Notice of Request for Information (RFI) on Sector Strategies To Meet Critical Workforce Needs Across Industries, 4032-4037 [2023-01142]
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Brent Parton,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment
and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2023–01141 Filed 1–20–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training
Administration
Notice of Request for Information (RFI)
on Sector Strategies To Meet Critical
Workforce Needs Across Industries
Employment and Training
Administration (ETA); Department of
Labor.
ACTION: Request for information.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Department of
Labor’s (DOL’s) Employment and
SUMMARY:
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Training Administration (ETA) requests
information on current and planned
local and regional sector strategies and
partnership models. This request for
information (RFI) seeks input from all
stakeholders involved directly and
indirectly in economic and workforce
development, particularly as it relates to
the development of sector strategy
models that address the workforce
needs of specific industry sectors within
a local or regional labor market through
a strategic sector partnership. This
stakeholder input will inform the
Department’s efforts in developing
sustainable and scalable sector strategies
through economic development and
workforce collaboration to meet local
and regional sector needs for skilled
workers in quality jobs while meeting
broader Administration objectives, such
as equity and the inclusion of
historically marginalized populations
within those sectors, and
responsiveness to the needs of
businesses and the economy in critical
industries during and beyond the
pandemic.
DATES: Responses may be submitted on
a rolling basis but are due no later than
5 p.m. (ET) on March 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Submit all responses to this
RFI by email to Hannah Jenuwine at
jenuwine.hannah.r@dol.gov. Responses
must be received by 5:00 p.m. (E.T.) on
March 24, 2023, for consideration. Only
electronic responses will be accepted.
Please identify your answers by
responding to a specific question or
topic, if applicable. Please clearly state
the specific question to which you are
responding. All assumptions, including
any assumed government support, shall
be clearly identified. All proprietary and
restricted information shall be clearly
marked. Respondents may answer as
many or as few questions as they wish.
DOL will not respond to individual
submissions. A response to this RFI will
not be viewed as a binding commitment
to develop or pursue the project or ideas
discussed.
Submitting comments via email.
Please include in the subject line ‘‘RFI:
Sector Strategies to Meet Critical
Workforce Needs Across Industries.’’
Responses must be provided as
attachments to an email. It is
recommended that attachments with file
sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed
(i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery;
however, no email shall exceed a total
of 45MB, including all attachments.
Responses must be provided as a
Microsoft Word (.docx) or Portable
Document Format (.pdf) attachment to
the email and may be no more than 25
pages in length, in 12-point font, with
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1-inch margins. Please provide the
following information in a cover letter:
• Community, organization, or
company (if applicable);
• Contact name; and
• Contact’s address, phone number,
and email address.
Jenn
Smith, Division Chief, Division of
Strategic Investments, by telephone at
202–693–3597 (this is not a toll-free
number) or by email at smith.jenn@
dol.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
The
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act of 2014 (WIOA) emphasizes the
important role of sector strategies in a
dynamic regional workforce
development plan. Within WIOA,
regional coordination and planning
requirements include the necessity of a
regional plan that supports the
‘‘development and implementation of
sector initiatives for in-demand industry
sectors or occupations in the regions.’’
Sector strategies are useful models of
local and regional workforce
development that are well-positioned to
align the collective needs of employers
in an in-demand industry with the
skilled workforce needed, while
ensuring a successful career pathway
from training to employment and career
progression. There is evidence of the
effectiveness of a sector approach but
the transition from paper to practice can
be challenging. Real-world collaboration
can be hard to sustain without
dedicated support and focused
commitment. Scaling of effective
strategies can also be challenging as the
context, partnerships, and workforce
challenges within specific sectors may
involve factors and considerations that
vary from those in a local or regional
economic development area.
ETA developed a sector strategy
framework in 2016, which has been
used to inform many of our more recent
investments. This framework defines a
sector strategy as a partnership of
multiple employers within a critical
industry that brings together education,
economic development, workforce
systems, and community organizations
to identify and collaboratively meet the
workforce needs of that industry within
a regional labor market. Sector strategies
are a key element of a Career Pathways
System, which develops education and
training in collaboration with employers
to ensure the end product supports the
skills and competencies needed by
industry. As a systems change approach,
there are recognized components of an
effective sector strategy. ETA’s Sector
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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Strategy Implementation Framework,1
drawing from emerging research and
practices, advanced ‘‘five key
capabilities’’ of successful sectorfocused organizations that state and
regional workforce partnerships should
master in implementing a sector
approach. They include:
• Data-Informed Decision Making—
the organization/partnership uses
rigorous data to make decisions about
target industries and education and
training investments.
• Industry Engagement—there is
meaningful and continuous
involvement of targeted industry sector
employers in designing and delivering
programs and services.
• Sector-Based Service Delivery—all
partners are effectively facilitating the
delivery of workforce solutions to be
responsive to the needs of workers and
the targeted industry sector(s).
• Sustainability and Continuous
Improvement—the organization/
partnership is able to measure sector
strategy outcomes and has an effective
and realistic plan to financially sustain
sector work over time.
• Organizational Capacity and
Alignment—the organization/
partnership has the personnel, policies,
vision, and resources in place to
continually support sector strategy
outcomes.
The Department has funded several
recent sector strategy initiatives through
H–1B-funded grant programs, and
evaluations from these projects will
support key learnings to support future
investments, such as the SECTOR
initiative proposed in WIOA
reauthorization and the FY 23
President’s Budget. The SECTOR
proposal encompasses the key
capabilities of sector strategies
described above but also targets equity
by centering services on the most
underserved populations and
communities while focusing on highskill, high-wage, and/or in-demand
industry sectors or occupations that lead
to an economy of good jobs.
Additionally, this RFI will provide
crucial information on how local and
regional areas are considering sector
strategies as a response to key workforce
needs, particularly in the most critical
industries of priority and opportunity—
such as those being built out through
recent federal investments, including
the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL),
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the
CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS).
1 See https://businessengagement.workforcegps.
org/resources/2016/04/12/13/53/Sector-StrategiesImplementation-Framework.
