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BRIAN KEATING: But to go ahead and kick things off, I'm going to turn things right over to
Jen Pirtle. Jen, take it away.
MS. PIRTLE: OK, thank you, Brian.
And I just first wanted to say Gay and Amanda couldn't be here today, but I just wanted
to thank you for your participation so far. We are so excited about our first three sessions
that we've had. We've had some really great questions come in, and you've had a chance
to hear from our pilot states and some of our subject matter experts. We really look
forward to continuing the dialogue over the next few weeks, and we're going to start today.
We also appreciate you continuing to push your states to get your teams together and
focus into actions and move the needle for your states and for your entire system. We
know that you'll be doing a lot of hard work and thinking and planning over the next few
weeks and that you have the right team and ask and answer the tough questions. You will
be able to move that needle forward.
I wanted to tell you that we are here for you if you have questions or want more information
about the institute or the materials or anything. You just need to ask. I'm always available.
If you have questions about the institute or the grant, you can contact our contractors
through that -- I think there'll be a slide later on that gives you a Web link as well
as contact information for Rick and Fred and anyone else on the team.
We also have the "Ask the expert" feature on the rc.workforce3one.org website, where
you can ask the subject matter experts questions outside of these sessions that we're having,
so feel free to use that resource.
Finally, Gay, Amanda and the entire ETA team are really looking forward to each of your
contributions to this effort, and we're excited to see how you address these challenges.
So I'm going to turn it over to Rick to get started with today's webinar. Thank you.
MR. : Well, thank you, Jen. I appreciate it.
And thanks to everybody for joining, and particularly for your participation over the first three
events. I mean, I have seen some energy building, and I particularly, I believe, saw some, you
know, kind of interest and excitement building when you heard from our pilot states yesterday,
and we look forward to continuing that dialogue with those communities for you during the
chat session tomorrow.
So this session today is going to be, you know, fairly short and sweet, I think. We
want to just use it to do a couple key things. So first, I want to make sure that we give
them a chance to just check in briefly with each state. And so you'll see that there's
a slide a few slides down the line here where we're going to give an opportunity to have
a spokesperson from each state just give us a brief update, you know, what's going on,
how you're doing, what are you seeing, what challenges you're having, any special requests
or needs from us, just -- it serves a couple purposes, actually. Number one, it allows
us to check in and make sure that things are going well for you and there's nothing you
don't need from us, but as importantly, it gives each state an opportunity to hear from
their peers and see what they're doing, and you know, we have found in past sessions,
like you might imagine, ideas flow from state to state, and some of the best ideas you guys
are coming up with, other states can benefit from, so it's probably as important to have
you able to hear from each other as it is for us to hear from you. So we'll do that
in a little bit, so just be prepared to have, you know, one person that we can hear from
from your state for just a few minutes, a couple, three-minute presentation on your
progress, and I'll queue you up here in a little bit.
And then we're going to take just a few slides to talk about the issue of policy as a driver
of integration and maybe get you to think about a few strategies around the area of
policy that might be important in -- for you to consider as you conduct your work on your
strategic plan.
So the agenda looks like this. I'm just going to review a couple items to make sure you
are well-aware of expectations with regard to your working sessions and our timeline,
also maybe just highlight a couple resources on the website, as Jen just did, that you
might want to avail yourselves of, and then as I say, I'm going to turn and just ask for
a two-to-three-minute update from each state. I'll start with Kentucky and then go through
alphabetical order so that you can prepare yourselves -- (inaudible) -- that you need
to. It's really informal, as I said, so we want to be able to hear from you. And then
we'll talk a little bit about policy and then address any questions, and I'll remind you
of upcoming events and let you go back to your day job, as it were, as we end this session.
So that's what we'll be doing today, and let's dive right in to keep us on pace and try to
get you out on time or even a little early.
So I just wanted to flash this slide. This is nothing -- well, there may be one thing
in here that might be new for state facilitators, but it should be only serving as a review
for you, remembering that you're scheduling your work sessions hopefully -- well, obviously
they're going to continue -- convenient times for your team members, but maybe around these
general-track working sessions as we have scheduled, like today, that you're using the
time to start to frame and refine your ultimate strategic plan, recognizing that is due on
the 13th of January. And I sent that in writing to people, but let me reiterate because in
the first webinar I think I may have confused those dates for you, so I want to make sure
I've corrected them.
