The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded the Commonwealth of Virginia $1.1 million to support a common intake screening and registration system for Virginians seeking training or employment services through Virginia’s One Stop Career Centers and other access points to workforce development services.
“My administration is committed to ensuring that Virginia’s local Workforce Development Boards and their One Stop Career Centers are business focused, customer-centric, streamlined, and outcome oriented,” said Governor McAuliffe. “Virginians should never have to visit multiple offices or wait weeks to get the help they need to get back to work. The new grant will help more Virginians get enrolled quickly and easily into training programs that will empower them to develop the skills they need to thrive in a new Virginia economy.”
The future availability of a common intake and registration system at all One Stop Career Centers in the Commonwealth will ensure job seekers and other customers can receive, through a single process, a wide variety of services available through the eight state agencies and fifteen Workforce Development Regions that administer publicly funded workforce development services in Virginia. The new grant will launch a process to ensure that customers of the Centers are enrolled for training and other services more quickly, and that they receive a full range of services to get a good job.
“The new common intake system to be kicked off through this grant is just one of a series of steps to improve career and business services in Virginia’s One Stop Career Centers,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Todd Haymore. “This project moves forward a major goal in our new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act state plan, which is to ensure the workforce system fully utilizes innovative, integrated, data-driven products and services that meet the needs of businesses and job seekers. Thanks to the Virginia Community College System for its leadership in developing and submitting a successful proposal for these funds.”
“This grant will support a strategic investment that will connect Virginians to the services and resources they need most to get good jobs, more efficiently and effectively,” said Virginia Board of Workforce Development (VBWD) Chair Mark Herzog. “The VBWD supports initiatives that will help increase the availability of job-ready talent to new and expanding businesses in the Commonwealth.”
The grant funding will be used specifically to identify a common technology tool suitable across all 15 local workforce development areas in Virginia and also across all Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs. The WIOA programs include major training and employment programs administered by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), Virginia Employment Commission, Virginia Department of Education, Virginia Department of Blind and Vision Impaired, and Virginia Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services. Each of these agencies, along with other public and private partners, will participate in design and development of the new technology solution.
Next steps for the work include evaluating the Commonwealth’s current common intake tools and processes across local workforce regions and WIOA programs, examining all options for a technology solution, conducting a feasibility study for proposed solutions, and generating a final report and recommendation to a cross-agency, cross-program steering committee. The VCCS will serve as lead agency and administrative agency for the new grant.
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