Emily Stover DeRocco Remarks
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
National Meeting
Washington, D.C.
March 10, 2003
Good Morning. Thank you for inviting me to participate in your national meeting. It is exciting to be a part of this distinguished panel. The problem with being up here with such accomplished speakers is that it makes me feel like I have to prove that I'm worthy to be included as part of the crowd. So, with that said, I would like to brag for a moment or two about my accomplishments.
It was almost exactly one year ago that I stood before you and said we are working on reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act, the biggest legislative issue facing the workforce system. The legislation will shape our nation's ability to prepare a skilled workforce to keep our nation competitive. I went on to say that we are working on a proposal and legislative specs that we hope to send up to the Hill as quickly as we can. Well, I am pleased to report that, one year later, we have finished a ten-page paper.
That's right. Please, hold your applause. In 12 months' time, we have just -- in the last few days -- finished a ten-page paper. Don't laugh. That's nearly a page a month. And not all of that time can be used for writing. You have to pick your font. You have to pick your margins. There is a lot of work that goes into this before the writing can begin.
Actually, we have accomplished a lot. We have held countless public forums and speaking engagements, Congressional briefings, Congressional hearings, and oh, yes, met a time or two with the Office of Management and Budget.
I'll spare you all of the details, but the bottom line is: We have finished drafting the Administration's proposal description and we are working on finalizing legislative language right now. We hope to have our bill transmitted to the Hill in the next seven to ten days. Copies of our proposal are being handed out this morning, if you haven't already received one.
Growth and Jobs
Early in the process, I worried that it would be hard to get people's attention on WIA reform. I had nightmares of going up on the Hill to testify and having half the committees fall asleep and the other half ask "what a WIA" was. For those who aren't in our system, it doesn't sound very sexy. However, the economic downturn and the attacks of September 11 have changed all of that. The President, members of Congress, governors, everyone is concerned about creating jobs and getting the economy moving again. In fact, in announcing his Jobs and Growth package in January, the President stated his three economic goals are:
- Encourage consumer spending that will continue to boost the economic recovery;
- Promote investment by individuals and businesses that will lead to economic growth and job creation; and
- Deliver critical help to unemployed workers.
Personal Reemployment Accounts
It is that sense of priority that has led the President to request $3.6 billion for Personal Reemployment Accounts to help get unemployed workers reemployed more quickly.
These accounts are a new way of targeting assistance to unemployed workers who have been identified as likely to exhaust unemployment benefits before finding a new job.
Personal Reemployment Accounts would allow workers to custom- design a reemployment services package in accordance with their needs. For example, some individuals may determine they need extensive retraining in order to compete for jobs in a high-growth industry; others may only need to complete a short-term computer course in order to return quickly; still others may need to purchase childcare in order to search for work. By enabling unemployed workers to access the reemployment services they need most, Personal Reemployment Accounts increase the likelihood that individuals will return to work quickly. The accounts will be administered through the One-Stop Career Center system and individuals will be given broad flexibility to purchase the services of their choosing, within broad limits to prevent abuse.
Personal Reemployment Accounts are just one more tool to help remove barriers to employment.
Account holders will be able to keep the cash balance as a Reemployment Bonus if beneficiaries become reemployed within 13 weeks of the effective date on the account. In most cases, we estimate the remaining cash balance will be no greater than $500.
A bill including Personal Reemployment Accounts has already been introduced in the House and a hearing has already been held. The bill is H.R. 444 and we are hopeful Congress is going to move quickly to pass it.
Reauthorization of WIA
In the long term, we believe the best thing we can do to help get people into jobs more efficiently and effectively is to make practical changes to the Workforce Investment Act that will give more flexibility to meet state and local needs.
This Administration believes strongly that workforce investment is an integral part of economic development, and that a better prepared workforce promotes economic growth. The Administration's proposal to reform the Workforce Investment Act and to establish innovative new Personal Reemployment Accounts shows our commitment to enhance economic growth and get Americans back to work.
WIA was a groundbreaking piece of legislation that has sparked dramatic improvements in the delivery of employment and training services nationwide. Now our challenge is to build on these reforms in order to make the system even more effective and responsive to the needs of local labor markets.
