Workforce Development Division Service Delivery Adaptation

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The Maricopa County Workforce Development Division (WDD) provides workforce development services funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to job seekers, adults, dislocated workers, and youth throughout Maricopa County. The objective of the program is to support participants in gaining long-term, sustainable employment. Prior to the pandemic, all workforce services were provided in person at one of our WDD Centers. These services included program orientations, eligibility determination, intake interviews, basic and individualized enrollments, resource referrals, case management, and workshops. With the onset of COVID-19 and subsequent stay-at-home order from the Governor, WDD quickly adapted its service delivery model to comply with social distancing and mask mandates onsite and developed new processes to provide as many services as possible through virtual means. WDD Centers schedules were established to rotate staff through critical customer-facing roles that allowed us to keep our centers open while complying with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines and mitigating risk to staff. And an online Job Seeker Inquiry form was developed and promoted to the public to encourage customers to inquire about services from the safety of their homes via computer or another digital device.