As part of an effort to reform the nation's job training system, many local governments are establishing one-stop service delivery systems. The main goal is to integrate a variety of education, employment, and training programs to make it easy for citizens to access services.
At one-stop centers, citizens can sign up for unemployment insurance, search job openings advertised through the job service, explore training opportunities funded by the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), and find out about support services like childcare and transportation. In some locations, citizens can also apply for welfare benefits and become enrolled in welfare-to-work programs.
The Department of Labor (DOL) has a national program that provides seed money to states to establish one-stop systems. To date, all states have received planning grants and, by July, 33 states will have received implementation grants.
Another potential boost to the one-stop movement is legislation being considered by Congress this year. The Employment, Training and Literacy Enhancement Act of 1997 (H.R. 1385) would consolidate more than 60 federal education and employment programs into block grants to states and would require the establishment of one-stop service delivery systems nationwide.
Alaska is developing a structure based on the need to reach a widely dispersed population. Full-service centers staffed with workers cross-trained in multiple programs are being opened in urban areas, while citizens at rural hub centers will have second-tier access through electronic communications and "circuit-riding" staff.
Shasta County, Calif., which is spread across 3,800 square miles of California's northern mountains, has developed a one-stop system that relies on 40 partner agencies that are linked electronically through software technology called SMARTware. (SMART is an acronym for Shasta Multi-Agency Reemployment and Training).
In Brevard County, Fla., welfare-to-work programs are now being integrated into the local one-stop system. As a result, the county has located four "satellite" one-stop centers in public housing projects to make it easier for welfare recipients, who often lack access to transportation, to take advantage of employment services.
NACo's employment and training program has played a vital role in efforts to help local governments develop one-stop centers that will be effective for their areas. Through technical assistance, publications, conference workshops and other means, NACo helps local governments learn about different models of one-stop systems and "best practices" in the field.
Last year, NACo sponsored a two-day training institute in Baltimore, Md., titled "Explore The Latest Developments In a One-Stop System." The workshop included a tour of Baltimore's Eastside One-Stop Career Center Network.
This year, NACo served on the planning committee of the nation's first major conference devoted exclusively to one-stop system-building. Sponsored by the Department of Labor and titled "One-Stop: Beyond the Vision," the conference was held May 13-15 in Los Angeles County. It featured more than 60 workshops and drew more than 1,200 workforce development professionals from across the nation, including Gary Gortenburg, NACo's director of training and employment.
NACo will continue its efforts to help counties and cities integrate employment and training services. A panel session on one-stops will be held in Baltimore this summer at NACo's Annual Conference July 11-15, and a track of workshops on this issue will take place at NACo's 26th Annual Workforce Development Conference in Tulsa, Okla., Nov. 14-17.
(County Services News was written by June
Garrett, research associate.)