Workforce Training System Reform

On Tuesday, June 19, 2012, the Center for American Progress (CAP) held a forum to announce the publication of a new report, "Let’s Get Serious About Our Nation’s Human Capital: A Plan to Reform the U.S. Workforce Training System." The June 2012 publication is authored by Stephen Steigleder and Louis Soares; funding support was provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The report recommends replacing the current workforce and training system with a new system that provides most current workforce funding to the U.S. Department of Education for block grants under "Workforce Investment Bank," which would cover all aspects of workforce training. The Workforce Investment Bank would focus exclusively on developing more than 2.5 million skilled workers at all levels and would be funded at $10 billion a year. It would include three programs: College for Working Adults ($4.5 billion), Career Pathways for Working Adults ($5 billion), and Targeted Communities Workforce Investment Fund ($.5 billion). The majority of the funds would be allocated to regional authorities, which would be responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing public-private partnerships.

The U.S. Department of Labor would oversee the "Career Navigation System," which would support the existing network of 2,800 One-Stop Career Centers, basically to provide core and intensive services. The Career Navigation System would be funded at $2.225 billion per year. According to the report, "The Department of Labor would support these brick-and-mortar centers by developing and maintaining online tools and infrastructure that would be available to all career navigation centers."

The current U.S. Department of Labor funds pooled into these block grants would include: Employment Service; WIA Adult, Dislocated Worker, Innovation Fund; Office of Apprenticeship, and Women in Apprenticeship; Integration of ex-offenders; Indian and Native American programs; Migrant and seasonal farmworkers; Veterans Employment and Training Service; pilots, demonstrations and research; Workforce Data Quality Initiative; and evaluation. The proposal would pool U.S. Department of Education funds - Adult Education, Perkins Career and Technical Education, Tribal Vocational/Technical Institutions, and Employment opportunity centers – and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and training program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The report recommends a regional governance structure, substituting regional authorities for local workforce investment boards. The report did not mention a role for the states; however, Mr. Steigleder indicated there should be a role for the states.