WDS-TA #06-15, State Policy Guidelines on Serving Unemployment Insurance (UI) Customers (September 8, 2006) outlines the State’s program requirements for reemployment services to UI claimants. The requirements emphasize early intervention and specifically require that all UI claimants subject to work search receive an initial assessment to direct the individual’s service needs.

In addition, WDS-TA #07-11.1, REVISED NYS PY'07 Incentive and Sanction Policy for Local Workforce Investment Area Performance for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title 1B Program and the Wagner-Peyser Act (W-P) Program (October 18, 2007) establishes a regional Reemployment Services Implementation System Improvement Indicator which incorporates initial assessment in the indicator.

The One-Stop workforce investment assessment and service requirements are based on the following two fundamental components.

• Services
• Assessments

Each component is discussed in greater detail below. Attachment 1 presents an overview of the One-Stop workforce investment assessment and service requirements.

Services

One-Stop services fall into four main service categories:

• Job Search Ready Services;
• Career Development Services;
• Job Match Services; and
• Self-service.

Job Search Ready Services

Job Search Ready Services are to be provided to customers who possess the following: an employment goal with a favorable local labor market outlook; the occupational knowledge, skills and abilities required for the employment goal; and no barriers that prevent obtaining and retaining employment.

Job Search Ready Services prepare the customer for Job Match Services and include (but are not limited to) resume preparation and/or interviewing preparation.

Career Development Services

Career Development Services are to be provided to customers who: do not possess an employment goal; do not possess the requisite occupational knowledge, skills and abilities to readily find work; and/or who have barriers that potentially prevent obtaining and retaining employment.

Career Development Services prepare the customer for Job Search Ready Services and address:

• Barriers to employment;
• Establishing an employment/occupational goal that is relevant to the local labor market; and/or
• Deficiencies in knowledge, skills and abilities through skills development and training.

Job Match Services

Job Match and referral services find the One-Stop customer relevant employment.

Self-Service

Self-Service reflects a delivery method for providing services, rather than an actual service. All One-Stop customers, whether identified for Job Search Ready, Career Development or Job Match Services should be allowed self-service access to services to enhance employability through systems like JobZone, Metrix Learning, NYWired and OSOS. These services include: career exploration; skills assessment; résumé preparation; and/or Technology Based Learning (TBL).

Assessments

Assessments are tools/guidelines to help standardize and facilitate informed decisions about the services to be provided to One-Stop customers. Any service assessment conducted by a staff person is considered a staff assisted service.

One-Stop assessment and service requirements are based on two fundamental types of assessment:

• Initial Assessment; and
• Comprehensive Assessment.

Initial Assessment

All One-Stop customers, except Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants who are work search exempt, are to receive an Initial Assessment. Work search exempt UI claimants include workers who are: Union with exclusive union hiring arrangements; Temporary Lay-Off (TLO); or seasonal loss of employment².

Initial Assessment is staffs’ determination/interpretation of whether the customer needs Job Search Ready Services or Career Development Services, based on interpretation of résumé, job application and/or barrier type information (e.g., customer identification, employment objective, employment skills and abilities, education and employment history). The Initial Assessment process is illustrated in Attachment 2.

The Initial Assessment first addresses Barriers to Employment.

• If Barriers exist, then the customer is identified for Career Development Services.
• If no Barriers exist, then the customer’s Employment Goal is evaluated.
  • If the Employment Goal is Not Relevant, then the customer is identified for Career Development Services (i.e., career exploration to identify an occupation with favorable local labor market outlook).
  • If the Employment Goal is Relevant, then the customer’s occupational knowledge, skills and abilities are evaluated.
    • If knowledge, skills and abilities are deficient, then the customer is identified for Career Development Services.
    • If knowledge, skills and abilities are proficient, then the customer is identified for Job Search Ready Services.

Initial Assessment of Reemployment Service Customers

The UI profiling score will be used to streamline the Initial Assessment process for reemployment service customers as follows.

• For reemployment service customers whose UI Profile Score is 1 to 30 – Staff may record their initial assessment determination as Job Search Ready Services and invite the customer for services.

  Use of the UI profile score for Initial Assessment is not intended to be definitive. Staff has the authority to make the most appropriate Initial Assessment determination, based on their interpretation of the customer’s information.

• For reemployment service customers whose UI Profile Score is 70 to 100 – Staff must record their initial assessment determination as Career Development Services and schedule the customer for services.

• In conducting the Initial Assessment for reemployment service customers whose UI Profile Score is 31 to 69 – Staff must schedule the customer for an on-site, face to face appointment. Staff should ask the customer to bring a résumé, if the customer has one, to the appointment to facilitate the Initial Assessment process.

Staff can use REOS to view and sort reemployment service customers in the weekly download by Profile Score.

Failure to report to a scheduled appointment by a reemployment service customer should be handled the same way as is currently done.

Data Entry

The Initial Assessment must be recorded in OSOS as follows.

1. To record the Initial Assessment – In “Customer Detail” select the “Activities” button and select the OSOS L1 activity “Assessment Interview, Initial Assessment.”

2. To record the Initial Assessment determination (i.e., whether the customer needs Job Search Ready Services or Career Development Services) – In “Customer Detail” enter an “OSOS Comment” exactly as follows:
   1. First record the Initial Assessment determination, including the colon (:)
      • For Job Search Ready Services enter JSRS:
      • For Career Development Services enter CDS:
   2. Following the colon (:) record factor(s) which led to the determination.

Comprehensive Assessment

Comprehensive Assessment is an on-site, face-to-face service, intended to obtain an in-depth and objective understanding of the customer in order to inform decisions about the Career Development Services needed by the customer³. For example:

1. Barriers to Employment (e.g., Language, Transportation, Child Care, Elder Care, Mental or Physical Disabilities, Work Place Accommodations, etc.).

   Barriers can be identified by doing a formal, structured interview with the customer and/or using tools such as the Barriers to Employment Success Inventory (BESI). Remediation of barriers may be as simple as advising the customer of their options (i.e., transportation or child care) or may require a referral to a partner or other agency.

2. Employment/Occupational Goal that is relevant to the local labor market
   1. JobZone’s Ability Profiler can help the customer determine their Employment Goal⁴. The Ability Profiler is a staff administered objective assessment that measures six job-relevant abilities (verbal ability, arithmetic reasoning, computation, spatial ability, form perception, and clerical perception). Staff can use the results to identify occupations that fit a customer’s strengths.
   2. The local labor market outlook for an occupation can be found by using the Employment Prospects, 2004-2014 on the NYSDOL internet site, in JobZone, or by collaborating with a NYSDOL Labor Market Analyst for the local area.

3. Proficiency in the occupational knowledge, skills and abilities associated with the Employment Goal

   JobZone’s Skills Profiler or the objective assessments in Metrix Learning can be used to determine a customer’s proficiency or deficiency in occupational knowledge, skills and abilities.

   The Skills Profiler uses the customer’s prior work history to determine the degree of match between the customer and any other occupation using the O*NET skills and work activities ratings. The tool will also suggest additional occupations to explore, and offerings in the ETP list to consider for remediation of any skill deficiencies. Metrix Learning uses ProveIt! Skills Testing and Pre-Employment Assessments to identify deficiencies in knowledge, skills and abilities. Metrix Learning then prescribes Technology Based Learning through SkillSoft and Medcom-Trainex to remediate the deficiencies.

Upon completion of Career Development Services, the customer should be assessed to determine if the service has been effective and if the customer is Job Search Ready.