Fixing to Change:

A Best Practices Assessment of
One-Stop Job Centers Working with Welfare Recipients

Appendix:
One-Stop Model Summaries

Contents of Chapter:

• Workforce Development Center, Marshalltown, Iowa
• Kenosha County Job Center, Kenosha, Wisconsin
• Tarrant County Resource Connection Career Center, Fort Worth, TX
• Northwest Michigan JOBNET, Traverse City, Michigan
• Whatcom County WorkNet Consortium, Bellingham, Washington

Workforce Development Center, Marshalltown, Iowa

The Workforce Development Center serves a 4-county area in eastern central Iowa that is largely rural. Marshalltown itself is a city of approximately 25,000. Roughly 15 percent of Marshalltown's population is of Hispanic origin. Surrounding counties served are very rural, and driving distance to the Center can be as much as 80 miles.

• State Workforce System: 1996 legislation created a consolidated Workforce Development Department, formalizing the structure of the state Workforce Development Council and calling for the creation of local boards to select service providers and monitor local workforce development centers. Local centers must include DoL funded programs (JTPA Titles II and III, Employment Services, Veterans Employment Services, Senior Community Service Employment, and Unemployment Insurance), as well as the Food Stamp Employment and Training Program and the state's PROMISE JOBS program for welfare clients. Participation of a variety of other partners is "strongly encouraged." Service delivery plans are approved by local and state boards, with an emphasis on performance-based community service provider contracts.
• Welfare Reform: Iowa was one of the first states to enact a comprehensive welfare reform package under federal waivers in October 1993. The new benefit system, called the Family Investment Program or FIP, took the place of Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and made changes to the Food Stamp Program. Each FIP participant is required to develop a Family Investment Agreement (FIA) which outlines the steps the individual will take toward self-sufficiency, including education, job training, and employment. Caregivers with children under age 6 months are exempt from this requirement. PROMISE JOBS is the employment and training program under which FIAs are to be carried out.

  Those who enroll in FIP but fail to meet the program requirements are transferred into the Limited Benefits Plan (LBP). Most LBP participants end up in the program due to non-compliance with the FIP. The LBP provides three months of reduced benefits, followed by six months of no cash benefits for the entire family, although non-cash assistance such as Food Stamps and Medicaid continue. At the end of the six-month period, recipients can reapply to the FIP but must develop and comply with their FIA. If recipients fail to meet the requirements of the FIP a second time, the case is referred back into the LBP. The second time around, no cash benefits are provided for six-months and there is no option for reconsideration for either LBP or FIP after the allotted time has expired.

• Local Economy: The impact of the nation's farm crisis in Iowa during the early and mid 1980's caused significant hardship and restructuring of the local economy. During the late 1980s, Marshalltown experienced major, permanent lay-offs by its largest employer, a manufacturing company paying some of the area's highest wages and benefits. However, during the most recent recovery cycle the region's economy has expanded and changed dramatically, resulting in an unemployment rate of just over 3 percent in the county at the time of our site visit. Despite the strong economy, job turnover in the adjacent rural counties served by the Workforce Development Center was quite low. Current job listings in some counties were extremely limited at the time of the visit.
• Location and Physical Space: Marshalltown is located on the freeway about 40 miles northeast of Des Moines. The Workforce Development Center is located between the center of town and the freeway, with the Iowa Valley Community College within walking distance on the other side of the freeway. The Center is housed in a two-story building constructed specifically for it's use. Visitors walk into a large reception area and a receptionist is on hand to direct them to services. The first floor accommodates a large meeting space, offices for most program staff and a computer training lab. The second floor provides classroom space, more computers, a job research space, and a video conferencing center. Most staff have individual offices, clustered by program and surrounding an open office arrangement for the Center director.
• General Concept: The Center provides service based on an inverted pyramid concept. The Center is organized to encourage clients, as a first step, to serve themselves in the Resource Room or in other areas of the Center. Center staff have found that most client needs can be met through the self-service offerings. In our interviews, the most frequently repeated phrase was focused on the client-oriented goal setting: "you can set your own goals here, what do you want to do?" For those who require additional assistance, various groups are provided in order to meet specific needs including resume workshops, computer skills, and career assessments. As a last step, clients needing intensive services can obtain one-on-one service from on-site staff. This framework for service delivery means the Center can meet the needs of most job seekers while focusing staff time on areas where the need is greatest.

  Promise Jobs Program: Since Promise Jobs participants who aren't engaging in the system are usually enrolled in the LBP, most of the clients seen by the Workforce Development Center are FIP enrollees. Most client FIAs call for participation in one of two job clubs offered by the Center. These clubs are viewed as the first step towards gainful employment. The first type of club is called Living Skills and focuses on basic programs for those clients who are facing multiple barriers to employment. Through this program, clients work in a group setting and with case managers to improve self-esteem and life skills, and address other barriers to prepare for the next level of job club called Job Readiness. The Job Readiness program is designed to assist clients with job search skills. Job seeking information, dress and interview workshops, and support networks are all provided through this program.

