SOUTHERN ALLEGHENIES
Workforce Development board
YOUNG ADULT CoUNCIL
May 3, 2017
10:00 AM
Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission
3 Sheraton Drive
Altoona, Pennsylvania
The following are the formal actions taken by the Young Adult Council at its scheduled meeting held on May 3, 2017, at the Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission:
- Approved the minutes of the February 1, 2017 meeting.
- Approved the recommendation we use the number of youth, age 15-19, living in poverty by county as a percentage of the region’s entire population of youth living in poverty. Monies would be calculated by county and distributed to those providers selected as a result of the SAWDB’s Request for Proposal process.
- Approved the recommendationthat we use the noted recommendations presented.
- The motion was made to recommend we use Scenario 1 by Ms. Deborah Meitrott, seconded by Ms. Colleen Woodring and approved unanimously, with one abstention, by Ms. Cindy O’Connor.
- The motion was made to recommend that Health Careers Week be October 30 and discuss revisions of the essay contest by Ms. Gail Clapper, seconded by Ms. Colleen Woodring and approved unanimously, with one abstention, by Ms. Cindy O’Connor.
SOUTHERN ALLEGHENIES
Workforce Development Board
YOUNG ADULT CoUNCIL
May 3, 2017
10:00 AM
Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission
3 Sheraton Drive
Altoona, Pennsylvania
MEETING MINUTES
Members in Attendance
Cindy O’ConnorGoodwill of Southern Alleghenies
Karen RemickSomerset CTC (via telephone)
Gail UlrichJuniata College
Deborah MeitrottSouthern Huntingdon School District
Carol BracelandHuntingdon County Probation
Bob Chunta Job Corps
Gail ClapperBig Brothers/Big Sisters
Colleen WoodringOVR
Sharon ClapperClapper Industries
Non-Members in Attendance
Jim Coley SAPDC/SAWDB
Jill ReighSAPDC
Susan WhislerSAPDC/SAWDB
Marty CulpSAPDC/SAWDB
Steve HowsareSAPDC
Barbara CovertE&T Inc.
Sarah HelmanGICV
Amy KimmelCAPFSC
Jim WalkerSAPDC/SAWDB
Cheryl JohnsonPICCC
Call to Order
Ms. Sharon Clapper,Chair,called the meeting to order at 10:01 a.m.
ApprovalofMinutes from November 2, 2016.
The motion to approve the minuteswas made by Ms. Deborah Meitrott and seconded by Mr. Bob Chunta. The minutes wereunanimously approved.
Staff Report:
PY’ 16WIOA Youth Third Quarter Performance-Literacy/Numeracy Rate
Mr. Jim Coley reviewed the projected 3rd quarter performance, noting that the handout (page 6) was updated after the packets were sent. The updated report is no longer tracked under WIOA but the Board will continue to track these numbers. They measure OSY who are skill deficient. Three of the four providers met or exceeded the 60% benchmark set by the Board. Under WIOA, we are serving more OSY; the more we serve, the more that are skill deficient.
PY’16WIOA New Youth Enrollment Numbers –3rd Quarter
Mr. Coley reported thatthird quarter enrollment from July 1, 2016forward has a total planned of 188and we are at 184. Numbers (pages 7&8) in 4th quarter will rise. We served a few more OSY than planned, and less of ISY. We are generally satisfied. The reality and emphasis is on the number of new youth served by providers.
PY’ 16 TANF Enrollment Numbers – 3rdQuarter
Mr. Coley explained that TANF Enrollment numbers (page 9) overall exceeded the plan numbers. The robust TANF program serves primarily ISY, and served year-round and summer programs. He noted that Cambria served 100 students last week. TANF helps us to continue exposure in the schools.
Business/Education Partnership Grant
Mr. Coley informed the group that we have been approved for a second round of the Business/Education Partnership Grant, in the amount of $122,217. The project goal is to bridge the gap between educators and students connecting with employers. The program is already in placewith contractors running fromMarch1, 2017 - March 31, 2018. Activities have already taken place. Ms. Sharon Clapper noted that these funds support existing career activities and is pleased to see collaboration and partnerships that are flexible to maximize resources. This is not dictated by WIOA so has a greater flexibility and can be used to sponsor another Health Career Week.