The way it goes is this for state facilitators: The 13th is the institute wrap-up, and on
that session, states will have an opportunity to give us kind of an in-process review, a
draft of where you are and where you're heading. Your strategic plans are due to ETA 30 days
following the end of the institute, according to the grant, so the date of that plan to
ETA is the 13th of January, and then on the 16th of January is the event that we've planned
for states to present their plans, and we'll give you more support on that as we get closer
to that date. That'll be your opportunity to hear from each other, for ETA to hear from
you, and frankly, for you to show off the work that you've done during the course of
the institute. So again, the 13th is the institute, draft plans. The 13th of January is the submission
date for ETA. The 16th of January is the state presentations.
Also during the work sessions, remember, you need to -- if you have unanswered questions
or if you need resources or if you need access to -- (inaudible) -- that you haven't otherwise
been able to accomplish, you let us know that at the end. If facilitators let us know that,
we'll arrange to get that for you to the best of our ability. And here's what I just talked
about, the end of the institute progress report. This is a 10-minute update of your draft plan.
States can use somewhere between three and five slides, and we've got a very simple kind
of a standard PowerPoint template that will be sent to all the state facilitators by Friday
morning of this week, so it'll lead you right through that presentation, and I think it'll
make it pretty simple for you. That, again, is kind of a draft in-process review. It's
not a -- no sweat. It is, though, intended to let us know where you are and, most importantly,
let states leverage each other's ideas. That is December 13th, or next week.
So facilitators, again, your role is to guide the teams, keep them on pace, schedule the
sessions, and importantly, be sure that there's presenters prepared and that you're getting
to us with any questions or concerns that you have.
In terms of accessing resources, remember the "Resources" tab on the RC website. We've
talked about templates. There were questions about what are mandatory versus optional items.
There are really only a couple mandatory items. They are the work plan and the strategic plan
template. But all the rest of these resources are there to help you. Yesterday again there
was one question, at least, in one of our sessions. People asked, can I get a better
look at some of the screen shots that were shared of the IWR and the WIC tools from Mississippi?
And I would ask you to go to the "State pilot" tab on the RC website and scroll to the bottom,
and you'll see those video recordings, and they can be expanded to full screen, and those
screen shots from Mississippi are there. If that doesn't solve your needs, if you need
better resource or better access to that, let us know, and we'll get it for you. But
just remember that those -- all those resources are there, including samples of state policies
and state plans, and facilitators and team members should want to take advantage of that.
So again, just wanted to use that to make sure you knew that those things were available
to you. What I'd like to do now is turn back to you guys, frankly, and give you a chance
to talk. Now, we've put together this brief slide. I'm just asking you to spend a couple
minutes each. We'll do it in less than 20 minutes for all the states. But give us a
sense of, number one, what you've seen thus far and whether it's been helpful, but I'm
frankly more inclined to want to understand, you know, where are you in terms of the process,
how have you done in terms of getting your teams together, and I'm aware some are further
along than others, and that's fine. There's -- we're not judging here; we're just learning
-- and then particularly if there are challenges you have that you need assistance with or
that you're struggling through that we can help you with.
So you got two to three minutes per state. I'll try to keep you on task. For each state,
I'd look for one person just to chat us up, if you could. And that person in Kentucky,
if you could queue yourself for us. And the way you do that, remember, is to unmute your
phone. (Gives queuing instructions.) And Kentucky, if you're ready, you're on.
DUSTIN ADAMS: OK. Well, then, I think I ended up with the short end -- the short stick because
I advised you I was going to be here for a limited time, and I think I'm the only one
-- after we had such a large contingency yesterday, I'm the only one that's here today from Kentucky.
So -- (chuckles). So this is Dustin Adams. I'm the UI director
in Kentucky. And we've got the bulk of our group pulled together already. The group and
a large contingency of them have been participating in these meetings. We just have one local
workforce person we want to confirm yet. Otherwise, we pretty much have someone from every area
to be on board on the team. We've been -- we found one of the challenges
we're going to face, we're dealing right now is the state actually does have -- that's
kind of challenge as well as well as a plus. The state actually does have a state overall
policy on social media use by state agencies. We'll have to make sure that whatever policies
we develop, they're within those policies and limitations when we do that. We have found
this very insightful so far to date. The materials we're going over, and what we're learning
from the other states has been very insightful. We really appreciate it.