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This RFI seeks to grow ETA and
partner agencies’ understanding of
effective sector strategies through the
experiences of key stakeholders in local
and regional economies to further
inform policymakers and workforce
practitioners at the federal, state, and
local levels. Such information will
refine policy responses, technical
assistance for adoption and scaling of
sector strategies as a response to
economic and workforce development
needs, and inform the design of future
grants. Specifically, understanding what
the challenges are to implementing
sector strategies, what has resulted in
successful sector approaches, who the
key partners need to be and what their
roles should be, the current level of
regional coordination and planning that
has been undertaken to support sector
partnerships, how the partnerships are
funded, and how the success of such
partnerships can be measured will
benefit the federal government’s efforts
to effectively engage with local and
regional workforce areas to create an
impactful response to the current and
future training needs in critical
industries, such as advanced
manufacturing (including
semiconductor manufacturing),
information technology and
cybersecurity, transportation
infrastructure modernization,
healthcare, and clean energy and energy
resilience.
Further, in alignment with the
Administration’s priority on supporting
increased job quality, including through
the active inclusion of worker voice,
this RFI seeks also to learn about sector
strategies that specifically focus on and
incorporate equity and worker voice
into the training design, supportive
service delivery, workforce decision
making processes, and ongoing
professional development and career
growth opportunities. One equity and
worker-centered sector strategy example
showing promise is the ‘‘High Road
Training Partnership’’ (HRTP) sector
strategy model from California. Such
models align with the Biden-Harris
Administration priority on good quality
jobs, which can be considered those that
provide livable wages of at least $15 an
hour, employment benefits, work
environments free of discrimination,
and opportunities for advancement, as
well as supporting worker voice and
engagement. For example, the workercentered sector strategies of HRTP do
this by being equity-centered, workerfocused and industry-led, allowing for
innovative workforce solutions that
create and support job quality using four
essential elements: (1) industry-led
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problem solving; (2) partnership as a
priority; (3) worker voice; and (4)
strategic training solutions.2 Other
impactful sector strategy models
developed by and with industry and
workforce development intermediaries
that also focus on job quality through
family-sustaining wages and equitable
inclusion of a diverse workforce include
San Antonio’s Project QUEST,3 and the
Wisconsin Regional Training
Partnership’s Building Industry Group
Skilled Trades Employment Program
(BIG STEP).4 An additional example of
industry-supported and validated
sector-based training that is a key
component of a sector strategy is the Per
Scholas model for IT training.5
However, these are just a few of the
promising models and training
strategies developed and implemented
across the nation.
ETA is interested in learning more
about equity and worker-centered sector
strategies such as HRTP, and additional
models, to gather feedback on questions
such as: Does this approach work across
all industry sectors? What workforce
strategies have emerged from these
efforts—career pathway development,
apprenticeships—that have been
supported by employer partners? How
are these strategies funded and
sustained? Do the strategies impact
different groups of workers differently?
Are any strategies particularly suited to
developing the skills and opportunities
for historically marginalized
communities?
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Who Should Respond
ETA invites workforce and economic
development practitioners, education
and training institutions, state and local
policy makers, industry and
professional associations, labor
organizations, and funders and
researchers to provide information,
including:
• Employers/Businesses and/or
Associations of Employers: including,
but not limited to, local and regional
employers and businesses; trade/
industry associations; and others.
• Education: including, but not
limited to, K–12 systems; institutions of
higher education; tribal colleges; and
others.
• Workforce Development: including,
but not limited to, state, regional, tribal
2 See https://cwdb.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/
sites/43/2020/01/HRTP-Essential-Elements_
ACCESSIBLE.pdf.
3 See https://questsa.org/wp-content/uploads/
2021/08/QUEST25YearEconomicImpactStudy.pdf.
4 See https://wrtp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/
05/WRTP-Impact-Report-2021.pdf.
5 See https://perscholas.org/wp-content/uploads/
2021/11/Annual-Update-2021-Final.pdf.
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and local workforce agencies; state and
local workforce development boards;
training providers; community and
faith-based organizations; workforce
intermediaries; sector-based training
partnerships; American Job Centers;
Registered Apprenticeship Programs;
and others.
• Economic Development: including,
but not limited to, state and local
agencies; regional skills partnerships;
planning and development
organizations; area development
districts; councils of government;
economic development associations;
and economic development
corporations.
• Worker/Employee Representation:
Unions, labor-management
partnerships, worker centers, and
organizations that represent or serve
workers, including workers from
communities that have historically been
marginalized or underserved, such as
Black, Latino, and Indigenous and
Native American persons; Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders and
other persons of color; members of
religious minorities; lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, and queer
(LGBTQ+) persons; persons with
disabilities; persons who live in rural
areas; opportunity youth; individuals
previously incarcerated; immigrant
workers; women; farmworkers; and
veterans.
• Other: including, but not limited to,
philanthropic funders, advocacy
organizations, think tanks, professional/
industry associations, and others.
These organizations may submit
individual responses or may choose to
convene their active sector partnership
for a coordinated response.
Additionally, DOL has identified next to
each Topic Area which responders may
be most interested in that Topic Area,
but these are suggestions and are not
meant to limit any interested party from
responding.
Questions for Input
This RFI is an initial step in
improving DOL’s understanding of
goals, interests, concerns, challenges,
best practices and promising practices,
and policy, program, and resource needs
of local and regional economic
development areas, with respect to
sector strategies. This RFI is a general
solicitation for public input, which sets
forth topics for discussion and
comment. Specific questions to which
responses are requested for each topic
area are listed below. Respondents may
provide input regarding any one,
several, or all of the topic areas and may
address any one several, or all of the
questions. These questions may also be
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considered prompts for additional input
and DOL welcomes any additional
relevant information that respondents
wish to share, even if not the specific
topic of a question.
Topic Area 1: Definitions (Many
Stakeholders May Be Interested in
Responding)
1a. How do you define a sector?
1b. How do you define a sector
strategy?
1c. Would sector partnerships benefit
from the development of a consensus for
other common definitions or key
program components? What other
consensus-driven common definitions
have been developed by sector
partnerships?
Topic Area 2: Partnership Roles and
Requirements (Employers, Education,
Workforce Development, Worker/
Employee Representation, and
Economic Development Stakeholders
May Be Interested in Responding)
2a. Who are the local and regional
partners necessary to support an
effective regional sector partnership?
2b. Which entities are best positioned
to lead the sector partnership? Does this
vary by geographic or industry scope of
the partnership? If so, why?
2c. What degree of industry
representation is needed to ensure that
the sector partnership is developing a
strategy that is broadly responsive to
industry need within a given region or
locality?
2d. What degree of worker/employee
representation is needed to ensure that
the sector partnership is developing a
strategy that centers and advances
equity and worker voice?
2e. What strategies have you
employed to recruit key partners to be
part of sector partnerships?
