City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MAY 20, 2015
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of Approval of Two Agreements Required By the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
BODY
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ISSUE: Approval of two agreements required by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which are: 1) the Chief Local Elected Officials' (CLEO) agreement between the City of Alexandria and Arlington County; and 2) the Workforce Development Consortium agreement between the chief local elected officials and the local Workforce Development Consortium.
RECOMMENDATION: That the City Council authorize the Mayor to sign the attached agreements required by the WIOA:
1. The CLEO Agreement between the City of Alexandria and Arlington County (Attachment 1); and
2. The Workforce Development Consortium Agreement between the CLEOs and the Local Workforce Development Board (Attachment 2).
BACKGROUND: The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) will sunset on June 30, 2015 and will be replaced by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) on July 1, 2015. On March 20, 2015, Alexandria City Mayor and Arlington County Board Chair co-signed a letter to Virginia's Governor requesting that Local Workforce Investment Area 12 (LWIA 12) which is comprised of Arlington County and the City of Alexandria remain intact under WIOA. WIOA will require that the consortium renew their partnership and their partnership with the Workforce Development Board, by signing new MOU agreements. The first agreement is the CLEO Agreement between the City of Alexandria and Arlington County and the second is the Workforce Development Consortium Agreement between the CLEO and the Local Workforce Development Board.
The WIA was established in 1998 with the purpose of co-locating all federally funded local job training programs under a single location, referred to as a One-Stop Employment Center. WIA contributes funding to the Center that is used to support the re-employment activities of youth and adults who experience barriers to entering the regional workforce.
Virginia receives WIA funds from US Department of Labor and distributes it to 15 local workforce areas. The City of Alexandria and Arlington County governments, as a result of a consortium relationship executed in 2000, serve as VA LWIA 12. Arlington County Government serves as the consortium's fiscal/administrative agent. The consortium designated the Alexandria Workforce Development Center, formerly JobLink, currently renamed the City of Alexandria Workforce Development Center and Arlington Employment Center as LWIA 12's One-Stop Operators.
DISCUSSION: The WIOA requires that the roles and responsibilities of the two jurisdictions involved in the administration and oversight of employment training activities be fully described and formalized. To accomplish this, two agreements are necessary which describe the relationships and functions of the CLEO and the LWIB.
The CLEO Agreement specifies the relationships between the CLEOs of the City of Alexandria and Arlington County, Virginia and the Local Workforce Development Board pursuant to the WIOA of 2014 (Public Law No. 113-128, "the Act"). This agreement is undertaken between the CLEOs who have formed the Alexandria/Arlington Workforce Development Consortium. The Alexandria/Arlington Regional Workforce Council, is the Local Workforce Development Board serving the City of Alexandria and Arlington County formed pursuant to the Agreement.
The Workforce Development Consortium Agreement describes the roles and responsibilities of the Local Workforce Development Board in developing the local workforce plan, coordinating and conducting oversight of the One-Stop System, and providing oversight of the Act's Title I activities in this area in partnership with the Consortium functions of the Local Workforce Development Board.
The new CLEO and Workforce Development Consortium Agreements are very similar to the 2000 agreements. The major changes are related to the composition of the group and the replacement of the "Workforce Investment Act" name and public law references, with the "Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act" name and public law references. The old MOUs established the "Alexandria/Arlington Workforce Development Consortium" and the new MOUs seeks to renew the Consortium relationship, changing the name of the cross-jurisdictional policy commission from Alexandria/Arlington Workforce Investment Board to Alexandria/Arlington Regional Workforce Council.
The new agreement changes the composition of the cross-jurisdictional policy commission from 42 members, 51% business-led (21 appointed by the Mayor, 21 appointed by the County Board Chair) to 34 members (51% business-led). This is based on USDOL and state regulations regarding its membership. Each jurisdiction will be responsible for appointing nine private sector members and three workforce representatives, which must include labor organizations and representatives of apprenticeship programs, and may also include community-based organizations. The Local Workforce Development Board will also include a representative from each jurisdiction from institutions mandated for presence by WIOA, including secondary educational providers, economic development agencies, and human services partners. It will include one regional representative from an ex-offender employment services provider, post-secondary educational provider, a vocational rehabilitation agency, and Virginia Employment Commission.
FISCAL IMPACT: None. Federal funds available under the WIOA are determined by formula allocations. For the last program year there was $778,616 in Workforce Investment Act funds provided. Alexandria received $412,846 and Arlington received $365,770. The distribution between the jurisdictions will be specified in an Operational Jurisdictional Agreement to be separately executed by the respective Chief Administrative Officers or their designees upon notification by the Commonwealth of Virginia about the local Workforce Investment Area allocations.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 - The CLEO Agreement between the City of Alexandria and Arlington County as the Alexandria/Arlington Local Workforce Development Area under WIOA
Attachment 2 - The Workforce Development Consortium Agreement between the CLEOs and the Local Workforce Development Board under WIOA
Attachment 3 - Alexandria/Arlington Request to Remain Intact
STAFF:
Debra R. Collins, Deputy City Manager
Kate Garvey, Director, DCHS
Dennis McKinney, Director, Center for Economic Development, DCHS
Carolyn Jones, Director, Workforce Development Center, DCHS
La'Keisha Flores, Acting Fiscal Officer III, DCHS
Jill Schaub, Assistant City Attorney