The insight that we developed yesterday from one of the new states said, hey, it's a good
idea to take advantage of existing talent communities. Go out and look for local communities
and even national communities that already have a footprint in the social media world,
and make use of them in your own social media, and then it will help you expand. It's kind
of the like the -- you know, befriending someone who already has a number of friends. So we
like that aspect that we learned the other day. And that actually came out, I believe,
from one of the newer folks in the group. So we're already learning from everyone, the
senior members and the new members. And we found it very insightful so far, and
we're still excited about going forward and developing our plan. And we're moving that
way. And we are coming from nowhere to somewhere because we had nothing really when we first
started this session, and we're developing a plan rather quickly. I mean, we don't have
anything I could present to you like right now, but we're -- we should have something
by next week that's presentable. And it's gone from zero to a hundred in 10 seconds
or less. So very much appreciated the -- this whole program and the fact that we were selected
to be a part of it, and it has really made us push forward on that aspect of things.
We are also developing other pieces, but we're doing those outside of this -- outside of
this program itself. We have other grants and pieces that we're working on, the counterpart
and whatnot. But we will also take advantage of that aspect of this session to get on the
website and take pieces from that when we're -- when we work on that on the side too, as
well. This will primarily focus in on the social media though for purposes of this -- of
this part of our program. So we appreciate everything and everyone, and those who preceded
us and those who are working with us right now. So thank you all.
MR. : Well, first off, thank you, Kentucky. And there was a lot of good information jammed
in that little presentation. So while you may have drawn the short stick, you did a
good job. And I am -- I am somewhat aware of Kentucky and the fact that you do have
a lot going on -- and a lot of it good. But I appreciate your willingness to be straightforward
with us and say, you know what? You went from zero to a hundred in the last few days on
this, on this particular subject. And that's the beauty of the process. And I know it's
painful at times, but I think when we get it in the rearview mirror, you'll see that
you got a lot of work done in a very short amount of time. We appreciate you sharing
your status update with us. MR. : (Inaudible.)
MR. : No, no, we appreciate it. So you can mute yourself, if you don't mind, again. Thanks
so much. You're off the hook. And now I'm going to turn to California. Again,
if the spokesperson there could just press star-six and give us a similar update from
your perspective, that'd be great. MS. : Hello. This is Rae Bao (ph) from California.
Can you hear me OK? MR. : Yeah, you're a little -- you have a
nice, soft voice. If you can project a little, that'd be great.
MS. : OK. Just a smaller update is that our group is finally coming together. We've just
been having a little bit of a challenge getting all of our members to attend the webinar.
They have been a really great resource, and yesterday the social media kick-off was a
really great resource. Hearing from all the pilot states and gleaning from them their
strategies and what they were able to accomplish was very insightful. So currently right now
we're just working on pulling together all of our policies and reviewing those to start
working on our strategic plan. MR. : Awesome, California, and appreciate
that update. And I think there are a few states that are still struggling, as you put, with
it to get people together, first get them engaged and then to get them to all these
events. And, you know, I would encourage folks -- I know it's difficult, and it's easy for
us to encourage you -- get as many of your team members to these events as you can because
of knowledge sharing. But I understand that you guys are starting late and then -- the
fact that you are bringing it together is really good news. And appreciate the kind
comments about our SMEs yesterday. I too thought they did a great job. So thanks, California,
for your update. And we'll move over to Georgia. (Gives queuing
instructions.) MR. : Hey, this is Patrick from Georgia.
