Workforce Development System Building and Welfare Reform
Madison, Waukesha and Milwaukee, WI
An American Youth Policy Forum Field Trip — June 23-25, 1996
Forum participants first spent a full-day at "Skills for the Future," a national school-to-work conference hosted by the Center for Education and Work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Afterwards, participants met a number of state and local officials instrumental in developing the legislation and implementation of the workforce development strategy. Following the conference and seminars, site visits to one-stop job training and career centers were conducted to demonstrate how the broad reforms are playing out in practice.
The wide range of components of the workforce development strategy are all connected through the economic development plan. The underlying philosophy is that all pieces of the workforce development system should build on and connect to one another as a person progresses through the stages of education and life. The school-to-work system is built on a foundation of partnerships among all sectors of the business and education communities, as well as the welfare reform initiative, Wisconsin Works (W-2), which seeks to end the welfare entitlement by requiring all Wisconsin residents to work before receiving benefits.
"Skills for the Future": A National School-to-Work Conference
General Session I: Connecting Learning and Work in Wisconsin
The Center for Education and Work Conference, "Skills for the Future," highlighted the critical partnerships among schools, businesses, the government, and community organizations involved in developing the Wisconsin school-to-work system. The opening session illustrated the spirit of collaboration and cooperation among all partners. The first presenters, Catherine Lyle, President of the University of Wisconsin System (UWS) and Bert Grover, Special Assistant for School-to-Work to Governor Tommy Thompson, emphasized the importance of a strong leadership presence within school-to-work systems. The speakers noted that successful implementation of school-to-work involves reform in a wide range of areas, including assessment, the development of skill standards, teacher training, connections to postsecondary institutions and career guidance. Each of these efforts requires the involvement of many individuals, so strong leadership is necessary to channel these efforts into an improved workforce development system. Grover also stated that leadership is critical to "move school-to-work to the next level" and have it become an integral part of the broader workforce development system.
General Session II: Challenges of Implementation and System Building
The second general session of the conference continued to emphasize collaboration among the various partners involved in school-to-work. The panel featured several state school-to-work leaders, who shared their experiences in developing partnerships across Wisconsin:
- Dwight York, State Director, Wisconsin Technical College System, promoted a school-to-work system that requires high standards for all students, not a system that lowers standards to "make the numbers better." This system would rely on unity among the partners in addressing all areas of reform. Each partner must view the success or failure of school-to-work as the "team's" responsibility, and seek to create the highest standards possible.
- John Benson, Superintendent, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, stressed the importance of "engaging an entire community in all aspects of school-to-work." When utilized effectively, partners can together change the entire nature of learning by working together to develop academic learning experiences that connect directly to a wide range of community-based activities.
- Jim Haney, President, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, discussed the connection between the education and labor communities, which is particularly crucial for school-to-work to provide young people with more options across a variety of professions.
- Russ Wittkop, Staff Representative, Wisconsin AFL-CIO, focused on the importance of training workers as America continues to move into the Information Age. Today, workers who have a desire to learn and grow are better equipped to adapt to changing technology and demands, and therefore become more productive and valued employees.
- David Ward, Senior Vice President, University of Wisconsin System Administration, outlined UWS' three primary functions in the system: 1) to provide support for the other partners in the system, 2) to facilitate the efforts to connect school-to-work with postsecondary institutions and 3) to provide leadership for reform.
Together the presenters reinforced the commitment that Wisconsin has made to including all partners in all aspects of the school-to-work system. In Wisconsin, schools, employers, organized labor, and community organizations are working together to create a comprehensive system serving students from elementary school through--and even beyond--college. Together, they are seeking to create a foundation for youth development and workforce preparation in Wisconsin.
Presentation and Discussion: "The Partnership for Full Employment"
Following the conference, Forum participants met with Brenda Blanchard, Executive Assistant, Office of the Secretary, Department of Workforce Development (DWD), for a discussion of the "Partnership for Full Employment" (PFE), Wisconsin's strategy for jointly attacking workforce development and welfare reform. The PFE is based on four central principles: 1) people will want to and will work, 2) working benefits workers and employers, 3) work-based programs are cost effective and avoid duplication and 4) independence is better than dependence. PFE is the result of the creation of the DWD (formerly the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations) and of the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program. It is designed to place job-seekers into employment immediately, with services provided through one-stop job centers. These centers provide a central point of access, with a single goal of identifying employment opportunities. According to Blanchard, this represents a dramatic change from the current workforce development "non-system," in which job-seekers are channeled through a disjointed and complex employment and training system before any connections are made with employers.
