Increasing Access to Work Supports

• Racine Workforce Development Center, WI
• Utah State Workforce Investment Board

Overview

The Racine Workforce Development Center has fully integrated a host of agencies and programs within their service delivery system including support services. Individual funding streams (i.e. TANF, WIA, the Food Stamp Employment and Training Program and other programs) have been combined, eliminating the need for individuals to make separate applications to each agency. All of customers’ support service needs are identified through the assessment process. Support services, including child care assistance, are made available to those customers who need them in order to participate in training or employment. Support services other than child care are paid for with WIA dollars. Wisconsin has a State policy that any individual participating in workforce development activities whose income is below 200% of poverty is eligible for subsidized child care. This commitment of State funds makes it possible for WIA customers to have full access to child care services.

The county took the lead in establishing an integrated service delivery system. The vision-driven process was led by the County Executive, who took care to address political concerns at the state and local level, including the myriad turf issues.

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History

Racine's effort grew out of a larger county focus to create a community that fostered economic prosperity. The link between workforce development, human services and economic prosperity made these systems an obvious place to start. Equally important was the desire to change systems, the various workforce development and human services systems were seen as compartmentalized and not at all user-friendly. Further, they were stigmatized, and both jobseekers and employers alike tended to see the related agencies negatively.

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Partners and Funding

As described above, the county took a leading role in establishing an integrated service delivery system. The county committed to a $12 million bond issue to build the Workforce Development Center which prompted other agencies to contribute operating funds. Led by the County Executive, political concerns at the state and local level were addressed to minimize organizational concerns around ensuring individual programs services, staff and funding were retained. For instance, soliciting employer input at the start was particularly important in identifying areas employers did not like about government employment programs. That information was subsequently used to redesign employer services to address their needs and concerns. The local Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation were engaged as a Center partners. The Center pays for several Chamber and Economic Development staff to be housed at the Center and deliver employer services.

Challenges

As Racine began creating a unified workforce development system, maintaining unity was a challenge. It required attention to political concerns at the state and local level and ensuring concerns are addressed. Specifically, in the initial integration process staff from the variety of agencies were concerned that jobs would be lost through downsizing. However, cost savings were achieved through streamlining administrative efficiencies though did not come from staff related reductions.

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Keys to Successful Implementation

• Leadership and commitment
• Fully engaging employers from the beginning
• Addressing staff concerns at all the agencies involved
• Vision - the vision that drove the process was essential to creating a single system of service for all customers. To accomplish this, employees from the various partner agencies worked in functional teams regardless of the agency funding the staff person, all were identified as Workforce Development Center staff.
• Finally, Center staff were fully trained on the integrated systems and were enthusiastic about its philosophy:

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Model Materials

• State policy regarding child care funding [DOC, 26KB]
• Service Integration in Wisconsin - Racine and Kenosha Counties Report by the Rockefeller Institute of Government for the Casey Strategic Consulting Group (2002), available at www.rockinst.org/quick_tour/
  federalism/Wisconsin5.pdf

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