Overview of Massachusetts Process to Develop 4-Year Local Plans
In accordance with Section 108 of WIOA each Local Workforce Board will submit a 4 year comprehensive local plan that describes the policies, procedures, and local activities that are carried out in the local area consistent with the State plan.
In Massachusetts, a statewide Interagency WIOA Workgroup was set up to create the statewide Combined State WIOA Plan and to guide the implementation phase of WIOA on behalf of the state and local WIOA partners. Over the last two years, the Interagency Workgroup reviewed all of the required WIOA processes (Regional WIOA Planning, local plan development, One Stop Career Center procurement, Workforce Board Certification, WIOA Umbrella Memorandum of Understanding, Title II procurement, etc.) and created a framework for overall implementation that aligns the required processes and products in order to reduce duplication of effort on the WIOA Partners, including the Workforce Development Boards.
To this end, the process to create local 4 year local plans for the Title I WIOA system relies on the completion and incorporation of these critical WIOA mandated processes to build the partnerships and content required by Section 108 of WIOA. Taken together, these processes support and promote the continued vitality of the Commonwealth’s workforce and economic development efforts to deliver quality employment, education, and training services that are responsive to and meet the needs of job seekers and employers.
The Section 108 four year local plan process for Massachusetts is split into two working cycles or phases:
Cycle 1: Initial Local Plan (effective July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018)
Cycle 2: Final Local Plan (July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021). Year 2-4 Local Plans will receive final approval with the inclusion of:
- Final OSCC Operators
- Final Title II ABE Providers
- Inclusion of Local Workforce Board status as certified High Performing Boards as required by WIOA
- Updates to Sec 108 Local Plan Requirements and Materials as needed.
Massachusetts’ envisions the WIOA 4-Year Local Plan as required at WIOA section 108 to be built upward and outward from the activity described herein. A deliberate strategy to align all of the WIOA required activities in a coherent manner that averts duplication creates a “two-part story” for the WIOA 4-Year Plan.
Cycle 1– The Initial Local Plan (July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018) for each of the 16 Workforce Development Board drew on the existing process described above. Initial Local Plans are “conditionally certified” as comprising Year 1 of the Massachusetts 4-Year Local Plan process.
Cycle 2 – The Department of Career Services will issue additional guidance to the field to require an updated local Plan due March 2018 for review and approval. The updated Local Plans will be reviewed by the state Interagency WIOA Workgroup.