MR. : Hi, Patrick. MR. : We got into the game really late. Our
first group meeting was last Monday. We got our plan to you guys on this Monday. So we
got -- we got into this really late. The group really didn't get assembled until the Friday
before. So we've really got a good group together
from a bunch of our different business units, and we're going to be adding more as we go
through the strategic plan. We've got a ton of things going on here at GDOL already. We're
revamping our ES system as well as our UI system. So what you guys have actually brought
in with the WIP and stuff like that is actually a really good primer for us to be able to
look at something and see how we could make all these pieces fit together. So that's what
our primary objective is really going to be. We also have a pretty robust social media
section already, although it's only one person. We get a lot of good information, both from
us and from the customers that we work with. So we've got a good dialogue going back and
forth in there. But we really look forward to finding out more about these, working with
the SMEs, working with other people and just trying to kind of filter everything down into
a strategic plan that works for GDOL and its customers in the long run and then build in
-- bringing in external organizations that we have here in Georgia because a lot of them
have been split up through policy and legislation just recently.
MR. : Right. I'm aware that -- (inaudible) -- the WIA is into the, I guess, your equivalent
of the governor's board. And, yeah, I get that. Right, yeah.
MR. : Yeah, so we're working on a way to blend it all to make it a very module-oriented application
so that once we do have buy-in from these other groups, we can throw out an API or something
like that and we can move information back and forth pretty easily. So we've got a great
group together, and we're probably going to be adding more people as we go on, putting
the plan together. So it's going to be a very dynamic group that we have.
MR. : Yeah, good. And appreciate you being candid about that. And, you know, there's
a few states that are in this situation, and that -- the only thing you can do is keep
pressing. And it sounds like you're making progress, so appreciate the update.
MR. : Yeah, we're definitely making progress, so, yeah.
MR. : Appreciate the update, Georgia. OK, let's go over to Illinois. Somebody in
Illinois is going to press star-six to give us your update.
MR. : Yeah, hello. This is Matt Bruce (sp) from Illinois. I'm going to try to jump in
for Gideon -- (inaudible) -- our state leader. He's deputy director at the Department of
Employment Security, but he can't make this call.
So where we are, I think it's similar to what a couple of the other states have said. We
do have a routine together, but, you know, our first real meeting, our real whole-group
conversation was fairly recently in the past couple weeks. I think going through that assessment
together was eye-opening. That was a good exercise, both the general assessment and
the social media assessment, sort of showing us how far we have to come.
MR. : Yeah? Good. MR. : We are in a similar situation where
WIA is in a different -- in a distinct state agency from --
MR. MAHER: Yes.
MR. : -- UI. So that makes for a challenge, you know, in terms of social media or systems.
I think -- we're in the process of translating what we as a group want to get out of the
Re-employment Connections Institute into, sort of, a strategic plan format, the language.
MR. MAHER: Yup.
MR. : You know, we've talked about what we want -- what we want to get out and what we
want to achieve, but we haven't sort of put it into the language of goals and objectives
that we can actually use as a planning platform going forward. So that's one of our next steps.
One of our challenges is going to be -- we have a first step in terms of whether it's
-- the sort of the WIPP or the IWR. Before we even think about implementation of that,
we have a first step of building the case for that and sort of giving -- getting everyone
at the state level on the same page about that, the advantage of it, why it makes sense
to do, what the value add is. So we needed to do that first in Illinois. And then -- or
-- I think the excitement about potential and what other states are doing is good to
sort of keep the energy going towards that.
MR. MAHER: You know what, that -- thoughtful report, Allen (sp), though. I appreciate the
candor in it and also appreciate you reminding us of the intended value of those two assessments.
And I think that they are good at helping to get a sense -- a real-view sense of the
current conditions so that you can find a way to, you know, make a reasonable assessment
of where you can take your state in a reasonable amount of time. So I appreciate that.
And, you know, in Georgia and Illinois and in other states, probably too, you know, you
stressed the importance of leadership and getting the right people at the table. I'm
happy that you, you know, you're in a process of doing that and that you're making progress.
And remember, we wouldn't expect, at this stage, for you to have things in a format
of goals and plans. You're still probably trying to figure that out. And that's probably
about right for this stage of the exercise. So thanks so much, Illinois, for your update.
I appreciate it.
MR. : Thank you.
MR. MAHER: And let's move over to Iowa now. Who's going to talk from Iowa?
KERRY KOONTZ: Hi. This is Kerry Koontz from Iowa.
MR. MAHER: Hi, Kerry.
