West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 76 - Senior Services › Title 76 - INTERPRETIVE RULE WEST VIRGINIA BUREAU OF SENIOR SERVICES › Series 76-03 - WV State Plan For Aging Programs › Section 76-03-3 - Service Delivery and Coordination

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
Action and Coordination with Other
				  Programs
West Virginia's statewide SCSEP network includes the State
				  Grantee and one National Grantee operating in WV. Communication with this
				  network is accomplished through email and teleconference as needed throughout
				  the Program Year. The State Grantee is the West Virginia Bureau of Senior
				  Services, which provides a multitude of services for older Americans in West
				  Virginia under the Older Americans Act (OAA). As the designated State Unit on
				  Aging, the Bureau administers all OAA services throughout the 55 counties that
				  are tailored to Older West Virginians. The Bureau maintains contracts with each
				  of the 55 County Aging Programs, three (3) Statewide Aging & Disability
				  Resource Centers and four (4) Area Agencies on Aging. The Bureau's mission is
				  to be West Virginia's premier advocate for the provision of in-home and
				  community-based services for the state's seniors and others served by our
				  programs and to be a faithful steward of the federal and state monies entrusted
				  to our care for the provision of services throughout West Virginia.
Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the WV Statewide SCSEP
				  network, a mandated partner, partners with the local Workforce Investment
				  Boards operating the American Job Center (AJC)/ One-Stop Centers. The mission
				  and vision between the AJC and WV SCSEP are to empower area employers,
				  individuals and communities to prosper and grow the region's economy through a
				  workforce development system that is inherently customer-centered, seamless and
				  effective. The mission is to establish a workforce system that provides
				  data-driven and employer-validated talent solutions through the integration of
				  education, workforce and economic development resources across the systems. Its
				  vision is assisting individuals in obtaining employment.
West Virginia's American Job Centers (AJC's)/One-Stops are
				  currently located within the local Workforce centers in West Virginia. All
				  SCSEP information is disseminated throughout the AJC for other programs and to
				  the general public. The WV Statewide SCSEP network will continue to work
				  closely with the AJC's to utilize the partners' resources that are tailored to
				  SCSEP's target audience by co-enrolling and by providing SCSEP's program
				  eligibility requirements, priorities and training slots availability. SCSEP
				  will continue to have a weekly presence at the AJC/One-Stop. The Statewide
				  SCSEP network will continue to require enrollment of SCSEP enrollees into the
				  Local Workforce to ensure that enrollees are abreast of employment
				  opportunities in their areas. The network will also continue to utilize all
				  trainings and job fairs that are offered at the Local AJC's and will also
				  participate/relay information from other resources outside of the AJC's
				  One-Stop Partners. The WV Statewide SCSEP network will also encourage enrollees
				  who are approaching their durational limit to enroll in other training programs
				  to ensure a continuous improvement of skills that enrollees receive. As needs
				  become prevalent, the WV Statewide SCSEP network will encourage AJC's to become
				  Host Agencies and/or consider enrollees for employment opportunities.
One of the barriers with the AJC's/One-Stop Centers in West
				  Virginia is that they are underutilized. A solution to improve coordination
				  with the One-Stop delivery System would be to coordinate data information
				  sharing with local Workforce West Virginia offices to obtain information on
				  age-eligible persons who visit the AJC.
The Bureau is a member of the Interagency Collaborative Team
				  (ICT), which is comprised of leadership representing workforce target groups.
				  One of the primary goals of this group is to enhance communications, resource
				  sharing and program standardization. Additionally, the Bureau sits on the WV
				  Workforce Development Board, which is comprised of key state players within the
				  workforce arena, including legislators, members of the Governor's Cabinet,
				  labor leaders and corporate representatives. The main purpose of this group is
				  to approach the system-based issues that require changes in law or formal
				  regulations pertaining to workforce initiatives. As stated, these entities are
				  comprised of private and public key stakeholders. The WV Statewide SCSEP
				  network will continue to maintain relationships and participate in meetings and
				  events to guarantee that SCSEP is considered for program partnership,
				  employment opportunities for enrollees and ultimately remains relevant in
				  discussions regarding barriers to employment. The Bureau will remain an
				  advocate for Older Workers in these groups.
Partnerships will be increased with organizations that
				  provide resources on how to alleviate employment barriers throughout the state,
				  such as transportation, age discrimination, fear of health care being
				  discontinued due to program participation, fear of losing subsidized housing
				  benefits, just to name a few. The Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) who contract
				  with county aging providers continue to be utilized and researched to determine
				  what additional employment barriers seniors in rural/urban counties might face.
				  Furthermore, the Bureau will take a more active approach with reaching out to
				  AAA's to also determine additional resources and/or training opportunities that
				  may be available in covered areas.
