State Plan 2013-2017
California Strategic Workforce Development Plan
The U.S. Department of Labor Approved California’s State Plan on June 7, 2013. A copy of the full State Plan can be found below.
State Strategic Workforce Development Plan
The federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) requires the Governor, via the State Board, to submit a WIA/Wagner-Peyser Act (WPA) State Strategic Workforce Development Plan (State Plan) to the United States Department of Labor (DOL). This plan outlines a five-year strategy for the investment of federal workforce training and employment services dollars.
California state law [SB 293, Statutes of 2005 (Unemployment Insurance (UI) Code Section 14020) requires the State Board to collaborate with the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the State Department of Education, other appropriate state agencies, and local workforce investment boards to develop a comprehensive state plan that serves as a framework for public policy, fiscal investment, and operation of all state labor exchange, workforce education, and training programs.
California’s State Plan has a five-year time horizon. As such, we see it as a living document that – based on experience and changing conditions – will be reworked over time. However, the core commitments of the Plan will not change. These commitments are to a skilled workforce, a vibrant economy, and shared prosperity for all Californians.
California’s State Plan builds on emerging efforts by Local Boards, community colleges, adult education providers, community-based and economic development organizations, unions, and employers to address these and other critical challenges. The Plan begins with the articulation of broadly shared goals.
Featured Links
- CA Community Colleges Econ & Workforce Development
- California Labor and Workforce Development Agency
- Employment Development Department
- California Department of Industrial Relations
- California Department of Education
- State Personnel Board
- EDD/Labor Market Information Division
- EDD Policy & Guidance
- California Employment Training Panel
- Workforce Investment Works
- California Department of Rehabilitation
Goals
State and regional stakeholders identified goals in four key areas to guide the activities of the workforce system over the next five years:
- Business and Industry: Meet the workforce needs of regional economies and high demand industry sectors with the best potential for new jobs.
- Adults: Increase the number of Californians, including from under-represented demographic groups, who complete at least one year of postsecondary education with a marketable credential or degree, with a special emphasis on veterans, individuals with disabilities, disconnected youth, formerly incarcerated, and other at-risk populations.
- Youth: Increase the number of high school students, including those from under-represented demographic groups, who graduate prepared for postsecondary education and/or a career.
- System Alignment and Accountability: Support system alignment, service integration, and continuous improvement through shared data, common participant tracking, and evidence-based policymaking.
Strategy
To support these goals, the State Working Group and regional stakeholders agreed on an overarching strategy designed to address regional economic needs and promote skill development, which build on regional workforce and economic development networks and industry specific sector partnerships that have begun to develop over the past decade in regions throughout the state.
California’s State Plan provides new support for these efforts at the state level. The State Board and its committees – including the State Working Group of department directors that developed the blueprint for the state plan – are committed to scaling up existing regional network and industry sector partnerships and spreading the model to new regions. State institutions and programs will direct resources to this work and support it by:
- Aligning their policy goals;
- Establishing common success metrics;
- Maximizing, leveraging, and aligning resources; and
- Identifying, removing or erasing administrative or policy barriers.
Within this framework, Local Boards are expected to play multiple roles:
- Convening, supporting, and participating in regional efforts;
- Working with partners to build new kinds of integrated programs, including career pathway programs;
- Engaging employers; and
- Providing feedback to state institutions, the Legislature, and the Governor about what works and what doesn’t.
Community colleges, adult education programs, apprenticeship programs, and economic development programs are also expected to play some of these as well as other roles that contribute to attaining our shared goals. Employers and employer organizations, labor unions, and community-based organizations will have to be deeply engaged for the strategies to be successful.
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