The Local Board Subcommittee convened a facilitated meeting with Local Board Chairs on May 16, 2001.

The facilitated session was divided into two distinct sessions:

• Dialog with the three state agency partner program directors to address issues being raised at the local level regarding the commitment of these programs to the overall system development and implementation. The three state agency partner programs represented were Division of Employment Services (NYSDOL) representing labor exchange, State Education Department’s Adult Education & Family Literacy Programs, and the State Education Department’s Vocational Education Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID). The dialog with these state-level partners was sought because unlike many of the other mandatory partners under WIA, the staff delivering services governed by these 3 funding streams take their policy direction from the state-level.
• Open Board Chair discussion on issues previously identified through a survey as well as other issues raised in the course of the discourse.

One-third of the board chairs from around the State participated in this session and all chairs were active participants in the dialog that ensued.

Several themes emerged from the two different sessions that warrant discussion with the State Board. Of the issues raised and discussed, at least two the Subcommittee would like to present to the full Board for policy action.

Themes and challenges articulated through the entire session included:

• Local boards, in particular the business members of these boards recognize that the development of the system is at a critical juncture. If decisions cannot be made in a timely manner and partner programs represented on the local boards cannot be empowered to make those decisions, the vision of a system will remain unattained.
• Communication is key: local board chairs are seeking guidance on the direction the State Board and its subcommittees are taking so that they may better align their local goals and strategies to better support the system’s development.
• The development of MOUs has taken critical time and effort away from providing the focus on the delivery of quality services to business and the job seeker. Frustration levels were high at the inability of state-level partners to provide timely feedback on MOUs.
• Strong commitment to the system from the three state-level partner programs was clearly articulated. All representatives indicated that these changes have not come without their challenges but their commitment to the one-stop delivery system remains strong and vital, if the system is to develop and succeed.
• For the system to succeed and grow, local boards need a funding strategy beyond the WIA Title I-B funding stream to support all of its efforts.
• For a true system among partner staff, unfettered access to the State’s Job Bank and Talent Bank must be made available.
• There are two levels of business services:
  1. the effective and efficient operation of the labor exchange system which is a one-stop center function
  2. the issues management level of service which is the purview of the local board. Local boards must bring these issues from a macro level to the practices and delivery level by the one-stop staff of business services.

  For both levels of business services to operate and deliver effectively, local boards must be closely linked to their economic development partners and must actively engage and discourse on a frequent basis around local labor market trends.

• Local boards cannot enact policies and procedures without a clear understanding of the supply and demand side of the workforce equation. Once those elements are more clearly understood, local boards must evaluate the ability of the education and training system’s to deliver the changes being sought before enacting the procedural or policy changes.
• Technology will be a key factor in the how customers are served and how they access the system’s services. Local boards cannot and should not underestimate the ability of technology to bring in affiliate partners and their services to better serve the system.

• Given the level of frustration expressed by the local board chairs regarding the inability of field staff for the state partner programs, it is recommended that the Board send a letter to the respective Commissioners articulating the problems expressed and seeking written commitment from these state-level partners to more empowerment of the field staff. This empowerment would enable field staff to make real-time decisions on the delivery of services within the one-stop systems. The commitment being sought would also enable field staff to negotiate MOUs and fiscal commitments without multiple layers of bureaucratic review. State-level partners need to ensure that their field level staff are sufficiently briefed to fully understand that program’s commitment to financially supporting the system and the services provided through the system. This briefing and/or training should position the field staff to more meaningfully engage in MOU discussions at the local level.
• Given the policy authority vested in local boards over employment and training funding streams and the need to build a system on funds beyond WIA Title I-B, it is recommended that the State Board require each local board to conduct a resource map identifying the variety of employment and training streams flowing to their jurisdiction. Upon approval from the State Board for such a directive, a template would be developed and disseminated to all local boards to serve as a guide in completing such a resource map. Partner programs should be given a directive from their administrative entity to provide this information to the Local Board by a date certain such that the Local Board may be better able to strategically plan around how best to target their resources to meet their economic needs.