  The Center's Promise Jobs program places a fairly heavy emphasis on community college training, and provides some limited state resources to support education and training for enrolled clients. Most of this direct assistance comes in the form of childcare and transportation support for clients enrolled in school. Tuition financing is generally provided via Pell Grants and loans.

• Partners: Marshalltown's Promise Jobs program is managed under contract by the Iowa Valley Community College District. Co-located agencies at the Resource Center include:
  • Iowa Department of Workforce Development
  • Iowa Valley Community College District
  • Iowa Department of Vocational Rehabilitation
  • American Indian Council
  • Mid-Iowa Community Action
  • Institute for Social and Economic Development

  The state welfare agency, the Department of Human Services (DHS), was intentionally not located at the Marshalltown Center. The purpose of this design was to avoid a confusion of purposes for welfare clients, separating the agency responsible for cash assistance from the Center' focus on jobs, training and self-sufficiency.

• Job-Seeker Services: The Resource Center offers a wide array of services for both job seekers and employers. On-site agencies provide the following services for job seekers:
  • Vocational rehabilitation
  • Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)
  • GED (General Education Development) tests
  • American Indian Council JTPA Program
  • Title IV-A
  • Career assessment
  • Veterans benefits
  • Unemployment insurance
  • Resource center
  • PROMISE JOBS
• Employer Services: The Center has several services designed specifically to meet employer needs. These include:
  • Recruitment, selection and assist in hiring of employees
  • Employment information seminars
  • Downsizing assistance
  • Workplace basics
  • Manufacturing and industrial technology training
  • Communication skills
  • Computer applications
  • Business management
  • Conferences, meeting rooms, teleconferences and interactive communications network
• Data Systems and Fiscal Planning: The Center relies on the DHS to send monthly activity reports for all PROMISE JOBS participants located in the Center's Service Delivery Area (SDA). These reports include information about those participants that have earnings in that month, those that have FIAs and those that need to develop FIAs. The Center uses class schedules and grades to track participants that are in school. The Center can access the DHS database and works closely with income maintenance workers at DHS. Activity in the Center is monitored through sign-in sheets, staff notes, and PROMISE JOBS forms. This information is entered into an on-site database.

  Marshalltown does not have a formal budget for the Center. Operational funds come from the many different programs located on-site and the Department of Human Services.

Kenosha County Job Center, Kenosha, Wisconsin

The Kenosha County Job Center serves in southeastern Wisconsin. The County is located south of Milwaukee and Racine along Lake Michigan and just north of the Illinois boarder. The County has a mix of both urban and rural areas, with a population of approximately 135,000 people. The major urban area is the City of Kenosha, with a population of 85,000 people, located midway along the transit corridor between Milwaukee and Chicago. Ethnically, the County is 90 percent European-American, 4 percent African-American, and 5 percent Hispanic-American.

• State Workforce System: The One-Stop shop concept has been part of Wisconsin's service delivery efforts since 1986, collocated with JTPA and Job Service Offices in the southwest corner of the state. In 1987, Wisconsin's legislature provided funding for welfare reform pilots in four of the state's 17 service delivery areas. In 1988, the Wisconsin Jobs Council was created to review employment and training plans from local areas, and in 1989, the State Collaborative Planning Team was formed to formalize the local structure of these initiatives. This Team included managers from the 9 different agencies, including Corrections, Development, Health and Social Services, Industry Labor and Human Relations, Public Instruction, Veterans Affairs, the Educational Approvement Board, the Council on Vocational Education, and the Technical College System Board.⁽³⁸⁾

  In 1994, the Human Resource Investment Council was created by order of the Governor, replacing the Wisconsin Jobs Council, with the intent of providing oversight and direction to all education and employment and training programs. In addition to the Local Collaborative Planning Teams that have been assembled in each of the 17 service delivery levels, Human Resource Investment Boards were envisioned to be created in all local areas. However, there has been some local resistance to overlaying these local policy boards in some service delivery areas where the integration of services preceded this organizational structure. In 1996, the state Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations was merged with the Department of Health and Social Services, consolidating some of the key One-Stop players in the state.⁽³⁹⁾

• Welfare Reform: Wisconsin has been a leader in developing the WorkFirst concept for the JOBS program. The version of these reforms in operation at the time of our site visit emphasized the elimination of the time lag between registration for cash assistance and work activity, requiring work activity for all welfare recipients whose youngest child was 12 months or older. Clients registered for welfare benefits at the Job Center, and received an orientation to AFDC and JOBS on the same day. Clients were then expected to engage in a simulated, 32 hour work week of program activities, with placement into a work situation within 11 weeks. Work placement included full- or part-time unsubsidized employment, on-the-job training positions, work supplementation (subsidized employment), and community work experience. Persons with educational barriers (generally the lack of high school equivalency) could be excepted from the work requirements, although the simulated work week must be maintained.

