers TANF, benefits all job seekers
because the department helps fund various services, including computer
classes, soft skills classes, and parenting classes that can be
provided to those not eligible for TANF.
o Raising additional funds to expand services - WorkForce Essentials,
Inc., raised $750,000 in fiscal year 2002 through drivers' education
courses, drug testing, recruitment, and skills assessment services.
This money was used to pay salaries and to purchase voicemail and a
computer network system. In addition, the one-stop received a
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
$2.8 million H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant from DOL, through which it has
provided high-skills training to over 900 workers so far.
The Job Center
Dayton, Ohio
111 S. Edwin C. Moses Boulevard Dayton, OH 45422
o Streamlining services through consolidated case management -
Caseworkers from various programs, including TANF, Medicaid, Food Stamps,
and WIA share caseloads and coordinate their service plans for job
seekers.
o Ensuring partner staff understand the range of services - One-stop
managers reported that cross-training on-site and off-site partners
dramatically improves referrals to the Child Support Program, thereby
enhancing efforts to establish paternity, a requirement for
determining eligibility for TANF. Additionally, they indicated that
their cross-trained staff referred job seekers to service providers
that had previously been unknown, such as to smaller programs within
the one-stop or local neighborhood programs.
o Promoting partner collaboration and co-location -Partners
collaboratively operate the one-stop through four councils. All
partners are asked to participate and all have equal voice in
decision-making. Additionally, partners contributed space and other
resources to help other partners co-locate. The Center is housed in a
former shopping mall, which offers plenty of flexible space to allow
all partners to co-locate.
o Developing optional partnerships to expand services - At the time of
our visit, the Dayton one-stop had over 30 optional partners on-site,
including the Montgomery County Combined Health District, which
operates a health clinic on-site; and Clothes that Work! which
provides free business attire to low-income women; and an alternative
high school.
o Raising additional funds to expand services - The one-stop receives $1
million annually from the county to pay for shared one-stop staff
salaries and to provide services to job seekers who do not qualify for
services under any other funding stream. Dayton one-stop partners also
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
contribute financial and in-kind resources to the center on an as-needed
basis.
Pennsylvania CareerLink
Erie, Pennsylvania
1309 French Street Erie, PA 16501
o Streamlining services through consolidated case management - To
efficiently coordinate multiple services for one-stop customers, Erie
one-stop staff use a networked computer system with a shared case
management program, so that they can share access to a customer's service
plan and case file.
* Ensuring job seekers' access to services - The one-stop positions a
staff person at the doors to the center to help job seekers
entering the center find needed services and to ensure that exiting
job seekers received the services they sought.
* o Working with intermediaries to engage and serve employers
-CareerLink staff collaborated with numerous local economic
development entities to develop an outreach program that assesses
the workforce needs of employers and links employers with
appropriate services.
o Promoting partner collaboration - The one-stop staff is organized into
four functional teams that meet weekly to work on common goals and
develop new strategies. These teams have developed innovative
strategies to improve service delivery, including the creation of a
resource guide for caseworkers and a color-coded intake form.
o Strengthening relationships among partners - Staff at CareerLink
participate in frequent team-building activities, such as social
events and recognition ceremonies, to promote a positive, integrated
working environment.
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
Full Employment Council
Kansas City, Missouri
1740 Paseo Kansas City, MO 64108
o Streamlining services through consolidated intake procedures Youth
Opportunity and the WIA Youth program staff share intake and enrollment
forms to streamline the delivery of services to youth. This process
alleviates the burden of multiple intake and assessment forms when
registering participants.
o Ensuring job seekers' access to services - The one-stop management
decided to locate the one-stop center next to the bus company, the
Area Transit Authority, (ATA). This strategic decision meant that all
bus routes passed by the one-stop center, ensuring that customers with
transportation problems could access one-stop services. Additionally,
the ATA partners with the one-stop to create an Urban Employment
Network program to assist job seekers with transportation to and from
work, 7 days a week from 5:00 in the morning until midnight and has
set up a van service to operate during off-peak hours.
o Working with intermediaries to engage and serve employers - The Full
Employment Council uses the Chamber of Commerce as an intermediary
with employers. The chamber has a workforce issues division that does
outreach to educate employers about recruitment and retention
strategies and services offered at the one-stop center. While staff at
the Kansas City one-stop assist job seekers with disabilities, the
Chamber works with local employers to educate them about hiring
disabled workers and integrating them into the workplace.
o Promoting partner co-location - The one-stop enabled the Adult Basic
Education program to co-locate by allowing it to contribute
instructors and GED classes instead of paying rent.
o Raising additional funds to expand services - The Kansas City one-stop
has a staff person specifically designated to researching grant
opportunities and writing grant applications. Through pursuing grant
opportunities, the center has been able to raise about $14 million,
which represents two-thirds of its total budget in program year 2002.