MS. KOONTZ: I'll probably sound like a broken record to -- compared to most of the other
states because I think all of us are in about the same situation. We have our team fully
defined. We just struggle a little bit getting them all in the room together at the same
time, just with some other issues that have been going on in the agency.
But I know our IT staff has had some great offline conversations with the pilot states
on some of the information that's come out, really good and going to be really, really
useful for developing the portal piece. And I'm really, really excited about that. We
were already moving in that direction, but some of this has really altered what we want
to do and opened up some really new possibilities with it, to really make it function really
well, which is really exciting.
MR. MAHER: Yes.
MS. KOONTZ: The social media piece yesterday was really good for us. We have a social media
presence already, but it is not extensive, by any means. And it's definitely just us
pushing information out. It's not an interactive piece right now.
So what the pilot states were able to describe from that and talk about, you know, some of
the ups and downs and pitfalls and what they learned was really helpful for us as we put
-- finished putting this plan together. So I think we're really excited about it. We've
also got some focus groups going on with customers about what they would like to see on social
media to really help us hone down on this strategic plan.
MR. MAHER: That's great. I'm pretty much -- I very much appreciate that, Kerry. And the
fact that you have your team together and brought in even though you haven't always
been able to get everybody in the room, you know, that's step one. And that's an important
step and I appreciate it.
And I'm glad to hear that the access for the information on the -- what I call the ITSC
tool is timely for you guys. And it occurs to me that maybe folks that are focused on
social media now and not ready for the ITSC tools, but ready to build into their strategic
plan, for instance, having an ongoing dialogue or building the case for a decision on a -- on
the -- on tools like that. So, you know, those are the kinds of things you guys will be sorting
out between now and the 13th and then between the 13th of December and the final plan in
January. So --
MS. KOONTZ: Absolutely.
MR. MAHER: Very much appreciate the update, Iowa. Thanks, Kerry.
MS. KOONTZ: Thank you.
MR. MAHER: And now we'll go over to Kansas. And you're going to bat cleanup today, Kansas.
SHELLY THOMPSON: This is Shelly Thompson with Kansas. And --
MR. MAHER: Hi, Shelly.
MS. THOMPSON: (Laughs.) Hello.
You know just kind of echoing what almost everybody said, we are in similar stages to
others before us. We have come together as a team via conference call. We've not met
in person yet. We did complete the assessment and have a draft. It's kind of our goals and
strategies and challenges.
But again, like everybody else has said, one of our big struggles right now is making sure
we have the right people on board.
MR. MAHER: Yup.
MS. THOMPSON: And we have some issues with technology. And so we really need to make
sure we have strong team members from IT staff. And again, we have -- you know, Workforce
-- or WIA and UI are in different agencies. So we have to make sure we have IT folks from
both agencies.
We are very appreciative of the webinars yesterday. They were extremely helpful. Just wanted to
point a couple of things: one of the big things that was really helpful to me, I know, what
Mississippi said in that don't expect to be able to do everything at one time. And that
was just -- (laughs) -- a great reminder. You know, it just -- it's a little overwhelming
at times to think about all of this, but that was kind of -- kind of put it all in perspective,
just to make sure we build on our successes and don't, you know, let the challenges get
in our way. So --
MR. MAHER: Wonderful, Kansas. Thanks for that update. And, again, you know, the importance
of leadership is being stressed by all of you here. And those states that have leaders,
not just in different departments, but in different agencies to contend with and separate
IT groups. I mean, you certainly understand the importance of getting people to the table.
And, you know, that does take some time. So if it means that, you know, there was a little
bit of a sluggish start from some -- I hear some of you say, well, I had trouble getting
out of the box. But you are out of the box, and you are -- you're moving the needle. And
if this initiative does nothing other than to help you get those people to the table
faster and talking together and coming to a sense of some common end game, that would
be a huge achievement in a relatively short amount of time.
So actually, I'm encouraged by some of what I hear. I think, your reports are really candid
and I much appreciate that. I mean, we're not here -- this isn't a beauty pageant. This
is about helping each other get to a place where we're moving the needle in our state
and for our system. And your candor is very much appreciated.