  Starting in September 1997, Wisconsin Works (W-2) was to be implemented, replacing the WorkFirst program by making cash assistance available only through work or participation in worklike activities. Participation is mandatory for all parents whose youngest child is over 12 weeks old; assistance for disabled and grandparent or child only families has been shifted out of the W-2 program. No cash grants are provided to work ready participants, who are eligible for child care and medical assistance on an income-based, sliding fee schedule. A trial job subsidy is available, with the subsidy flowing through the employer. Participants must engage in 4 weeks of work search after TANF application prior to assessment. Those unable to find unsubsidized or subsidized employment must engage in community service employment for 30 hours per week, and up to 10 hours per week of education and training. Transitional clients (based on assessment by the state Vocational Rehabilitation agency) must engage in 28 hours of work activity each week, and up to 12 hours of education and training. Trial jobs and community service jobs are eligible for subsidies up to 6 months, with one 3 month extension, for a program maximum of 24 months for all jobs. Transitional benefits are limited to 24 months, with some potential for extensions.⁽⁴⁰⁾

• Local Economy: The area has rebounded from the closing of a major automobile manufacturing complex in 1988, diversifying its economic base in manufacturing, retail, and tourism. The county unemployment rate at the time of our visit hovered around 3 percent. Roughly 40 percent of the resident work force commutes outside of the county for employment, yet 12 percent of the total county employment is comprised of commuters into the county. Although Kenosha County is linked with Racine County to the north and Walworth County to the west for purposes of the JTPA service delivery area, this commuting pattern suggests that the effective labor market is composed of Kenosha County, WI and Lake County, IL.⁽⁴¹⁾
• Location and Physical Space: The Job Center has been in operation since 1990, and is located in a shopping mall on a primary bus route in the City of Kenosha. The Job Center has about 62,000 square feet of space, roughly 75 percent of the shopping mall, including on-site child care for parents using the facility. It provides all community employment and training activities and economic support programs for the county, although some access is provided to rural areas of the county via satellite offices. Over 18 agencies operating more than 20 programs are part of the Center. The programs and staff are fully integrated. A single general reception area and a unified telephone system serve all agencies in the facility. In most program areas, staff are seated according to function and integrated service teams, not according to agency affiliation. The Job Search Resource Room, used for job search and placement services for all clients, is staffed on a multi-agency and multi-program basis.
• General Concept: The Kenosha County Job Center is probably one of the most fully integrated One-Stop models in the country. The Center has integrated its programs, staff, central services, and physical environment based on the needs of its customers. This integration blends public, non-profit, and private sector service providers via inter-agency agreements and contractual relationships that have been developed over time with strong local leadership and support through the Center's executive management structure. The most frequently repeated phrase during our interviews was that "everyone is employable, with no exceptions," reflecting a strong normative/motivational element in the program design. Participants also report being advised not to apply for just any job -- "don't apply for the job unless you want it" -- recognizing that employment retention depends on a good match between job seeker and employer. The Center's attention to customer needs is not limited to job seekers, but also encompasses an active array of employer outreach services.
• Kenosha County JOBS Program: In May 1997, the Center was preparing for the W-2 changes to go into effect. The JOBS program for public assistance recipients in place at the time of the site-visit was directly geared at getting people into jobs and helping them become self-sufficient. From the moment an individual applies for cash benefits, the message of economic self-sufficiency begins. The first step is to explore alternatives to enrollment in welfare and JOBS, redirecting the applicant to other community resources when appropriate. If an individual is approved for benefits and enrolls, he or she becomes a mandatory participant in the JOBS program and scheduled for an orientation. The JOBS program included the following major elements:
  • Job Preparation Services: Orientation, motivational workshop, job seeking skills workshop, assessment, vocational exploration, job search, and case management.
  • Educational Services: Basic education, vocational skills training, customized training, other education, and case management.
  • Work Activities: Full-time employment, part-time employment, community work experience, other work experience, on-the-job training, work supplementation, and case management.

  Under W-2, Center managers expect to break down the job preparation services into discrete modules and make some of these services, such as assessment, available to a broader range of Center clients.

