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Home My WebLink About20163588.tiffCOLORADO Department of Labor and Employment November 7, 2016 Barbara Kirkmeyer Weld County Commissioners P.O. Box 758 Greeley, CO 80631 Dear Ms. Kirkmeyer: Workforce Development Programs 633 17th Street, Suite 201 Denver, CO 80202-3660 RECEIVED NOV 2 2 2016 WELD COUNTY COMMISSIONERS The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE)/Workforce Development Programs conducted the annual compliance review of the Employment Services of Weld County (ESWC) from September 12 to September 16, 2016. The review encompassed Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Trade Adjustment Assistance, Wagner-Peyser, Employment Support Fund, and discretionary grants for the period July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016. The review was performed in accordance with CDLE Policy Guidance Letter (PGL) ADM -2015-02, Change 1. Enclosed please find the Final Annual Compliance Monitoring Report for PY15 prepared by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment - Workforce Development Programs. We would like to thank the staff at the ESWC for the assistance they provided to the State Workforce Monitors during all phases of the review. The staff were courteous and their professionalism during and following the review was notable. If you have any questions, please contact your Regional Liaison, Christa White, at 303-318-8016 or christa.white@state.co.us. Sincerely, Elise Lowe -Vaughn Workforce Programs, Policy and Strategic Initiatives Director cc: Tami Grant, Employment Services of Weld County Director Mary Freitag, Workforce Development Board Chair 633 17th Street, Suite 201, Denver, CO 80202-3660 P 303-318-8000 I www.colorado.gov/cdle c..21 &MY) n ca+; 0 ins cc. = H R c m ) l ol/ 5/ I(O l l/`ova/1(p 2016-3588 COLORADO Department of Labor and Employment Workforce Development Programs Regional Services Unit 633 17th Street Denver, CO 80202 Local Workforce Area Annual Program Monitoring Report: Employment Services of Weld County Main Office Location: 315 N. 11th Ave., BLDG B PO Box 1805 Greely, CO 80632 Period of Review: 7/1/2015 to 6/3©/2016 Date Issued: 10/24/2016 Wage Employment Services of Weld County Annual Monitoring Report Program Year 15 COLORADO Department of Labor and Employment Executive Summary Purpose/Methodology: The Workforce Development Programs (WDP) Regional Services Unit (RSU) conducts program monitoring, in compliance with Program Guidance Letter (PGL) ADM - 2015 -02 Performance and Compliance Review Process, on organizations that receive funds through CDLE to operate workforce programs, discretionary grants, and specialized grants. The purpose of monitoring is to ensure that programs operate in compliance with federal and state guidelines. Monitoring activities include questionnaires, analyzing program and fiscal data, and client case file reviews. Program Monitoring categories include Governance, Administrative/ Program/Grant/Fiscal Management, Delivery Systems/Documentation, and Performance Accountability. Programs/Funding Streams Under Review: All Title I funding streams that are part of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Wagner Keyser (WP), and various discretionary grants that have been funded using federal/state funds. See section 3 for a comprehensive list of programs under review. Promising Practices and Notable Achievements: ESWC out performed expectations in,the Hire for Colorado Long-term Unemployed program (H4C). The H4C program was a Governor backed`.initiative that focused on providing enhanced services to Colorado jobseekers that have been Out of work for up to 26 weeks. ESWC staff focused on assisting individuals that were most in need of employment services to address barriers such as outdated skill sets, low self- esteem, and potenti>employer bias associated with extended unemployment. By tailoring services to meet the individual needs of this target group they were able to exceed planned enrollments which led to more Coloradans obtaining employment allowing them to support their families with a livable wage. Their program was so successful they exhausted their initial funding prior to the end of the program year and required additional funding to continue serving jobseekers. ESWC developed a Work Based Liaison position that is responsible for working directly with ESWC Case Managers to include TANF and Employment First. This position has been effective in assisting customers gain meaningful and sustainable employment by identifying jobseeker needs and aligning them with employer needs through enhanced internal and external communication. The Work Based Liaison role has helped increase On -the -Job training enrollments by five (5) within the last