2f. What key ingredients must be
present for a sector partnership to
successfully launch?
2g. What key ingredients must be
present for a sector partnership to be
effectively sustained?
2h. Are there strategies or incentives
that are most beneficial in ensuring
partners are effectively engaged at
various stages of the partnership?
2i. What does a fully engaged partner
look like?
2j. To what extent do successful
sector strategies align their efforts with
partners who have broader reach and
purview (e.g., State-level entities,
national employers, etc.)? If so, how do
sector partnerships cultivate such
relationships?
2k. What specific role should the
public workforce system play in
developing, expanding, and sustaining
sector partnerships?
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Topic Area 3: Promising Practices for
Employer Engagement and Workforce
Development (Employers, Workforce
Development, Worker/Employee
Representation, and Other Stakeholders
May Be Interested in Responding)
3a. Are there factors that contribute to
sector-based strategies being more
effective in some specific sectors than
others?
3b. How are sector strategies targeting
industries/occupations? What
resources/tools are sector partnerships
using to target specific occupations?
3c. How are sector partnerships
implementing evidence-based models
for training, such as Registered
Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs)? Are
partnerships leveraging existing RAPs
and/or developing new RAP pathways?
3d. Are there promising sector
strategy models that promote job quality
and/or demonstrate improvement in the
quality of jobs within an industry or
sector (e.g., flexible hours, familysustaining wages, good benefits, active
inclusion of worker voice)?
3e. How are sector strategies
recruiting workers for training
opportunities developed through sector
partnerships? Are there examples of
effective recruitment of workers who are
under-represented in the industry or
occupation, including workers from
communities that have been historically
marginalized or underserved?
3f. How have sector strategies built in
pathways for new entrants to the
workforce, particularly youth? Are
specific career and technical education
strategies being used to support the
transition from secondary to postsecondary education and training
models? If so, are there specific
challenges to this approach? Are there
unique partners that must be included?
3g. How have sector strategies
supported employee retention and
career advancement? Are there
particular approaches that have
demonstrated improvement in these
areas?
3h. What other kinds of non-training
services are sector strategies delivering?
How do those services support the
overarching goals of the sector strategy?
Have sector strategies improved
supportive service delivery to workers?
3i. How have your sector strategy
efforts been informed by the evidence
base on sector strategies?
3j. What evidence or research do you
have that these sector strategies lead to
employment in high-quality jobs (i.e.,
those with career progression and
family-sustaining wages, worker
representation and voice, a safe work
environment, and benefits)?
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3k. What evidence, research, or
models have shown that sector
strategies result in higher wages and/or
wage growth for low-wage occupations
within their respective industry?
3l. Are there additional questions that
you think need to be addressed by
future research on sector strategies?
3m. What promising approaches are
sector strategies using to prepare
workers for employment in the targeted
sector or occupation? Might these
approaches differ based on the industry?
Are there specific success factors that
are most important?
3n. Are there working definitions and
specific promising practices that
differentiate between types of sector
strategies?
3o. How have sector partnerships
affected the ways in which employer
partners manage their recruitment and
hiring practices, such as through the
assessments they use or approaches to
skill-based hiring?
Topic Area 4: Promising Practices for
Worker-Centered Sector Strategies
(Employers, Education, Workforce
Development, Economic Development,
and Worker/Employee Representation
Stakeholders May Be Interested in
Responding)
4a. What sector strategies are effective
in promoting worker voice and workercentered workforce development (e.g.,
training design, supportive service
delivery, workforce decision making
processes, and ongoing professional
development and career growth
opportunities)?
4b. Are there specific practices or
requirements for worker-centered sector
strategies to be effective, e.g., High Road
Training Partnerships’ use of employer
standards?
4c. What are the biggest challenges to
engaging workers to support workforce
development through a worker-centered
model? What are effective ways of
addressing these challenges?
4d. Are there key strategies to use
when developing a worker-centered
sector strategy in the absence of a
worker or labor-management
organization partner in the geographic
region or industry focus?
4e. Are there specific industries or
sectors where a worker-centered sector
strategy has been more effective? If so,
why?
Topic Area 5: Resources (Employers,
Education, Workforce Development,
Economic Development, and Other
Stakeholders May Be Interested in
Responding)
5a. What financial resources are
already broadly available within the
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targeted region to support the sector
strategy—e.g., Pell grants for education/
training, WIOA state or local funds or
other WIOA resources, Registered
Apprenticeship Program funding/
incentives, state-appropriated funding,
or others?
5b. With the available financial
resources, are there limitations or
challenges in terms of uses of such
funds?
5c. Are there key areas of work where
funding support is most beneficial? Are
these areas currently supported by
existing funding streams?
5d. What non-financial resources are
necessary for an effective sector strategy
and are they available in your region?
5e. Do sector strategies require
different levels of funding at different
points in the process? For example,
during the initial phase of start-up, is
less funding necessary than at later
points, or not necessarily? What costs
are most significant at various stages of
maturity? Is there a consistent level of
administrative funding necessary to
support the sustained sector strategy
model?
Topic Area 6: Federal Support for
Sector Strategies
6a. Which ‘‘critical’’ industry sectors
demonstrate the greatest need for skilled
workers in the next decade and could
benefit from additional Federal
resources, and why?
6b. What types of funding and other
supports—such as data or technical
assistance—would be helpful and in
what form? Specifically, are there roles
the Department of Labor and other
federal agencies could play in
supporting local or regional sector
activity beyond direct investment,
including:
• Bringing national industry and
labor partners together to engage in key
sectors?
• Leveraging federal data insights to
assess targeted sector needs?
• Providing technical assistance and
capacity building to the field, including
learning and exchange across sectorbased efforts?
• Specific flexibilities or resources to
support regional sector-based efforts at
various stages?
6c. Have there been efforts already to
align with, or leverage, the recent
Federal investments mentioned
previously (e.g., BIL, IRA, CHIPS)?
Topic Area 7: Advancing Equity (Many
Stakeholders May Be Interested in
Responding)
7a. What are the most promising
approaches to engage employers to
increase hiring and retention and
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improve employment outcomes for
historically marginalized and
underrepresented populations, such as
women, people of color, individuals
with disabilities, and other historically
underrepresented populations?
7b. What are effective sector-based
strategies in addressing issues of equity,
including increasing representation of
historically marginalized populations
within the identified sector(s) through
improved hiring, retention, and
advancement in high-quality jobs?
7c. Should the targeted industry
sector affect the strategies used to
increase equity?