The WV Statewide SCSEP network will continue to utilize the
				  Labor Market Information (LMI) data that is county specific to ensure that
				  enrollees are receiving the most updated training to warrant eligibility for
				  those high demand occupations in growing industries as discussed in the
				  "Economic Projections" of this report. Ultimate goal for enrollees is that when
				  they leave the program, they will be better off than when they entered.
				  Workforce WV provides quarterly information regarding the job market, as they
				  are the clearing house of employment opportunities for State, Private and
				  non-profit sectors. This information will be researched by the Grantee to
				  ensure that Sub-Grantees are providing enrollees with the essential tools
				  needed to be marketable. Also, resources such as O*net Online will be utilized
				  to determine the necessary skills needed for different occupations that
				  enrollees may be interested in.
Long-Term Strategy to Engage Employers to Place
				  Participants in Unsubsidized Employment
West Virginia's local SCSEP projects will continue to recruit
				  public and non-profit organizations in the communities that are covered. Local
				  Projects will continue to advocate for older workers through presentations,
				  brochure dissemination, poster dissemination, job fair and community events
				  participation and increasing awareness of program vision and mission to
				  community stakeholders. We will also utilize social media as a resource to
				  engage employers by showcasing SCSEP enrollees' skills.
Local SCSEP projects train participants to help develop the
				  skills and experience necessary to be competitive in the current labor markets.
				  Due to the longevity of organizations that participate as Host Agencies, local
				  SCSEP projects have built a rapport with current Host Agencies and past Host
				  Agencies where they consider enrollees for employment opportunities within
				  their organization. They have established cooperative relationships with the
				  local AJC and public and private employers as well. Coordination and
				  co-location of services at the AJCs help to identify suitable job openings in
				  high demand occupations. Local SCSEP projects will continue to build strong
				  rapport with the communities they are in.
Long- Term Strategy for Serving Minorities
				  under SCSEP
West Virginia will continue its recruitment efforts in
				  serving and recruiting eligible minority individuals and other eligible
				  individuals. SCSEP projects will continue to locate offices in culturally and
				  ethnically diverse neighborhoods (i.e., Community Centers). The SCSEP Network
				  will continue to have a presence at events such as the West Virginia Minority
				  Business Expo, Juneteenth Celebration and Herbert Henderson Office of Minority
				  Affairs Listening Tours to target minority audiences throughout the state. Per
				  the United States Census, West Virginia's 55+ Older American population during
				  2010 represented 30.4 % of the overall population. Table 7a illustrates West
				  Virginia demographics categorized by age, while 7b illustrates the overall race
				  population in West Virginia.
Table 7
A.
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B.
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(Source: 2010 United States Census,
							 https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DP_DPDP1&prodType=table)
Even with the overall population of minority demographics
				  representing 5.5 % of the entire state, WV Local SCSEP projects are able to
				  capture a high percentage of minority representation.
Table 8
illustrates the minority representation currently in the program, captured from
				  the SPARQ database.
Table 8
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(Source Info SPACE, Grantee by Dimension, Race, PY 2018
				  Final)
Community Service Needs
SCSEP has a two-fold approach: helping Older Americans
				  reacclimate themselves back into the workforce with the skills and training
				  needed to be more marketable in the workforce and helping the communities that
				  the program is in. The participant training hours support social services and
				  other services provided in communities throughout the State.
West Virginia's top occupations per the West Virginia
				  Workforce, Labor Market Information (LMI) 10-year projections of high demand
				  occupations that require minimum education that fit our SCSEP participants'
				  education and training levels include the following:
* Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity
* Customer Service Clerks
* Social and Human Service Assistants
* Community Health Workers
* Animal Caretakers
* Post-Secondary School
* Personal Care Aides
* Home Health Aides
* Rehabilitation
* Janitors
* Counter Attendants
With these projections, Host Agency (H.A.) training site
				  recruitment will focus more on entities that will develop skills for these high
				  demand jobs. Also, to ensure that SCSEP's two-fold approach is being
				  accomplished, local SCSEP projects will continue to research non-profits and
				  Government agencies in the counties that are covered to asses if there is a
				  need. Recruitment of entities such as the West Virginia Department of
				  Agriculture where they have programs such as Veterans and Warriors to
				  Agriculture and Rural Rehabilitation programs that need participants will be
				  utilized.
Recruiting of Host Agencies (H.A.) is currently accomplished
				  by relationships with past and current H.A., great rapport with the American
				  Job Centers (AJC'S), attending meetings, community events, job fairs, health
				  fairs and presenting on behalf of SCSEP. Other avenues of recruitment include
				  marketing campaigns, where Project Directors market SCSEP services and the
				  skills of job ready participants to organizations. Word of mouth is also
				  utilized to recruit host agencies.
