necessary in crafting proposed Veterans' and Employers' Bills of Rights to ensure
government does not make unrealistic commitments; and. concerns regarding the
proposed veterans performance measures to be applied to all employment and training
programs. ICESA looks forward to the final recommendations of this project over the
coming months.
Reemployment Act of 1994
In addition to the reinvention efforts being undertaken by ASVETS, ICESA has been
working closely with the Department and Congress on the proposed Reemployment Act
of 1994 which, if passed, could impact services provided to all customers In recent
years, many states have moved to redesign their own unemployment, employment, and
58
training systems to respond to local labor market conditions, to integrate services, to
become more customer focused, and to build collaborations among human service
providers. These changes have been designed to simplify access to employment and
training opportunities for both the job-ready and those workers in need of skills
development. Both of these groups include veterans.
The Administration's proposed Reemployment Act of 1994 (H.R. 4040) represents
substantial progress in support of many of the changes that states have undertaken
already. Furthermore, the proposed bill includes many goals and specific provisions that
closely mirror key sections of ICESA's Workforce Development Policy, adopted in 1993
by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (copy
attached as Addendum I). Briefly, the goals we wholeheartedly share with the
Administration include:
— Consolidating all dislocated worker programs into one comprehensive program for
all workers who have been permanently laid-off, regardless of the cause of
dislocation:
Facilitating effective, high-quality training for permanently laid-off workers who
need new skills;
— Providing universal access to customer-centered, high quality employment and
training services;
Changing the fragmented employment and training system into a network of
streamlined, one-stop career centers providing access to all Americans who want
jobs;
Building on the innovative efforts of states and localities to provide
comprehensive, high-quality reemployment and training services; and,
Creating a national labor market Information system that provides high quality and
timely data on the local economy, labor market, and other occupational
information.
The provisions of the Reemployment Act that are consistent with ICESA's Workforce
Development Policy and begin to move us toward the above articulated goals are:
• Creation of a national labor market information system that will ensure accurate,
timely, and widely accessible information on national, state, and local labor
market conditions and trends;
• Resource incentives for states that want to establish a one-stop career center
system with universal access to a core set of services and more Intensive
services for eligible dislocated workers;
• Creation of a universal worker readjustment response that stresses earty
recognition and action and permits adequate income support for workers In
training;
A commitment to uniform national measures of progress and performance, to be
developed with state input, and to emphasize customer satisfaction; and,
• Waiver authority to address federal statutory, regulatory, and administrative
requirements that inhibit service Integration and quality customer service.
In addition, ICESA strongly supports the commitment to capacity building and technical
assistance to enhance the service providers' and program administrators' ability to
develop and Implement effective employment and training programs. We also see this
proposed legislation as an opportunity to reaffirm our shared commitment to the
principles of equal opportunity in service to our nation's diverse workforce.
59
still, there are basic elements in ttie proposed legislation about which we have serious
concerns and which we believe could impair the states' ability to achieve the articulated,
shared goals These concerns fall under the broad categories of state flexibility,
adequate funding, governance and mandated competition. Furthermore, ICESA wants
to ensure that the concerns of veterans are adequately addressed in any legislation that
is being considered The proposed bill is intended to address the problems created by a
lack of federal coordination of the wide range of employment and training programs, as
well as to remove the barriers to improved customer access and service. ICESA
wholeheartedly supports these goals.
While there remain some significant issues that must be resolved, ICESA is particularly
encouraged by the recent willingness on the part of the Administration to address many
of the concerns of our organization highlighted above and concerns raised by various
other "stakeholders." ICESA's members are prepared to continue to work with the
Administration and the Congress in moving our shared goals closer to achievement.
60
An ICESA Policy Paper
Building An Effective
Workforce Development System
Background
The Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies (ICESA) recognizes that State
Employment Security Agencies (SESAs) playavitalrole in the workforce development network.
ICESA has reviewed the work of other employment and training organizations and public
interest groups in drafting this statement on workforce development and has been pleased to
discover thatthere is much commonality amongthe groups. This suggests a growing consensus
about the elements of an effective workforce development system and possibly even about the
roles of the players.
Like the partners from whose policy statements ICESA has borrowed so Liberally, ICESA has
anemptedto avoid parochialism. It is clear that development of the U.S. v^orkforce is an ongoing
process, not simply a project that can be finished in a given time period. S uccessful app roaches
will require continuous improvement. They also will require collaboration among agencies to
make services not only effective but also easily accessible to customers, regardless of which door
the customers walk through first.