• Partners: The collocated partner agencies are:
  • Adult Educators, Inc.
  • Child Care Resource and Referral of Greater Racine and Kenosha
  • Children's Service Society of Wisconsin
  • Community Action Agency - WIC Program
  • Gateway Technical College
  • Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc.
  • Hoppe - Orendorff, CPA
  • Job Corps
  • Kenosha County Department of Human Services
  • Kenosha Unified Head Start
  • Labor Management Council
  • LJJ - Associates In Management Services, Inc.
  • Professional Services Group, Inc.
  • Senior Community Services of Southeastern Wisconsin
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Private Industry Council, Inc.
  • Systems Management, Inc.
  • United Migrant Opportunity Service
  • Wisconsin Job Service
• Services for All Users: Services available for all uses of the Center include:
  • Career information system
  • Labor market information
  • Education and training information
  • Hiring requirements
  • Referrals
  • Job Search Assistance
  • Community programs
  • Resume preparation
  • Computer, phone and fax access
  • Typing and WP tests and skills
  • General aptitude test
  • Other tests
  • On-site interviews
• Programs: Programs located on-site are:
  • Fully integrated and consolidated public welfare delivery system
  • Labor Exchange and Employment Security
  • Mandatory Work Search Program of the Unemployment Compensation System
  • Dislocated Worker Programs
  • Older Worker Programs
  • Senior Community Service Employment Program
  • Veterans' Program
  • Job Training Partnership Act Programs
  • Economic Support Programs
  • Child Care Resource and Referral
  • Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program
  • Child Support Enforcement
  • Child Care Services
  • Migrant Seasonal Farm Workers Program
  • Children First
  • SSI Advocacy
  • Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
  • Extension Food and Nutrition Education Program
  • Food Stamp Employment and Training Program
  • Job Corps Recruitment
  • Child Health Screening
  • Head Start
  • Trade Adjustment Assistance
• Data Systems and Fiscal Planning: The Center has developed and maintains a central data system for managing and tracking public assistance clients. This data system is valuable from a management perspective, as it allows managers to track client flows and outcomes on a monthly basis. However, this system is not as heavily used for individual case management, since JOBS case managers, economic support specialists, and job placement specialists are all collocated as a unit. Labor market data systems include two statewide systems: Career Visions, the Wisconsin Career Information System, and JOBNET, an automated touch screen system for posting resumes and job openings and conducting job title and key word searches. In addition, local labor market information is provided by a regional labor market analyst.

  Kenosha County contracts with Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc., to lease and maintain the Job Center. As the leaseholder of the facility, Goodwill provides a variety of host services. Many of the direct services are provided non-profit and for-profit organizations under contract with public partners. Following is a consolidated program budget for the Job Center for 1996:

  Program	Annual Budget
  JOBS Program	$3,728,820
  Economic Support Administration	$3,163,391
  Child Support	$1,369,936
  Prevention Services	$1,078,064
  Food Stamp Employment and Training	$1,050,000
  Senior Aides	$410,000
  Wisconsin Job Service	$367,000
  PIC-JTPA	$360,000
  Fraud Prevention	$332,762
  United Migrant Opportunity Service	$60,000
  Total	$11,919,973

  The executive management team for the Job Center is composed of a single upper level management representative from each of the participating agencies. Policy guidance and oversight is provided by the Kenosha County Executive and the Human Services Board. The Southeastern Wisconsin service delivery area does not have a separate Human Resource Investment Board or Workforce Development Board.

Tarrant County Resource Connection Career Center, Fort Worth, TX

Tarrant County has the sixth highest population density in Texas, with an employed population of just over 700,000. The southeastern quadrant of the county (where the Resource Connection is located) contains 4 zip codes that accounted for 44 percent of calls to the United Way Call for Help line in 1996. This area also has 4 of the 7 zip code areas with the highest concentrations of mandatory work participation clients.