7d. What are challenges to consider in
addressing equity through a sector
strategy partnership?
7e. How have the inputs from
historically marginalized and
underrepresented populations been
taken into consideration when
designing a program to serve them?
What are effective approaches for
soliciting input from marginalized and
underrepresented populations?
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Topic Area 8: Measuring Success
(Employers, Education, Workforce
Development, Economic Development,
and Other Stakeholders May Be
Interested in Responding)
8a. How would you define success
within a sector strategy model?
8b. Are there specific measurements
or milestones that would work best to
measure effective partnership
development and maturity (i.e., systems
change or capacity-building measures/
milestones)? Are there quantitative
measures as well as qualitative ones?
8c. Would sector strategies benefit
from the development of consensus for
outcomes to measure impact and
effectiveness of sector strategies or do
unique sector strategy models and
partnerships require unique
performance measures and milestones?
8d. Are there specific performance
measures that would work best to
meaningfully assess the impact of a
sector strategy on the participants
served by it? Are there qualitative
measures as well as quantitative ones?
8e. How long does it take to start
achieving measurable outcomes? Are
there near-term (within 12 months) and
long-term (beyond 12 months) outputs
and outcomes that can be identified to
demonstrate change effectively?
8f. Are you involved in any new
program evaluations of a potentially
promising sector strategy model? Where
can we learn more about this new
evidence being produced?
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Topic Area 9: Local Needs Assessments
and Capacity (Education, Workforce
Development, Economic Development,
and Worker/Employee Representation
Stakeholders May Be Interested in
Responding)
9a. If your regional area has not yet
engaged in a sector strategy, why not? Is
there a regional plan for workforce
development?
9b. Has your regional economic area
undertaken a local needs assessment to
determine gaps between the supply of
skilled workers and hiring practices
within identified in-demand industry
sectors or occupations? If so, what has
this assessment revealed?
Topic Area 10: Evidence Use
(Education, Workforce Development,
Economic Development, Worker/
Employee Representation, and Other
Stakeholders May Be Interested in
Responding)
10a. What evidence have you used to
inform your thinking when designing a
new sector strategy partnership or
program, or improving your existing
program?
10b. Where do you find your
evidence?
10c. What is the hardest thing about
using evidence in decision-making
about your program(s)?
Topic Area 11: Sustainability and
Scalability (Many Stakeholders May Be
Interested in Responding)
11a. What are the biggest challenges
to developing and sustaining effective
sector strategies? What are key factors
influencing the sustainability of a sector
strategy and its partnerships (e.g.,
funding, partner engagement, changing
labor market demands)? If ongoing
funding is needed to sustain a sector
strategy, for which specific activities is
it needed?
11b.What are key factors for
successfully scaling sector strategy
models at the local, regional, and
national levels? For instance, does it
matter more what the sectors are, who
the employers are, the geographic and
cultural context, or some combination of
these?
11c. What are the key obstacles to
successfully scaling sector strategy
models at the local, regional, and
national levels? As with the previous
question, does it matter more what the
sectors are, who the employers are, the
geographic and cultural context, or
some combination?
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Topic Area 12: Necessary and Beneficial
Technical Assistance Support (Many
Stakeholders May Be Interesting in
Responding)
12a. What targeted technical
assistance would be of most benefit in
supporting a sector strategy? What
targeted technical assistance would be
of most benefit in supporting sector
partnerships? What organization(s) or
type of organization(s) is best positioned
to provide this technical assistance?
12b. What DOL guidance could be
helpful and what type of webinar topics
or virtual/in-person training would be
beneficial for DOL to provide?
Disclaimer and Important Note
This RFI is not a Funding
Opportunity Announcement (FOA),
prize, or any other type of solicitation;
therefore, DOL is not accepting
applications at this time. DOL may issue
a FOA or other solicitation in the future
based on or related to the content and
responses to this RFI; however, DOL
may also elect not to issue a FOA or
solicitation. There is no guarantee that
a FOA or solicitation will be issued as
a result of this RFI. Responding to this
RFI does not provide any advantage or
disadvantage to potential applicants if
DOL chooses to issue a FOA regarding
the subject matter. This RFI does not
constitute a formal solicitation for
proposals or abstracts. Your response to
this notice will be treated as information
only. DOL will review and consider all
responses in its formulation of program
strategies for the identified materials of
interest that are the subject of this
request. DOL will not provide
reimbursement for costs incurred in
responding to this RFI.
Respondents are advised that DOL is
under no obligation to acknowledge
receipt of the information received or
provide feedback to respondents with
respect to any information submitted
under this RFI. Responses to this RFI do
not bind DOL to any further actions
related to this topic.
Confidential Business Information:
Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person
submitting information that he or she
believes to be confidential and exempt
by law from public disclosure should
submit via email two well-marked
copies: One copy of the document
marked ‘‘confidential’’ including all the
information believed to be confidential,
and one copy of the document marked
‘‘non-confidential’’ with the information
believed to be confidential deleted.
Submit these documents via email. DOL
will make its own determination about
the confidential status of the
information and treat it according to its
E:\FR\FM\23JAN1.SGM
23JAN1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 14 / Monday, January 23, 2023 / Notices
determination. It is DOL’s policy that all
comments may be included in the
public docket, without change and as
received, including any personal
information provided in the comments
(except information deemed to be
exempt from public disclosure).
Brent Parton,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment
and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2023–01142 Filed 1–20–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–FN–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training
Administration
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Comment Request
Employment and Training
Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Department of Labor
(DOL), Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) is soliciting
comments concerning a proposed
revision for the authority to conduct the
information collection request (ICR)
titled, ‘‘Workforce Information Grants to
States (WIGS).’’ This comment request
is part of continuing Departmental
efforts to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden in accordance with
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA).
DATES: Consideration will be given to all
written comments received by March
24, 2023.
ADDRESSES: A copy of this ICR with
applicable supporting documentation;
including a description of the likely
respondents, proposed frequency of
response, and estimated total burden
may be obtained free by contacting
Donald Haughton by telephone at 202–
693–2784, TTY 877–889–5627, (these
are not toll-free numbers) or by email at
Haughton.Donald.W@dol.gov.
