First National Assessment of Workforce System Knowledge of Registered Apprenticeship Reveals Large Gaps, Opportunities for Growth
HOUSTON, March 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Safal Partners, a nationally-recognized leader in Registered Apprenticeship (RA) and public workforce innovation, and the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) released the "Workforce System Registered Apprenticeship Baseline Knowledge Report" today. This first-ever national assessment of the public workforce system's knowledge of RA reveals four key knowledge gaps and highlights current work to shrink those gaps.
The report was issued as part of Safal Partners and NAWDP's cooperative-agreement-funded work leading the US Department of Labor (DOL) RA Technical Assistance (TA) Center of Excellence on Strategic Partnerships and System Alignment. NAWDP led development and distribution of the assessment; aggregated results from respondents representing a cross-section of public workforce programs highlighted significant core knowledge gaps in workforce professionals' understanding of 1) basic RA knowledge, 2) RA system knowledge, 3) RA funding knowledge, and 4) RA sharing best practices.
Key findings include:
- 51% of respondents indicated they had "no" or "very little" understanding of the role of their state's DOL Office of Apprenticeship or State Apprenticeship Agency;
- 46% had "no" or "very little" understanding of how RA correlates with key Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) performance measures;
- 44% had "no" or "very little" understanding of what programs can pay for components of RA;
- 43% had "no" or "very little" understanding of how their state or territory's WIOA Unified or Combined State Plan, or their local workforce development board's WIOA Plan, relates to RA;
- 42% had "no" or "very little" understanding of how to communicate benefits of RA to local employers; and
- 40% had "no" or "very little" understanding of what RA programs exist in their local area.
"Scaling apprenticeship nationally to build stronger, more skilled talent pipelines across all sectors requires robust alignment of our nation's apprenticeship and workforce systems," said Katie Adams, Chief Delivery Officer – Workforce, Safal Partners. "DOL created the Center to accelerate that work. "Today's report is a significant step toward fostering more effective collaboration among federal, state, and local leaders to better leverage resources and expand RA."
The report also noted that currently, only .03% of job seekers and workers served through the workforce system were co-enrolled in WIOA and an RA program for paid job training. Co-enrollment can unlock additional sources of RA program support for employers who sponsor programs and job seekers hired as apprentices.
"While co-enrollment is only one indicator of alignment between the apprenticeship and workforce systems, it is an important indicator and shows us where there are opportunities for growth," said Melissa Robbins, CEO of NAWDP. "These assessment findings are driving the Center's work to create and deliver TA tools and resources to the public workforce system that will increase overall alignment and boost co-enrollment."
The report also highlighted states and territories that are leading the nation in WIOA/RA co-enrollment including Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Idaho, Northern Mariana Islands, New Hampshire, Montana, Arizona, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Oregon.
A PDF version of the report can be downloaded using this link: https://safal.partners/COEWorkforceRAKnowledgeReport. The public dashboard of Assessment results can be found here: https://app.safalapps.com/safal/dashboard/coebenchmarkingsurvey. Center products and upcoming virtual training events can be found on the Center's website: https://dolcoe.safalapps.com/.
Safal Partners' mission is to revolutionize public sector programs and services and catalyze positive societal change at scale. We enhance public agencies' impact through effective technical assistance and training, program management, and strategic communications.
Founded in 1989, NAWDP is a national professional association with a mission of promoting the workforce development profession by providing training and resources to its members, improving the effectiveness of the nation's workforce development programs, and enhancing public–private cooperation in the pursuit of full employment.
The Center of Excellence provides national TA to employers and apprenticeship program sponsors, state and local workforce development boards, American Job Center (AJC) programs and operators, governors, and other essential stakeholders driving state workforce and economic development policies.
SOURCE Safal Partners
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