Financial Picture
WIOA Budget Summary
Mrs. Susan Whisler called attention to the budget summary. The only real difference from last meeting is that, at this Council’s recommendation, the Board approved and moved $100,000 from the reserved line of Youth up to Service Delivery. That was awarded out to our subcontractors to continue and expand service to OSY. It is always important that we have a sizeable cushion in reserves yet it’s a balancing act since we must spend 80% of the funding or it is recaptured by Harrisburg. In her 16 years with workforce development, budget cuts of 8-12 percent were seen.All bets are off regarding what PY 17 that begins July 1, 2017 will look like. Funding cuts are expected.
WIOA Title I Expenditures
Mr. Coley referred to page 10 for review of the Budget Summary, noting that about $24,000 was recommended released, with half each to ITA and OJTs. In reality, for the first time, demand for ITAs requests exceed available funds. So,$15,500 was funneled to ITAs to cover training requests from counties. Then it had to be shut off; there are no additional funds available this year.
Red/Green Report
Ms. Whisler reviewed this expenditure report (updated handouts for pages 11 & 12).First page focuses on the 80% expenditure; this requirement is important or we risk Harrisburg recapturing funds. The outstanding fiscal staff keep a good eye and we are in a good position; all service providers have hit the 80% mark. She expects to be fully expended by the 4th quarter. Page 2 shows WIOA 20% requirement for work experience includes staff expense and academic support to get youth ready to go to work sites. The energy and time to prepare them counts toward the total. There are two years in this fund to fully expend the money. The money for this year has already been spent. There is a big shift for OSY, where 75% of our resources have to go toward identifying and serving them. We are well on our way to meeting or exceeding the 75% goal. She offered kudos to providers for finding OSY who are interested and engaged. In a very strong position.
Request for Proposal Process – PY 17 Title I WIOA Services
Under WIOA, we are required to competitively procure all our services. An RFP has not been conducted for all services since 2002. Ms. Sharon Clapper thanked the review team and staff, noting this required a lot of time and energy and was a lengthy process. Mrs. Whisler added that the review team’s recommendations will be reviewed and approved by the Workforce Board next week. It then goes to the region’s Board of commissioners and the SAP&DC Board. New contract awards take effect July 1, 2017.
Ms. Whisler noted that the process comes under closescrutiny at both the State and Federal levels. The RFPs must have every last detail covered, with no questions about conflicts of interest, protests, and that it is a very fair and competitive process. Mrs. Whisler is confident that they have met those standards presented and the Board is in a very good position going forward. She specifically thanked Colleen Woodring and Gail Clapper.
PY ’17 WIOA Youth and TANF Funding Formula Recommendation
Mr. Jim Coley explained that there are two sources of TANF funding: TANF Supplemental and TANF Development funds. TANF Supplemental is to be used for for summer programs while the development allocation can be applied for summer and year-round services to serve ISY. In the handout are TANF reporting for 2015 and 2016 then page 3 is a summary of these two, using the formula this council recommended. Now, we must look at how to distribute this year’s TANF funds.
The next two handouts are marked “Scenario 1” and “Scenario 2” formulas applied to TANF Supplemental funds for 2016 and 2017, reflecting a 91.67% increase from 2016. Scenario 1 is the state’s distribution of funds which is based on the number of TANF persons per county as a percentage of the region’s entire TANF population. Scenario 2 is the state’s distribution of funds based on number of youth, between age 5-19, living in poverty per county as a percentage of the region’s entire population of youth, between the age of 5-19, living in poverty.
Mr. Coley noted that the funds are to be used by June 30th. Last year the state approved an extension to September 30th. He hopes to have this extension approved again. Otherwise, the funds cannot be totally spent.
Using the Scenario 1 formula for fund distribution would skew the numbers heavily. It also would not consider the people that are under poverty that are not on welfare. Thus the 2nd scenario looks at youth between ages 5-19 of available statistics, with a significant reshuffling of the allocation. It represents a more equitable distribution than our traditional method. Also, noteworthy that these services are listed by county rather than service provider, since we do not have the RFP process complete that will indicate those providers.
Discussion included how best to compare accurately the different scenarios.
The motionwas made to recommend we use the number of youth, age 15-19, living in poverty by county as a percentage of the region’s entire population of youth living in poverty. Monies would be calculated by county and distributed to those providers selected because of the SAWDB’s Request for Proposal processby Ms. Colleen Woodring, seconded by Ms. Gail Clapperand approved unanimously, with one abstention, by Ms. Cindy O’Connor.
PY ’17 WIOA Youth and TANF Funding and Service Provision
Mr. Coley again referred to page 13, suggesting we consider the following methods:
- To distribute PY’17 WIOA Youth Funds- Calculate the counties base of available funds by reducing the PY’16 allocation by the percentage reduction in the region’s allocation. Award the counties 80% of the available funds. Of the balance of available funds, seventy percent will be distributed based upon the counties per cent share of the number of active clients served in the region and thirty per cent distributed based upon the counties per cent of youth in poverty.
