2018 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 31 - Labor
Chapter 556a - Workforce Development
Section 31-11p - Development of workforce development plan. Required contents.

(a) The Connecticut Employment and Training Commission, in consultation with the regional workforce development boards, shall develop a single Connecticut workforce development plan that outlines a five-year strategy for the state of Connecticut’s workforce development system and meets the requirements of Sections 111 and 112 of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended. Said plan shall serve as a framework for the development of public policy, fiscal investment and operation of workforce education and job training programs and shall constitute the single state plan for purposes of Section 112 of said act. The Connecticut Employment and Training Commission, in consultation with the regional workforce development boards, shall update said plan at least once every five years.

(b) The plan shall, at a minimum, include:

(1) Long-term goals for the state’s workforce development system. Such goals shall include local control of service delivery, one-stop delivery of services, individual choice for individuals served by the system, accountability for provider performance, coordination of workforce development activities integrating state and federal resources and the establishment of ties between funding and actual participation in training activities;

(2) Short-term goals, benchmarks and performance measures that the state will use to measure its progress towards meeting the long-term goals identified in subdivision (1) of this subsection;

(3) Identification of the role each institution, entity, organization and program plays in the state-wide workforce development system;

(4) Ways to improve access to public and certified nonpublic postsecondary educational institutions;

(5) A strategy for assessing unmet workforce preparation needs;

(6) A description of comprehensive performance measures to ensure coordination and eliminate duplication of services;

(7) A strategy for assessing types of jobs for which there are shortages of available qualified workers and the geographical concentration of unmet workforce needs in this state;

(8) A strategy for maximizing or redirecting funding to deliver services more effectively to meet the state’s workforce development needs;

(9) A provision stating that the members of the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission and the regional workforce development boards shall comply with state ethics laws and the applicable provisions of Sections 111(f) and 117(g) of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended;

(10) A provision stating that the Labor Commissioner and the Commissioners of Social Services and Education shall develop a coordinated program of referring workforce development participants to supportive services, including, but not limited to, transportation and child care services for eligible participants of workforce activities. Such program shall include a requirement that each regional workforce development board submit an annual report to the commission on or before January 31, 2000, and each January thirty-first thereafter detailing such board’s plan for coordinating such supportive services;

(11) A description of the state of Connecticut’s proposed one-stop delivery system, which shall be consistent with the provisions of Section 134(c) of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended, and shall include a description of the following components: (A) A uniform individual training accounts voucher system which shall be used by the regional workforce development boards to pay for training of eligible workers by eligible providers and which shall include a reporting system that ties funding to actual participation in training programs, (B) the core services, as identified in subdivision (12) of this subsection, which shall be available to adults or dislocated workers, including exemptions from core services, (C) the intensive services, as identified in subdivision (13) of this subsection, which shall be available to adults or dislocated workers who have received the maximum amount of core services but were unable to obtain employment through such core services, including prerequisites for obtaining such intensive services and exemptions from such prerequisites, and (D) the training services, as identified in subdivision (14) of this subsection, which shall be available to adults or dislocated workers who have received intensive services, but were unable to obtain unsubsidized employment through such intensive services, including prerequisites for obtaining such training services and exemptions from such prerequisites;

(12) Identification of core services available under the one-stop delivery system, which shall, at a minimum, include: (A) Determination of whether individuals are eligible to receive assistance under Subtitle B of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended; (B) outreach, intake and orientation to the information and other services available through the one-stop delivery system; (C) a uniform assessment procedure for screening adults and dislocated workers which shall include, but not be limited to, initial assessment of skill levels, aptitudes, abilities, supportive service needs and for application of the self-sufficiency measurement developed in accordance with the provisions of section 4-66e; (D) job search and placement assistance and, where appropriate, career counseling; (E) provision of (i) employment statistics information, including the provision of accurate information concerning local, regional and national labor market areas, including job vacancy listings in such labor market areas, information on job skills necessary to obtain such vacant jobs and information relating to local occupations in demand and the earnings and skill requirements for such occupations; (ii) provider performance information and program cost information on eligible providers of training services, as described in Section 122 of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended, provided by program, and eligible providers of youth activities described in Section 123 of said act, eligible providers of adult education described in Title II of said act, providers of postsecondary vocational education activities and vocational education activities, which shall include, but not be limited to, preapprentice programs available through, but not limited to, the Technical Education and Career System, available to school dropouts under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, 20 USC 2301, et seq., and providers of vocational rehabilitation program activities described in Title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 USC 720, et seq.; (iii) information regarding how the local area is performing on the local performance measures and any additional performance information with respect to the one-stop delivery system in the local area; (iv) accurate information concerning the availability of supportive services, including child care and transportation, available through the local area and referral to such services, as appropriate; (v) information regarding filing claims for unemployment compensation under chapter 567; (F) assistance in establishing eligibility for programs of financial aid assistance for training and education programs that are not funded under said act and are available through the local area; (G) follow-up services, including counseling regarding the workplace, for participants in workforce investment activities authorized under Subtitle B of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended, who are placed in unsubsidized employment, for not less than twelve months after the first day of the employment, as appropriate; and (H) assistance in establishing eligibility for authorized activities under Section 403(a)(5) of the Social Security Act, as added by Section 5001 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, available in the local area. For purposes of this subdivision, “local area” refers to an area designated as such pursuant to Section 116 of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended;