Submit written comments about, or
requests for a copy of, this ICR by mail
or courier to the U.S. Department of
Labor, Employment and Training
Administration, Office of Workforce
Investment, 200 Constitution Avenue
NW, Room C–4510, Washington DC,
20210; or by email:
Haughton.Donald.W@dol.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Donald Haughton by telephone at 202–
693–2784 (this is not a toll-free number)
or by email at Haughton.Donald.W@
dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DOL,
as part of continuing efforts to reduce
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
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Jkt 259001
paperwork and respondent burden,
conducts a pre-clearance consultation
program to provide the general public
and Federal agencies an opportunity to
comment on proposed and/or
continuing collections of information
before submitting them to the OMB for
final approval. This program helps to
ensure requested data can be provided
in the desired format, reporting burden
(time and financial resources) is
minimized, collection instruments are
clearly understood, and the impact of
collection requirements can be properly
assessed.
This collection of information is
necessary to comply with the reporting
requirements of the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act
(WIOA) section 308 (29 U.S.C. 491–2),
and 20 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR) parts 651 and 652.
WIOA section 308 requires the
Secretary of Labor to oversee the
development, maintenance, and
continuous improvement of a
nationwide Workforce and Labor Market
Information System (workforce
information) system; and to evaluate the
performance of the system and
recommend needed improvements,
taking into consideration customer
consultation results, with particular
attention given to improvements needed
at the state, regional and local levels.
The WIGS information collection
ensures the Secretary of Labor meets
WIOA requirements, and the states
complete grant deliverables such as
state economic analyses or special
workforce information/economic
studies, and the annual performance
report.
The ETA makes use of the
information collected from WIGS
grantees primarily to serve four
customer groups: (1) the public
(including job seekers and employers);
(2) labor market intermediaries who
help individuals find a job or make
career decisions (such as employment
and school counselors, case managers at
American Job Centers, and communitybased organizations); (3) policymakers
and employment and economic program
planners and operators; and (4)
miscellaneous other customers,
including researchers, commercial data
providers, and the news media.
This information collection is subject
to the PRA. A Federal agency generally
cannot conduct or sponsor a collection
of information, and the public is
generally not required to respond to an
information collection, unless it is
approved by the OMB under the PRA
and displays a currently valid OMB
Control Number. In addition,
notwithstanding any other provisions of
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4037
law, no person shall generally be subject
to penalty for failing to comply with a
collection of information that does not
display a valid Control Number. See 5
CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
Interested parties are encouraged to
provide comments to the contact shown
in the ADDRESSES section. Comments
must be written to receive
consideration, and they will be
summarized and included in the request
for OMB approval of the final ICR. In
order to help ensure appropriate
consideration, comments should
mention Workforce Information Grants
to States (WIGS), OMB control number
1205–0417.
Submitted comments will also be a
matter of public record for this ICR and
posted on the internet, without
redaction. The DOL encourages
commenters not to include personally
identifiable information, confidential
business data, or other sensitive
statements/information in any
comments.
The DOL is particularly interested in
comments that:
• Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility;
• Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
• Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and
• Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submission of
responses.
Agency: DOL–ETA.
Type of Review: Revision.
Title of Collection: Workforce
Information Grants to States (WIGS).
Form: N/A
OMB Control Number: 1205–0417.
Affected Public: State Workforce
Agencies.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
54.
Frequency: Once.
Total Estimated Annual Responses:
162
Estimated Average Time per
Response: 578 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 31,228 hours.
Total Estimated Annual Other Cost
Burden: $1,219,453.
E:\FR\FM\23JAN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 14 (Monday, January 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4032-4037]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01142]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Notice of Request for Information (RFI) on Sector Strategies To
Meet Critical Workforce Needs Across Industries
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA); Department of
Labor.
ACTION: Request for information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL's) Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) requests information on current and planned local
and regional sector strategies and partnership models. This request for
information (RFI) seeks input from all stakeholders involved directly
and indirectly in economic and workforce development, particularly as
it relates to the development of sector strategy models that address
the workforce needs of specific industry sectors within a local or
regional labor market through a strategic sector partnership. This
stakeholder input will inform the Department's efforts in developing
sustainable and scalable sector strategies through economic development
and workforce collaboration to meet local and regional sector needs for
skilled workers in quality jobs while meeting broader Administration
objectives, such as equity and the inclusion of historically
marginalized populations within those sectors, and responsiveness to
the needs of businesses and the economy in critical industries during
and beyond the pandemic.
DATES: Responses may be submitted on a rolling basis but are due no
later than 5 p.m. (ET) on March 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Submit all responses to this RFI by email to Hannah Jenuwine
at [email protected]. Responses must be received by 5:00 p.m.
(E.T.) on March 24, 2023, for consideration. Only electronic responses
will be accepted.
Please identify your answers by responding to a specific question
or topic, if applicable. Please clearly state the specific question to
which you are responding. All assumptions, including any assumed
government support, shall be clearly identified. All proprietary and
restricted information shall be clearly marked. Respondents may answer
as many or as few questions as they wish. DOL will not respond to
individual submissions. A response to this RFI will not be viewed as a
binding commitment to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed.
Submitting comments via email. Please include in the subject line
``RFI: Sector Strategies to Meet Critical Workforce Needs Across
Industries.'' Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It
is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be
compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery; however, no email
shall exceed a total of 45MB, including all attachments. Responses must
be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) or Portable Document Format
(.pdf) attachment to the email and may be no more than 25 pages in
length, in 12-point font, with
[[Page 4033]]
1-inch margins. Please provide the following information in a cover
letter:
Community, organization, or company (if applicable);
Contact name; and
Contact's address, phone number, and email address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenn Smith, Division Chief, Division
of Strategic Investments, by telephone at 202-693-3597 (this is not a
toll-free number) or by email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
of 2014 (WIOA) emphasizes the important role of sector strategies in a
dynamic regional workforce development plan. Within WIOA, regional
coordination and planning requirements include the necessity of a
regional plan that supports the ``development and implementation of
sector initiatives for in-demand industry sectors or occupations in the
regions.'' Sector strategies are useful models of local and regional
workforce development that are well-positioned to align the collective
needs of employers in an in-demand industry with the skilled workforce
needed, while ensuring a successful career pathway from training to
employment and career progression. There is evidence of the
effectiveness of a sector approach but the transition from paper to
practice can be challenging. Real-world collaboration can be hard to
sustain without dedicated support and focused commitment. Scaling of
effective strategies can also be challenging as the context,
partnerships, and workforce challenges within specific sectors may
involve factors and considerations that vary from those in a local or
regional economic development area.