Again, I stress to you guys -- it sounds like you have it in hand and you know what you're
doing and you've got what you need, but if that changes one day and you need some assets,
a piece of information, some access, remember we're here. And I know we're watching the
phone lines and watching the emails. And anything you need that we can help with, please don't
be shy about asking. Appreciate very much those updates.
Understand that now for the next webinar and general track we'll do this, this is standard.
So each time we get together, we'll get another quick update from each of our states. You'll
get to hear from each other. We'll understand where you are. And -- I mean, it's important
that -- and sometimes in these virtual events, particularly with large audiences, you get
to hear only from, you know, dummies like me. And really the most important people in
the room are you. So we want to make sure that we're casting out that time, so next
time expect another update like this.
And then remember in the final institute session, that's when you'll actually have a present
-- a chance to actually present some of your ideas. Remember, too, that facilitators will
get a template to help you prepare that three to five slide, maybe up to 10-minute draft
presentation. And you'll have that by Friday from us.
OK, wonderful. Thanks so much. Great job.
Before we turn to Q-and-A and maybe close the session today, allow me to take a few
minutes to focus us on the subject on policy. I thought it was really timely that many of
you talked already in your presentations today about policy. And I heard -- I think it was
Kentucky's Cher (sp) that there is an overall state policy on social media that they're
going to have to figure out how to deal with or comply with. I noted in the SME session
yesterday in New York that Joanna (sp) shared that they went and got their security officer
involved at the front end because the security officer could help them meet their goals and
stay in compliance with security-level policies that state of New York had.
I generally encourage people, the more you can get inside your (tent ?) the earlier in
the game, you make people owners of this process with you, the more likely you'll be to have
them work with you to try to get you where you want to go instead of becoming an obstacle
for you to fight all the way.
But policy is obviously on your mind, as it should be. I noted this image of a part of
the definition where they call policy "a course of action adopted and pursued." And so sometimes
when we think about policy, we think of it more in terms of a written piece of paper,
but really it's more than that. It reflects a direction, a course of action, an endgame,
a place you're trying to get to. And so in your states, those people that are in the
room, and most importantly, those people who aren't in the room with you during your team
meetings and who are having this -- whatever change either whispered about or rumored about
or somehow found out about on their own because they're not engaged, they're going to look
at policy as either a bridge to better integration or as a barrier to it. And they're going to
be looking all around. And some of these people, frankly, will look at any policy they can
and interpret it to become a barrier. And I know I'm not telling anything new to any
of you. You fight this problem every day. But I want to make sure that we focus on policy
as a critical aspect of your strategic plan.
And as I call your attention to it, if I could, I'd like to maybe make sure that we're aligned
on one kind of firmly held idea, and that is policy should be reflective of a vision,
that once you have articulated and crafted a vision that makes sense for where you want
to go -- and it's interesting all of you are achieving or are in the process of bringing
new people to the table -- probably in one way, shape or form, whether it's done on a
piece of paper or it's being done informally, you need to convince people that you have
a vision that is critical enough for them to want to be inside the tent with you, at
the table, in your meetings, and that once you've articulated that vision, and then from
it a mission, then you can check for policy alignment.
And when policy is aligned to vision, it becomes that bridge to integration, and it becomes
a barrier when policies are not aligned. I was really encouraged to hear a couple states
talk about their even considering having a work group, I think was said, where they're
going to take an inventory of all policies and begin to look at them. And I'd champion
that. I would love to see that reflected in strategic plans. I'd caution, though, that
that only be done once a candid common vision is shared and agreed to by all your leadership.
Without the vision, there's really no way to evaluate the policy for alignment.
So I'm going to ask you to react to that quickly just to get a sense of what people have, and
I think Brian's got an instant poll, so -- and again, this is a -- you know, nobody's getting
scored here. It's not that kind of thing. I'm curious, when you think of how potential
policy conflicts -- I've already heard some of them mentioned by you in your report-out.
Which one of these things resonates for you in your state? And you can just chime in,
and again, if there's more than one person from a state voting, it doesn't matter. It's
-- we're not -- this is an unscientific thing. But I want to get a sense of people -- yeah,
right? So for instance, if -- you know, and I'm going to broadcast those results because
I think it's important for people to see them, and you can continue to vote. I think, Brian,
if I'm not mistaken, people can see the votes now.
