OHIO

Governor Voinovich has established a Human Resources Advisory Council to guide state policy on workforce development issues. As an initial charge to the Council, it developed and published Windows of Opportunity, an inventory of Ohio's workforce development programs. This document identified $981 million in related workforce development funds that currently are channeled to at least 15 agencies, 31 workforce preparation programs, and 20 supplemental programs. The result is a complicated web of job training services, funding streams, eligibility requirements and performance standards. The Council is committed to developing a clear strategic focus from this confusing web.

Most recently, in response to JTPA amendments, the Governor's Human Resources Advisory Council is developing a recommendation to the Governor for the transition to an "investment" council. The proposal will focus on streamlining the advisory process by expanding the Council's scope and role, and combining planning and oversight for multiple human resource programs.

Three separate, but complementary, state policy frameworks have been completed which reflect the broad vision and scope of change in Ohio and the need to use a collaborative and comprehensive approach for addressing the issues:

Strategies for Opportunity: Creating a High Performance Workforce for Ohio: Based on the findings of Windows of Opportunity, HRAC next developed a report, Strategies for Opportunity, which posits workforce development as a key strategy to avoid decline in Ohio's competitive advantage and wage rates. Specific recommendations focus on the need for interagency coordination, customer service, information sharing, and public leadership to encourage both the public and the private sectors to move to high performance work organizations. To quote from Strategies, "This is no ordinary time for Ohio... Increasingly, our standards of living will be dependent on the quality of Ohio's education and training systems, and our ability to collaboratively address workforce development issues." Implementation of the recommendations is a top priority of the administration.

Education for Results: Understanding Ohio's Education Improvement Package: Education for Results is the product of extensive discussions and meetings with business representatives, educators, community leaders, legislators, and parents. It is designed to create a performance-driven education system where the quality of Ohio's schools and educators will be judged by the results they produce and not the elegance of their policies and procedures. Specific recommendations are outlined in areas of (a) developing higher expectations for students, educators and schools (b) ensuring accountability; (c) providing the necessary support for our children and their families and for our educators and schools; (d) fostering innovations; (e) lifelong learning; and (e) improving equity. Leadership for this package has been provided by both the Governor's Education Management Council (GEM)-- a model of public-private partnership-- and the Ohio Department of Education.

Ohio Family & Children First Initiative (OFCF): OFCF is a strategic effort to develop a comprehensive policy for assisting Ohio's families and children in need. Through this initiative, specific models have been designed and will be implemented to improve our state's service delivery to both children and their families. Families, in all their forms, foster the development of individual members. OFCF is working to improve the quality of life for Ohio families and children while encouraging self sufficiency and respecting the integrity and dignity of the family.

Pending further unification of the state workforce development vision in Ohio, a number of independent initiatives are being pursued through existing state agencies.

Key Players in Ohio's Workforce Development Landscape

• Board of Regents of Higher Education
• Department of Education: Division of Vocational and Career Education
• Department of Education: Division of Adult and Community Education
• Governor's Human Resources Advisory Council
• Department of Human Services Jobs Program
• Department of Development
• Ohio Bureau of Employment Services (JTPA, Employment Services, and Unemployment Insurance)

SCHOOL-TO-WORK INITIATIVES

School-Business Partnerships

Ohio has produced a variety of active ties between schools and businesses. Each of these initiatives reflects the strong support and leadership Governor Voinovich brings to creating successful public-private partnerships that address the challenges we face together as Ohioans and Americans.

Business Advisory Councils: Senate Bill 140, passed in 1989, requires all city and county school districts to establish Business Advisory Councils. These 8-15 member councils are to advise and provide recommendations for developing curriculum to instill necessary employment skills in Ohio's youth. They are designed to be instrumental in developing successful working relationships among business, labor organizations, and education personnel in every office.

Total Quality Management: The Department of Education and other state agencies are leading an effort to help school districts apply total quality management principles to education -- holding TQM workshops and forums for local school and business leaders, and organizing a network of schools that are developing and deploying quality management practices. The "TQM" movement in Ohio extends to the internal practices of the Department of Education and other state-level institutions as well.

Education First: Education First is a cooperative effort of the Ohio Department of Education, the 2,000 member Ohio Restaurant Associations, and the Ohio Department of Industrial Relations and has the support of Governor V. Voinovich. Employers who choose to participate in the program agree to abide by set principles and to display the "Education First" symbol in their business.

