Report 2011-111 Recommendation 3 Responses

Report 2011-111: Federal Workforce Investment Act: More Effective State Planning and Oversight Is Necessary to Better Help California's Job Seekers Find Employment (Release Date: March 2012)

Recommendation #3 To: Workforce Investment Board, California

To assist the governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system, the state board should continue to exercise its legal authority to review the local boards' plans to, among other things, assure the coordination and nonduplication of services to program participants.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2014

As of April 3, 2014 all 49 local plans were approved and are all being implemented. CWIB has electronic versions of all 49 local plans that were reviewed and approved and the approval letters. However, these documents are not on the CWIB website and instead, the website contains links to each WIB's website where their local plan is located. The CWIB is following up with the WIBs to ensure they provide the correct link to their approved local plans on their website.

In July, President Obama signed into law the WIA replacement legislation - The Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA). WIOA requires states to submit a 4 year state plan in March 2016, which will result in WIBs having to submit new local plans to the CWIB sometime in 2016. The CWIB will continue to exercise its legal authority under WIOA to review the local plans to, among other things, assure the coordination and nonduplication of services to program participants.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From December 2013

Since November, two additional LWIBs have submitted additional information required to complete the local plan approval. To date, (December 9, 2013), 47 local plans have been approved. The State Board is working with the remaining two local WIBS to improve their performance outcomes in order to finalize approval of all plan criteria. These boards will submit interim performance measures for the period ending December 31, 2013, and local plan approval will be granted to those that have achieved satisfactory performance improvements. Should performance not be sufficiently improved by December 31, 2013, the Stated Board will continue to work with these Board and evaluate progress on a quarterly basis until plan approval granted.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2013

On May 22, 2013 the CWIB issued policy directive WSD12-14 (http://www.edd.ca.gov/Jobs_and_Training/pubs/wsd12-14.pdf) that outlined the required contents of the local plans, the high performance certification standards, and the state board's new role as the reviewer and approver/certifier of these plans and related quality performance to ensure that the local plans are consistent with the CWIB's vision and goals for California's workforce investment system. The local plans were submitted to the CWIB on July 1, 2013, and the CWIB is currently in the process reviewing and rating the plans. The CWIB will approve the plans, certify local boards and certify the high-performing local boards by October 1, 2013. As required by state law (SB 698)the CWIB will certify local boards and high-performing local boards every two years. The CWIB will continue to issue policy directives outlining the continuous improvement criteria and local planning requirements for these future reviews.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented

According to the state board, it approved the plans for 45 of the 49 local workforce investment boards (boards) in October 2013. As of November 26, 2013, the state board also stated that plans for the four remaining boards were "conditional and currently working toward approval." The state board did not provide a time line for approving the last four plans.

1-Year Agency Response

The state board stated that it is taking the lead role in establishing the content of the local plans and in communicating its expectations as part of the review and approval process to ensure that local plans are consistent with the state board's vision and goals for California's workforce investment system. It also stated that is currently working with EDD to issue a very detailed and specific directive outlining the required contents of the local plans, the high performance certification standards, and the state board's new role as the reviewer and approver/certifier of these plans and related quality performance. According to the state board, the local plans are due no later than July 1, 2013, and it intends to review and approve the plans and certify the local boards by October 1, 2013.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented

6-Month Agency Response

The state board stated that it is taking the lead role in establishing the content of the local plans and in communicating its expectations as part of the review and approval process to ensure that local plans are consistent with the state board's vision and goals for California's workforce investment system. It also stated that once Labor approves the integrated strategic workforce development plan, the state board will w0rk with EDD to issue a directive outlining the required contents of the local plans as well as the state board's new role as the reviewer and approver of these plans. (See 2013-406, p. 148)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Partially Implemented

All Recommendations in 2011-111

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.