• State Workforce System: Texas has a history of workforce program coordination and collocation dating back to the 1970s, but the evolution of its current system started in 1993 with legislation calling for the creation of the Texas Council on Workforce and Economic Competitiveness. Once established in 1995, this Council replaced 5 advisory bodies, taking responsibility for planning, developing, and evaluating an integrated workforce system. The Council provides the overall development goals and policies which guide the Texas Workforce Commission, which was established in 1996 as a "super agency" responsible for administering workforce development programs. The Commission consolidated the workforce programs from 8 different state agencies, including Unemployment Insurance and most employment services, JTPA and literacy programs, adult education and apprenticeship training, post-secondary vocational and technical training, JOBS and Food Stamp Employment and Training, school-to-work planning, senior citizen employment, child care, and community service activities. State legislation called for the establishment of One-Stop Career Centers and encouraged the formation of local workforce development boards, but allowed local areas to retain separate advisory and governing boards such as PICs and Job Service Employer Committees. Job training funds were also converted to block grants to local boards.
• Welfare Reform: In November 1996, Texas implemented a new schedule of benefits under a five-year waiver which differs from the new Federal TANF rules. For parents with a GED, high school diploma or at least 18 months of work experience, benefits are limited to one year. For those with 6 to 17 months of work experience or 11th grade education (but no GED or diploma), benefits are limited to two years. Parents with no GED and less than an 11th grade education could receive up to 4 years of benefits. Anyone with work experience in 18 out of the past 24 months receives only one year of benefits before work is required. All welfare recipients are required to participate in the Texas JOBS program; those who fail to participate are subject to a $78/month sanction (from an average benefit rate of $188/month). However, any single parent with a child under age 5 is exempt from JOBS participation and work requirements as long as they are not teenagers. Persons who are disabled or do not have reliable transportation are also exempt. This schedule of benefits suggests that the least skilled parents and those with young children tend to have the fewest immediate incentives for engaging the Center's resources. At the time of our site visit, some parents had been sanctioned but in general, the time limits had not yet really taken effect.
• Local Economy: The Fort Worth area's economy received several shocks during the early and mid-1990s, with the closure of Carswell Air Force Base, the loss of some primary industries and several major defense contracts. However, by early 1997, the economy had responded vigorously and unemployment in Tarrant County had fallen to 3.9 percent, compared with a statewide unemployment rate of 5.4 percent. Employers actively participating in the Resource Connection tend to be concentrated among hospital, hotel, and electronic technology industries, with strong demands for housekeeping, janitorial, entry level clerical, data entry, and electronic assembly and technician jobs.
• Location and Physical Space: The Resource Connection is located on a 92-acre campus just outside of the beltway on the south side of Fort Worth. The site is in the middle of a 270-acre campus that was formerly used by the Fort Worth State School for individuals with mental retardation. The South Campus of the Tarrant County Junior College is nearby, and adjacent lands are either vacant or used for low income housing, commercial and industrial purposes. The Resource Connection campus contains 14 buildings, 2 of which are used for support purposes and the remainder (each with approximately 39,000 square feet) have been renovated to house the various collocated partners. The Texas Department of Human Services is currently constructing a new administrative building on the campus; at the time of our visit, this agency was not collocated. All of the partners/buildings on campus are linked using common computerized intake and referral system that operates on a state of the art local area computer network.
• General Concept: The Resource Connection Career Center reflects remarkable local leadership in establishing a significant infrastructure for interagency collocation and collaboration. The conversion of the state school -- closed by court order -- into the site for the Resource Connection is a demonstration of turning crisis into opportunity. The Resource Connection Career Center is one of seven one-stop job centers in Tarrant County, yet this site offers a much broader array of partner connections than any other. At the time of our visit, only about 27 percent of welfare recipients were subject to mandatory job search and benefit cutoffs had not yet taken full effect. As a result, there was a general sense that the facility was still new and its capacity somewhat underutilized. However, the staff seemed to be experienced at working with a client base that has a disproportionate share of longer term welfare recipients.
• Texas JOBS Program: Welfare recipients subject to mandatory work search are referred by the Department of Human Services to the Texas Workforce Commission JOBS facilitator at the Resource Connection Career Center. Clients work with career counselors and employment resource specialists to assess the steps they will need to take in order to transition into work. Depending on the needs of the client, integrated case management is sometimes used as a means of providing the best cross-section of services to the individual. The JOBS case manager provides comprehensive employment and training services, and assists clients in referrals to appropriate resources for increasing education and job related skills. Staff have developed several special programs for JOBS clients. One of the most popular is a two-hour resume workshop conducted by Tarrant County Employment Network staff. Another is a life-skills training program offered by an on-site social worker. This two-day program is offered twice a month, and covers topics such as resume writing, interviewing skills, conflict management, job retention, and budgeting.
• Partners: The Memorandum of Understanding that establishes the organizational framework for the Resource Connection Career Center identifies 14 partner agencies:
  • Dallas Inter-tribal Center, Employment and Training Office
  • Fort Worth Independent School District
  • Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth
  • Resource Connection Welcome Center
  • Tarrant County Community Supervision and Corrections
  • Tarrant County Department of Human Services
  • Tarrant County Employment Network
  • Tarrant County Junior College
  • Tarrant County Veterans Services
  • Texas Department of Human Services
  • Texas Rehabilitation Commission
  • Texas Workforce Commission
  • The Working Connection MASTERS Program
  • UTA Educational Opportunities Center

  The Welcome Center is responsible for intake and initial referral of clients. The Tarrant County Employment Network staffs the job search resource room and provides most of the employment services functions. The Texas Workforce Commission staffs the basic labor exchange services, including computerized job matching services. Adult education is provided by the Fort Worth Independent School District, and vocational evaluation and training is provided by Goodwill Industries.

• Services: Service delivery begins at the Welcome Center, which is staffed by a multi-agency team of information resource specialists and counselors. A Resource Room is available to drop-in customers and provides access to the Internet and an automated resource and referral network provided through local United Way. Individuals have access to a variety of services through the Resource Connection Career Center, including:
  • Dislocated worker training,
  • Veterans services
  • Job placement and career counseling,
  • Vocational aptitude and interest assessment,
  • Vocational training workshops,
  • Career resource library,
  • Phone, fax and computer facilities,
  • Employer resource room,
  • Adult and youth learning centers,
  • Unemployment compensation,
  • Job readiness and job search seminars and workshops,
  • JOBS,
  • Case management and counseling.
• Data Systems and Fiscal Planning: The Resource Connection has implemented a computerized intake and referral system with advanced, easy to use interface. All partner agencies are connected to the system through a local area network that using software developed by Data Systems International that has been customized to the agencies and site.