The one-stops provide a wide variety of services from intensive services (such as the development of individualized employment plans) to very light services (such as simply providing career information through job postings or internet access). These centers are designed to help the PFE achieve its goal of a comprehensive and integrated employment system. In addition to assisting job seekers, one-stops provide a variety of features for employers. First, they offer a single point of contact for employers in need of workers, and provide an assessment of a worker's skills and competencies. Services for employers can range from posting a job listing to utilizing an industry specialist to design employer criteria. The state is also working to ensure that the one-stops function as a network of centers, rather than stand-alone agencies, to provide state-wide access to job information for all individuals.
The Job Centers have also been utilized as a central component of the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program. W-2 seeks to end the welfare entitlement, providing assistance only through work, with benefits to job seekers and service providers determined by outcome-based performance standards. W-2 consists of four central components:
- A financial and employment plan, developed at the job center, that combines economic support and the education and job training responsibilities of the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) Program.
- A work options ladder, which ranges from unsubsidized employment for those prepared for direct entry into the workforce, to government-subsidized community service or transitional jobs for job seekers requiring additional job training and experience.
- Job access loans for specific needs.
- Work supports, including a health plan, child care, transportation, job coaches and life skills and general workplace skills training.
Overall, the PFE is attempting to fully integrate the various components of the state's workforce development system. The one-stop centers seek to place all services for all job seekers under one roof, whether an individual is a welfare recipient, dislocated worker or a high school student. In addition, the PFE is predicated on the belief that employment must be the sole focus of any workforce development strategy--a belief that is most directly exhibited through the W-2 plan. Finally, the state has sought to ensure that all pieces of its workforce development strategy are implemented and operated by local communities and counties, thus fostering broad local partnerships and stronger connections to economic development.
Presentation and Discussion: Overview of Wisconsin Welfare Reform--Past, Present ... Future
The Forum participants met with Jean Rogers, Administrator, Division of Economic Support, Department of Health and Social Services, to review the state's welfare reform efforts leading up to W-2. Rogers explained that the welfare reform movement in Wisconsin actually dates back to 1987 when Governor Thompson entered office with three specific welfare reform goals: 1) to end the indefinite cash entitlement, 2) to fund counties, not individuals and 3) to end illegitimacy. The focus of the Administration's early reforms was on establishing a program that could work with AFDC, placing emphasis on educational experiences and on-the-job training in an attempt to gradually replace AFDC. These programs emphasized educational experiences rather than on-the job training. Although the Administration fully supported these efforts, they were met with limited success. From these early efforts, Wisconsin learned that programs should require work, set more outcome-based goals and have multiple purposes--not a narrow focus.
As a result of these experiences, Wisconsin moved into a stage of more intermediate reforms, with programs such as "Work First" and "Work Not Welfare" that centered around directly transitioning AFDC applicants into jobs. Wisconsin learned a number of lessons from these reforms: dramatic results were indeed possible; early connections to workforce programs were necessary to maintain a work-based focus; fundamental change, although difficult, yields more positive results than incremental reform; and replacing AFDC required the development of "bridge programs" that would phase out, rather than rapidly end, the welfare entitlement.
These reforms set the stage for Wisconsin's W-2 effort. According to Rogers, W-2 seeks to end the welfare entitlement while ensuring tangible work opportunities for all job-seekers. To assist all welfare recipients--even the hardest to serve--in obtaining meaningful employment, W-2 divides work options into the following four broad categories, or ladders:
- Unsubsidized work, where job seekers are placed directly into jobs that match their abilities.
- Trial, or subsidized, jobs, which allows workers to obtain real-world, on-the-job training. Employers will receive a government subsidy to cover some training and employment costs.
- Community service jobs, for workers who require time to develop more substantive job skills. Participants may hold a single position for six to nine months, and have a lifetime limit of 24 months in community service jobs.
- W-2 Transitions, or transitional placements, in which workers who are unable to work independently or in a self-sustaining job receive benefits for undertaking meaningful work activities.
Tours: Job and Community Career Centers
Following the morning discussion with Rogers, the Forum visited a series of one-stop job and community career centers. The visits provided an opportunity to witness first-hand how the workforce development reforms discussed during the first day and a half of the visit were being implemented. The sites proved to be excellent examples of comprehensive and coordinated service delivery, serving in one location both young people and adults seeking employment opportunities.
Workforce Development Center and Community Career Center, Pewaukee, WI
The first visit was to the Workforce Development Center (WDC) in Pewaukee, located between Madison and Milwaukee. According to Beth Hicks, Operations Manager, the WDC is designed to serve as the southeastern regional center for implementation of the state's workforce development initiative. WDC offers services in a variety of areas, including the provision of job information, job search assistance and economic support. The WDC is able to provide this wide range of services because, as part of the state reform plan, it houses nine local public and private workforce development organizations to allow them to work directly with one another. [1] The availability of a range of workforce development services at one location ensures that all clients are viewed as job seekers and dispels the stigma often attached with entering the "welfare office" for welfare recipients.
