Building a Workforce Development Community: A Practitioners

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Building a Workforce Development CommunityA
Practitioners ForumInvestment, Accountability,
and Impact

• Brian S. Lyght
• The Annie E. Casey Foundation
• May 11, 2004

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Overview

• Workforce Development Investments
• Results-Based Accountability
• Impact, Influence and Leverage

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Workforce Development Investments

• Initiatives with potential to demonstrate
  innovative policy, service delivery, and
  community supports for children and families
• AECF Seattle Jobs Initiative
• Increasing access to workforce system
• Raising skills to raise wages
• Building families economic success

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Workforce Development Investments - Examples

• Job Opportunities Task Force convene, inform,
  and advocate for policies and strategies to
  improve employment outcomes for low-skilled
  workers and job seekers
• The Baltimore Fund catalyze Baltimore regional
  economy by targeting investments in high-growth
  companies in the region to create jobs for
  low-income individuals and financial return for
  investors

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Workforce Development Investments - Examples

• Wider Opportunities for Women, Inc. improving
  policies and practices of both the Workforce
  Investment Boards and the One Stop Workforce
  Centers by incorporating Self-Sufficiency
  Standard
• Other examples
• Support infrastructure for collaborative work
• Support pilot programs, research, evaluation and
  dissemination of what works
• Support and use performance accountability

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Results-Based Accountability

• Adapted from Fiscal Policy Studies Institute
  Mark Friedman, Director
• Step-by-step process to improve agency
  performance
• Step 1 Who are our customers?
• Step 2 How can we measure if our customers are
  better off?
• Step 3 How can we measure if were delivering
  services well?

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Results-Based Accountability

• Step 4 How are we doing on the most important of
  these measures?
• Step 5 Who are the partners that have a
  potential role to play in doing better?
• Step 6 What works to do better?
• Step 7 What do we propose to actually do?

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Impact, Influence and Leverage

• Impact on the conditions of well-being for our
  customers
• Influence others to adopt principles and
  strategies necessary to improve outcomes
• Leverage funds and other resources, both public
  and private, in support of principles and
  strategies