Career Advancement Committee

Minutes of February 20, 2014

In Attendance: Andy Tyskiewicz, Maureen Wagner, Jim Boucher, Sharon O’Meara, Carlton Highsmith (co-chair), David Downes, Dan Caron, Kymbel Branch, Gail Coppage, Rich Tariff, Nancy Von Euler, Deb Monahan (co-chair)

Guests: Ken Couch, Sarah Dudzic, Aynsley Diamond, Mike Hayden, Nestor Leon, Tracy Andruskiewicz, Katie Rosa, Lisa Arends, Kim Flint, Jeff Currey, Virginia Sampietro, CarolLaBelle

Welcome and Introductions

Carlton called the meeting to order at 9:32a.m. and led the Committee with introductions

Minutes of November Meeting

Carlton informed the Committee that the November minutes were sent out via email, and asked for a motion to approve the minutes. Maureen motioned and Andy seconded.

WIA Title II Plan Submission

Maureen provided an update of the state WIA Title II Plan. In preparation of reauthorization, CTSDEhas been working with the Workforce Investment Board on aligning a plan.

There is no prescribed improvement;they just expect some level of improvement. Other state benchmarks are available online if anyone wanted to compare CT’s goals to other states.

Upcoming Activities

Deb asked for a motion to bring the plan to the CETC to review at the next CETC meeting. Gail motioned and Kymbel seconded.

The next step for the Committee is to the share the contextualized learning report with private funders. Staff is working with members to get that meeting scheduled and will keep the Committee members informed of the progress.

April 11, 2014 is the next development education reform symposium. This year will build on last year’s conversation. Members and guests are encouraged to register.

Partner Updates

Move Up! provided an update on the Contextualized Learning Institute (CLI) and its efforts to break down silosto enhance career pathways for individuals. One of the efforts Move Up!, with funding from the Hartford Foundation,is working increase the capacity of providers in the region to offer contextualized training. They have a six month plan to bring together program implementers (three from Hartford I-BEST) to provide professional development for staff and opportunities for providers to work together. The schedule includes once a month meetings that bring together all level of staff: teachers, case managers, etc. to understand contextualized learning, share challenges with each other. Each month is a different theme such as case management, team teaching, vestibule, etc. Workforce Solutions Collaborative shared energy specific contextualized learning curriculum. Ultimately, the goal is to increase the capacity of the Hartford region to implement contextualized learning programs. CA staff is staying connected to Move Up!to be able to share best practices with other regions.

BOR thinks this is a great approach and would like to support Move Up! as they see fit.

CIL will be documenting its process to be shared with others for best practices.

Campaign for A Working CT is focusing on contextualized learning in its agenda. They are working on floating a bill that will bring additional resources to contextualized learning programs. They will be asking members to speak on behalf of the bill.

Monitoring Career Advancement Contextualized Learning Efforts

a. Update on PA 12-40 Developmental Education Reform

PA 12-40: Aynsley Diamond from BOR provided update on status of PA 12-40 activities. There has been a big shift in the understanding of this. They have spent significant time explaining and defining PA 12-40. The conversation has not shifted towards whether schools are in compliance and are the pieces in place to implement.

Aynsley is working on data analysis from the first semester of courses. There is a good foundation in place because schools have been using these strategies for a long time. From first semester of pilots, things are looking good. Rates are staying flat based on their control groups. Outlier information: intensive math courses are showing great promise. Now she is going to disaggregate data to determine what factors are working and making it so successful. She is going to do the same for those that are not doing well to determine the factors. The next piece is to look at where the students were placed in the first semester and then what happened in their next semester (retention, how many levels did they go up). They received an additional $4 for development education with a carryover of $2 from last year. Want to evaluate where the funds are being distributed. Report to the legislature is due first week of March for informational meeting. Her goal is mid-March to have the data analysis completed.

Aynsley is seeing pockets of programs collaborating with adult education providers but not system-wide.

b. Update on PA 13-121 Adult Education Activities

Adult Education can now serve people who have a diploma but lack basic education skills to go on to post secondary training. First idea is to charge students because they cannot use existing funds. Meriden, Hamden, Branford are offering these services but advertising/communication is a challenge. Students do not know when they should go to Adult Ed first instead of the college. There needs to be alignment with the colleges to create a system, referrals, etc. to help students navigate the system and know where they should go to be served. Third year of pilot programs still in place, Meriden, New Haven, Manchester doing transition programs with community colleges. The ones that are most effective are those who reached out to students directly. April 11th is a great opportunity for Adult Ed and community colleges to communicate.

