Sec. 31-11p. Development of workforce development plan. Required contents.
Sec. 31-11p. Development of workforce development plan. Required contents.
(a) The Connecticut Employment and Training Commission, in consultation with the
regional workforce development boards, shall develop a single Connecticut workforce
development plan that outlines a five-year strategy for the state of Connecticut's workforce development system and meets the requirements of Sections 111 and 112 of the
federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended.
Said plan shall serve as a framework for the development of public policy, fiscal investment and operation of workforce education and job training programs and shall constitute the single state plan for purposes of Section 112 of said act. The Connecticut Employment and Training Commission, in consultation with the regional workforce
development boards, shall update said plan at least once every five years.
(b) The plan shall, at a minimum, include:
(1) Long-term goals for the state's workforce development system. Such goals shall
include local control of service delivery, one-stop delivery of services, individual choice
for individuals served by the system, accountability for provider performance, coordination of workforce development activities integrating state and federal resources and the
establishment of ties between funding and actual participation in training activities;
(2) Short-term goals, benchmarks and performance measures that the state will use
to measure its progress towards meeting the long-term goals identified in subdivision
(1) of this subsection;
(3) Identification of the role each institution, entity, organization and program plays
in the state-wide workforce development system;
(4) Ways to improve access to public and certified nonpublic postsecondary educational institutions;
(5) A strategy for assessing unmet workforce preparation needs;
(6) A description of comprehensive performance measures to ensure coordination
and eliminate duplication of services;
(7) A strategy for assessing types of jobs for which there are shortages of available
qualified workers and the geographical concentration of unmet workforce needs in
this state;
(8) A strategy for maximizing or redirecting funding to deliver services more effectively to meet the state's workforce development needs;
(9) A provision stating that the members of the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission and the regional workforce development boards shall comply with
state ethics laws and the applicable provisions of Sections 111(f) and 117(g) of the
federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended;
(10) A provision stating that the Labor Commissioner and the Commissioners of
Social Services and Education shall develop a coordinated program of referring workforce development participants to supportive services, including, but not limited to,
transportation and child care services for eligible participants of workforce activities.
Such program shall include a requirement that each regional workforce development
board submit an annual report to the commission on or before January 31, 2000, and
each January thirty-first thereafter detailing such board's plan for coordinating such
supportive services;
(11) A description of the state of Connecticut's proposed one-stop delivery system,
which shall be consistent with the provisions of Section 134(c) of the federal Workforce
Investment Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended, and shall include
a description of the following components: (A) A uniform individual training accounts
voucher system which shall be used by the regional workforce development boards to
pay for training of eligible workers by eligible providers and which shall include a
reporting system that ties funding to actual participation in training programs, (B) the
core services, as identified in subdivision (12) of this subsection, which shall be available
to adults or dislocated workers, including exemptions from core services, (C) the intensive services, as identified in subdivision (13) of this subsection, which shall be available
to adults or dislocated workers who have received the maximum amount of core services
but were unable to obtain employment through such core services, including prerequisites for obtaining such intensive services and exemptions from such prerequisites, and
(D) the training services, as identified in subdivision (14) of this subsection, which shall
be available to adults or dislocated workers who have received intensive services, but
were unable to obtain unsubsidized employment through such intensive services, including prerequisites for obtaining such training services and exemptions from such prerequisites;
(12) Identification of core services available under the one-stop delivery system,
which shall, at a minimum, include: (A) Determination of whether individuals are eligible to receive assistance under Subtitle B of the federal Workforce Investment Act of
1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended; (B) outreach, intake and orientation
to the information and other services available through the one-stop delivery system;
(C) a uniform assessment procedure for screening adults and dislocated workers which
shall include, but not be limited to, initial assessment of skill levels, aptitudes, abilities,
supportive service needs and for application of the self-sufficiency measurement developed in accordance with the provisions of section 4-66e; (D) job search and placement
assistance and, where appropriate, career counseling; (E) provision of (i) employment
statistics information, including the provision of accurate information concerning local,
regional and national labor market areas, including job vacancy listings in such labor
market areas, information on job skills necessary to obtain such vacant jobs and information relating to local occupations in demand and the earnings and skill requirements for
such occupations; (ii) provider performance information and program cost information
on eligible providers of training services, as described in Section 122 of the federal
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended, provided by program, and eligible providers of youth activities described in Section 123
of said act, eligible providers of adult education described in Title II of said act, providers
of postsecondary vocational education activities and vocational education activities,
which shall include, but not be limited to, preapprentice programs available through,