These additional funds enable the one-stop staff to address local
workforce concerns and provide services, such as internship
opportunities in high-tech industries for at-risk youth.
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
Kenosha County Job Center
Kenosha, Wisconsin
8600 Sheridan Road Kenosha, WI 53143
o Streamlining services through consolidated and case management -Case
files for economic support, case management, job placement, and
childcare services are shared on a networked computer system that
staff from these four programs can access. Staff from these programs
collectively develop an action plan for their customers and share an
electronic calendar for scheduling customers' appointments and
workshops.
o Working with intermediaries to engage and serve employers - The
one-stop collaborates with local community colleges and the Kenosha
Area Business Alliance, an economic development association, to
identify labor and skills shortages in local industry. These
partnerships have not only helped employers with human resources
assistance--such as recruitment, networking, and marketing--but they
have also assisted employers with assessment and training of new and
existing employees. For example, the one-stop's relationship with a
local community college led to the development of a Certified Nursing
Assistant course taught in Spanish.
o Promoting partner collaboration - Regular functional team meetings
allow partners to share ideas, work together to solve problems, and
develop strategies to improve services. For example, through
functional teams, partners were able to establish an on-site childcare
center.
o Promoting partner co-location - Goodwill Industries, a one-stop
partner, pays rent for smaller partners that cannot afford to pay rent
on their own to expand services for job seekers.
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
Central Texas Workforce Center
Killeen, Texas
300 Cheyenne Killeen, TX 76541
o Ensuring job seekers' access to services - To serve customers with
transportation challenges, staff in Killeen partner with the libraries
in rural areas to provide computer access to one-stop resume writing
and job search services. They also provide an on-line TANF
orientation, so that customers can access it remotely. Additionally,
when one-stop center staff refer job seekers to one of their many
partners, the staff personally introduce the job seeker to the
referred program staff to prevent job seekers from getting lost
between programs.
o Developing optional partnerships to expand services -The one-stop
improved job seeker access to services by forming relationships with
optional partners such as TANF. One-stop staff told us that
co-location with TANF services helps welfare recipients address
barriers to employment by facilitating easier access to services, such
as housing assistance and employment and training programs.
* Dedicating specialized staff to establish relationships with
employers - The one-stop has specialized staff serving not only
as the central contact for receiving calls and requests from
employers but also as the primary source for identifying job
openings available through employers in the community.
* o Tailoring services to meet employers' specific workforce needs
- In collaboration with local community colleges and the Chamber
of Commerce, the one-stop created a Business Resource Center that
offers services specifically for entrepreneurs and new
businesses, including tax assistance and workshops on starting or
improving a business.
o Raising additional funds to expand services - The one-stop has applied
for multiple transportation grants to improve access to jobs for rural
job seekers. In addition, the one-stop raised $309,000 in fiscal year
2001 by renting out space to local businesses and by providing
services to employers.
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
Pike County JobSight Center
Pikeville, Kentucky
120 South Riverfill Drive Pikeville, KY 41501
* Ensuring partner staff understand the range of services -
Cross-training workshops taught by partner staff educate staff
about the one-stop's diverse array of services. Although partners
specialize in a particular area of expertise, cross-training has
improved referrals and enabled staff to better ensure that job
seekers get the tools they need to become successfully employed.
* o Tailoring services to meet employers' specific workforce needs -
When eastern Kentucky encountered a labor shortage in the coal
mining industry, the one-stop recruited a large pool of local
applicants and created an on-the-job training program using WIA
funds, which paid for half of new miners' salaries during their
training period.
o Dedicating specialized staff to establish relationships with employers
-Specific JobSight staff are dedicated to employer outreach and
customizing services. These staff were able to help attract a large
cabinet manufacturer to the area by offering a customized service
package, including prescreening and assessment, on the job training,
and a 3-day job fair.
o Promoting partner collaboration - When the one-stop was created,
partners participated in intensive workshops and collaboratively
designed a service delivery plan to reduce service duplication. In
addition, partners collaboratively designed a common intake form and a
service delivery flow chart.
o Creating a shared one-stop identity - One-stop managers told us that
shared decision making was instrumental in developing a common
one-stop identity and in ensuring partners' support for the one-stop
system. The process of creating a shared one-stop identity in
Pikeville was also supported by the adoption of a common logo and
nametags, and was reinforced by a comprehensive marketing campaign.
o Promoting partner co-location - The local community college donated
free space to the one-stop on its conveniently located campus, making
it desirable for partners to relocate there.
