Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 181 - Workforce Investment Board › Rule 181.00.05-002 - Two-Year Arkansas Strategic Plan of 2005-07

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
State Two-Year Plan
Submitted Under the Workforce Investment Act of
			 1998
State of Arkansas
for the period of July 1,
			 2005 -June 30, 2007
Plan Development Process
Describe, in one page or less, the process for developing
			 the State Plan.
1.
Include (a) a discussion of the involvement of the Governor and the State Board
		  in the development of the plan, and (b) a description of the manner in which
		  the State Board collaborated with economic development, education, the business
		  community and other interested parties in the development of the State Plan.
		  (§
								112(b)(1).)
2.
Include a description of the
		  process the State used to make the Plan available to the public and the outcome
		  of the State's review of the resulting public comments. (§
								11 l(g), 112(b)(9).)
At the direction and guidance of the Arkansas Workforce
			 I nvestment Board, Arkansas began
			 developing its State Plan in February 2005, when preliminary guidance was
			 provided by the U.S. Department of Labor.
A preliminary meeting with all partners was conducted to: outline
			 the expected process for the plan's development, distribute agency assignments,
			 and develop a calendar with timelines for completion.
Upon receipt of the find planning guidance via the April 12
			 Federal Register, subsequent meetings and discussions were conducted
			 with:
* Representatives of the Institute of Economic Advancement (1EA)
			 from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) regarding their
			 assistance with the assemblage and formatting of the plan, and
* Representatives of UALR and state-level partners to coordinate
			 the efforts required to provide labor market and economic data.
* The Governor and the Workforce Investment Board Chair to ensure
			 that the Governor's vision was fully articulated in the plan.
* The Governor's Liaison, to ensure that the plan accurately
			 conveyed the Governor's vision for the State's workforce system.
A website was developed by UALR to post all plan submissions, as
			 they became available, for review by interested parties.
By April 22, 2005, agency representatives submitted information
			 for their respective sections of the plans. Each participating agency held
			 public review of their individual plans, as required by their respective
			 programs.
During it's May 10, 2005 meeting, the Executive Committee of the
			 Workforce Investment Board was presented with access information to the website
			 to facilitate the members' review and comment of the State Plan. Members were
			 asked to submit any input on an ongoing basis.
On May 15, 2005, a public notice was published to announce the
			 beginning of the official 30-day public comment period, with links to the
			 website. Comments, suggestions, etc. received during this period were
			 incorporated, as appropriate, into the plan.
A final draft was prepared and submitted to the Executive
			 Committee of the Workforce Investment Board on May 26, 2005.
The Executive Committee of the Workforce Investment Board met via
			 teleconference on May 31, 2005 and approved the final draft and its submission
			 to the Department of Labor's National Office.
I.
State Vision
Describe the Governor's vision for a statewide workforce
			 investment system. Provide a summary articulating the Governor's vision for
			 utilizing the resources of the public workforce system in support of the
			 State's economic development that address the issues and questions below.
			 States are encouraged to attach more detailed documents to expand upon any
			 aspect of the summary response if available. (§112(a)and
			 (b)(4)(A-C).)
A.
Arkansas Workforce Investment Board
Vision
A Globally-recognized workforce in Arkansas - educated, trained,
			 skilled - with the character and work ethic needed to excel in a changing
			 economy.
Mission
To establish a unified, flexible, accountable workforce training
			 system implemented through the collaboration of business, industry, labor, and
			 citizens and characterized by accessible and responsive one-stop workforce
			 systems.
The system will offer employers a resource for workers in
			 existing and emerging occupations and empower Arkansans to receive employment
			 services as well as job-specific training.
B.
What are the State's economic
		  development goals for attracting, retaining and growing business and industry
		  within the State? (§112(a) and (b)(4)(A-C).)
The Governor has shared a clear vision for Arkansas' economic
			 development that defines a stronger partnership between economic development,
			 education and the public workforce system to attract, retain and grow Arkansas'
			 high growth industries.
He enthusiastically supports the President's High Growth Job
			 Training Initiative, as implemented by the U. S, Department of Labor's
			 Employment and Training Administration, and will mirror this initiative in
			 Arkansas.
This strategic effort will prepare workers to take advantage of
			 new and increasing job opportunities in high growth/high demand and
			 economically vital industries and sectors of the State's economy.
The Governor's strategic goals for attracting, growing and
			 retaining businesses within Arkansas are defined below:
* Identity the workforce skill sets needed in high growth, high
			 demand industries and adapt Arkansas' education and workforce development
			 systems to prepare Arkansas' citizens for the business opportunities and skill
			 demands of today and tomorrow.
* Maximize state-level resources to focus efforts on recruiting
			 and retaining high growth businesses and creating high wage jobs in
			 economically critical industries.
* Maximize the stale's resources to support statewide economic
			 development activities through research, information, service, training, and
			 education.