program year. Across the Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth programs, the forms used for the initial assessment, comprehensive assessment and individual employment plan collect in-depth information to help ensure that the proper services are provided to participants. By collecting this critical data at the beginning of 2'Page Employment Services of Weld County Annual Monitoring Report Program Year 15 COLORADO Department of Labor and Employment the jobseeker experience caseworkers have been more successful in providing services that prepare jobseekers to be successful in meeting the needs of employers and obtaining sustainable employment. CDLE would like to make note that no compliance, action items or observations were identified in the Youth Program. Review Results: Program Monitoring is used as a tool to enable Local Area workforce providers to serve Colorado businesses and job seekers at the highest level, and to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement. After review of the Employment Services of Weld County (ESWC) programs some of the areas below offer potential opportunities for CDLE and ESWC to collaborate and enhance service delivery for clients in Weld County while also listing programs that are currently meeting the needs of Local Area job seekers and employers. • Governance o The Weld County Workforce Development Board (WDB) met the October 1, 2015 deadline for compliance with WIOA membership requirements. • Administrative Systems o No areas of concerns • Program Services, Delivery Systems, and Documentation o No compliance issues identified o Two (2) action ite Data integrity issues in relation to start/end dates of training programs, missing or insufficient documentation, and missing service codes. ■ ES program end dates closed to a different date than WIOA program o' One (1) observations Job orders did not have regular follow-up notes • Performance Accountability o No areas of concerns 31 Page Employment Services of Weld County Annual Monitoring Report Program Year 15 COLORADO Department of Labor and Employment Monitoring Program Monitoring is conducted in accordance with Policy Guidance Letter (PGL) ADM -2015- 02, Change 1, Performance and Compliance Reviews. See attachment 8 for Risk Assessment Categories and attachment 9 for Definitions of Key Terms. The PGL and all supporting documents can be found on-line at https://www.colorado.gov/cdle/pgl. Section 1: Prior Year Report Follow Up: During the PY14 monitoring review, conducted in August 2015, ESWC was assessed in Governance, Administrative, Delivery Systems/Documentation and Performance Accountability categories. A summary of the areas, and the ensuing actions taken by ESWC to address the concerns, is as follows: • Governance — ESWC had all of the policies required under Federal and CDLE guidance in place. The Local Workforce Development Board (LWDB) met WIOA requirements by October 1, 2015. ■ Administrative, Program/Grant, and Financial Management Systems — There were no areas of concern identified during the PY14 review. • Program Services, Delivery Systems, and Documentation- One compliance issue was identified in the H1B program: all files were missing case notes, and participants were not exited from the program upon completion of services. ESWC addressed the issue in direct response of the finding. Action items were identified in the areas of data integrity and ES program termination during the PY14 review. All of the action items were addressed after the monitoring visit. • Performance Accountability — During the PY14 review, ESWC exceeded the standards for all three (3) Wagner-Peyser performance measures, and all nine (9) measures for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs. Section 2: Workforce Development Board: The Governance review covers the local workforce area's Workforce Development Board (WDB) and standing committees, Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with required partners, One -Stop Operators and Designation, and strategic planning. No Governance -related compliance issues were identified. The Weld County WDB met the October 1, 2015 deadline for having a WIOA-compliant membership roster. 