ETA developed a sector strategy framework in 2016, which has been
used to inform many of our more recent investments. This framework
defines a sector strategy as a partnership of multiple employers within
a critical industry that brings together education, economic
development, workforce systems, and community organizations to identify
and collaboratively meet the workforce needs of that industry within a
regional labor market. Sector strategies are a key element of a Career
Pathways System, which develops education and training in collaboration
with employers to ensure the end product supports the skills and
competencies needed by industry. As a systems change approach, there
are recognized components of an effective sector strategy. ETA's Sector
Strategy Implementation Framework,\1\ drawing from emerging research
and practices, advanced ``five key capabilities'' of successful sector-
focused organizations that state and regional workforce partnerships
should master in implementing a sector approach. They include:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See https://businessengagement.workforcegps.org/resources/2016/04/12/13/53/Sector-Strategies-Implementation-Framework.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data-Informed Decision Making--the organization/
partnership uses rigorous data to make decisions about target
industries and education and training investments.
Industry Engagement--there is meaningful and continuous
involvement of targeted industry sector employers in designing and
delivering programs and services.
Sector-Based Service Delivery--all partners are
effectively facilitating the delivery of workforce solutions to be
responsive to the needs of workers and the targeted industry sector(s).
Sustainability and Continuous Improvement--the
organization/partnership is able to measure sector strategy outcomes
and has an effective and realistic plan to financially sustain sector
work over time.
Organizational Capacity and Alignment--the organization/
partnership has the personnel, policies, vision, and resources in place
to continually support sector strategy outcomes.
The Department has funded several recent sector strategy
initiatives through H-1B-funded grant programs, and evaluations from
these projects will support key learnings to support future
investments, such as the SECTOR initiative proposed in WIOA
reauthorization and the FY 23 President's Budget. The SECTOR proposal
encompasses the key capabilities of sector strategies described above
but also targets equity by centering services on the most underserved
populations and communities while focusing on high-skill, high-wage,
and/or in-demand industry sectors or occupations that lead to an
economy of good jobs. Additionally, this RFI will provide crucial
information on how local and regional areas are considering sector
strategies as a response to key workforce needs, particularly in the
most critical industries of priority and opportunity--such as those
being built out through recent federal investments, including the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and
the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS).
This RFI seeks to grow ETA and partner agencies' understanding of
effective sector strategies through the experiences of key stakeholders
in local and regional economies to further inform policymakers and
workforce practitioners at the federal, state, and local levels. Such
information will refine policy responses, technical assistance for
adoption and scaling of sector strategies as a response to economic and
workforce development needs, and inform the design of future grants.
Specifically, understanding what the challenges are to implementing
sector strategies, what has resulted in successful sector approaches,
who the key partners need to be and what their roles should be, the
current level of regional coordination and planning that has been
undertaken to support sector partnerships, how the partnerships are
funded, and how the success of such partnerships can be measured will
benefit the federal government's efforts to effectively engage with
local and regional workforce areas to create an impactful response to
the current and future training needs in critical industries, such as
advanced manufacturing (including semiconductor manufacturing),
information technology and cybersecurity, transportation infrastructure
modernization, healthcare, and clean energy and energy resilience.
Further, in alignment with the Administration's priority on
supporting increased job quality, including through the active
inclusion of worker voice, this RFI seeks also to learn about sector
strategies that specifically focus on and incorporate equity and worker
voice into the training design, supportive service delivery, workforce
decision making processes, and ongoing professional development and
career growth opportunities. One equity and worker-centered sector
strategy example showing promise is the ``High Road Training
Partnership'' (HRTP) sector strategy model from California. Such models
align with the Biden-Harris Administration priority on good quality
jobs, which can be considered those that provide livable wages of at
least $15 an hour, employment benefits, work environments free of
discrimination, and opportunities for advancement, as well as
supporting worker voice and engagement. For example, the worker-
centered sector strategies of HRTP do this by being equity-centered,
worker-focused and industry-led, allowing for innovative workforce
solutions that create and support job quality using four essential
elements: (1) industry-led
[[Page 4034]]
problem solving; (2) partnership as a priority; (3) worker voice; and
(4) strategic training solutions.\2\ Other impactful sector strategy
models developed by and with industry and workforce development
intermediaries that also focus on job quality through family-sustaining
wages and equitable inclusion of a diverse workforce include San
Antonio's Project QUEST,\3\ and the Wisconsin Regional Training
Partnership's Building Industry Group Skilled Trades Employment Program
(BIG STEP).\4\ An additional example of industry-supported and
validated sector-based training that is a key component of a sector
strategy is the Per Scholas model for IT training.\5\ However, these
are just a few of the promising models and training strategies
developed and implemented across the nation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ See https://cwdb.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2020/01/HRTP-Essential-Elements_ACCESSIBLE.pdf.
\3\ See https://questsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/QUEST25YearEconomicImpactStudy.pdf.
\4\ See https://wrtp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/WRTP-Impact-Report-2021.pdf.
\5\ See https://perscholas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Annual-Update-2021-Final.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ETA is interested in learning more about equity and worker-centered
sector strategies such as HRTP, and additional models, to gather
feedback on questions such as: Does this approach work across all
industry sectors? What workforce strategies have emerged from these
efforts--career pathway development, apprenticeships--that have been
supported by employer partners? How are these strategies funded and
sustained? Do the strategies impact different groups of workers
differently? Are any strategies particularly suited to developing the
skills and opportunities for historically marginalized communities?
Who Should Respond
ETA invites workforce and economic development practitioners,
education and training institutions, state and local policy makers,
industry and professional associations, labor organizations, and
funders and researchers to provide information, including:
Employers/Businesses and/or Associations of Employers:
including, but not limited to, local and regional employers and
businesses; trade/industry associations; and others.
Education: including, but not limited to, K-12 systems;
institutions of higher education; tribal colleges; and others.
Workforce Development: including, but not limited to,
state, regional, tribal and local workforce agencies; state and local
workforce development boards; training providers; community and faith-
based organizations; workforce intermediaries; sector-based training
partnerships; American Job Centers; Registered Apprenticeship Programs;
and others.
Economic Development: including, but not limited to, state
and local agencies; regional skills partnerships; planning and
development organizations; area development districts; councils of
government; economic development associations; and economic development
corporations.
Worker/Employee Representation: Unions, labor-management
partnerships, worker centers, and organizations that represent or serve
workers, including workers from communities that have historically been
marginalized or underserved, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and
Native American persons; Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and
other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with
disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; opportunity youth;
individuals previously incarcerated; immigrant workers; women;
farmworkers; and veterans.