Operation Ready to Learn: This project is being accomplished in cooperation with the Ohio Business Roundtable's Education Task Force, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio Head Start Association and the Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children.

Its focus is on the role parents, teachers, early childhood program administrators and communities have in providing services to children. Agencies are working together with local business advisory councils to obtain assistance in creating a framework for the assessment of early childhood service availability).

Adopt-a-School and Mentoring Programs: Under the leadership of the First Lady of Ohio, Janet Voinovich, the Ohio Adopt-a-School Program was developed. This important effort is designed to provide support for existing school-community partnerships and to encourage the creation of new partnerships with the goal of improving student outcomes. In addition to giving children adult role models, some businesses have also provided the staff of their adopted schools with management and computer training. A statewide Roundtable has been established to bring education administrators, business leaders, and other community representatives together for the purpose of furthering this mission.

Project Pass: This initiative is a statewide campaign that targets help to nearly 30,000 juniors who have not passed the Ohio Ninth-Grade Proficiency tests required for graduation. The primary goal of Project Pass is to have all students in the class of 1994 graduate, the first class to be held to this standard. Numerous business, civic, social,and religious groups from across the state will work together with students, school representatives, and Ohio Department of Education staff to make Project Pass a success in every community in the state. Volunteers from various groups will work one-on-one with students to bolster their self-confidence and to encourage them to take advantage of every opportunity for help in passing the tests.

General School-to-Work and Career Pathway Programs

Ohio also has several community-driven school-business partnerships with substantial school-to-work elements as well as public programs to support students in determining and achieving their career goals. Large and durable efforts are the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, Cleveland's Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.), Jobs for Ohio's Graduates (JOG), and Career Passports.

Youth Opportunities Unlimited: Y.O.U., in Cleveland, is a school-to-work program operating at 15 of 19 Cleveland high schools. This modified "Compact" provides job opportunities with Cleveland employers for 4000+ high school students who meet standards for academic performance. Students also receive counseling, pre-employment preparation, and community service opportunities. Y.O.U. is also developing a youth apprenticeship program in skilled automotive repair called Project Start.

The Cincinnati Youth Collaborative: This collaborative is a similar, community driven, compact- type school-to-work program -- providing bridging services (tutoring, mentoring), employment opportunities, job training and college financing for area youth from several high schools.

Warranties: Five school districts in the state are developing "warranties". These certify students have skills employers need or they will be retrained at no cost.

Cleveland Finance Academy: This academy, or school-within-a-school, services about 100 students oriented towards the financial services industry, and has been developed in association with the National Academy Foundation.

Jobs for Ohio's Graduates (JOGS): A school-to-work transition program targeting at-risk seniors, Ohio was a leader in developing the Jobs for America's Graduates of which JOG is a part. Elements of the JOG program include in-school pre-employment assistance, membership in professional associations and student organizations, and placement and follow-up with employment. As of March 1992, 90% of JOG's participants had graduated, and of those 80% were employed or had continued their education within the nine months of graduation. This success rate has encouraged the Governor to propose increased support for this program in his 1994-1995 executive budget by investing $5.8 million over the biennium to expand JOG statewide.

Occupational Competency Analysis Profiles (OCAP): The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has revised its vocational education strategic plan, emphasizing the integration of academic and vocational education in early career planning for students. The Division of Vocational and Career Education has also developed its own system for determining vocational program performance competencies--the Occupational Competency Analysis Profiles (OCAP).

ODE is engaged in a five-year effort to identify 60 occupational competencies, relying solely on employer representatives to define work tasks and competencies. They are building on a DACUM process (DACUM being a method of determining occupation specific work skills by analyzing worker's actual tasks, tools, and abilities on the job). Ohio's competency framework also includes a unique analysis of "core," "advanced," and "futuring" competencies (these latter being those identified by industry as needed down the road). Teachers in vocational education will then use the assessments to develop curriculum and teaching tools.

Career Passport: Ohio's Action Plan for the Modernization of Vocational Education required each completer of a vocational program to have an individual career passport that includes documentation concerning work and community experience; competency levels; attendance records; an outline of continuing education needs; and career credentialing. Due to its success, Education for Results recommends requiring the State Board to work with school districts in ensuring that all Ohio Students have an individual career plan and passport for every eighth grade student statewide.

