In attendance: Bruce Dahlquist, Maria Grace, Eileen Haggerty, Todd Lee, Mina Reddy, Andrea Perrault, Brunir Shackleton, Laurie Sheridan, Jude Travers, Beverly Wing.

Announcements:

• DOE/ACLS is holding a first statewide Workforce Development Conference on December 13 in Sturbridge. (Flyers were handed out by Andrea Perrault.)
• Commonwealth Workforce Coalition conference March 14, 2007 at the DCU Center, Worcester.
• MCAE Network conference October 25-26 in Marlborough; SABES is presenting several workshops on workforce development, including workplace issues facing immigrants; helping ABE learners enter the workforce; and integrating job readiness into the ABE classroom. ACLS is also presenting a "track" around workforce development.

SABES FY'07 Activities

Laurie summarized SABES activities in the current fiscal year, completed and continuing.

SABES has a new statewide "year-at-a-glance" calendar on its website. A few workforce development activities have been posted for the current quarter (October 1 – December 31, 2006) and many others are in development. We need to put more in each SABES calendar about these activities.

Advisory members asked about the future of DOE's workforce development with and whether it was likely to be continued. SABES is in the middle of a three-year funding cycle from DOE which will end in June, 2008. It is imperative that workforce development be made a priority for the next round of funding. Workforce development is a "responsibility issue" for programs and practitioners, based on learners' goals and needs. We can't make them come to training, and many are part-timers and/or working off hours. SABES' New Directors Orientation includes workforce development. DOE's monitoring tool does not.

Community planning as a funded mandate has been staffed and sustained for eight years; workforce development is not yet in that status. Workforce development should "piggyback" on community planning. It should be a continuation of what's been done in the previous DOE RFP for ABE programs, which did not mandate workforce development efforts but offered three points (out of 100). All programs responded to this, but most proposed only minimal inclusion of WFD. The groundwork had not been laid previous to this RFP, but for the next RFP it has been and that continues. By the time of the next ABE RFP, ABE programs will have come a long way towards understanding workforce development. WFD should be a goal, and this should influence the RFP. Internally, we must change the culture in ABE; externally, with funders. There are good precedents for this in BEST, Bay State Works, etc.

The SABES workforce development efforts were originally externally driven; how do you change this? SABES should help ABE organizations assess whether workforce development is "mission-aligned" and if so, develop new capacities. The goal is to close the gap, introduce the "dual customer model" (customer/employer), and change the culture in the field (language, perceptions).

What does it mean to institutionalize this? We have made some progress here. Workforce development has become more established within ABE. It is important to capture the results of these efforts and in particular, to link community planning and workforce development. For the SABES work in workforce development, it is not enough just to look at outcomes. It's important to ask and document "What was the journey like?" The SABES workforce development work is a learning community. It would be a useful tool to develop and disseminate a chronology of DOE's efforts in workforce development, as well as SABES. While the SABES initiative is in its second year, ACLS's efforts date back to the beginning of WIA (early 2000). DOE has had ABE representatives to each of the MA WIB's, and has participated in BEST, BEST Older Youth, etc. There is a common understanding about the need for this kind of collaboration (education/workforce development) at both DOE and DWD, which DOE in turn reports to U.S. DOE. At this point, SABES should spend time on a history/summary of the workforce development efforts. Laurie was charged with drafting such a history/summary; Andrea agreed to help.

Advisory members asked why ABE learners are not always able to access jobs through career centers, and how much career centers collaborate with ABE programs. It seems to vary greatly across the state. Maria responded with examples of ways the New Bedford career center does work with ABE programs. New Directions has participated in outstationing an ABE rep in career centers from the beginning, as have 11 of 16 regions. However, DOE cannot mandate this.

Employers may not know how to write a grant, but SABES could help with this, hold sessions for businesses. CBO's do not typically find it easy to write proposals. Intermediaries have more ability to do this. SABES could create a primer, to include its history (where it came from) and common terminology.

1. For small businesses: what could you consider?
2. Matching roles

We should raise the issue of intensive programming (more hours/ week). Without this, it's difficult to integrate much about workforce development into ABE programs. Bruce noted that Worcester has opened a brand new vocational school with on-site wrap-around services, a beautiful facility, and new equipment. Much of it came from donations from employers and businesses. If it's possible to do this for youth, it's also possible with adult learners.

SABES first year in workforce development was based on forming and building relationships: SABES cast a broad net, made many connections with community partnerships, employers, career centers, WIB's, skills training programs, etc. These were awareness activities. This year, SABES has initiated more follow-up and sustained work. Now SABES needs to focus. Alternatives include:

• Where and how to get info about good jobs
  • More collaboration with career centers, "no wrong door"
  • How to find jobs for ABE/ESOL students. While immigrants typically find jobs through informal networking, there is room for instruction on "how would you find a job?"
  • In DOE's survey last fall by Noel-Levitz consultants, the majority of students give finding a job (or a better job) as the reason they are in ABE programs. SABES' goal should include make it easier for ABE students to access information about jobs.
• The ABE Directors core curriculum focuses on identifying core elements. Workforce development could do something equivalent, e.g., labor market information, which is important for programs. Incorporate LMI into the strategic planning process, how to strategize funding for it.
• Workforce development could parallel DOE's community planning efforts, which focus on:
  • What does success look like?
  • What your learners are facing.

Programs have limited capacity for workforce development. SABES should:

• Externalize the community planning process in ways that can garner support, e.g., jobs, job search. Take the CBO route, go outside our world.
• Help with the capacity issues.
• Get everybody on the same page.

SABES needs to identify a clear focus at this point:

• Should SABES carve out a niche or specific population, e.g., all GED Teachers? (no consensus on this) There needs to be a dual focus:
  • Issues around the low-level workforce; and
  • Those ready to jump into jobs at higher levels
• "What can you do for me now?" Many learners need a job NOW. What can we do?
• ABE programs could work with an employment agency, help advocate for students, work with low-level students, secure placements. How to know which ones to trust?
• A lot of work has been done on school to careers; SABES could write a summary of particular occupations and their ed/skill requirements, accessible to ABE learners.
• Should SABES regions specialize?
• DOE is funding several new student leadership projects, which could help other students find jobs.
• A survey: what are the main obstacles for lower-level people in terms of accessing jobs? Programs can then do this internally, inside the program with students.

Laurie will write up this discussion, raise the questions that have emerged. Use them to focus upcoming sharing groups. Mina suggested looking at the logic model generated by the SABES workforce development team, narrowing it down, and focusing it, taking time to revisit it. Of the emerging questions, identify what is in SABES' purview (and what is not)?

The WFD Advisory agreed to meet again in early December, a good time to begin discussions in preparation for the upcoming FY'08 SABES workplan (July 2007–June 2008).

The next SABES Workforce Development Advisory is tentatively scheduled for December 7, 10AM-1PM, and will be held at the new Worcester Vocational School. Bruce will book a tour for the Advisory there, as well as a meeting space. Laurie will poll Advisory Board members about this date.