In developing the ICESA policy statement, the following documents were re^/iewed. Their
authors will note that ICESA's statement is consistent with theirs and will recognize dieir own
ideas refleaed in ICESA's statement.
"Bring Down the Barriers," State Job Training Coordinating Council Chairs, December
1992
"Developing our Human Resources Through an Effective Employment and Training
System: Recommendations for Action," The New England Employment and Training
Council, December 1992
"Workforce Development Principles," National Governors' Association, December 1992
draft
"Proposal for Workforce Development Legislation," America's Choice Working Group,
January 1993
Introduction
ICESA acknowledges that there is a myriad of employment and training programs operated
through a variety of federal, state and local agencies. These create a fragmented "system" of
workforce preparation and "second chance" assistance which is bewldering and frightenmg to
clients - and even, in some cases, confuses the processionals who operate the programs. It is
Inierstaie Conference oi EmDioyment Secunty Agencies SeciemCer 19S3
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Policy Paper — Page 2
tempting to say all the programs should be abolished and the United States should stan over.
However, practicality requires that public policy makers use and reshape what is available in a
way that is simpler and more effective.
ICESA's recommendation for a more effective system would include the following elements.
Elements
1) Governance structure
National
The President should create a national body, composed of key cabinet secretaries,
governmental leaders, and representatives of business and labor, charged with develop-
ing and articulating a national employment strategy that would provide both the basis for
state employment policies and sufficient fle.xibility to ensure states' ability to respond to
local labor market needs. This national employment strategy would include waiver
authority over conflicting and over-lapping laws and regulations.
State
States should take steps to coordinate plarming, development, and monitoring of a
comprehensive workforce investment system with realistically anainable objectives for
each of the partidpating programs.
The states should be enabled to grant incentives to encourage state and local collabora-
tion, to sidestep regulatory obstacles, and to develop integrated reporting-based data
collection, technical expertise and staff proficiency. Performance standards should be
established which are consistent with state human resource policies.
Any new system should be customer-oriented. Since customers vary by state and by
function, states should be responsible for determining who customers are, or how they
are identified.
Local
The implementation of a workforce polio/ envisions locally-connected organizations
capable of accurate labor market analysis and responsible employment training. Local
boards could include individuals from business, labor, education, and government. The
boards would participate in determining needs, developing plans and priorities, and
evaluating progress. Innovative, experimental, precedent-setting rather than prece-
dent-following methods should be fostered.
Interstate Conierenca o( EmDioyment Secjnty Agencies Seoiemoer 1S93
84-812 0-95-3
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PoKcy Paper — Page 3
States could define the role of local boards to include such functions as:
a. needs-determination based upon customer participation
b. resource brokerage among local public and private sources
c. cohesive delivery of services within a linked system
d. matching competency-based training services with skills necessary for the local
labor market
e. expenditure of funds within the parameters of local plan objectives.
2) Customer-Centered Design
Customers should be included by the local boards in designing the workforce develop-
ment system and in evaluating its success.
3) Workforce Development Information
Accurate, timely, widely accessible information regarding international, national, state
and local labor market conditions, trends, processes and technologies is an essential
component of an effective workforce development system. Customers must have access
to information which enables them to select and acquire the scholastic and vocational
skills needed for employment.
4) Scope of Service
The workforce development system must embrace the totality of the labor force and
business community.
The systems must offer comprehensive, high-quality, up-to-date instruction to youth,
direaed to their full preparation to enter the workforce. Systems also must encourage
and assist adults in acquiring new skills and knowledge necessar/ to meet requirements
of a changing workplace. For such a deliver/ system to achieve its objectives, it should
encompass career counseling and a diverse and thorough selection of educational and
vocational programs from basic and remedial courses through advanced technical
training.
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Policy Paper — Page 4
Such an integrated service delivery system, which ranges from fundamental to advanced
workforce preparation, can expect to garner and offer more job listings from more
employers, ultimately providing more opponunities to its job seeking customers.
5) Open Access
One-stop shopping could be both effective and advantageous. Such a system would
allow for multiple opportunities for entry, automated case management, and a smoothly
flowing sequence of steps, along which the proper services are provided. The use of
common intake and assessment, uniform terms and definitions, and competency-based
curricula should be encouraged.
Access Equity
This nevif system should offer special outreach and assistance to the economically
disadvantaged and those who are under- represented in laborforce panicipation, but
should be imrestricted in its acceptance of any individual requesting and in need of its
services.