Other: including, but not limited to, philanthropic
funders, advocacy organizations, think tanks, professional/industry
associations, and others.
These organizations may submit individual responses or may choose
to convene their active sector partnership for a coordinated response.
Additionally, DOL has identified next to each Topic Area which
responders may be most interested in that Topic Area, but these are
suggestions and are not meant to limit any interested party from
responding.
Questions for Input
This RFI is an initial step in improving DOL's understanding of
goals, interests, concerns, challenges, best practices and promising
practices, and policy, program, and resource needs of local and
regional economic development areas, with respect to sector strategies.
This RFI is a general solicitation for public input, which sets forth
topics for discussion and comment. Specific questions to which
responses are requested for each topic area are listed below.
Respondents may provide input regarding any one, several, or all of the
topic areas and may address any one several, or all of the questions.
These questions may also be considered prompts for additional input and
DOL welcomes any additional relevant information that respondents wish
to share, even if not the specific topic of a question.
Topic Area 1: Definitions (Many Stakeholders May Be Interested in
Responding)
1a. How do you define a sector?
1b. How do you define a sector strategy?
1c. Would sector partnerships benefit from the development of a
consensus for other common definitions or key program components? What
other consensus-driven common definitions have been developed by sector
partnerships?
Topic Area 2: Partnership Roles and Requirements (Employers, Education,
Workforce Development, Worker/Employee Representation, and Economic
Development Stakeholders May Be Interested in Responding)
2a. Who are the local and regional partners necessary to support an
effective regional sector partnership?
2b. Which entities are best positioned to lead the sector
partnership? Does this vary by geographic or industry scope of the
partnership? If so, why?
2c. What degree of industry representation is needed to ensure that
the sector partnership is developing a strategy that is broadly
responsive to industry need within a given region or locality?
2d. What degree of worker/employee representation is needed to
ensure that the sector partnership is developing a strategy that
centers and advances equity and worker voice?
2e. What strategies have you employed to recruit key partners to be
part of sector partnerships?
2f. What key ingredients must be present for a sector partnership
to successfully launch?
2g. What key ingredients must be present for a sector partnership
to be effectively sustained?
2h. Are there strategies or incentives that are most beneficial in
ensuring partners are effectively engaged at various stages of the
partnership?
2i. What does a fully engaged partner look like?
2j. To what extent do successful sector strategies align their
efforts with partners who have broader reach and purview (e.g., State-
level entities, national employers, etc.)? If so, how do sector
partnerships cultivate such relationships?
2k. What specific role should the public workforce system play in
developing, expanding, and sustaining sector partnerships?
[[Page 4035]]
Topic Area 3: Promising Practices for Employer Engagement and Workforce
Development (Employers, Workforce Development, Worker/Employee
Representation, and Other Stakeholders May Be Interested in Responding)
3a. Are there factors that contribute to sector-based strategies
being more effective in some specific sectors than others?
3b. How are sector strategies targeting industries/occupations?
What resources/tools are sector partnerships using to target specific
occupations?
3c. How are sector partnerships implementing evidence-based models
for training, such as Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs)? Are
partnerships leveraging existing RAPs and/or developing new RAP
pathways?
3d. Are there promising sector strategy models that promote job
quality and/or demonstrate improvement in the quality of jobs within an
industry or sector (e.g., flexible hours, family-sustaining wages, good
benefits, active inclusion of worker voice)?
3e. How are sector strategies recruiting workers for training
opportunities developed through sector partnerships? Are there examples
of effective recruitment of workers who are under-represented in the
industry or occupation, including workers from communities that have
been historically marginalized or underserved?
3f. How have sector strategies built in pathways for new entrants
to the workforce, particularly youth? Are specific career and technical
education strategies being used to support the transition from
secondary to post-secondary education and training models? If so, are
there specific challenges to this approach? Are there unique partners
that must be included?
3g. How have sector strategies supported employee retention and
career advancement? Are there particular approaches that have
demonstrated improvement in these areas?
3h. What other kinds of non-training services are sector strategies
delivering? How do those services support the overarching goals of the
sector strategy? Have sector strategies improved supportive service
delivery to workers?
3i. How have your sector strategy efforts been informed by the
evidence base on sector strategies?
3j. What evidence or research do you have that these sector
strategies lead to employment in high-quality jobs (i.e., those with
career progression and family-sustaining wages, worker representation
and voice, a safe work environment, and benefits)?
3k. What evidence, research, or models have shown that sector
strategies result in higher wages and/or wage growth for low-wage
occupations within their respective industry?
3l. Are there additional questions that you think need to be
addressed by future research on sector strategies?
3m. What promising approaches are sector strategies using to
prepare workers for employment in the targeted sector or occupation?
Might these approaches differ based on the industry? Are there specific
success factors that are most important?
3n. Are there working definitions and specific promising practices
that differentiate between types of sector strategies?
3o. How have sector partnerships affected the ways in which
employer partners manage their recruitment and hiring practices, such
as through the assessments they use or approaches to skill-based
hiring?
Topic Area 4: Promising Practices for Worker-Centered Sector Strategies
(Employers, Education, Workforce Development, Economic Development, and
Worker/Employee Representation Stakeholders May Be Interested in
Responding)
4a. What sector strategies are effective in promoting worker voice
and worker-centered workforce development (e.g., training design,
supportive service delivery, workforce decision making processes, and
ongoing professional development and career growth opportunities)?
4b. Are there specific practices or requirements for worker-
centered sector strategies to be effective, e.g., High Road Training
Partnerships' use of employer standards?
4c. What are the biggest challenges to engaging workers to support
workforce development through a worker-centered model? What are
effective ways of addressing these challenges?
4d. Are there key strategies to use when developing a worker-
centered sector strategy in the absence of a worker or labor-management
organization partner in the geographic region or industry focus?
4e. Are there specific industries or sectors where a worker-
centered sector strategy has been more effective? If so, why?
Topic Area 5: Resources (Employers, Education, Workforce Development,
Economic Development, and Other Stakeholders May Be Interested in
Responding)
5a. What financial resources are already broadly available within
the targeted region to support the sector strategy--e.g., Pell grants
for education/training, WIOA state or local funds or other WIOA
resources, Registered Apprenticeship Program funding/incentives, state-
appropriated funding, or others?
5b. With the available financial resources, are there limitations
or challenges in terms of uses of such funds?
5c. Are there key areas of work where funding support is most
beneficial? Are these areas currently supported by existing funding
streams?
5d. What non-financial resources are necessary for an effective
sector strategy and are they available in your region?
