Attachment_J-15.pdf

Chicago Regional Career Pathways Plan rd

Revision

Summary of Key Regional Labor Market Information (LMI) Findings:

At both the Spring and Fall regional meetings in 2010, attendees were asked to break out and meet according to state. Each state team developed a plan of action for the centers within the state. As a part of the planning process, centers relied on state and local LMI to determine the best outlook for job opportunities for students. Each state plan is supported by extensive LMI that was researched and brought to the meeting to ensure discussions and decisions were fully supported. LMI indicates that current offerings listed below are viable and will continue to be for the next several years. Workgroup tried to identify the best high-growth industry sectors.

Health Occupations and Construction were good options for all states, but there are differences for the remaining industries from state to state.

Other initial industry sector options identified included: Finance and Business, Hospitality, Homeland Security and Manufacturing. These initial options have since been refined and have been revised to include: Hospitality, Manufacturing and Renewable Resources.

We have identified the need to expand Health Occupations and Construction options at many centers. In addition, we plan to increase partnerships to set up more career pathways in these two industries areas as we move forward. We have also identified other industry sectors that are secondary in terms of number and job availability but that will be beneficial in certain geographical areas.

Due to the many changes within the region over the past several years to include OBS expansions and reductions, major facility projects that caused OBS adjustments and the opening of new Job Corps Centers, the Geographic Assignment Plan has been adjusted several times and will be adjusted in 2011 as well. CTT changes and pathways are always a contributing factor to the development of the GAP.

Initial Targeted Industry Sectors:

PY2009 PY2010 PY2011

Health Care Finance and Business

Information Technology

Homeland Security

Construction Hospitality

Retail Sales and Services

Advanced Manufacturing

Revised Targeted Industry Sectors:

PY2009 PY2010 PY2011

Begin Health Care

Information Technology

Complete Health Care

Hospitality

Construction

Transportation Advanced Manufacturing

Overview of all Regional Industry Sectors:

Health Care: Numerous Healthcare training and career options exist in all states in the region and LMI information fully supports this field. In PY 2009 funds were used to begin increasing the number of training slots in these areas. Centers are working with local partners and community colleges to expand options and pathways; these efforts will continue for PY 2010. We began implementation of the Electronic Health Records pilot at Cleveland in 2009. This program was extended well into PY 2010.

Construction: There are a variety of Construction options in all states and numerous career options are available in this field as well. LMI fully supports this field. The region has deleted most poor performing programs over the past several years. We provided equipment funding for good performing programs in PY 2009. As the viable options vary from state to state, we plan to transfer programs from states and/or centers where placement options are not as positive and increase the number of slots for the high performing programs in other states and/or centers. We plan to begin these changes during PY 2009 and hope to continue to focus in this area once we move through all of the revised industry sectors listed above.

We began implementation of Weatherization at Detroit during PY 2009. This program was extended well into PY 2010 and is now fully functional.

Finance and Business: A few centers will maintain programs in Office Administration. We also plan to keep these industry slots at the centers with TCU to maintain career pathways.

LMI supports this decision as completion of TCU results in high paying jobs. Excelsior

Springs JCC, Hubert H. Humphrey JCC, and St. Louis JCC all have TCU programs and employment options are promising.

Hospitality: Culinary Arts and Lodging are good options particularly in states with casinos.

LMI supports this in specific geographic areas. Centers are developing additional partnerships and linkages, and we plan to provide possible expansion and equipment funding and these programs during PY 2011.

Information Technology: Several centers are moving away from this offering due to low wages and lack of career potential. One outlier in this industry sector that is supported by

LMI is Network Cable Installer in Detroit, Michigan and employment options in this field are positive in Michigan. This was added as a training option to Detroit in 2009. Michigan is a struggling state and there are not many training options that are supported by LMI. This was defined as a growing area with career potential.

Advanced Manufacturing: LMI indicates high-growth and high wages in specific geographical areas; three programs in recent years have not been successful and were deleted. We decided to add these programs at our new Job Corps Centers which will allow for a full review of curriculum and the ability to establish new partnerships which will result in positive placement performance. Manufacturing is hoped to be a viable training option at

Milwaukee and Ottumwa.

Transportation: Currently LMI supports this field in specific geographical areas. At this time a few centers offer or have added Material Handling as a training option. We also have a few of centers that offer Heavy Equipment Operations.

Homeland Security: LMI supports this field in specific geographical areas; however, several centers have chosen to drop this program to add an offering that results in better, higher paying jobs.