7) Common Eligibility and MIS
All programs in the service delivery system should be required to develop and use a core
information system with a uniform structure which serves the recording and reporting
needs of each. Open access to this information by all program personnel, as well as open
entry of information, will eliminate overlap and duplication. Common intake and
assessment and other more advanced services can be added as the members of the
network gain e.xperience in collaborative service delivery. A common automated system
or shared data base is the only realistic and cost effective way to insure universal access.
While confidentiality issues impaa upon the systems' abilities to share information,
most of the members of the various systems believe these issues can be resolved.
Programs requiring means tests and which serve similar customer groups should have
identical eligibility criteria.
8) Workforce Investment
Workforce development programs should foster the development of high performance
work organizations to improve the competitiveness of .American business. The system
should encourage and assist private sector investment and public sector involvement in
increasing the ability of small and medium-sized firms to train their workers. These
effons may be based upon existing training and business assistance programs.
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Policy Paper — Page 5
9) Readjustment Services
In order to respond effectively to more worker dislocations resulting from increased
global competition and changes in technology and processes, the system needs a univer-
sal worker readjustment response that stresses immediate recognition and action and
permits adequate income support for workers in process of training and job search.
10) Income Support System
Income support systems are an integral part of a workforce development system. The
success of a workforce development system is dependent upon workers' access to
income support while seeking employment, while in training, and while removing other
barriers to employment. The nation's unemployment compensation and social welfare
systems must receive as much attention as its training and education systems.
Income suppon systems should not include disincentives for self-employment, re-
employment, and training for employment.
11) Performance Measures
Uniform national measures of progress and performance are necessary. State standards
accurately based upon the knowledge and skills essential to the modem workplace
should be the measures of training achievement. All standards should include measure-
ment of customer satisfaction with the degree to which the customers' expectations have
been met. AH standards, to the e.xtent possible, should be flexible enough to reflect local
labor market needs and objectives.
12) State Authority to Transfer Funds Among Federal Programs
States should be allowed the fle.xibility to redirect resources among state and federal
programs to meet speciBc state and local workforce development goals. Savings result-
ing from increased productivir/ should be available for reinvestment in the same or other
workforce development programs.
13) Standardized Administrative and Fiscal Procedures
Fiscal and administrauve procedures applicable to participating programs should be
standardized and integrated.
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Policy Paper — Page 6
The Role of Stale Emplovmeni Security Agencies
SESAs recognize that each partner in the workforce development network has a critical role to
play and that the system's strength lies in a collaborative approach that minimizes duplication
and tiuf battles. In this spirit, SESAs are ideally situated to network with other partners in the
development of this system. Core programs - the unemployment compensauon system, the
labor exchange function, and the gathering and dissemination of labor market information -
give the SESAs access to both employers and workers. In addition, 36 of these state agencies
administer the Job Traming Parmership Aa, and many run state job training programs,
customized workplace-based training programs, apprenticeship programs, and major compo-
nents of the JOBS program and otherwelfaie-to-workinitiatives. These programs require SESAs
to work cooperatively with other state and local agencies and councils, service providers, and
community based organizations on a daily basis.
Through the network of more than 1700 community based local offices, SESAs have the early
access to unemployed workers who are seeking temporary income support, a new job, career
information and career counseling, access to training or supportive services. At the same time,
SESAs recognize employers as a primary customer and participate actively in employer organi-
zations.
SESAs have a comprehensive computerized data base of information about individual workers
and employers, and through their ability to track labor market transaaions and aends, are
positioned to generate the labor market information needed to suppon planning, guide the
design of training programs, and develop a imiversal labor exchange. Through local offices,
labor markets within a state are eiearonicaily linked, and the Interstate Job Bank provides a
national and international automated labor exchange. These are platforms upon which regions
and states can build sophisticated automated systems for common intake and assessment, case
management, and performance measures, linking the diverse and varied partners in the
workforce development network
During this program year, SESAs will provide S25 billion in unemployment' compensation
benefits to 10 million unemployed workers, plus an additional S3-4 billion in Emergency
Unemployment Compensation. These doUars have been critical in allowing dislocated workers
to maintain their standard of living and to take advantage of training opportunities. In addition
to income suppon provided from Unemployment Trust Funds, this administrative system
should be examined as a vehicle to provide income suppon to those in long-term training who
are not currently covered by the system.
Employment Service offices, which nowregisterrwenty million workers annually, couldbe used
to provide assessment and referral for any or ail of the other programs in the network. Regular
contact with employers positions SESAs to provide a variety of business assistance services,
including an analysis of training needs and the identification of training providers.