The WDC also houses the Community Career Center (CCC), one of a network of eight state-supported career centers. The CCC serves adults as well as middle and high school students, and houses a wealth of job and career information for any person seeking employment. The CCC offers workshops (some of which are jointly attended by students and parents), develops print resources and vocational biographies, offers World Wide Web and internet access to clients, and houses the Wisconsin Career Information System, a comprehensive collection of information on employment opportunities across the state.
According to Hicks, the integration of the nine workforce development organizations into the WDC has been the most challenging part of its development. The agreements between these partners are very informal, yet all partners have been able to avoid turf battles by working in teams and focusing on providing the best service for job-seekers. This stems from the WDC's recognition that their clients are not concerned with who provides the direct services, only with obtaining the best services possible.
Although the WDC has been successful since its inception, a number of questions remain, with most pertaining to W-2. The primary concern involves the WDC's capacity to serve the needs of the community once W-2 is implemented. While less than one percent of Waukesha County's (where Pewaukee is located) population is on welfare, the rate in neighboring Milwaukee County is 11 percent. Further, the unemployment rate in Milwaukee County is 4.3 percent, much higher than the rate in Waukesha of 2.6 percent. As a result of W-2, the WDC expects some of the Milwaukee welfare population to spill over into Waukesha and increase WDC's workload. Although the WDC is confident that it can meet this challenge, it has not yet worked out the logistics of its plan or determined the expected increase in demand.
Another key challenge will be ensuring that the WDC meets the needs of its local community within the framework of state-level reform. Although W-2 is a state-wide program, the workforce development strategy must be implemented at the local level. Hicks noted that the WDC is concerned with the channels of communication between state and local officials within this construct, and how this will affect the WDC's long-term success.
Milwaukee Career Center
Following the WDC visit, Forum participants traveled to Milwaukee, where they visited the Milwaukee Career Center (MCC). Bill Malone, Director, explained that the MCC, a project of the Milwaukee City Private Industry Council, provides career development assistance to middle and high school youth, specifically targeting students in the Milwaukee Public School System. The MCC, like the CCC visited earlier in the day, is part of the network of career centers across the state. As part of this network, the MCC seeks to help students identify career interests, develop educational and work plans and assess skills and experiences.
To help meet its mission, the MCC has worked to build relationships with the city's schools. Through arrangements with the schools, students are bused from school to the MCC where they attend a three hour after school workshop designed to "get kids thinking about careers, jobs and work," according to Malone. At these sessions, MCC employees introduce students to career language, career options and definitions and processes by which they can develop career paths. In addition, students review a "World-of-Work" map which serves as an overview of the comprehensive nature of jobs and careers.
Since its opening, the MCC has served over 13,000 eighth and ninth graders from the Milwaukee Public School System (approximately 48 percent of all students) and nearly 6,000 students from the city's private schools. Although only 20 percent of the students come for return visits, the MCC feels that it is providing valuable access to career information and guidance for Milwaukee's students. It hopes that, over time, its connections to the schools will grow stronger and, in turn, it will develop more comprehensive programming.
Milwaukee Job Center - North
Following the visit to the MCC, Forum participants received a tour of the Milwaukee Job Center - North from William Martin, Director, Goodwill Programs. Job Center - North is one of three job centers that comprise the Milwaukee Job Center Network (MJCN) [2], and serves as an official one-stop workforce development agency under the PFE and W-2. Currently, the Center assists approximately 5,600 visitors per month and handles nearly 1,000 phone calls per day. Like the sites visited earlier by the Forum, the Center is attempting to change the paradigm surrounding job training and placement assistance to focus on a client's existing skills and abilities rather than only on their deficiencies.
The Center also places a tremendous emphasis on utilizing a performance-based system of program assessment. This is largely driven by the state payment system, which pays service providers (such as the Center) based on their performance. Martin explained that of the Center's $4.5 million budget, only $55,000 is guaranteed--the rest comes only if predetermined performance outcomes are met. These outcomes center not around the number of people served, but on the number of people the Center is able to move into employment. This has driven the work of the Center since, as Martin noted, "no outcomes means no money, and that means new providers."
Following the tour, the Forum participated in a discussion with other administrators from the MJCN. George Leutermann, Network Administrator, discussed the broader system of which the Center is a part. The MJCN consists of three centers--the Job Center - North, Job Center - South and a yet to be completed third building in the center of the city. As illustrated by Job Center - North, the overall MJCN will bring together partnering agencies to provide comprehensive and coordinated services. As the MJCN serves more clients, it is working to develop methodologies to identify what services people need.
According to Leutermann, the goal of the MJCN is to provide the most "light" service possible to place an individual into full employment. At the "lightest" level is self-service, with clients "passing through" the Center simply to obtain career and job information. Heavier services involve "lite touch" workshops, which offer coaching and strategy development sessions, or "intensive work" which requires a more case-by-case management approach to helping individuals obtain employment. The "heaviest" services are those provided to individuals with functional limitations or other obstacles to working--typically those individuals who are eligible for W-2 Transition jobs.
