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COLORADO
February 27, 1997
Meg Porfido
Chief of Staff, Office of the Governor
Chair, Workforce Coordinating Council
Executive Chambers
136 State Capitol
Denver, Colorado 80203-1792
Dear Ms. Porfido:
OFFICE OF BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
PHONE: 970-356-4000, Ext. 4200
Fax: 970-352-0242
P.O. Box 758
GREELEY, COLORADO 80632
Thank you for allowing Weld County the opportunity to the review drafts of the following proposed
documents that will impact the delivery of services under the new work force development system in the
State of Colorado:
A. Proposed Performance Contract
B. Work Force Development Plan
C. Policy Letter on One -Stop Center Core Services
D. Policy Letter On Performance -Based Measures
The following comments are not meant to be critical of these documents but, rather, to provide a county
perspective. As you are aware, the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County has had an
intergovernmental agreement concerning work force development with the Department of Labor and
Employment for over 15 years. Hopefully, the following comments will be of assistance to the State in
its efforts to create a "one -stop" system.
A. Proposed Performance Contract
Page 3 of 28, Section C. DEFINITIONS. An additional definition number 9 should be added to read:
—One Stop Resources' is defined to mean: the Wagner-Peyser funds to be allocated for the One -Stop
Career Center."
Page 6 of 28, Section D., 6. LIMITATION ON SUBCONTRACTING. This section should be
eliminated. Subcontracting of services should be covered in the Statement of Work.
Page 6 of 28, Section E., 1. CORE SERVICES. The reference to "State Policy Letter 97-xxx" is
superfluous and should be removed.
970655
Letter, Porfido
February 28, 1997
Page 2
Page 7 of 28, Section E., 2. FEE -BASED SERVICES. The last sentence of this section should be
eliminated. The additional fee -for -service arrangements established in each region should not be
constrained by the terms of the contract or by federal or state requirements. If they were so constrained,
the incentive to create innovative arrangements designed to fit the needs of the region would be
eliminated.
Page 7 of 28, Section E., 3. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS. Performance standards and the
measurement of the standards should be jointly developed and agreed upon between the State and the
counties. There should also be a grievance or appeal process which counties could access when they do
not agree with a decision made by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
Page 7 of 28, Section E., 5. SANCTIONS. The section should be deleted. Penalties for noncompliance
are adequately covered in Section J., 11. REMEDIES OTHER THAN TERMINATION FOR DEFAULT
and 14. TERMINATION FOR DEFAULT, found on Pages 16 and 17 of 28, respectively.
Page 7 of 28, Section E., 6. CUSTOMER APPEAL PROCESS. The contract should refer to the current
appeal processes which should remain in effect after the contract is signed. The current process provides
adequate due process.
Page 8 of 28, Section E. AUTOMATION REQUIREMENTS. This section should be reworded. There
is no problem in transferring data requirements for specific programs under the direction of the Colorado
Department of Labor and Employment. There is a concern for counties, however, in agreeing to
unspecified automation standards. Counties should be involved in any automation discussions to
determine the best systems for use as well as the costs for operating such systems. A main goal of the
automated systems is in order to meet the needs of both State and counties. I suggest the following
language:
"The One -Stop Career Center shall track and input all transactional information and other
information necessary to update the State END/ODDS files through the JTPA Job Link System.
More specifically, but without exclusion, the One -Stop Center will input, on a daily basis the
following information:
a. All application information received from applicants;
b. Services provided to applicants (referrals to job orders, referrals to
other organizations, job placements, workshops, etc.); and
c. Job orders received from employers with specifications of whether the employer is a
federal contractor."
Page 8 of 28, Section G., 7. REINVESTMENT OF EXCESS MONIES. The last sentence restricting the
One -Stop Career Center's revenue derived from fee -for -services monies to no more than ten percent
should be deleted. It may be that once a Center is up and running, it will be better served by having
twenty or thirty percent of its revenue derived from fee -for -services monies, because those services are
more efficient. The decision should be made by the Center rather than by the State through this contract.
Page 9 of 28, Section H., 9. MEMBERSHIP IN EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS. The section should
Letter, Porfido
February 28, 1997
Page 3
be deleted. Eligibility to associated with labor unions or other employee oriented organizations is
already covered by state and federal law and does not need to be repeated.
Page 10 of 28 , Section I., 6. TAA/NAFTA. The second sentence of this section is incomplete. It should
read as follows: "Information and referral services, including, but not limited to, information concerning
benefits allowances, vocational counseling, training, job search and relocation assistance."
Page 11 of 28, Section I., 6. VETERANS. This section appears to mandate the provision of veteran
preferences for non Wagner-Peyser programs. Many "non -core" programs already in place, such as
JTPA, Employment First, and the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills programs do not require veterans
preferences.
Page 15 of 28, Section J., 9. OWNERSHIP OF MATERIALS. INFORMATION, DATA, COMPUTER
SOFTWARE. DOCUMENTATION, STUDIES AND EVALUATIONS. This section should be either
restated or deleted. If these items are generated by the Contractor, they should rightfully belong to it
rather than to
Page 16 of 28, Section J., 11. REMEDIES OTHER THAN TERMINATION FOR DEFAULT. Part C
should be deleted. The Contractors should be allowed the ability to say who of their employees work on
the Contract without having the State interfere in those employer -employee relations.
Page 17 of 28, Section J., 14. TERMINATION FOR DEFAULT (CAUSE). Part A: The last sentence
needs clarification. It should be restated as follows: "The Contractor shall continue performance of the
Contract to the extent it is not terminated and shall be liable for any costs incurred by the State in
procuring similar goods and services elsewhere as a result of the Contractor's failure to properly perform
and consequent termination by the State."
Page 23 of 28, Section K., 4. INDEMNIFICATION. Indemnification should also extend from State to
county for the acts and omissions of the State and its employee, agents, and assigns.
The Weld County Attorney's Office will review the document after these recommendations are
considered and the following sections have been completed. Section G., FISCAL MATTERS. Numbers
1,3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11. Section H., PERSONNEL AND STAFFING REOUIREMENTS. Numbers 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12.
The draft contract lacks a section which identifies its funding level.
B. Workforce Development Plan
Section II. CDLE Strategic Direction For One -Stop. Section C. Process. There should be a section
added indicating that CDLE will provide a preliminary draft allocation indicting the amount of resources
available to each region for planning. The allocation should based on labor market, population, and
other factors which will ensure that regions receive adequate and equitable resources to serve it
customers.
Letter, Porfido
February 28, 1997
Page 4
Section III. Regional Plan Elements. Section B., 2., c. This section should reflect a fee for service as it
relates to Wagner-Peyser core services.
The Workforce Development Plan is the appropriate document to refer State Policy Letters and
automation standards for the transfer of data.
C. Policy Letter on One -Stop Center Core Services.
The description of professional account representatives and management and subsequent description
does not make sense.
D. Policy Letter on Performance -based Measures
The areas of performance will probably be measurable and existing data collections should be adequate
to measure performance.
Hopefully, these comments will help in the development of the next drafts of the documents. We look
forward to working with you. If you have any questions regarding the comments in this letter, please
feel free to telephone Linda Perez at (970) 353-3800, Ext. 3363.
Sinceifrely,
GeorE. Baxter, Chairman
Board of County Commissioners of Weld County
cc. Joe Donlon, Executive Director,
Department of Labor and Employment
Linda Perez
Judy Griego, Weld DSS
Bruce T. Barker, Weld County Attorney
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