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
South County Employment Center
Salt Lake City, Utah
5735 S. Redwood Road Taylorsville, UT 84123
o Streamlining services through consolidated case management - The
caseworkers at the Salt Lake City one-stop are divided into four teams
that share case management of customers. The Job Connection Team is
stationed at the front desk and helps customers by doing quick
assessments, referrals, UI profiling, and assisting with computer access.
Caseworkers from the three Employment Teams specialize in a particular
program and all caseworkers meet once a month to discuss program
requirements and how to streamline services for co-enrolled customers.
o Ensuring partner staff understand the range of services - Department of
Workforce Services and Vocational Rehabilitation caseworkers participate
in frequent cross-training sessions, so they are capable of assisting
co-enrolled customers. One-stop managers reported that cross-training has
improved staff understanding of programs outside their area of expertise
and enhanced their ability to make referrals. There is also a shadow
program in which staff members shadow one another for a few hours to learn
about one another's jobs and the programs they administer.
o Ensuring job seekers' access to services - The one-stop established a
Web-based job search program on which job seekers can post resumes and
look for jobs. This Web site reduces customer flow, saves money, and
makes it more convenient for people to look for jobs from their homes
or offices.
o Dedicated specialized staff to establish relationships with employers
- Employers have a separate one-stop center where they can conduct
interviews, access labor market information, attend seminars, and use
computers. The center has specialized employer outreach and business
services staff that act as liaisons to employers, organize job fairs,
and assist with job placements.
o Promoting partner collaboration - Partners created a "MOUse" committee
to address Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) issues, including
referrals, information systems, employer involvement, cross-training,
and service accessibility. Staff from the Vocational
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
Rehabilitation Program in Salt Lake City told us that this committee
helped to increase referrals to their program by producing flow charts of
the service delivery systems of various partner programs to identify
points at which referrals and staff collaboration should occur.
Sonoma County Job Link One-Stop Center
Santa Rosa, California
2245 Challenger Way Santa Rosa, CA 95407
o Dedicating specialized staff to establish relationships with
industries - In Santa Rosa, staff are dedicated to specific industries
in order to better address local labor shortages. When Santa Rosa's
tourism industry was in need of more skilled workers, the one-stop
worked with the local community college to ensure that job seekers
were connected to certification courses in hotel management and the
culinary arts. Also, the one-stop center has a Small Business
Development Center, funded by the Small Business Administration, that
provides consulting services to small businesses.
o Working with intermediaries to engage and serve employers - The
one-stop focuses heavily on using existing partnerships with
intermediaries, such as the Economic Development Board, to market
their services to employers and to utilize information gathered from
employer surveys. Managers told us this partnership has helped
caseworkers better understand particular industries and job market
fluctuations.
o Developing optional partnerships to expand services - The one-stop is
collaborating with CalWORKS, the state TANF program, which allows them
to provide additional services, such as the employer account
representatives. These representatives work with employers, the
Workforce Investment Board, and caseworkers to gather and disseminate
information about the labor market, particularly high-demand
industries.
o Raising additional funds to expand services - Santa Rosa has been
better equipped to receive national grants and grants from the state
of California by collaborating with three other Workforce Investment
Boards in the area. In addition, this collaboration has improved local
labor market information and sharing of promising practices.
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
o Improving one-stop operations -Partner staff use a Funding Source
Determination Worksheet to ensure that customers' services are paid for by
the most appropriate grant or by a variety of funding streams to maximize
funding in the long run. The funding sheet helps alleviate some cost
burden on partners with tighter training budgets.
Connect!
Sunnyvale, California
420 S. Pastoria Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086
* Dedicating specialized staff to establish relationships with
employers - Connect! has dedicated staff to providing a variety of
services (both free and fee-based) to meet business needs,
including staffing services, such as prescreening of job applicants
and on-site recruiting; transition/outplacement services to help
downsizing businesses assist displaced workers; educational
resources; and training, such as technical training for small
business IT workers.
* o Tailoring services to meet employers' specific workforce needs -
The one-stop is co-located with a patent and trademark library that
is electronically linked to the national trademark office to assist
customers seeking entrepreneurial opportunities.
o Gathering labor market information on local industries - Connect!
conducted Labor Market Information Plus (LMI+) studies of local
industries to gather information on current workforce issues and
challenges and predict future labor market trends.
o Raising additional funds to expand services - One-stop managers raised
$20,000 through fee-based downsizing and training services for
employers and used this money to expand the one-stop's business
services.
o Improving one-stop operations - In order to improve its operations,
Connect! conducted an assessment (Voice of the Customer Initiative) to
better understand customer expectations and needs. As a result, the
one-stop reorganized its operations, redefined relationships with
partners, developed a new outcome budget structure, and created
specialized one-stop centers for businesses, job seekers, and youth.