We propose to do this in five ways. First, we want to create a more effective governance structure to ensure that services get to workers as soon as possible. Too often in the past, state and local boards have been mired in administrative detail rather than focused on connecting skilled workers with job opportunities. The Administration proposes to strengthen the role of the state and local boards in various ways. State boards would still be chaired and directed by employers, but these boards would have increased representation by One-Stop partner programs. This would, among other things, ensure that these partner programs have a place at the table when state boards decide the policies and priorities for the delivery of workforce services through the One-Stop delivery system. Local boards would be streamlined to provide an increased voice for employers, community groups, and worker advocates in order to make the boards more responsive to local needs. And the requirement that Workforce Investment Boards establish local Youth Councils would be eliminated, though governors and elected officials would be provided the authority to create or continue Youth Councils if they find them useful.
Second, our proposal would strengthen the One-Stop system by creating a new way to fund and maintain the system. Let me first address the funding issue. In the past, the system has been compromised at times by turf battles among service providers and the lack of a stable funding stream for local One-Stop Career Centers. We propose to fund the One-Stop system by creating a separate funding stream for One-Stop infrastructure funding to which all partner programs would contribute. This would alleviate a great deal of the current local negotiation issues around operations and allow local areas to focus on what is most important - meeting the service needs of businesses and workers.
In addition, we want to ensure that all One-Stop Career Centers make a broad array of employment, training, and supportive services available to both job seekers and employers. We particularly want to strengthen connections between the One-Stop delivery system and programs such as Adult Education and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF.
Third, we propose to eliminate obstacles to getting money where it is needed by combining the WIA Adult, WIA Dislocated Worker, and Wagner-Peyser funding streams into a single formula program. This change would result in streamlined program administration at the state and local level and would reduce the current complexities of management across three separate "programs." We also propose to permit more flexibility in the delivery of services to adults in order to encourage greater collaboration and integration of programs within the One-Stop setting. Under current law, many states and local areas have misinterpreted the "sequence of service" strategy to require individuals to spend a specific amount of time in one tier of service before moving to the next. Under our proposal, individuals would have the opportunity to receive the services that are most appropriate for their unique needs. And we propose to eliminate burdensome eligible training provider requirements to incentivize more training providers to participate in the workforce investment system.
Fourth, we propose to create a targeted approach to serving youth. Currently, funds for the WIA Youth program are spread too thinly across the country due to statutory formula and lack of strategic focus. The Administration recommends reforming current WIA youth programs by focusing resources on out-of-school youth through a Targeted State Formula program and challenge grants to cities and rural areas.
Finally, we propose to address the concerns many states and local areas have raised about the performance accountability provisions in WIA. The 17 statutory performance indicators under WIA title are perceived as too numerous and overly burdensome. Through reauthorization, the number of WIA title indicators would be reduced from seventeen to eight (four for youth and four for adults). As part of the Administration's new common performance measures initiative for employment and job training programs, these indicators would cut across federal job training programs and would have a common set of definitions and data sets.
Conclusion
On the front of the WIA Proposal paper you were given earlier, you will see the graphic "The power of E3". The three E's in this case are employment, education, and economic development. This is a theme we have adopted at the Department of Labor. The underlying principle behind this theme is that we must bring the resources devoted to employment, education, and economic development together and use them strategically if we are to build the skilled workforce that employers need to remain globally competitive and if workers are going to be able to get good jobs at good wages with opportunities for advancement.
Each one of you plays a very important role in the Employment portion of this E3 initiative. Your organizationand you as individuals play a big role in helping people get into the workforce. Pay attention to this WIA reauthorization debate. The pace is going to be picking up much more quickly than a ten-page paper every 12 months. More importantly, participate in this debate.
No worker left behind
We may be in a time of relatively high unemployment (5.8 percent) but the days of worker shortages aren't too far away as baby boomers begin to retire. It is anticipated that by 2020, we could face a shortage of up to 12 million skilled workers for high-growth industries - technology, health care, and construction, for example.
It is critical we build and establish a workforce investment framework that will be successful in times of high unemployment and in times of low unemployment. In either scenario, we need to be able to help move every available worker into the workforce and up the career ladders. Our goal is that no worker be left behind.
We believe the changes we are proposing to WIA can help us accomplish this goal.