Renewable Resources and Energy: LMI has not supported Landscaping for several years and any centers that offered this program deleted it. At this time we have only one Urban

Forestry program. We often send a few students from CCCs to be trained as firefighters but it is not a program offering. Due to the large number of wind turbines in several mid-western states, it is hoped that a training program for wind turbine repair will be considered in the future.

Retail Sales and Services: LMI has not supported this field for several years and only two centers in the region still offer this program. These will most likely be eliminated in the near future.

Overview of Major Program Changes:

Most centers are increasing slots in industry sectors of Health Occupations and Construction by decreasing slots in other sectors. Many will offer 1 or 2 additional pathways within these industry sectors.

New centers have been targeted to implement Advanced Manufacturing pathways as we have deleted most of the programs in this industry with the exception of welding programs that are and will still be offered at a few centers.

State workgroups have identified most viable options for each center, and have collaborated on their submitted recommendations for options in states where there is more than one center.

Several centers have chosen to expand Health Occupations options by deleting Finance &

Business and some IT options.

Some Construction options were planned to be expanded by deleting other construction offerings; however, funding constraints did not allow for many of the proposed changes to happen. LMI supports Welding, Facility Maintenance, and Bricklaying in most states.

Painting, Electrician and Carpentry LMI support varies from state to state. If funds become available after our industries listed above are fully implemented, we will continue to focus on the construction industry in the future.

Some centers are working to increase the number of students that participate in Advanced

Training, ACT and off-center training programs.

Potential New Program Areas:

Weatherization, and Electronic Health Records

Wind Turbine Technology, Hospitality

Key Partnerships:

Centers are developing more off-center options with local community colleges and health clinics such as the Cleveland Clinic, Milwaukee Area Technology College, and Indian Hills Community

College in Iowa.

Potential Implications to NTCs:

Workgroups have made recommendations to delete/reduce glazing and plastering which are only offered at a couple of centers. We recommend expansion of painting, carpentry, electrician, and welding in some states; however the plan is to move programs around as much as possible so if we close a painting program we open or add one somewhere else. This will have a smaller impact on the NTCs.

Overall Challenges:

Adequate funding to make all of the changes

Develop true pathways; currently only basic options are offered

Develop additional Community College and employer partnerships

Ensure training options are viable for students from different states (as most want to return home – it is difficult to convince them to move where the job are)

Create incentives for centers to transfer students so they can follow pathways or when wanting a training change. Currently CDs are not open as they lose any credits when a student transfers.

Implement ways for those centers with TCU to get credit for their students moving into TCU.

Currently only transferring centers get the AT credit.

How to be successful with 16 and 17 year olds

Overall Opportunities:

Reduction of the number of industry sectors per center makes it possible for staff to provide more specialized support to students. ACs, Career Counselors, academic and CTT instructors, and CTS staff can become very knowledgeable of 1-2 industries and therefore be able to provide better quality information and services. Staff will be able to develop more applied academic training activities, more WBL activities/sites, do more focused job development, and have more time to develop quality employer partnerships, etc… Other bonuses of reducing the number of industry sectors per center include:

o Better able to meet employers’ needs in terms of numbers of graduates o More CTT instructors per industry make it easier to better support students, make employer linkages, set up WBL, etc… o Staff can focus and specialize on one industry, rather than having to be “experts” on several o More time to work with industry advisors to make sure skills are appropriate and adequate o Academic staff can focus on only one industry and develop more related applied activities and lessons o More time for collaboration between academic and career technical staff o More time for job development, as staff do not have to work with so many different industries o When there is more than one CTT instructor per industry sector, instructors can provide a better variety of learning activities; and more effort can be focused on developing projects, WBL activities, and employer partnerships.

o It takes so much time to develop good employer partnerships, and then employers need/expect more graduates than a center usually produces. With increased numbers of slots, there will be more graduates per industry sector.

Comments on the Process:

The low funding amounts have had a significant impact on the ability to make even part of the requested changes every year before we focus on a new industry in the next year. Since it is unlikely that funding amounts will increase, it may be a good idea to consider the best way to deal with changes that cannot be funded.

It would have been beneficial to have lead time to develop a quality finished product.

Fortunately, the process is meshing well with planning from past years, and we will be able to develop and implement the pathways by state.

Most centers are now excited about this approach and anxious to move forward with CTT changes.

There are still a few folks that doubt the process, but the predicted success of the centers/states as changes are implemented should convince them once some program changes are successfully implemented.

Technical Assistance Needs:

Clearer directions (e.g. initial issuance)

Assistance with NTCs when changes are needed

Timely provision of funding so that equipment and materials can be purchased and changes made