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ETA Press Release: Labor Department Awards more than $2.8 Million for One-Stop Career Center System-Building Projects [07/05/1996]

For more information call: (202) 219-6871

Twelve state and local groups will share more than $2.8 million to test ways to make the one-stop career center system even more responsive to customer needs, Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich announced.

"One-stop career centers are at the hub of the new workforce development system," said Reich. "They provide user-friendly access to services and resources both to workers seeking new or better jobs and employers seeking workers with the skills needed to maintain and grow their businesses."

The 12 grantees are from Sunnyvale, Cal.; Melbourne, Fl.; Peru, Ind.; Springfield, Mass.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; St. Paul, Minn.; St. Peters, Mo.; Hackensack, N.J.; Yonkers, N.Y.; Belton, Tex.; Seattle, Wash.; and Pewaukee, Wis. They were chosen from among 174 proposals submitted in response to a Federal Register notice issued April 11, 1996.

The projects are designed to strengthen service delivery, optimize the use of resources and lead to broader participation in workforce development and utilization. Projects will explore the use of vouchers and fee-for-service arrangements and will propose models for supporting the one-stop centers through strategic alliances with businesses and community groups. Projects will also test up to three aspects of the new workforce development system, including services to hard-to-serve groups, use of workforce boards and report cards as performance measures.

Fee-for-service arrangements, which are featured in five projects, are used to recoup costs for specialized services that may be provided by one-stop career centers, such as performing a task analysis of workers' responsibilities, training a company's workers, providing outplacement services and conducting specialized workshops.

The demonstration grants have a period of performance of 15 months from the date of the award.

Editor's Note: A list of the grantees, with brief descriptions of their projects, is attached.

The project will develop a fee-for-service system designed for high-tech industries located in Silicon Valley. The project will also deliver a unified marketing strategy and competitive marketing materials for the fee-for-service approach. In addition, funds will be managed on a venture capital model, with stakeholders submitting business plans that identify fee-for-service activities to be developed or expanded and the anticipated income to be generated.

The grantee will establish computer-based delivery of one-stop services to disadvantaged public housing residents who, due to lack of public transportation, are unable to access services at the Job-Link one-stop locations. The creation of Mini-Job-Links to four public housing communities will make key information more accessible for this hard-to-reach segment of the population.

This project will develop a model for implementing a workforce development board in multiple rural counties. Objectives include establishing a regional workforce development board; devising regional workforce development strategies that include global competitiveness; providing interpretation, communication, technical assistance, and management of workforce development issues and information to multiple sets of community customers; and developing strategies for delivering quality services to meet the needs of the regional labor market.

This project will create an Internet home page, "Fee-for-Service (FFS) in the One-Stop System," and provide toll-free telephone support. The home page will provide up-to-date and comprehensive information on the strategies, operational issues, policies, and best practices of various revenue-generating plans, activities and structures being used by one-stop career centers around the country.

This non-profit organization will form a strategic alliance with two local private industry councils (in the midwest and northeast sections of the state) and the state commission on workforce preparedness (to serve the southern section). The alliance will demonstrate the importance of quality control measures, such as the use of chartering or certification processes for career centers or performance analyses to ensure high-quality service. In this project, employers are considered a key customer.

This project will expand upon existing computer software to create a common intake system and an operational client-tracking and case management system, which one-stop center staffs can use to follow and evaluate the progress of customers through the service delivery system. The project will also examine how the software can make use of information on the Internet and be integrated with existing software systems at other one-stop centers.

This initiative will develop a model one-stop school-to-work program for out-of-school youth (including dropouts) through pre-employment and work maturity programs, career exploration, Internet job search training, fundamental computer training, and a limited work experience program in a specific occupation. This project will also develop and maintain a free 24-hour community information network on the Internet so one-stop clients can access services without assistance. It will also develop a fee-for-service package that includes task analysis of existing positions, incumbent worker training, outplacement services and specialized workshops.

The grantee will develop self-employment opportunities for the unemployed by establishing a directed services group. The workforce development center will also act as an incubator for the development of small businesses with the free use of space for start-up and fledgling enterprises.

This joint effort by the Yonkers one-stop center, the Center for Employment and Training, and the Center for Continuing Education will demonstrate and evaluate multiple adaptations of the one-stop model to effectively serve homeless adults who are eligible for public assistance. The goal is to successfully train and place at least 100 participants in unsubsidized full-time employment with average wages of at least $7.50 per hour.

The grantee will develop a network database emphasizing the "credit card" concept for client tracking and case management and a program to internally track a fee-for-service system. This project fosters the development of interagency information-sharing. In addition, an Internet homepage will provide a resume database, company summary information, access to unlimited labor market information and vacancy announcements, as well as access to "chat forums."

The goal of this capacity-building effort is to provide access for individuals with various learning disabilities. Staff, including interviewers, counselors and case managers, will be professionally trained to distinguish such individuals and provide immediate low-cost access to professional assessment and develop an accommodation plan between job-seekers and employers.

The grantee will develop a fee-for-service model for businesses that features the concepts of brokering, capacity-building, continuous improvement and collaboration and that links issues of cost allocation and revenue sharing. The project will also produce practical applications for integrating marketing principles and revenue-generating activities into one-stop environments.

Archived News Release--Caution: information may be out of date.