(13) Identification of intensive services available under the one-stop delivery system, which services may include (A) comprehensive and specialized assessments of the skill levels and service needs of adults and dislocated workers, which may include diagnostic testing, use of special education planning and placement teams and use of other assessment tools and in-depth interviewing and evaluation to identify employment barriers and appropriate employment goals; (B) development of an individual employment plan to identify the employment goals, appropriate achievement objectives and appropriate combination of services for the participant to achieve the employment goals; (C) group counseling; (D) individual counseling and career planning; (E) case management for participants seeking training services authorized under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended; and (F) short-term prevocational services, including development of learning skills, communication skills, interviewing skills, punctuality, personal maintenance skills and professional conduct, to prepare individuals for unsubsidized employment or training;

(14) Identification of training services authorized under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended, that are available under the one-stop delivery system, which services may include a combination of occupational skills training, including training for nontraditional employment, on-the-job training, programs that combine workplace training with related instruction, which may include cooperative education programs, training programs operated by the private sector, skill upgrading and retraining, entrepreneurial training, job readiness training, adult education and literacy activities and customized job training conducted with a commitment by an employer or group of employers to employ an individual upon successful completion of the training;

(15) Development of a uniform system of identifying and certifying eligible providers of the training services described in subdivision (13) of this subsection, which system shall (A) incorporate each of the requirements of Section 122 of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended, and (B) be used by each regional workforce development board in selecting an eligible provider of training services;

(16) A strategy for the establishment of (A) regional youth councils by the regional workforce development boards, which regional youth councils shall (i) recommend eligible providers of youth activities to the council and conduct oversight of eligible providers of youth activities; (ii) in cooperation with local boards of education, identify available programs and activities to assist youths in completing education programs; (iii) identify available programs and activities to assist youths in securing and preserving employment; and (iv) coordinate youth activities with Job Corps services, coordinate youth activities authorized under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended, and improve the connection between court-involved youths and the state labor market; and (B) criteria for selection of regional youth council members and awarding youth program grants for state-wide youth activities described in Section 129(b) of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended;

(17) Development of a program to provide job readiness and job search training to unemployed and underemployed noncustodial parents no later than July 1, 2000;

(18) Development of a career pathways program to link alternative education programs to regional community-technical colleges and work-related learning no later than October 1, 2000; and

(19) Any other provisions required to be included in the plan under Sections 111 and 112 of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended.

(c) The Governor may submit modifications to the single Connecticut workforce development plan approved by the United States Secretary of Labor as necessary during the five-year period covered by the plan, with the advice and assistance of the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission, provided such modifications are (1) approved by the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations, education, labor and social services, and (2) consistent with the requirements of Sections 111 and 112 of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128, as from time to time amended.

(P.A. 99-195, S. 9, 15; P.A. 06-196, S. 160; P.A. 12-116, S. 87; P.A. 16-169, S. 24; P.A. 17-237, S. 104.)

History: P.A. 99-195 effective June 23, 1999; P.A. 06-196 made technical changes in Subsec. (b)(16), effective June 7, 2006; pursuant to P.A. 12-116, “regional vocational-technical schools” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “technical high schools” in Subsec. (b)(12), effective July 1, 2012; pursuant to P.A. 16-169, “Workforce Investment Act of 1998, P.L. 105-220” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, P.L. 113-128”; P.A. 17-237 amended Subsec. (b)(12)(E)(ii) by replacing “technical high schools” with “the Technical Education and Career System”, effective July 1, 2017.