So data sharing between agencies is critical to integration, right? Policy is going to
be a barrier or a bridge for that. And so too is social media use by staff and customers.
If they have local areas that are -- that are, by policy, banning the use of Facebook
in resource rooms -- because it's been abused; I mean, there's always reasons for these policies
to exist -- it can be difficult to make social media a critical part of our job fair and
recruiting practices, right? So it's interesting to see the states -- silos and turf always
comes out number one. And therefore that's just critical, and I know you guys know that,
and I can tell from your report-outs that you are dealing with it already.
Brian, you can move that around and get it off the screen. It serves its purpose, I think,
for people to see.
So I want to call back again and say as you consider these policy barriers that you just
defined, remember that policy is a driver of vision, not the other way around. So I'm
-- I took this slide up, and any of you that can't read it, if you have old eyes like me
or otherwise are a little bit impaired in sight and you want to expand it, press the
"Full screen" button for a minute and it'll blow up. Most of you have seen this. I don't
know if you've seen it recently, but I call it out to you. This is the vision from the
state-led partnership team that ETA formed back, I think, in 2010 now that really rolled
out the national call for innovation around integration of services through the use of
technology.
And if you look at it, we envision assistance driven by an integrated front door. That -- in
fact, that's where the IWR got its name. It was actually named, I guess, by this work
group, unknowingly -- the entry to a nation's re-employment system where the UI claimant
is seen as a job seeker and not just a UI claimant. So through technology, Internet-based
tools, integrated service delivery focused on customer outcomes, the system is (focusing
?) on, you know, skills transferability, data-driven, measurable and accountable.
Now, I want to point out that is a lot to do, as some of you mentioned. So that's the
national vision that was laid out by state leaders in the federal and state work group.
What I would encourage you all to do is you're getting your members together and you're visioning
what this is going to look like in each of your states, how you're going to move your
needle. Many of you have mentioned you're going to do pieces of this for now and maybe
plan for the whole enchilada down the road but stay focused. And that's fine. Each state
has a choice to make. What I would ask that you consider doing is making sure that the
leaders around your table have defined it, that it's written and that everybody owns
it and is committed to it. Once you've gotten that done, your ability to align policy as
a driver of your vision for integration goes way up.
So when you then consider the critical components of making policy drive your vision, you already
identified them in your report-outs, many of you: executive leadership -- in many cases,
that means across agencies, not just departments -- that clear, common vision. Beginning with
the end in mind is really all I'm suggesting in terms of what your vision is for this engagement
and for the next period of time for your plan. Open communication and sharing of knowledge
throughout -- now, that implies data sharing, but it also implies a good communication strategy,
which I think you'll recall from the grant application is part of what ETA is looking
for you to address in your strategic plan because it -- we know it's critical. An integrated
planning process -- so if you're going to set up an ability to audit policies, maybe
having a cross-agency work team that's integrated in the way you do it as a part of your strategic
plan. And then ultimately, a culture that's designed to move our needle -- and it sounds
to me like you're already well at work at developing that in each of your states.
So when you -- when you look at strategy to deal with those critical issues, you're looking
at things like a really strong, robust team. And you mentioned, all of you -- many of you,
that you're still forming it and you're still growing, and so that tells me you get it,
that shared vision, an ability in your plan to address how you're going to align policy
to that vision, and process. And for those of you who are looking at service delivery
processes in one stop, that gets down to potentially, you know, functionally organized and a cross-trained
staff, performance measures and whether -- no matter whether you're doing the whole enchilada
or a piece of it, the ability to periodically review what you've done and adjust -- I would
hope you consider that to be an element in the strategic plan that you address for ETA
at the end of the day.
So those are the key points that I wanted to make, and I just would like to get your
final quick rundown before we close today's session and get to closing comments. Which
of those strategies, in your state, do you think might be most critical for you?
Now, for those of you who think there's something other than that that I didn't touch on, pop
it in the chat box. This is a really important point for people in all the states to see.
And for those of you who think there's multiple things, you can check on more than one. Again,
this is scientific (sic). What I want to do with this is to get a sense from states on
the battles that you all think you have to fight so that we in ETA are in the best position
not just between now and the end of your plan, but beyond your plan in giving you the kinds
of support that are going to help you ultimately succeed.
