Workforce innovation public meeting held at Calhoun

DECATUR – Alabama Works held something akin to a town hall on the campus of Calhoun
Community College.

But this gathering didn’t feature pointed questions aimed at political hopefuls. The majority of attendees were closely aligned with the federally funded Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the Perkins Plan and were there to digest future plans and offer opinions.

The meeting, which featured a presentation from a representative of Gov. Kay Ivey’s office
followed by a feedback session, was the first of seven combined state workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act regional public meetings across Alabama.

The meetings are a “combined’’ effort between the WIOA and Perkins Act administrators. The federal funds for both are merged for “a lot more versatility in how we provide support for special populations, students who may be in poverty, or under-represented groups that we want to make sure have appropriate access,’’ said Jimmy Hull, assistant state superintendent of education.

As for the meetings, Hall said, “we’ll represent where we’ve been and where we think we’re going and we’ll get input from these people in Region 1, then we’ll go to Region 2 and then to Region 3. These people have a chance to provide us input on what they would like to see.’’

The Perkins Act was established in 1990 to improve career-technical education programs,
integrate academic and career-technical instruction, serve special populations, and meet gender equity needs.

The WIOA, Public Law 113-128, was signed into law having received bi-partisan support from Congress on July 22, 2014.

According to its website, “WIOA is comprehensive legislation that reforms and modernizes the public workforce system. WIOA reaffirms the role of the public workforce system and brings together and enhances several employment, education, and training programs.

“WIOA provides resources, services, and leadership tools for the public workforce system to help individuals find good jobs and stay employed and improves employer prospects for success in the global marketplace. It ensures that the public workforce system operates as a comprehensive, integrated, and streamlined system to provide pathways to prosperity for those it serves and continuously improves the quality and performance of its services.’’

Tim McCartney, chairman of the 35-member Alabama Workforce council, said the group advocates for “policy to improve the workforce. We work with education, work with community colleges and four-year universities, the different agencies and commerce and labor in Montgomery advocating for better policy.’’

During the meeting at Calhoun, Nick Moore, director of the Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Transformation, gave a slice presentation of WIOA operations. Attendees then broke into groups and filled out feedback forms.

“They give us feedback on what will go into the state plan,’’ Moore said.

For more information, visit wioa-alabama.org. Another tool for workers seeking jobs is the
Alabama Talent Triad at talentplaybook.org.