Work Keys: Ohio is a charter state working with The American College Testing Program in establishing a national system for teaching and assessing employability skills-enabling abilities such as reading, writing, computation, leadership and teamwork essential for success in virtually every job.

Tech-Prep

Twenty pilot Tech-Prep demonstration sites are currently funded in Ohio and are jointly administered through the Department of Education and the Ohio Board of Regents. Ohio's Tech-Prep programs are developing creative and innovative options that will attract those students who are neither in a college prep nor a vocational program. These provide expanded opportunities for students in traditional college prep or vocational programs. It is anticipated that 2,500 students will be enrolled in Tech Prep programs in the Fall of 1993 and more than 10,000 in 1994.

Starting with the student's Individual Career Plan (ICP) in grade 9, tech-prep programs arrange the study of mathematics, science, communications, technology, and specific technical skills in a step-by-step progression of coordinated curricula. One goal of Ohio's Tech-Prep program is for participants to reach the advanced skills necessary for high-tech occupations by the end of the second year of the college's technical program, youth internship or apprenticeship program. A second goal is that this is an unduplicated comprehensive program that is responsive to the changing technical needs of business, industry, and labor.

Tech-prep programs do not focus on linking Ohio's current offerings at the secondary level with what is currently being offered at the post-secondary level, but rather focuses on achieving systemic change at both levels.

Consortia are the structure through which Tech-Prep is being implemented. In Ohio, Tech Prep funds are distributed to consortia with college, high school, and business and industry partners.

Programs are developing in the following industrial areas:

• automotive technology
• computer applications
• electronics engineering technology, electronics technician
• manufacturing technology
• health occupations
• data processing technology
• drafting/design technology
• laboratory sciences and patient care
• metal-forming engineering technology
• engineering technologies
• mechanical/systems design & electro-mechanical maintenance

Youth Apprenticeship

State policy makers are currently examining methods for encouraging the creation and expansion of Youth Apprenticeship models and programs in Ohio. In June of 1992, Governor Voinovich hosted a conference in cooperation with the Hanns Seidel Foundation to share ideas and experiences on our changing social and work environments. Several youth apprenticeship proposals have already emerged including:

Project Start: Cleveland's Project START is a partnership between British Petroleum and Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) START stands for Skilled Trades Auto Repair Technician, an automotive technology preparation program developed in conjunction with the National Auto-Steel Association.

Edison Industrial Systems Center: The Edison Industrial Systems Center of Toledo (one of 8 state and membership- funded industrial manufacturing assistance organizations) has proposed a youth apprenticeship program in science/engineering. This program builds on an existing university-based science exploration program for high schoolers.

Work-Based Training Academy Model for Metalworking: As part of a Tech-Prep Program in Dayton, Sinclair Community College--in cooperation with partner high schools as well as representatives from business and industry--is developing an apprenticeship model emphasizing work-based experience. This project is a potential model for the Ohio Tooling and Machining Association to replicate in other major cities in the state.

STATE ADULT TRAINING INNOVATIONS

Public Sector

Ohio maintains specialized or unique adult retraining vehicles in addition to the traditional structures and programs in the following areas: adult basic education, post-secondary vocational education, JTPA and its various titles, welfare-to-work (JOBS), and customized business training on the part of community colleges and universities. The following programs are unique to Ohio:

Ohio Industrial Training Program (OITP): OITP provides customized training to firms --(@$13 million annually) available to firms; it is administered through the Department of Development.

High Unemployment Population Program (HUPP): HUPP provides funding for projects that recruit, train and place unemployed Ohioans who are economically and educationally disadvantaged. HUPP is administered through the Department of Development, and is funded from same source as OITP.

Steel Futures Program: This program provides grants to firms or organizations undertaking projects with positive long-term implications for Ohio's steel industry; (@$1 million) -- administered through Department of Development.

Chrysler Training Contract: The Ohio Department of Education, Division of Vocational and Career Education, the United Auto Workers Chrysler and the Chrysler Corporation have entered into a training agreement that will provide training and retraining for the Chrysler workforce in Ohio. This training will be delivered by adult vocational centers located near the workplace. The training agreement provides for payment to the local adult vocational skill centers which will provide training. Two adult skill centers, Penta County and Cuyahoga Valley, are presently working directly with the UAW Chrysler and the Chrysler Corporation to develop specific competency based instruction.