  Tarrant County is the lead agency in the Resource Connection and as such, has lead responsibility for most management functions, including contracting, tenant selection, rents, and hiring the Resource Connection Executive Director. The Resource Connection Advisory Board -- responsible for policy, community relations, and major financial development strategy -- is composed of 8 members, including the County Judge and/or one Commissioner.⁽⁴²⁾ Partner agencies were responsible for their rehabilitation costs for their own facilities. Operation of the physical plant is funded via leases with participating anchor agencies, including maintenance, utilities, administration, and a sinking fund/contingency fund assessment. No comprehensive budget is maintained; individual agencies retain responsibility for financing services and other operating costs.

Northwest Michigan JOBNET, Traverse City, Michigan

Traverse City is the primary population center in the 10 county area of Northwest Michigan. The region is largely rural, with four small cities and many small villages. Grand Traverse County (including Traverse City) is on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, and has a permanent population of 70,000 which swells to 100,000 during the early summer with migrant labor for the cherry crop and the onset of the tourist season.

• State Workforce System: [see REDBOOK] The concept of integrated service delivery in Michigan emerged in the mid-1980s when the state attempted to institute the Michigan Opportunity Card. Eligible state residents were to receive a card that provided access to a range of social services and was intended to streamline eligibility, give providers basic client information, and create a mechanism to ensure continuity of service. While the card was never fully institutionalized, it spurred service providers to pursue greater collaborative efforts. These efforts began to jell in Northwest Michigan in 1991 with the leadership of the area Private Industry Council and Council of Governments, while at the same time the state began to pull together workforce programs under the Michigan Jobs Commission. The Michigan Employment Security Agency (MESA) was the last agency to join this constellation. A total of 26 Local Workforce Development Boards with mandatory partners were established under the state framework, with Northwest Michigan's being the largest geographical area.
• Welfare Reform: Michigan currently operates a Work First program in the context of the new Federal TANF program. All TANF applicants are referred to Work First by the Family Independence Agency (FIA). Work First is fully integrated into JOBNET's One-Stop system, which requires 20 hours per week participation for one-parent families and 35 hours per week for one parent in two-parent families and 20 hours per week for the other parent. Participation in a joint orientation to Work First and JOBNET is mandatory for continued processing of the Work First application for cash benefits. Only parents with children under 12 weeks of age are exempt. Continued satisfactory participation in Work First is mandatory for the continuation of benefits; after "two strikes," clients who fail to participate are referred back to FIA for sanction. Those not working must be engaged in a highly structured job search program. Design calls for continued contact to pursue education and training once 90 days of employment retention has been achieved.
• Local Economy: The 10-county region of Northwestern Michigan spans a mix of relatively high income, low unemployment counties in the northern part of the region with lower income, high unemployment counties to the south and inland. For example, in Grand Traverse County, the heart of the region's tourism industry, the unemployment rate was about 4 percent at the time of our visit (June 1997), while in Manistee County, still struggling to recover from auto industry related layoffs of the 1980s, unemployment was between 8 percent and 9 percent. The region has focused on diversifying the local economy, with some success in expanding manufacturing and high technology industries, especially in Grand Traverse County. However, with the importance of both tourism and the cherry harvest, even this area is subject to seasonal swings in employment opportunities and labor market conditions.
• Location and Physical Space: The Traverse City JOBNET offices are the central hub of what is envisioned to be a network of 8 sites scattered throughout Northwestern Michigan. At the time of our visit, 5 of the 8 sites were open and operating, and Traverse City was preparing a new location that would bring together several of its partners in a single facility designed for that purpose. The current JOBNET office, located between residential and industrial areas not too far from a main thoroughfare, houses JTPA and MESA staff and provides a resource area adjacent to the reception desk. Most of the Work First counseling and job search activities are located across the street. FIA is not currently collocated with JOBNET, and some of the management team for JOBNET is housed at Northwestern Michigan College. The new offices will accommodate a representative from FIA.
• General Concept: The Work First element of the JOBNET program places a heavy emphasis on immediate job search and placement, with case management attention to individualized support services and follow-up education and training activities. Participants noted that they were urged to "take a job, any job, and then work your way up." Considerable attention has been paid to the development of common data systems for case management as a tool for fostering collaboration and freeing scarce resources for high touch counseling and follow-up. Reading the JOBNET literature and talking with staff and local businesses, one gets the sense of a strong local vision that is in a multi-year process of being methodically developed one step at a time, almost regardless of state leadership and timetable.
• Work First Program: Following referral from FIA to JOBNET, Work First applicants participate in a joint Work First and JOBNET orientation. Usually, the JOBNET intake and initial assessment with a case manager occur during the initial contact with the JOBNET office; applicants are immediately entered into the labor exchange computer system as part of the intake. Following the orientation, those who continue to participate enter a highly structured job search program that includes the development of a Personal Plan of Action (PPA), assistance and referral for basic support services (such as child care, health care, clothing allowance, and transportation), and a job club offering assistance in job search skills, resume writing, interviewing, and labor market information. Case managers continue to work with individual clients on their support service needs as they look for work and once they have found employment. For those participants who chose to do so, they may continue to work with case managers to find ways of pursuing education and training needs once employment retention for 90 days is a achieved -- whether subsidized work experience or unsubsidized employment.
• Partners: The primary partner organizations of the Northwest JOBNET are:
  • Northwest Michigan Council of Governments
  • Michigan Employment Security Agency
  • Michigan Rehabilitation Services
  • Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District and Career Tech Center
  • Char-Em Intermediate School District
  • Wexford-Missaukee Intermediate School District and Career Tech Center
  • Manistee Schools Cooperative
  • Northwest Michigan College
  • North Central Michigan College
  • West Shore Community College
  • Family Independence Agency
  • Local Economic Development Councils
  • Private Rehabilitation Agencies
  • Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan.