but not limited to, regional vocational-technical schools, available to school dropouts
under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, 20 USC
2301, et seq., and providers of vocational rehabilitation program activities described in
Title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 USC 720, et seq.; (iii) information regarding
how the local area is performing on the local performance measures and any additional
performance information with respect to the one-stop delivery system in the local area;
(iv) accurate information concerning the availability of supportive services, including
child care and transportation, available through the local area and referral to such services, as appropriate; (v) information regarding filing claims for unemployment compensation under chapter 567; (F) assistance in establishing eligibility for programs of
financial aid assistance for training and education programs that are not funded under
said act and are available through the local area; (G) follow-up services, including counseling regarding the workplace, for participants in workforce investment activities authorized under Subtitle B of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended, who are placed in unsubsidized employment, for
not less than twelve months after the first day of the employment, as appropriate; and
(H) assistance in establishing eligibility for authorized activities under Section 403(a)(5)
of the Social Security Act, as added by Section 5001 of the Balanced Budget Act of
1997, available in the local area. For purposes of this subdivision, "local area" refers to
an area designated as such pursuant to Section 116 of the federal Workforce Investment
Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended;
(13) Identification of intensive services available under the one-stop delivery system, which services may include (A) comprehensive and specialized assessments of
the skill levels and service needs of adults and dislocated workers, which may include
diagnostic testing, use of special education planning and placement teams and use of
other assessment tools and in-depth interviewing and evaluation to identify employment
barriers and appropriate employment goals; (B) development of an individual employment plan to identify the employment goals, appropriate achievement objectives and
appropriate combination of services for the participant to achieve the employment goals;
(C) group counseling; (D) individual counseling and career planning; (E) case management for participants seeking training services authorized under the federal Workforce
Investment Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended; and (F) short-term prevocational services, including development of learning skills, communication
skills, interviewing skills, punctuality, personal maintenance skills and professional
conduct, to prepare individuals for unsubsidized employment or training;
(14) Identification of training services authorized under the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended, that are available
under the one-stop delivery system, which services may include a combination of occupational skills training, including training for nontraditional employment, on-the-job
training, programs that combine workplace training with related instruction, which may
include cooperative education programs, training programs operated by the private sector, skill upgrading and retraining, entrepreneurial training, job readiness training, adult
education and literacy activities and customized job training conducted with a commitment by an employer or group of employers to employ an individual upon successful
completion of the training;
(15) Development of a uniform system of identifying and certifying eligible providers of the training services described in subdivision (13) of this subsection, which system
shall (A) incorporate each of the requirements of Section 122 of the federal Workforce
Investment Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended, and (B) be used by
each regional workforce development board in selecting an eligible provider of training
services;
(16) A strategy for the establishment of (A) regional youth councils by the regional
workforce development boards, which regional youth councils shall (i) recommend
eligible providers of youth activities to the council and conduct oversight of eligible
providers of youth activities; (ii) in cooperation with local boards of education, identify
available programs and activities to assist youths in completing education programs;
(iii) identify available programs and activities to assist youths in securing and preserving
employment; and (iv) coordinate youth activities with Job Corps services, coordinate
youth activities authorized under the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, P.L.
105-220, as from time to time amended, and improve the connection between court-involved youths and the state labor market; and (B) criteria for selection of regional youth
council members and awarding youth program grants for state-wide youth activities
described in Section 129(b) of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended;
(17) Development of a program to provide job readiness and job search training to
unemployed and underemployed noncustodial parents no later than July 1, 2000;
(18) Development of a career pathways program to link alternative education programs to regional community-technical colleges and work-related learning no later than
October 1, 2000; and
(19) Any other provisions required to be included in the plan under Sections 111
and 112 of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time
to time amended.
(c) The Governor may submit modifications to the single Connecticut workforce
development plan approved by the United States Secretary of Labor as necessary during
the five-year period covered by the plan, with the advice and assistance of the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission, provided such modifications are (1) approved by the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of
matters relating to appropriations, education, labor and social services, and (2) consistent
with the requirements of Sections 111 and 112 of the federal Workforce Investment Act
of 1998, P.L. 105-220, as from time to time amended.
(P.A. 99-195, S. 9, 15; P.A. 06-196, S. 160.)
History: P.A. 99-195 effective June 23, 1999; P.A. 06-196 made technical changes in Subsec. (b)(16), effective June
7, 2006.