Conclusions
The site visit to Wisconsin provided participants the opportunity to meet with state and local officials and visit job placement and career centers in a state which many view as innovative and effective in its approach to workforce development. This visit happened during the time President Clinton and Congress were debating whether or not to grant Wisconsin a waiver to replace AFDC with W-2.
The school-to-work conference presenters and officials from AFDC sites visited emphasized Wisconsin's commitment to creating a comprehensive system of workforce development in which all partners work equally and together in the design and implementation of programs and policies. The efforts of state school-to-work leaders in bringing together representatives of schools, business, community organizations and the public-at-large serves the same function as that of W-2 and the job centers, which are bringing together independent public and private agencies to serve the needs of job-seekers. Also significant is the way Wisconsin has consolidated its workforce development system to provide a more comprehensive continuum of services, extending from school-to-work through incumbent worker training and employment.
The Wisconsin effort is also notable for its attempt to challenge traditional approaches to workforce preparation. Instead of focusing on a person's skill deficiencies, Wisconsin believes that all people possess skills that are valuable to employers and, as a result, they can and should work. This belief is also evident in the school-to-work system, which seeks to develop job and career opportunities rather than simply offer narrow training that leaves little room for growth.
State officials and reformers realize, however, that there is still a long way to go before its current workforce development effort can be hailed as a success. For example, unemployment in Wisconsin is currently very low, which has made job placement easier than in other depressed areas of the country. Little is known about what effects a recession or massive job reduction would have on the early successes of the current reforms. Wisconsin hopes, however, that its spirit of collaboration and new ethos of partnership and coordination will help institutionalize school-to-work, W-2 and all of the other pieces of its workforce development strategy.
Contact Information
Brenda Blanchard
Executive Assistant, Office of the Secretary
Department of Workforce Development
501 East Washington Ave.
Madison, WI 53707
Phone: 608-266-7552
Fax: 608-266-1784
Beth Hicks
Manager, Workforce Development Center
892 W. Main Street
Pewaukee, WI 53072
Phone: 414-695-7990
Fax: 414-695-7902
George Leutermann
Network Administrator
Milwaukee Job Center - South
611 W. National Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53204
Phone: 414-384-4000
Fax: 414-384-5558
William J. Malone
Director
Milwaukee Career Center
219 North Milwaukee St.
Milwaukee, WI 53202-3109
Phone: 414-226-2440
Fax: 414-226-0318
William Martin
Director, Goodwill Programs
Milwaukee Job Center - North
2800 W. Capitol Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53203
Phone: 414-873-6400
Fax: 414-449-4788
Thuy Morzenti
Policy Assistant
Office of Governor Thompson
Room 115 East
Executive Office
State Capitol
Madison, WI 53702
Phone: 608-266-1212
Fax: 608-267-8983
Aleta Murray
Director of Public Information
School-to-Work
Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations
201 E. Washington Avenue Room 429
Madison, WI 53702
Phone: 608-266-7903
Fax: 608-266-1784
Antonio M. Perez
Executive Director
Milwaukee Community Service Corps
P.O. Box 92051
1150 E. Brady
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: 414-276-6272
Fax: 414-276-7330
Vicki Poole
Director, Office of Workforce Excellence
Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations
201 E. Washington Avenue Room 231X
Madison, WI 53702
Phone: 608-264-6808
Fax: 608-261-6698
Randall Radtke
Executive Director
Wisconsin Conservation Corps
30 W. Mifflin, Suite 406
Madison, WI 53703-2558
Phone: 608-266-7730
Fax: 608-267-2733
J. Jean Rogers
Administrator
Division of Economic Support
Department of Health and Social Services
One West Wilson
P.O. Box 7935
Madison, WI 53707-7935
Phone: 608-266-3035
Fax: 608-261-6376
[1] The nine agencies are: Partners for Education; Wisconsin Job Service; W-O-W Private Industry Council, Inc.; Waukesha County Technical College; Waukesha County Economic Development Corporation; Waukesha County Department of Health and Human Services; Kaiser Group, Inc.; La Casa de Esperanza; and AFL-CIO.
[2] The MJCN is a partnership of the following ten public and private organizations: Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc.; Manpower International, Inc.; Milwaukee Area Technical College; Milwaukee County Department of Human Services; Private Industry Council of Milwaukee County; United Migrant Opportunity Services, Inc.; Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation; Wisconsin Job Service; Wisconsin State AFL-CIO; and YWCA of Greater Milwaukee.
This information is from an American Youth Policy Forum field trip to Madison, Waukesha and Milwaukee, WI held from June 23-25, 1996. Reported by Vincent Spera.