Other regions are trying to build this service and work with community colleges. It is a slow process. East is submitting grants to do remediation work. They have the expertise in place, they just need resources.

Adult Ed and community colleges should be able to connect and fit together. It would be great to have Adult Ed providers on the college campuses.

New provost is coming on board and then BOR would like to set up a meeting with adult education providers. It is also important to keep the WIBs engaged.

One member mentionedthat they still need to connect with the K-12 system because they can play a part in stopping this from being a continued issue for future high school graduates.

c. Update of JFES I-BEST Pilot Programs

  • East Region: going very well. It was a tight timeline but they have been able to overcome challenges.
  • EASTCONN- technology academy (3 certificate programs) and customer service academy industry credential
  • New London Adult Ed- purchased slots in their existing I-BEST programs including CNA, autotech, culinary and medical office receptionist.
  • There are 22 people enrolled to date. There is another cohort starting this March. The goal is 33 total. Intent is that once people complete training, they will be involved in subsidized employment opportunity that will hopefully lead to full time job.
  • One challenge is to find people without a high school diploma or GED (need 50% with HDP/GED and 50% without). Another problem is that they are all basic skills deficient regardless of obtainment of a high school diploma and GED.
  • Northwest- Mike Hayden:
  • Manufacturing- 20 slots, currently 8 enrolled. Started January 6- April 18th. Another cohort April 21st. Level 1 NIMS certification. Subsidized employment for 13 weeks at minimum wage.
  • Retail- 30 slots, 4 week training, customer service training. Three participants enrolled and two have already received certification and are working at CVS. Another group of 7 started.
  • Southwest- Kymbel Branch
  • One program with EASTCONN to focus on ESL- 20 slots, ESL with customer service, national retail customer service certification. Twelve weeks, currently 17 enrolled.
  • East Haven ABE/ERACE program- 20 slots/currently 15 enrolled. Basic Adult Ed with food handling/hospitality training- OSHA 10, first aid/CPR certifications. Starting on February 24th. Having a tough time recruiting based on snow cancelations.
  • CREC- adult education/GED prep combined with customer services. Specific to Meriden area. Twleve week program, started third week of February. Fifteen enrolled/13 showed up on first day but still hoping to bring in 15.
  • Adding job development to programs from ‘day one,’ going to information sessions, going into classroom, teaching job search skills and meeting with students one on one to develop plans for job search. Students are required to attend 2 job clubs prior to graduation to create seamless transition to job.
  • One case manager is assigned to all students. This person is also involved from ‘day one.’ The goal is to create a cohesive experience for students.
  • Pre-enrollment orientation workshop before students start training. Goal setting, workout transportation, childcare, etc. to reduce roadblocks during programs.
  • One challenge is trying to fill classes but being able to find the best people to participate in program.
  • The WorkPlace- Nestor
  • Customer service certification- working with CREC and MSW
  • Second piece is subsidized employment.
  • One dedicated case manager to all students
  • 32 attended orientation, 25 were selected, 21 still active.
  • Long term strategy to prepare people for careers and to be successful.
  • North Central- Jim B.
  • CREC- 2
  • Five participants- GED prep and Microsoft technology;
  • medical office assistant program/ESL partnership with Manchester Community College
  • CREC has heard from employers that bilingual community staff is essential
  • Center for Latino Progress- up to 60 in green energy, customer service, ESL/GED preparations
  • Blue Hills
  • They are seeing very positive work; they made immediate connection to one stop system for referrals.
  • JFESI-BEST program to take a further look at program design and essential components. If we are going to call itI-BEST then we need to do I-BEST.
  • CLI is a nice model- capacity building is extremely important. They would like this model to be a strategy that continues and not just a typical “pilot” program.
  • DOL- Lisa
  • This year, DOL allocated $1,747,000 to I-BEST programs; this will be reduced a bit next year. Allocation is distributed by caseload of each region.
  • UCONN was hired to do an evaluation of the I-BEST programs
  • Overall DOL is very encouraged by the progress. Next year they would like to serve more participants.
  • UCONN- Ken: JFES I-BEST Evaluation
  • For evaluation purposes, WIBs have been asked to implement a lottery for identifying participants for program.
  • UCONN created a software tool that would track participant information. This will help them track employment outcomes.
  • Another software tool to capture what is happening in the classroom. UCONN has staff assigned to go around the state to track each of these things.
  • Numberof enrollees, certifications, job attainment, CASAS score gains, etc.
  • One recommendationis to have some sections of adult education courses that are designed for moms with kids, during the school day.

Next Steps

The next meeting is scheduled for May 15th at CERC from 9:30-11:00am. The meeting adjourned at 11:05a.m.