5e. Do sector strategies require different levels of funding at
different points in the process? For example, during the initial phase
of start-up, is less funding necessary than at later points, or not
necessarily? What costs are most significant at various stages of
maturity? Is there a consistent level of administrative funding
necessary to support the sustained sector strategy model?
Topic Area 6: Federal Support for Sector Strategies
6a. Which ``critical'' industry sectors demonstrate the greatest
need for skilled workers in the next decade and could benefit from
additional Federal resources, and why?
6b. What types of funding and other supports--such as data or
technical assistance--would be helpful and in what form? Specifically,
are there roles the Department of Labor and other federal agencies
could play in supporting local or regional sector activity beyond
direct investment, including:
Bringing national industry and labor partners together to
engage in key sectors?
Leveraging federal data insights to assess targeted sector
needs?
Providing technical assistance and capacity building to
the field, including learning and exchange across sector-based efforts?
Specific flexibilities or resources to support regional
sector-based efforts at various stages?
6c. Have there been efforts already to align with, or leverage, the
recent Federal investments mentioned previously (e.g., BIL, IRA,
CHIPS)?
Topic Area 7: Advancing Equity (Many Stakeholders May Be Interested in
Responding)
7a. What are the most promising approaches to engage employers to
increase hiring and retention and
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improve employment outcomes for historically marginalized and
underrepresented populations, such as women, people of color,
individuals with disabilities, and other historically underrepresented
populations?
7b. What are effective sector-based strategies in addressing issues
of equity, including increasing representation of historically
marginalized populations within the identified sector(s) through
improved hiring, retention, and advancement in high-quality jobs?
7c. Should the targeted industry sector affect the strategies used
to increase equity?
7d. What are challenges to consider in addressing equity through a
sector strategy partnership?
7e. How have the inputs from historically marginalized and
underrepresented populations been taken into consideration when
designing a program to serve them? What are effective approaches for
soliciting input from marginalized and underrepresented populations?
Topic Area 8: Measuring Success (Employers, Education, Workforce
Development, Economic Development, and Other Stakeholders May Be
Interested in Responding)
8a. How would you define success within a sector strategy model?
8b. Are there specific measurements or milestones that would work
best to measure effective partnership development and maturity (i.e.,
systems change or capacity-building measures/milestones)? Are there
quantitative measures as well as qualitative ones?
8c. Would sector strategies benefit from the development of
consensus for outcomes to measure impact and effectiveness of sector
strategies or do unique sector strategy models and partnerships require
unique performance measures and milestones?
8d. Are there specific performance measures that would work best to
meaningfully assess the impact of a sector strategy on the participants
served by it? Are there qualitative measures as well as quantitative
ones?
8e. How long does it take to start achieving measurable outcomes?
Are there near-term (within 12 months) and long-term (beyond 12 months)
outputs and outcomes that can be identified to demonstrate change
effectively?
8f. Are you involved in any new program evaluations of a
potentially promising sector strategy model? Where can we learn more
about this new evidence being produced?
Topic Area 9: Local Needs Assessments and Capacity (Education,
Workforce Development, Economic Development, and Worker/Employee
Representation Stakeholders May Be Interested in Responding)
9a. If your regional area has not yet engaged in a sector strategy,
why not? Is there a regional plan for workforce development?
9b. Has your regional economic area undertaken a local needs
assessment to determine gaps between the supply of skilled workers and
hiring practices within identified in-demand industry sectors or
occupations? If so, what has this assessment revealed?
Topic Area 10: Evidence Use (Education, Workforce Development, Economic
Development, Worker/Employee Representation, and Other Stakeholders May
Be Interested in Responding)
10a. What evidence have you used to inform your thinking when
designing a new sector strategy partnership or program, or improving
your existing program?
10b. Where do you find your evidence?
10c. What is the hardest thing about using evidence in decision-
making about your program(s)?
Topic Area 11: Sustainability and Scalability (Many Stakeholders May Be
Interested in Responding)
11a. What are the biggest challenges to developing and sustaining
effective sector strategies? What are key factors influencing the
sustainability of a sector strategy and its partnerships (e.g.,
funding, partner engagement, changing labor market demands)? If ongoing
funding is needed to sustain a sector strategy, for which specific
activities is it needed?
11b.What are key factors for successfully scaling sector strategy
models at the local, regional, and national levels? For instance, does
it matter more what the sectors are, who the employers are, the
geographic and cultural context, or some combination of these?
11c. What are the key obstacles to successfully scaling sector
strategy models at the local, regional, and national levels? As with
the previous question, does it matter more what the sectors are, who
the employers are, the geographic and cultural context, or some
combination?
Topic Area 12: Necessary and Beneficial Technical Assistance Support
(Many Stakeholders May Be Interesting in Responding)
12a. What targeted technical assistance would be of most benefit in
supporting a sector strategy? What targeted technical assistance would
be of most benefit in supporting sector partnerships? What
organization(s) or type of organization(s) is best positioned to
provide this technical assistance?
12b. What DOL guidance could be helpful and what type of webinar
topics or virtual/in-person training would be beneficial for DOL to
provide?
Disclaimer and Important Note
This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), prize, or
any other type of solicitation; therefore, DOL is not accepting
applications at this time. DOL may issue a FOA or other solicitation in
the future based on or related to the content and responses to this
RFI; however, DOL may also elect not to issue a FOA or solicitation.
There is no guarantee that a FOA or solicitation will be issued as a
result of this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any
advantage or disadvantage to potential applicants if DOL chooses to
issue a FOA regarding the subject matter. This RFI does not constitute
a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. Your response to this
notice will be treated as information only. DOL will review and
consider all responses in its formulation of program strategies for the
identified materials of interest that are the subject of this request.
DOL will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to
this RFI.
Respondents are advised that DOL is under no obligation to
acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to
respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI.
Responses to this RFI do not bind DOL to any further actions related to
this topic.
Confidential Business Information: Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any
person submitting information that he or she believes to be
confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via
email two well-marked copies: One copy of the document marked
``confidential'' including all the information believed to be
confidential, and one copy of the document marked ``non-confidential''
with the information believed to be confidential deleted. Submit these
documents via email. DOL will make its own determination about the
confidential status of the information and treat it according to its
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determination. It is DOL's policy that all comments may be included in
the public docket, without change and as received, including any
personal information provided in the comments (except information
deemed to be exempt from public disclosure).
Brent Parton,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2023-01142 Filed 1-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P