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Policy Paper — Page 7
The variety and flexibility of programs along with a history of involvement with the other
parmers in the workforce development system allow SESAs to bring people and programs
together, to serve as a catalyst or broker. They also call for SESAs to take a leadership role in areas
where they have demonstrated effectiveness. At the state level, SESAs no longer are a collection
of separate programs but are instead an essential component of an integrated system.
Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies SeptemDer 19S3
67
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF
VETERANS IN SOCIETY
18 LAURELWOOD DRIVE
MILFORD, OHIO 45150
Title 38, United States Code, Section 4212:
Implementation and Enforcement by the
U.S. Department of Labor
ABSTRACT
The Department of Labor's implementation of afTirmative action programs for veterans
under 38 USC 4212 was last evaluated by the General Accounting OfTice in 1974. In
response to Congressional mandates, the Department adjusted the regulations and
delegated to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)
implementation responsibility. Despite these adjustments, veterans have complained
that they are not granted affirmative action rights. Hence, the CENTER FOR THE STUDY
OF VETERANS IN SOCIETY (CSVS), a nonprofit research institute, studied three aspects
of 38 USC 4212 programs: (1) the governing regulations, (2) the data collected and
published by the Department of Labor, and (3) OFCCP management and
implementation. CSVS discovered that OFCCP has changed its interpretation of the
regulations - arguing that afTirmative action programs for veterans should be different
from those for other protected classes. The institute also found that OFCCP does not
use aggregate data in its decision making. Moreover, the Department of Labor
publishes incomplete performance data. CSVS assessed OFCCP management
procedures by interviewing veterans and reviewing the penalties and sanctions
assessed by the agency. The veterans CSVS interviewed were dissatisfied with OFCCP
performance. Furthermore, OFCCP has underutilized its power to penalize. CSVS
recommends revision of 38 USC 4212 to include: (1) clarification of whether Congress
intends affirmative action programs for veterans to be in parity with those offered to
other groups; and (2) tightened data collection and publication provisions. CSVS also
recommends a thorough evaluation of OFCCP performance to assess whether it serves
veterans and effectively and efficiently accomplishes congressional goals, {ahm/jas/rwt}
INTRODUCTION
Legislative History: America has a long-standing tradition of supporting the
sacrifices and commitments of her servicemen and women. Following every major
military conflict, concerns for the employment of recently discharged veterans have
given rise to significant executive and legislative initiatives. Consistent with that
practice. Executive Order 11598, Issued on 16 June 1971. provided the foundation for
employment services targeted to veterans of the Vietnam era. This presidential
mandate to the Secretary of Labor was subsequently codified Into law by the
enactment of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1972;
legislation Intended to Increase the level of employment of veterans by federal
contractors. However, congressional concerns over the continuing high rate of
unemployment among Vietnam-era veterans in 1973, led the Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Veterans' Affairs to request a GAG investigation into the implementation
of the 1972 act. The resulting GAO report, entitled Employment Services for Vietnam-
Era Veterans Could be Improved [B-178741; 29 November 1974], noted serious
shortcomings In both the Implementation and enforcement of the statute by the U.S.
Department of Labor In response to the GAO findings, Congress authorized statutory
adjustments, giving rise to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of
1974 [originally, 38 USC 2012; now, 38 USC 4212]. Additionally, Congress required
the Department of Labor to improve its regulations.
The Department of Labor made two critical adjustments between 1974 and 1978. It
drafted Title 41, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Chapter 60, Section 250. This
attempted to Include veterans more effectively among those protected classes
authorized to receive affirmative action protections and benefits. Furthermore, the
Department delegated to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
(OFCCP) responsibility for implementing affirmative action for veterans.
* ♦ • a ta.x-e.\empt research mstituie ♦ ♦ •
68
Problem: Fifteen years have elapsed since OFCCP assumed responsibility for
assuring that veterans are given affirmative action benefits. During that time. THE
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF VETERANS IN SOCIETY (CSVS), a non-profit
research institute, has been unable to locate any systematic study concerning OFCCP
perfomnance The lack of such a study is significant given the growing perception
among the nation's veterans that they are forgotten once they return to the civilian
economy. Though these are enduring concerns, they are exacerbated by both the
military downsizing and flat economic growth during the 1990s; issues that must be
considered if veterans are to gain and maintain productive employment.
A preliminary investigation by CSVS justified further inquiry into OFCCP performance.
Though charged with assuring that federal contractors grant veterans affirmative action.
CSVS found that a substantial number of federal contractors in Ohio had no affirmative
action programs for veterans Others had failed to file required reports with the
Department of Labor. Interviews with veterans produced anecdotal reports of OFCCP