washington state - Workforce Training and Education Coordinating ...

Workforce Investment Act / Title I-B A A N N U A L R E P O R Twith the WSLC and the local rapid response teams, also initiated rapid response services for nearly 1,560 workersas a result of the filing of 45 Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) petitions.Rapid response teams worked with various employers (large and small) and their employee representatives toprovide informational layoff sessions. More than 240 of these layoff sessions were conducted across the state.Additionally, in coordination with the Washington State Department of Personnel (DOP), 34 layoff sessions heldacross the state served approximately 650 state employees who were facing layoffs.Eight transition or labor management committees were formed to help dislocated workers transition to newemployment in the shortest time possible. In addition, two peer workers reached out to fellow impactedworkers to encourage and support the workers' participation in available employment and training programs.One of the largest layoffs this year is occurring at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford nuclear wastecleanup site located in southeastern Washington. In January, 2011 CH2M Hill and Mission Support Allianceannounced that 1,650 to 1,985 employees at Hanford would be laid off by the end of September 2011.Employees for both companies, as well as from other sub-contractors are impacted. ESD, in cooperation withthe Benton-Franklin Workforce Development Council and WorkSource Columbia Basin, have been assessingthe situation and planning rapid response activities, which will include requesting funding through a NationalEmergency Grant (NEG). Local and state labor representatives as well as human resource management fromthe impacted companies have been involved with the planning. Rapid Response activities were on-going andcontinued through September.The state DWU continues to initiate rapid response services for workers certified for Trade Act assistance. Thestate’s overall approach is to continue to integrate services to trade-certified dislocated workers within the rapidresponse delivery system. A Trade Act coordination team meets twice monthly to discuss Trade Act and relatedrapid response activity. Integrated Trade Act staff training is held for internal and partner staff and is conductedon a quarterly basis.This year, in an effort to enhance technical assistance to the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, ESDpartnered with the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO WIA Labor Liaisons on a grant received throughthe U.S. Department of Labor. Through the grant, 19 TAA Partnership meetings have been held statewide tofoster cross-departmental discussions with WorkSource, WDCs, community and technical colleges, and othercommunity partners. Additionally, grant funds were used to establish a website and for outreach to helpworkers and employers access potential services.SKIESThe Services, Knowledge and Information Exchange System (SKIES) is the primary web-based casemanagement and reporting system for WorkSource. SKIES provides secure data sharing between partnersso they can provide seamless services to customers, and it aids in referral of customers between programsor different locations. Individuals who need assistance finding employment or training can access anyWorkSource office across the state and receive higher level service because their records (name, address, workhistory, services previously received, etc.) are readily available to all staff.The job–matching technology in SKIES also directly benefits Washington employers. When employers hirethrough WorkSource, staff use SKIES to screen workers for the right skills and experience. SKIES is also linked to16 > Section Two - WHAT IS WORKING WELL