  The primary partners in the Traverse City JOBNET office include JTPA contract employees, MESA, and Michigan Rehabilitation Services.

• Services: The following services can be received directly in the Traverse City JOBNET offices:
  • Common intake system
  • Information and referral
  • Self-service resources
  • Assessment
  • Job search skills workshops
  • Resume lab
  • Interview lab
  • Employability planning and counseling
  • Education, training and financial aid assistance
  • Case management
  • Job seeker support groups
  • Rehabilitation assessment, planning and support
  • Basic education and workforce literacy skills
  • Orientation for public assistance recipients
  • Job referral and placement
  • Unemployment insurance
  • Connection to subsidized training
  • Child care resource and referral
  • Supportive services to enhance employability
  • Special services for target populations (UI profiling customers, job club for Work First, etc.)
  • Comprehensive business services.
• Data Systems and Fiscal Planning: The Northwest Michigan JOBNET blends two data systems in order to provide One-Stop service to their clients. MESA's employer records and job orders and automated labor exchange are kept on MAJIC, while the Automated Case Management System (ACMS) maintains a shared database of client records. The ACMS system was developed by the Northwest Michigan JOBNET, and is used to provide information across agencies on common intake questions, assessment, career advancement plans and PPAs, case notes, and other program-specific data and records of service. JOBNET staff use e-mail for internal communications, along with an automated appointment scheduling system.

  Management of the Northwest Michigan JOBNET is provided by the Advisory Committee, which consists of management staff appointed by the area Workforce Development Board (formerly the PIC). This group oversees the system design, implementation, and development, as well as being responsible for system changes, pooling of resources, barrier removal, and evaluation of outcomes. No unified budget is maintained for all JOBNET partners.

Whatcom County WorkNet Consortium, Bellingham, Washington

Whatcom County is located in the northwest corner of Washington State. Canada boarders to the north, the Cascade mountain range rises to the east and the Pacific Ocean lies to the west. Seattle is 100 miles to the south. Bellingham (population 55,000) is the urban center of the county and has strong historical ties to the major Pacific Northwest industries of timber, fishing, and trade. As evidence of the area's ties to natural resources, two thirds of the county is located within the North Cascades National Park.

• State Workforce System: The attention of policymakers to the state's workforce system started in the early 1990s with a major study of human capital development. Study recommendations led to the creation of the Workforce Development Board in 1992, with broad representation of state agencies and community interests. The Board has responsibility for policy oversight and evaluation of the state's workforce system, including school-to-work, community and technical colleges, and employment services provided by several state and local agencies, yet the Board has no significant control over individual agency budgets and policy and program decisions. Although local boards were envisioned in the original legislation, they have yet to be created. Movement toward an integrated career center system began in 1994, with the creation of a One-Stop Career Center System Management Team composed of cabinet-level state officials and senior representatives from business, labor, and community groups. The 1995 vision of this group called for integrating employment and training services to make them easier to use, and consolidating programs were coordination and efficiencies can result.

  Some local areas in western Washington, such as Whatcom County, began developing their own versions of One-Stop centers as early as 1992, while others are just now establishing their own unique local designs.

• Welfare Reform: Washington State experimented with two different welfare reform efforts prior to enactment of its current WorkFirst program in 1997. At the time of our site visit, the welfare program in place was operating under a set of waivers from the federal TANF law. Welfare recipients with children over age 3 were required to enroll in the JOBS program (administered by the state's Employment Security Department), although the definition of work under this program was inclusive of a variety of education and training activities. Beginning in 1995, cash benefits for recipients were reduced after 48 months. It is unclear how many recipients were sanctioned during the relatively short period that this program was in place, and there is some sense that follow-up for no-shows was lax. Generally, this program was focused more heavily on supporting welfare recipients while they completed education and training prior to searching for employment that would provide self-sufficiency.

  By contrast, the WorkFirst program places heavy emphasis on job search immediately after application for cash assistance and prior to assessment for job skills and employability, representing a significant shift from "education and training first" "to "work first." Only parents with children under 12 months and caretakers are generally exempt from work requirements. Participants are expected to accept the first available job. Increased funding is made available for child care, although reimbursement rates have been reduced and sliding fee schedule co-payments instituted.