Enterprise Ohio: This is a two year colleges' customized training for business and industry; it includes the productivity improvement Challenge Program offering competitive grants to colleges for education and training projects with business & industry; (@$2.2 million annually) -- administered through Ohio Board of Regents.

Business Advocacy Center (BAC): BAC was established to help businesses locate information on economic development, training, technology transfer, etc. BAC features a toll-free number staffed by specially trained business counselors. These counselors field questions and connect people with appropriate state government agencies.

Edison Technology Centers: The centers are part of the Thomas Edison Program (TEP) established in 1983 as a partnership of industry, government and academies to stimulate technological innovation and business development. Eight state and privately funded applied research centers, housed in research institutions are focused on particular research areas; polymers, industrial systems, advanced manufacturing, welding, biomedical and biotechnology. All of the centers provide technical assistance and employee skills training.

Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE): CETE at Ohio State University facilitates career and occupational advancement of adult and youth by providing services that target the skill needs of the state's workforce including: literacy audits, worker assessments, training materials, training program development and evaluation. It participates in the Ohio Vocational and Career Education's OCAP project.

Literacy 2000: This is an initiative to identify existing and future needs in the area of literacy and to promote the coordination of efforts across the state. Literacy 2000 was developed at the request of the Governor to move Ohio forward in ensuring Ohioans are literate and possess the skills necessary to compete in a global economy. Four regional summits were held in the fall of 1992 offering a local forum for discussion on key issues related to literacy, education and workforce development. A policy document and state action plan will be developed as a result of these summits. The Ohio Literacy Network in cooperation with numerous state agencies as well as the private sector are leading this effort.

Workplace Literacy Awards: The Governor's Workplace Literacy Awards spotlight annually employers who have provided innovative programs to upgrade the basic skills of their workers. The winning employers and their workers provide moving testimony to the power of basic skills in improving competitiveness and changing the lives of individuals and their families. Since its establishment in 1991, twelve awards have been presented to employers in manufacturing, health care and government--administered through the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services.

Ohio's Literacy Resource Center: Established in March of 1993, Kent State University was selected as the site for Ohio's State Literacy Resource Center. The objectives of the center will be to improve the delivery and coordination of literacy services at the local, state, and national levels; stimulate innovative approaches; provide technical and policy assistance to state and local governments and service providers; and to develop a consistent, outcomes-based approach to measuring student progress across agencies and funding sources--administered through the Ohio Department of Education's Division of Adult and Community Education.

Customer Service Centers: The Ohio Bureau of Employment Services is changing the way it does business by converting its local offices to "customer service centers" in which access to employment and unemployment insurance services is integrated in an attractive, professional environment. Closer working relationships with training programs and other service providers are promoted. Three customer service centers opened in 1992, and ten more are planned in 1993.

LMI: Career counselors, training program planners, and other service providers have access to a single automated labor market and career information system operated by the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services and the Ohio Department of Education. The system provides labor market data for local areas, including long-term occupational employment trends. It also includes career information which may be accessed through career exploration tools.

JOBS: Established through the Family Support Act of 1988, Ohio's Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) training program is administered through the Ohio Department of Human Services. Drawing from services available in other state agencies, JOBS targets those programs to serve Ohioans who are recipients of Aid to Dependent Children in order to provide them with the skills they need to become self-sufficient. The Ohio Department of Education offers educational training in the form of adult vocational education and training, vocational assessment, and Adult Basic Literacy Education. The Ohio Board of Regents offers specialized counseling and instruction to assist JOBS participants' retention in college.

Private Sector

The following are existing or emerging Ohio-specific industry-driven adult worker retraining initiatives:

The Southern Ohio Wood Industry Consortia: This is a consortia of 22 firms involved with about 30 employers each and are members of the National Hardwood Lumber Association.

Youngstown Aluminum Industry Project: The goal of this project is to integrate offerings of local post-secondary institutions to formulate shop floor level training program in world class manufacturing, and train entry level workers for tool and die industry.

The Forgers Network: The Advanced Manufacturing Department at Cleveland State University created this network to organize a regional consortium of forging firms in Northeast Ohio in conjunction with the Forging Industry Association in Cleveland.