- In distributing available PY’16 TANF Supplemental and PY’17 TANF Development Funds, use the number of youth, age 15-19, living in poverty by county as a percentage of the region’s entire population of youth living in poverty. Monies would be calculated by county and distributed to those providers selected because of the SAWDB’s Request for Proposal process to serve ISY.
- Utilize available PY’16 Supplemental TANF Funds to support the 2017 Summer Program. Utilize PY’17 TANF Development Funds to first support the provision of the following year-round services linked when possible to the state Career Education and Work Standards: Dropout Prevention, Work Readiness/Life Skills Instruction, Career Exploration, Job Shadowing, Adult Mentoring, Career Awareness, and paid work experience. Any excess PY’17 TANF Development Funds will be utilized to support the summer program. Disconnected youth will be a target group for provision of these services.
- Maintain the target of 20% of the TANF youth served during PY’17 would be members of TANF households.
- Maintain the current program year funding priorities for PY’17 as follows: training, supportive services, WorkKeys License and Assessment, and Industry Cluster Research Consortium costs.
- The following parameters will guide program operators and WDB staff in planning for the 2017 Summer Program:
- Utilize PY’16 TANF Supplemental Funds, PY’17 TANF Development Funds, and PY’17 WIOA Youth funds to support an expanded 2017 Summer Program.
- Start youth funded with PY’16 TANF Supplemental Funds as early in June as possible to maximize use of these funds.
- Pay youth and young adults at least $8.00/hr. plus possible incentive funds based upon performance attainment measures consistent with the current SAWDB Youth Incentive Payment Policy.
The motion was made to recommend we use the noted recommendations presented by Ms. Deborah Meitrott, seconded by Ms. Gail Clapper and approved unanimously, with one abstention, by Ms. Cindy O’Connor.
PY’17 WIOA Title 1 Funding Formula
Mr. Coley referred to the “Preferred Youth” handout. It shows the number of new youth served in the region. This is to reward providers who bring in more youth and showed very good results. He noted that everyone shares in the reduction based on factors. The goal is to design an equitable method to distribute money based on workload service providers will get and the service population they must serve; let that drive the distribution. Discussion continued regarding the three scenarios. Mrs. Whisler stressed that we have not received our allocation, so these numbers are just for discussion. The state only released numbers to plan by so take that into consideration.
The motion was made to recommend we use Scenario 1 by Ms. Deborah Meitrott, seconded by Ms. Colleen Woodring and approved unanimously, with one abstention, by Ms. Cindy O’Connor.
Health Careers Week/Essay Contest
Mr. Jim Coley noted that we set aside a week to celebrate health careers. Discussion centered around whether to set aside a week again and if so, what week and if we should have an essay contest again this year. Providers shared plans they have begun. Jim Coley proposed the week of October 30 through November 3 for the Health Careers Week. After discussion on essay versus live interview process, the group decided to come together at a later date to discuss details.
The motion was made to recommend that Health Careers Week be October 30 and discuss revisions of the essay contestby Ms. Gail Clapper, seconded by Ms. Colleen Woodring and approved unanimously, with one abstention, by Ms. Cindy O’Connor.
Summer Program
Mr. Coley provided highlights of the 2017 summer program’s potential for growth with the increased funding available. Goals include to get the students out working earlier in June, though with potential change in providers could make it a challenge. The information flow to the schools includes recruitment days. Other promotion will be dependent upon the allocations.
Mr. Coley noted that we are also getting an allocation for four internships through the State and Local Internship Programs (SLIP). Three will be at Somerset, Bedford and Huntingdon CareerLinks and one at OVR, paying $10.15/hour versus $8/hour for usual summer program. Targeted students are WIOA eligible, mostly OSY and hopefully well-functioning individuals doing work alongside staff. Mrs. Whisler noted that Cambria had the pilot program last year, so they are not participating this year.
Other Business
Ms. Sharon Clapper encouraged the group to share success stories with Mrs. Whisler, who will be co-presenting next week in Hershey at the Board Association Workforce meeting. The Youth to Work program with Goodwill of the Southern Alleghenies has been developed into a Toolkit and will be on flash drives for attendees. This program could be replicated statewide.
Next Meeting
August 2, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. at SAP&DC.
Adjournment
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Ms. Gail Clapper at 11:43 a.m.
1