Local SCSEP projects will continue to utilize Senior Centers,
				  Aging & Disability Resource Centers (ADRN), OAA programs, AJC's, and
				  one-stop partners to determine the need in the counties and will continuously
				  refine the strategy for job development to guide employer outreach and
				  participant readiness.
Long-term Strategy to Improve SCSEP
				  Services
* The strategy to improve SCSEP services within the State is
				  to do the following:
* Marketing Campaign- not only disseminate information
				  regarding SCSEP but also promote the program at key meetings to educate
				  organizations of the Mission and Vision
* Reach out to hiring entities to discuss SCSEP
* Exchange information regarding eligible Older Workers with
				  AJCs
* AJCs become H.A.
* Encourage cross training in training opportunities for
				  enrollees
* Inclusion within the WIOA State Plan
* Provide more incentives, such as drug screenings, criminal
				  background checks for hiring entities Develop relationship with State DHHR to
				  improve requirements for SCSEP target audience (i.e. Medicaid allotment of
				  income)
* Revise goals with DOL to reflect actual program
				  funding
* Increase funding to provide more trainings for enrollees
				  Increase H.A. recruitment for a variety of training opportunities
These recommendations will strengthen the SCSEP program
				  within the State, affording not only potential and current enrollees'
				  opportunities, but also strengthening the organizations that work with the
				  program.
Regarding the long-term changes in the use of grantee and
				  program operators to better achieve goals, the SCSEP network, with its sub
				  grantees, continuously refines its expertise on the basic elements of job
				  development by staying abreast of the many barriers that eligible enrollees
				  face. By trying to alleviate these barriers, Sub-Grantees are continuously
				  assessing skills of participants, revamping Individual Employment Plans,
				  offering additional resources, preparing for exit, resume revamping through
				  workshops and offering one-on-one interaction with SCSEP Staff. As new barriers
				  arise, grantee staff will adapt and provide resources.
Strategy for Continuous Improvement in Entered
				  Employment of Performance
The entered employment performance goal continues to be a
				  challenge. During PY 18, the Core Performance measures were revamped from being
				  measured as Common Measures Entered employment and Common Measure Employment
				  Retention to now Employment Rate 2nd and
				  4th quarter after exit. This major change came about
				  with the Interim Final Rule (IFR) SCSEP Performance Accountability that was
				  issued by USDOL/ETA on December 1, 2017. The purpose of the New Core Measures
				  appears to be an alignment of SCSEP performance data with
Workforce
				  Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
performance data to provide
				  usable data comparisons between the programs. Prior to the adjustment, the rate
				  of meeting the projected goals fluctuated.
Table 9
reflects the
				  variance during each PY.
Table 9
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(Source: Infospace, Core measures, entered employment
				  Sub-grantee)
After the modification of the goals, it was evident that the
				  employment goal/retention needed much improvement and was a barrier that the
				  program faced. During PY18, the target goal that was set forth by DOL during
				  the 2nd quarter after exit was 41.7% and the
				  4th quarter after exit goal was 35.6%.
Table
				  10
reflects the performance during the final quarter of PY 18.
Table 10
Measure
Goal
Rate
% of Goal Met
Employment Rate 2nd
							 Quarter after Exit
41.7%
14.3%
N= 5
D=35
34.3%
Employment Rate 4th
							 Quarter after Exit
35.6%
8.0%
N=2
D=35
22.5%
(Source: Quarterly Progress Report. PY18 Final)
Due to the performance during PY18, our approach moving
				  forward is to ensure that the program, specifically the employment aspect of
				  the program, has continuous improvement. The following strategy must be
				  implemented:
* Ensure that Sub-Grantees are aware of the LMI high-demand
				  positions
* Provide adequate training for enrollees
* Increase accountability of job search log of
				  enrollee
* Continue and increase partnerships with hiring entities to
				  ensure that enrollees are being considered
* Increase H.A. sites to provide a variety of training
				  opportunities Collaborate with other employment programs Increase program
				  outreach and program resources
* Revamp individual employment plan (I.E.P) of individuals
				  to ensure job search complies with employment plan
Another barrier that was identified is the majority of
				  SCSEP's target audience have supplemental insurance, reside in subsidized
				  housing, and/ or receive Social Security Benefits, and because of this factor,
				  the likelihood of them obtaining employment at the completion of the program is
				  very slim. This is due to the fear that benefits will be lost and adjusted.
				  Another strategy would be educating enrollees regarding employment and their
				  current benefits. Eligible seniors want to work but are
				  apprehensive.