* Increase public workforce system access to all populations
			 (youth, working adults, persons with limited English proficiency, mature
			 workers),
C. Given that a
		  skilled workforce is a key to the economic success of every business, what is
		  the Governor's vision for maximizing and leveraging the broad array of Federal
		  and State resources available for workforce investment flowing through the
		  State's cabinet agencies and/or education agencies in order to ensure a skilled
		  workforce for the State's business and industry? (§112(a) and
		  (b)(4)(A-C).)
Arkansas' workforce development partners, defined broadly to
			 include the wide array of education, workforce development and economic
			 development partners, have a history of collaboration directed toward meeting
			 the needs of Arkansas' workforce and business customers. All partners are
			 charged with being demand-driven and asked to continuously improve their
			 responsiveness to customer needs through customer contact and use of improved
			 labor market information.
The Arkansas Workforce Investment Board will continue to identify
			 opportunities for cross program integration to address unmet needs for
			 Arkansas' citizens and businesses.
A key strategy is to use the National Governor's Association's
			 (NGA)
Pathways to Advancement
Project's State Team to identify
			 gaps and recommend specific state policy changes to the Governor to support the
			 success of career pathways programs.
D.
Given the continuously changing
		  skill needs that business and industry have as a result of innovative and new
		  technology, what is the Governor's vision for ensuring a continuum of education
		  and training opportunities that support a skilled workforce? (§112(a) and
		  (b)(4)(A-C).)
The Governor recognizes that workforce preparation is honed by an
			 education system that focuses on achievement of sound academic and workplace
			 skills, and continues throughout a person's lifetime. This vision anticipates
			 life-long learning supported by a fully integrated workforce system.
In his April 2, 2005 press release, the Governor announced that
			 two Arkansas initiatives were touted as national models in a recently released
			 manual from the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best
			 Practices.
The initiatives, Arkansas Smart Core Curriculum and Universal
			 Access to Advanced Placement, are featured in "Getting it Done: Ten Steps to a
			 State Action Agenda," which was released during the 2005 National Education
			 Summit on High Schools. The guidebook is a component of NGA Chairman Virginia
			 Gov. Mark Warner's "Redesigning the American High School" initiative.
E.
What is the Governor's
		  vision for bringing together the key players in workforce development including
		  business and industry, economic development, education, and the public
		  workforce system to continuously identify the workforce challenges facing the
		  State and to develop innovative strategies and solutions that effectively
		  leverage resources to address those challenges? (§
										112(b)
		  (10).)
The Governor sees the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board (State
			 Board) as the catalyst for bringing these partnerships together. The State
			 Board brings Arkansas' key business leaders to the table with leaders of
			 education, workforce and economic development, to increase awareness of
			 challenges facing business and the workforce system. This creates opportunities
			 for innovation and development of successful strategies.
The Governor's vision is that the State and Local business-led
			 boards will continue to improve in:
* Understanding and addressing the workforce needs of business
			 and industry;
* Taking full advantage of federal flexibility and waiver
			 provisions;
* Targeting available resources to areas with the most economic
			 impact; and
* Maximizing the use of public and private resources invested in
			 workforce development.
Another mechanism for achieving the Governor's vision is the
			 State's active participation in the Delta Regional Authority (DRA). In April
			 2005, Arkansas hosted a DRA Advanced Leadership conference in Little
			 Rock.
The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) is a federal-state partnership
			 serving a 240-county/parish area in an eight-state region that is designed to
			 remedy severe and chronic economic distress by stimulating economic development
			 and fostering partnerships that will have a positive impact on the region's
			 economy. The DRA helps economically distressed communities leverage other
			 federal and state programs that are focused on basic infrastructure development
			 and transportation improvements, business development, and job training
			 services.
F.
What is
		  the Governor's vision for ensuring that every youth has the opportunity for
		  developing and achieving career goals through education and workforce training,
		  including the youth most in need, such as out of school youth, homeless youth,
		  youth in foster care, youth aging out of foster care, youth offenders, children
		  of incarcerated parents, migrant and seasonal farm worker youth, and other
		  youth at risk? (§112(b)(18)(A).)
With the advent of the shared federal vision for youth,
Creating a Collaborative Approach to Prepare Youth for Success in a
			 Global, Demand-Driven Economy,
and DOL's New Strategic Vision for the
			 Delivery of Youth Services under the Workforce Investment Act, the State has
			 mobilized is efforts to follow the lead established by its federal
			 partners.
One of the Governor's five priorities for Arkansas' workforce
			 investment system, the
Statewide Youth Initiative to Address the
			 Neediest Youth,
is designed to increase the support and expand the
			 services to the State's youth in need. Accordingly, through their
			 representation on the State Board, the entities participating in this effort
			 represent a broad spectrum of youth populations in need throughout the state.
			 Those that have been or will be called to participate in the effort include,
			 but are not limited to, those providing services to out of school youth,
			 homeless youth, youth in foster care, youth aging out of foster care, youth
			 offenders, children of incarcerated parents, migrant and seasonal farm worker
			 youth, and other youth at risk.