So I see people are chiming in now, and let me broadcast the results so you can all see
it. So, you know, you can see that we're running around process review and system realignment,
yeah. And for those of you that are -- that are looking at social media, if you're going
to do it for anything other than just brand awareness, you're talking about service delivery
process, how having online job fairs affects what you do in the -- in your job centers
and elsewhere. The cross-training of staff becomes important in those places. And I see
a number of you, like, gravitating to that top box. I think a lot of you have done a
lot of work there, but the recognition, I think, is really strong among all of you that
if you don't do that one right, nothing else really can matter because you talk about barriers
forming in policy, and until you get senior-level leaders willing to go to bat for you, it's
going to be hard to unravel the policy barriers that you face.
So I really appreciate you allowing us the time to just focus your attention a little
bit on what I think is going to be a critical element of what you do, and I know you think
so too because you guys have all, each of you, mentioned it already during the course
of today.
So with that, I want to just say -- and I'm going to turn it back over to Jen Kirdle (ph)
for some closing comments and also open it up to any questions. If you do have questions,
feel free to write them into the chat box now, and we'll try to address it.
I wanted to just take a minute again and acknowledge my gratitude to each of you, your time, your
talent. We know that you're busy. It's evident, and I know from knowing you -- some of you
personally, there are a lot of different things going on in your state. We really appreciate
your time and talent here.
Most importantly, I appreciate your willingness to help us move the needle not just in your
state but in the system generally. And we already saw evidence yesterday, frankly, of
some of the innovations are starting to bubble up from the implementation state that were
good ideas that came back to pilot states yesterday. So this is not a one-way process.
Increasingly, we think some of the innovation is going to flow from you that benefits the
rest of the states not involved yet and even those who have become pilot states.
Remember now, next steps -- tomorrow our social media chat sessions for both the -- I'm sorry,
for both social media and for the IWR and WIP tools -- these things are about 45-minute
sessions. There's, like, three-minute opening sessions from the SMEs (ph), and then it's
all Q-and-A, moderated Q-and-A. So, you know, you can get your hands dirty and dive into
any level of detail you want with these folks. And my sense is you'll probably develop some
personal relationships that'll move beyond the formal times of our session and, you know,
maybe create some partnerships that will last for many months and years beyond this session.
So remember too, December 13th is coming up fast, and that's by design. So as you prepare
towards the end of this -- the institute event, remember, anything you need from us, all you
need to do is ask.
So I haven't seen any questions bubble up. I'm just going to pause for a moment to see
if any do. I don't -- I wouldn't imagine that there would be any. If you think of them after
today, after the session closes, shoot us an email. We'll get you an answer.
I want to just take a second to turn it back to Jen Kirdle (ph) to maybe say a final closing
comment or two, and then we'll go ahead and adjourn for -- looking forward to our sessions
tomorrow.
Jen?
MS. : Yeah, thanks, Rick.
Yes, thank you so much for telling us where you are today. It's really nice to hear where
some of your challenges are so that hopefully our SMEs (ph) can help you address those.
And also, you being aware of what your challenges are, I think, is really important, so that's
great.
I also want to encourage you -- we sent out -- or Rick sent out the link to the sessions
that we had yesterday, one for social media and one for the common front door. And if
you were not able to attend some of those sessions because that's not your focus area,
I want to encourage you to take a look at those anyway because the conversations were
really great, and they open the door to other discussions. So if you missed those, please
take a few minutes and view them. I think they're about an hour. The common front door
one is a little bit longer, but the discussion was really great. And so if you have any interest
in participating or at least hearing the discussions that are coming out of these chats, even if
that's not your focus area, we encourage you to attend those sessions because the conversations
are the really important thing that are happening that's coming out of those.
So thank you again, and we'll talk to you tomorrow.
MR. : Yeah, just if folks could hang on -- thank you, Jen -- hang on for just a quick -- I
think there's two evaluation questions, so we can serve you better going forward. Again,
thanks to all. Thanks to you at ETA for staying with us today, and thanks to all of the states.
We appreciate it, and we'll be in touch tomorrow again in the chats. Have a great day, everybody.
Appreciate your time.
(END)