Weekly Policy Update – September 10, 2010

Document Table of Contents

1. In the Administration

a. US Department of Education

b. US Department of Housing and Urban Development

c. US Department of Labor  Continue reading →

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Read it online at http://www.dol.gov/_sec/newsletter/.

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Subject: Area of Substantial Unemployment Designation under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) for Program Year (PY) 2011

Purpose: To request Area of Substantial Unemployment (ASU) designations in each state as defined in the WIA in order to allot funds under the Act for the period beginning July 1, 2011.

Download the PDF at http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL/TEGL08-10.pdf.

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 August 31, 2010

Depth of Field
by Ravi Mangat

NNSP is pleased to announce the release of Sector Snapshot: A Profile of Sector Initiatives, 2010. This report is the latest in a ten-year series profiling the sector field nationwide.

Overall, the 2010 Sector Snapshot reveals that sector initiatives have become more important as a means of providing workforce development, adult literacy, post-secondary education, and economic development services. They have expanded into new industry sectors, grown in number throughout the country, involved employers in a more integrated way, broadened the types of organizations involved, and more specifically targeted the needs of low income and other disadvantaged individuals.

The full report and executive summary are now available for download.

In 2000, NNSP conducted the first nationwide survey of the then-emerging field of sector initiatives. The resulting report described a cross-section of the field, identifying industries targeted by sector initiatives, how they were funded, and what strategies they used. NNSP produced subsequent Sector Snapshot reports, documenting growth and change in the sector field, in 2003 and 2007.

The 2010 Snapshot, which summarizes results from 196 different organizations, addresses in greater depth the characteristics of sector partnerships and the organizations involved in them, how sector initiatives have been affected by and responded to the recent economic crisis, and their funding outlook, evaluation methods, and relationship to policy and systems change. With the economy continuing to struggle, this information provides timely support for local and federal policy efforts, such as the SECTORS Act, recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and pending before the Senate.

Sharing this research about the value and impact of the sector field will be an important strategy to help support the field’s continued growth. Please share the report with your networks (employers, policy makers, etc) and your colleagues. To support this aim we’re providing some draft messages below that may be helpful. Please feel free to tailor them as you see fit.

• Draft messages for sharing the report.

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The Workforce3One webinar on this new tool is already full.  We’ll try to provide a recorded version.

ETA Announces New Electronic Tool — mySkills myFuture – to Launch on September 6
Aug 31, 2010

The Employment and Training Administration has announced a new electronic tool, mySkills, myFuture, which will officially launch on September 6, 2010.

The tool will enable job seekers and intermediaries such as employment counselors to match a worker’s occupational skills and experiences with the skills needed in other occupations, in order to enhance their career mobility and economic prospects. mySkills, myFuture is designed for use as either a self-help tool or with the assistance of expert advisers, and is intended for the following audiences:

All job seekers with some employment history (including dislocated workers);

Staff intermediaries in One Stop Career Centers, including career guidance and employment counselors;

Non-profit groups, community based organizations, and other entities that retrain workers;

Businesses interested in retraining their workforce, as part of an effort to redesign their production or service processes, implement new technologies, or simply to enhance the skills of their workforce; and

Economic development agencies seeking to retrain workers in order to help area firms grow, attract firms to relocate in, or persuade firms to remain in the local area.

mySkills, myFuture is designed to meet various needs. For example, an individual would be able to: 1) use her/his previous employment experience to identify similar occupations for which s/he may be qualified; 2) identify the skills s/he needs but lacks to qualify for a specific job; 3) identify education, training and apprenticeship institutions where these skills can be obtained; and 4) provide links to relevant job opportunities in national and state job banks.

The following features have been included in this new tool:

• Links to job banks and job openings;
• Links to education and training courses, apprenticeships, and certifications needed to qualify for the occupations that the tool identifies; 
• High-growth and green occupations are automatically highlighted;
• Access to all other CareerOneStop electronic tools; and
• A user feedback button labeled “Rate this Page” to enable site visitors to offer comments or suggestions. 

Training and Employment Notice 09-10 provides additional background on the tool as well as an updated Electronic Tools Guide Fact Sheet.

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