Appendix II Promising Practices from Site Visits
Cumberland County One-stop
Vineland, New Jersey
415 Landis Avenue Vineland, NJ 08360
o Ensuring job seekers' access to services - By addressing customers'
transportation challenges, the Cumberland County One-Stop enhanced
access to training and employment opportunities for rural customers.
The one-stop now provides transportation to employment sites that are
difficult for customers to access, such as the Atlantic City casino
industry.
* Ensuring partner staff understand the range of services - Program
staff attend monthly meetings to educate one another about
various program rules, which improves referrals and eligibility
determination for customers. For example, all program staff
attended training on how to assess customers' eligibility for the
TANF program.
* o Tailoring services to meet employers' specific workforce needs
- When employer services staff realized the application process
for tax credits was cumbersome for employers, they completed the
required paperwork themselves so that employers could receive the
tax credit incentives.
o Working with intermediaries to engage and serve employers - The
Cumberland County One-Stop negotiated an agreement with the local
Empowerment Zone Office, requiring that new businesses use the
one-stop center for recruitment before using their own private
resources. This arrangement allows the one-stop to stay informed of
employer needs and potential opportunities for job seekers.
o Working with intermediaries to engage and serve employers - The
Vineland one-stop belongs to the three Chambers of Commerce in the
area and attends many of their events. Business services staff make
presentations about the one-stop's services at professional
conferences, chamber meetings, and other local events.
Appendix III
Comments from the Department of Labor
Now on p. 29.
Appendix III Comments from the Department of Labor
Now on p. 32.
Appendix III Comments from the Department of Labor
Appendix IV
GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
Dianne Blank (202) 512-5654
GAO Contacts
Katrina Ryan (202) 512-3214
Elisabeth Anderson, Elizabeth Caplick, and Tamara Harris made significant
Staff
contributions to this report. In addition, Shana Wallace assisted in the
study design; Jessica Botsford provided legal support; and
Patrick DiBattista assisted in the message and report development.
Related GAO Products
Workforce Investment Act: Exemplary One-Stops Devised Strategies to
Strengthen Services, but Challenges Remain for Reauthorization. GAO-
03-884T. Washington D.C.: June 18, 2003.
Workforce Investment Act: Issues Related to Allocation Formulas for Youth,
Adults, and Dislocated Workers. GAO-03-636 . Washington D.C.: April 25,
2003.
Multiple Employment and Training Programs: Funding and Performance
Measures for Major Programs. GAO-03-589 . Washington, D.C.: April 18,
2003.
Food Stamp Employment and Training Program: Better Data Needed to
Understand Who Is Served and What the Program Achieves. GAO-03-388 .
Washington D.C.: March 12, 2003.
Workforce Training: Employed Worker Programs Focus on Business Needs, but
Revised Performance Measures Could Improve Access for Some Workers.
GAO-03-353 . Washington, D.C.: February 14, 2003.
Older Workers: Employment Assistance Focuses on Subsidized Jobs and Job
Search, but Revised Performance Measures Could Improve Access to Other
Services. GAO-03-350 . Washington, D.C.: January 24, 2003
Workforce Investment Act: States' Spending Is on Track, but Better
Guidance Would Improve Financial Reporting. GAO-03-239 . Washington, D.C.:
November 22, 2002.
Workforce Investment Act: States and Localities Increasingly Coordinate
Services for TANF Clients, but Better Information Needed on Effective
Approaches. GAO-02-696. Washington, D.C.: July 3, 2002.
Workforce Investment Act: Coordination of TANF Services Through One-Stops
Has Increased Despite Challenges. GAO-02-739T. Washington, D.C.: May 16,
2002.
Workforce Investment Act: Youth Provisions Promote New Service Strategies,
but Additional Guidance Would Enhance Program Development. GAO-02-413.
Washington, D.C.: April 5, 2002.
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Center Is Increasing, but Challenges Remain. GAO-02-500T. Washington,
D.C.: March 12, 2002.
Workforce Investment Act: Better Guidance and Revised Funding Formula
Would Enhance Dislocated Worker Program. GAO-02-274. Washington, D.C.:
February 11, 2002.
Workforce Investment Act: Improvements Needed in Performance Measures to
Provide a More Accurate Picture of WIA's Effectiveness. GAO-02-275.
Washington, D.C.: February 1, 2002.
Workforce Investment Act: Better Guidance Needed to Address Concerns Over
New Requirements. GAO-02-72 . Washington, D.C.: Oct. 4, 2001.
Workforce Investment Act: New Requirements Create Need for More Guidance.
GAO-02-94T. Washington, D.C. October 4, 2001.
Workforce Investment Act: Implementation Status and the Integration of
TANF Services. GAO/T-HEHS-00-145. Washington, D.C.: June 29, 2000.
(130173) Page 58 GAO-03-725 Workforce Investment Act
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