4IPage Employment Services of Weld County Annual Monitoring Report Program Year 15 COLORADO Department of Labor and Employment The Administrative, Program/Grant, and Financial Management Systems review covers reporting systems, internal and subcontractor monitoring, policies and procedures, and financial audit findings. No compliance issues were identified by the Administrative Systems review. The ESWC has adequate policy guidance in place for all required subjects. The Regional/Local Area Plans are posted online at https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cwdc/regional-and-local-plans. Workforce Development Board Review: Governance Review Result: No areas of concern were identified 51 Page Employment Services of Weld County Annual Monitoring Report Program Year 15 COLORADO Department of Labor and Employment Section 3: Program Reviews: The Program Services, Delivery Systems, and Documentation review is an analysis of sampled case records and program questionnaires to ensure compliance and quality of service delivery systems for employers and job seekers. ESWC operates the following grants and programs under a grant agreement with CDLE, and, as such, are subject to the annual compliance review: • WIOA Title I Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth programs- these programs are the foundation of the federally funded workforce system that targets each of the identified groups with specific eligibility criteria. • WIOA Title III Wagner-Peyser- this federally funded program provides resources to establish/maintain a nationwide system of One -stop centers that offers workforce programs to jobseekers and employers. • Hire for Colorado -is an initiative developed by the Governor's office to provide specialized services to Colorado jobseekers that have been unemployed for 13 weeks or longer. • Trade Adjustment Assistance (TM) - is a federal program that provides a path for employment growth and opportunity through aid to US workers who have lost their jobs as a result of foreign trade. • Sector NEG is a national emergency grant intended to help states develop innovative employment and training services that focus on enhanced regional and industry -specific collaborations. The effort is designed to support proven strategies to help people rejoin the job market and add fuel to the economy. • U1; Pilot- an initiative where COLE WDP surveyed UI claimants for interest in services and screened for initial DW eligibility. Those claimants who were potentially DW eligible (laid -off and unlikely to return to work) were shared with local areas through connectingcolorado.com reports for possible enrollment into local programming. • Disaster NEG- this is a grant made available to states following a national emergency to temporarily employ dislocated workers on projects that provide food, clothing, shelter and other humanitarian assistance for disaster victims. Ninety-five (95) participant files and twenty (20) job orders were reviewed by the RSU monitoring team. 61 Page Employment Services of Weld County Annual Monitoring Report Program Year 15 COLORADO Department of Labor and Employment Program Review: WIOA Adult, WIOA Dislocated Worker, Hire for Colorado, UI Pilot Review Result: Action Item Of the fifty-eight (58) files reviewed, thirteen (13) contained one or more data integrity issues, including start/end date discrepancies of training programs, missing or insufficient documentation, and missing service codes. A common practice of providing gas vouchers to assist clients with employment services associated travel expenses presents a Data Integrity issue. In some instances, multiple vouchers have been provided to jobseekers but the date of service for each, voucher has not been entered into the system with the appropriate date/code. This practice leads to inaccurate information being stored in the Connecting Colorado data base which leads to incorrect reporting to the US Department of Labor regarding services provided to customers. Program Guidance Letter MIS -2012-01 Guidance on Data Integrity and the Customer Participation Cycle for WIA and TAA Programs, MIS -2O15 -O2 Program Year 2014 (PY14) Data Validation Procedures, Attachment A, B Required Local Area Response: The practice of issuing a maximum of four gas vouchers in one appointment is one that has been going on for many years. This has not been identified in prior Data Validation or Program Monitoring Reviews. This practice provided identified program participant's access to this _supportive service without using valuable time and resources coming into the office each week. Participants receiving more than one gas voucher at one time is only approved tfthe participant is actively engaged in activities which make it difficult to meet with their WIOA Case Manager during normal business hours. A maximum of four gas vouchers were issued at one time. In effort to avoid future tense reporting in Connecting Colorado the local decision was to enter one TR GV service on the day of issuance, including the total amount. The individual dates and voucher numbers were also included and entered into the affiliated notes section of each entry. Weld has reviewed this process and agree to modify local practices. Staff have been trained in new practices; all gas vouchers that have been issued since July 1, 2016 are recorded