State fails to meet goals for job training programs

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Nearly $17 million in federal money for job training programs in Hawai'i is sitting idle despite the sluggish pace of the local economy, which could worsen during the war with Iraq.

Naneth Delan of Kailua searches for a job at the O'ahu Work Links center. Delan has taken advantage of some of the center's services, which include free basic computer courses and help with job searches and résumé writing. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The unspent money represents about 31 percent of all money earmarked for workforce development efforts statewide since 2000 under what's called the Workforce Investment Act. That act revamped the way the government spends money to train at-risk-youths, older adults as well as workers who lose their jobs.

Critics contend that Hawai'i is not taking full advantage of the act, and that the state hasn't been aggressive enough in pursuing other federal job training money. As a result, there's a disconnect between businesses and job seekers, said Mike Fitzgerald, president and chief executive of Enterprise Honolulu.

"There is a real gap between workforce programs and employers trying to access those programs — between people looking for jobs and companies looking for people," he said.

State government officials acknowledge falling short of the federal goal of spending at least 85 percent of Workforce Investment Act money. As of the end of 2002, the most recent period under which figures are available, the state spent 69 percent of these funds. However, state labor officials maintain that rigid regulations make it difficult for people to qualify for training programs, which results in unspent funds.

"The federal government is after us every month to see that we're meeting that" goal, said Elaine Young, administrator for the workforce development division of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

The state appears to be doing better, though the amount of unspent money is still rising. As of Sept. 13 Hawai'i spent 66.5 percent of all Workforce Investment Act money leaving $11.04 million unspent.

Young said some of that money is being purposely saved for future operations in case federal government funding drops sharply. The state is still capable of handling the needs of any workers losing their jobs because of war, she said.

Hawai'i isn't alone in under spending such money. Nationwide about $1.7 billion in federal grant money for job training programs and services is sitting unused. Hawai'i ranked 29th among the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico in spending such money, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

There are complaints about how workforce development money is spent as states wrestle with the boundaries of what's allowable under federal regulations, said Bill Tracy, a senior policy fellow at The Heldrich Center For Workforce Development in New Brunswick, N.J.

"Those are common concerns you get from the business community," he said.

Still, some states have taken more innovative approaches to address the employment needs of businesses, Tracy said. Under the Workforce Investment Act, states can set aside 15 percent of their money for more discretionary programs, with the approval of their governor.

Certain states have used this money to:

• Provide classes to upgrade the skills of workers already employed.
• Pay for customized computer training in high schools.
• Start apprenticeship training for youths.
• Hold summer youth programs.
• Train high-school dropouts in a military setting.
• And provide jobs for high-school graduates.

In Hawai'i that 15 percent equates to nearly $2.2 million this year, some of which is directed toward performance awards for local workforce boards, program evaluation and technical assistance to county workforce development groups among other things. The rest is spent on optional activities such as training for incumbent workers, low-income youth and hard-to-employ adults, according to the Department of Labor.

Federal goals unmet

Sen. Carol Fukunaga, D-11th (Makiki, Pawa'a), said the state could do a better job of spending the nearly $104 million in total workforce development money allocated to various state and federal programs. This money finances a variety of programs run by government agencies including the Labor Department, the Department of Education and the Department of Public Safety among others.

The state needs a strategic plan governing its myriad of workforce development programs to ensure that Hawai'i's workers are being trained for the technology and knowledge-based jobs of the future, Fukunaga said. A group of business and government officials called the Workforce Development Council already is tasked with that job.

However, Fukunaga is pushing a bill through the Legislature that would place more emphasis on that council and the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to develop and monitor a statewide workforce development plan.

"We think that (the effort) needs a legislative bump to get everybody online with all the data they're collecting," Fukunaga said. "We're quite astounded to see that despite all this money, we're having a very hard time discovering what we're doing with it."

The barometer officials now have show mixed results for statewide workforce development efforts, at least with regard to Workforce Investment Act money. During the program year ended in mid-2002, the state did not meet federal goals for getting laid-off workers jobs and for providing people age 19 to 21 with certifiable skills.

The Labor Department's Young blamed problems concerning youth training on poor paperwork and a failure by some state training providers to award students credentials. The department is working to fix both issues, she said.

The state did exceed goals for improving the wages of laid-off workers placed back into the workforce. However, job placement and retention rates were no higher for those who received job training, despite training costs of between $1,410 and $2,103 for each person involved in Workforce Investment Act training.

Services available

State workforce development efforts also appear to be failing to gain credibility among businesses according to one key measure: Use of a network of state job centers to find employees. For example, a statewide job database available to job seekers at O'ahu Work Links typically lists only 500 to 1,000 job openings statewide, which is considered small for a state with a workforce of 575,000 people. Employers can list jobs and seek applicants through the state's job database and receive other labor services free of charge.

Chris McColgan, chairwoman of the O'ahu Workforce Investment Board which oversees O'ahu Work Links, said officials would like to have more businesses using the centers, which also provide customized training and skills assessment for businesses. During the past nine months the board has increased outreach efforts with businesses, she said.

"Many employers don't know about the services that we have available and there's always the perception that government is hard to work with, which is something we are trying to change," McColgan said.

Specific training programs are available at no cost only to certain types of workers, such as youths or those who have lost jobs. But other services such as basic computer courses and help with job searches and résumé writing are available to anyone free of charge.

Those services are helping the job search of Naneth Delan, a former administrative assistant in the Philippines now living in Kailua.

After her last job interview, "I called them and they said call today," she said. "I called today and they said call tomorrow, so I rushed back here to keep looking."

Nelson Befitel, director for the Department of Labor & Industrial Relations, said the state is using surveys to determine why more businesses don't turn to the center for workforce needs.

"Obviously this is important to this administration," he said. "We need to find out their needs and why they haven't been using the services."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8093.