• Local economy: The natural resource industries of timber and fishing had long served this area as base industries, but declines in these industries have meant the loss of many high wage, often seasonal jobs. A boom in retail trade during the early 1990s was fed largely by a strong influx of Canadian shoppers and the growth of a large retail mall on the outskirts of Bellingham. However, an increasingly stronger American dollar relative to the Canadian dollar has severely depleted this stimulus to the local economy. As a result, the unemployment rate in Whatcom County at the time of our site visit was just under 6 percent, despite much lower state and national unemployment rates.
• Location and Physical Space: The Center for Workforce Training provides the focus for the WorkNet Consortium. The Center is located in downtown Bellingham, adjacent to the Northwest Private Industry Council offices and across the street from state Employment Security Department offices. The Center houses a computer lab, classrooms, conference room, career development and job search center, and staff offices. In addition to the Center, designated locations provide information on all available services, any eligibility requirements, and where and how to access services. Designated sites include: job service centers (Employment Security Department), PIC offices, community and technical colleges, community service offices (Department of Social and Health Services), and career development centers.
• General Concept: The WorkNet Consortium is designed as a "first stop," or "no wrong door" system that depends more on collaboration of partners than on collocation of services. For example, all partner agencies can refer clients to a common three-day orientation class which is held weekly and covers self-assessment, career exploration, communication and job search skills, labor market information, resume writing, and interviewing skills. The class is taught by Employment Security and/or PIC staff, and when the client completes the class he/she returns to the referring agency, which acts as case manager. Interagency work teams are the primary mechanism used in the development of an integrated service delivery system, led by a design team which meets every four to six weeks to identify tasks. Mid-managers and line staff form subgroups that have the responsibility to set up the structure to achieve these tasks. A common set of Workforce Skill Standards are used to facilitate service planning and communication among the partner agencies and to set performance goals.
• JOBS Program: At the time of our site visit, the JOBS Program was administered by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). Local DSHS social workers arranged counseling and support services, and referred clients to Employment Security Department employment specialists to provide employment and training services, arranged training at educational institutions, and helped co-enroll and/or transition participants into other programs that offer complementary employment and training services, such as JTPA. JOBS components included assessment, basic education, high school and GED completion, ESL instruction, job readiness activities, work experience, postsecondary vocational training, and job search/placement. Child care, medical, and dental services were available for as long as one year after a recipient was employed and no longer receiving an AFDC grant.
• Partners: The primary partners in the WorkNet Consortium are:
  • Bellingham Technical College
  • Employment Security Department, Bellingham Job Service Center
  • Department of Social and Human Services, Bellingham Community Services Division
  • Northwest Private Industry Council

  The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, which is part of the Department of Social and Health Services, is also included in this partnership.

• Services: The services made available through WorkNet include:
  • First-stop services:  program information and eligibility, initial assessment, and referral
  • In-depth assessment
  • Career planning
  • Employability plan
  • Case management
  • Workforce preparation
  • Employer linkages
  • Work-based job training
  • Job match and job search services
  • Basic academic skills
  • Classroom training
  • Support services (child care, transportation subsidy, job readiness, counseling, needs-based payments, and follow-up assistance)
• Programs: The following programs are available through the WorkNet Consortium:
  • JTPA Titles IIA, IIB, IIC, Older Workers and EDWAA Title III
  • JTPA 8 percent Education Coordination Grant
  • JOBS
  • Community and technical college financial aid programs, including state training assistance and Pell Grants, and occupational training program prerequisites assessment information
  • Dislocated Workers
  • Trade Adjustment Assistance
  • Claimant Placement Program
  • Commissioner Approved Training and Timber Retraining Benefits
  • Workforce Training Trust Fund Services
  • Wagner-Peyser functions
  • Adult Basic Education
  • ESL and GED training through community and technical colleges
• Data Systems and Fiscal Planning: WorkNet Consortium partner agencies have access to a first generation version of the Data Systems International computer system for client intake, referral, and case management. However, none of these agencies have been granted (state) legal authority to share this data across agency lines, making it necessary for agencies to maintain parallel data sets. Additional data resources include Internet access to America's Jobs, standard occupational and industrial labor market and labor exchange data (from the Employment Security Department), and community resource information. The Center for Workforce Training is co-funded and co-managed by the four partner agencies.

Footnotes

38.  Northwest Policy Center, One-Stop Career Centers.....

39.  Social Policy Research Associates, "State of Wisconsin One-Stop Profile," Menlo Park, CA, March 1996.

40.  Thomas Kaplan, "Evaluating comprehensive state welfare reforms: An overview." Focus, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vol. 18, No. 3, Spring 1997.

41.  Kenosha County Job Center, "Expect Success," Kenosha WI.

42.  The County Judge is the chief administrative officer for Tarrant County; four Commissioners are elected from districts.

Where to now?

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Five One-Stop Models
• Successful Models and Program Elements
• Challenges in Reaching the Welfare Population
• Occupations and Employers
• Links to Other Policy Initiatives
• Empirical Evidence of Success
• Appendix:  One-Stop Model Summaries

Home Pages:

• Human Services Policy (HSP)
• Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)