under individual TR GV services. CDLE Response: CDLE accepts ESWC's response Program Review: Sector NEG, DX -RE, Hire for Colorado Review Result: Action Item 7JPage Employment Services of Weld County Annual Monitoring Report Program Year 15 COLORADO Department of Labor and Employment Of the twenty-three (23) files reviewed, three (3) demonstrated improper termination of the ES program. The ES program was not closed in conjunction with the last WIOA program service provided at exit. This issue results in a reporting error per MIS, as well as Data Validation. The Connecting Colorado task list will inform case managers of all potential errors where action needs to be taken. Program Guidance Letter MIS -2015-02 Program Year 2014 (PY14) Data Validation Procedures, Attachment B Required Local Area Response: The sited PGL was reviewed, a specific reference to closing the ES date the same date as WIOA was not included in this PGL. Although this may be a common best practice, the PGL should be updated to clarify. The ES term dates were corrected to match the termination of the last program registered in. It should be noted that at least one of the participants was co -enrolled with TANF which remained opened after the WIOA program was terminated. The ES was terminated on the same date as the TANF case closure. The local process is being reiterated to include ensuring that the ES registration is closed simultaneously with the W1OA program or a partner program if that program continues beyond WIOA, CDLE Response: CDLE accepts ESWC's response Program Review: Wagner-Peyser Review result: Observation Of the twenty (20) job orders reviewed, seven (7) did not have regular follow-up notes documenting communication with employers. Job order notes should contain a record of both attempted and successful follow-up contacts with the employer. Program Guidance Letter WP -2012-01 Guidance Regarding Job Orders and Business Services Follow-up Process: The Regional Services team will conduct a follow-up visit prior to the next program year monitoring visit to determine whether the identified issues have been addressed. An additional random sample of files from the same date range will be reviewed. The team will inform the Local Workforce Area of any identified or unresolved issues within one (1) week of the follow-up visit. 81 Page Employment Services of Weld County Annual Monitoring Report Program Year 15 COLORADO Department of Labor and Employment CDLE requests that ESWC provide available dates in January and February for the RSU team to conduct follow-up onsite. The Regional Liaison will work with ESWC staff and Program Monitors to schedule the best date. Optional Local Area Response: The observation included is accurate. The note section was not utilized in the seven job orders referenced. It is important to note, however, that in PGL WP2012-01 notes are NOT required. It is further noted that each of the seven job orders did include regular follow-up and comments which were stored in the comment section. Copies of the detailed comments were made available to the monitors. Additionally, the newly released Business Services PGL (WP 2016-04) maintains that "notes on the services provided are encouraged but not required" despite Weld's request to update the PGL to include "required" language if CDLE plans to reference in current and future annual monitoring's. CDLE Response: CDLE appreciates ESWC's feedback. 91 Page Employment Services of Weld County Annual Monitoring Report Program Year 15 COLORADO Department of Labor and Employment Section 4: Annual Performance Indicators The Performance Accountability review covers resolution of compliance issues, budget expenditure rates, achievement of planned program activity and expenditure goals, and performance outcome measures. For PY15 ESWC met or exceeded the standards in all three (3) Wagner-Peyser performance measures, and all nine (9) of the measures for the WIOA programs. Adult Performance Measures Entered Employment Rate Actual 83.98% Retention Rate 86.00% Average Earnings 17,557.97 Dislocated Worker Entered Employment Rate 84.16% Retention Rate 87.04% Average Earnings 17,842.13 Youth Literacy/Numeracy 32.98% Placement Rate 62.71% Attainment 51.15% w Goal 66.20% 82.60% 14,680.00 66.79% 84.52% 7,085.00 % Achieved 41.00% 80% 58.52%11.111. 62.00% 83% Green =100% or greater, Yellow = 99.99% - 90%. Orange = 89.99% - 80%, Rea = 79.99% or below Data collected from Connecting Colorado Common Measures Report Work -based Trainings Adult Dislocated Worker Youth On -the --Job Work Apprenticeships Trainings Experiences 8 0 3 0 2 52 • • 0 0 0 Data collected from Connecting Colorado Activity Summary Report 101 Page Employment Services of Weld County Annual Monitoring Report Program Year 15 Hello