• Advisory Board to the Reality Check Initiative
• Workforce Investment Boards

WOW reviewed practices from more than 200 workforce boards around the country to find the workforce boards that established the most far reaching policies and programs. We found that the boards who used a realistic measure of what it costs families to make ends meet and using that information to design programs and policies went a long way both in establishing training goals with employers and in preparing clients for jobs that offer self-sustaining wages in their region.

The report challenges the interpretation made by some workforce boards and regional US Department of Labor offices that the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) mandates a “work first” approach, that is, an approach where skills training is a last option, available only after other services have failed repeatedly to help someone secure a steady job. Reality Check highlights practices that improve a worker’s chance of finding a good job in the labor market and using the self-sufficiency standard to set program goals, spend training dollars, establish local economic development initiatives, and ensure access to career services for the most vulnerable job seekers.

In contrast to current proposals to dismantle the workforce system into an inadequately funded voucher program, Reality Check offers proven strategies to help people enter the workforce and begin moving up the career leader.

Hard-working people strive every day to earn enough to support their families, while employers contend with labor shortages or pools of unskilled workers. Federally funded programs established through WIA are designed to help employers find qualified workers and to help workers develop skills and to get jobs. Yet, more often then not, these programs and the workforce boards that oversee the expenditure of WIA funds are operating without the tools to measure the success of these programs in helping people achieve economic self-sufficiency.

The boards highlighted in the report interpret the scope and performance goals embedded in WIA as the starting point rather than the answer to improving the economy and the overall quality of life in their communities. Properly directed, workforce development dollars can make a tremendous difference for workers, employers and the community as a whole.

Acknowledgements

WOW wants to acknowledge the support of the Ford Foundation in funding Reality Check and in particular, Helen Neuborne, who has been responsible for helping move the concept of self-sufficiency into the public dialogue and has enabled WOW to develop FESS projects throughout the country.

The information in this report is based on a national research project to uncover and spotlight strategies and initiatives within the public workforce development system to incorporate the concept of economic self-sufficiency. The information in the report is based on individual interviews with each featured WIB. With the assistance of the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB), and the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP), WOW collected research questionnaires from over 200 Workforce Investment Boards, documenting the use of Self-Sufficiency Standards and similar measures in public workforce programs and policies.

Special thanks to Kathy Patrick for her role in collecting and reviewing the practices and developing Reality Check. Thanks to Maureen Golga, Susan Messina, Joan Kuriansky, Deborah Cutler-Ortiz, Mark Greenberg, Phil Sparks, and Shea Shackelford for their respective contributions to researching, writing and editing this guide. During the process of developing this report, WOW engaged key stakeholders as part of a working advisory group. Their clear commitment to strengthening the public workforce system combined with keen insight into issues facing that system led the authors in developing the form and function of this guide. We deeply appreciate their invaluable time and insight.

Advisory Board to the Reality Check Initiative

• Teri Bergman, AFL-CIO's Working for America
• Sylvia Beville, Metro South/West Regional Employment Board
• Amy Kays Blair, Aspen Institute
• Patrick Cassidy, National Association of Workforce Boards
• Carol Clymer, Public Private Ventures
• Sarah Brady, Good Jobs First
• Abbey Frank, Center for Law and Social Policy
• Chrisanne Gayl, The Workforce Alliance
• David Hunn, Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board
• Jeannine LaPrad, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
• Keith Mitchell, D.C. Workforce Investment Council
• Eric Parker, Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership
• Nisha Patel, Center for Law and Social Policy
• Geri Scott, Jobs for the Future
• Margaret Singleton, DC Chamber of Commerce
• Whitney Smith, Chicago Jobs Council
• Tse Ming Tam, National Economic Development & Law Center
• Sam Tuttelman, Goodwill Industries International

Disclaimer

The conclusions and opinions contained within this document of Wider Opportunities for Women, and do not necessarily refl ect the opinions of others involved in the design of Reality Check. Any errors are the responsibility of Wider Opportunities for Women.