1. Opportunities for Transitioning Adult Education Students into Virginia’s Community College System
Program Managers Meeting
October 5, 2016
Jim André
Workforce Development Services, VCCS

2. VCCS’s Mission Statement
We give everyone the opportunity to learn and develop the right skills so lives and communities are strengthened.

3. Title II of WIOA
It is the purpose of this title to create a partnership among the Federal Government, States, and localities to provide, on a voluntary basis, adult education and literacy activities, in order to—
(1) assist adults to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and economic self sufficiency;
(2) assist adults who are parents or family members to obtain the education and skills that—
(A) are necessary to becoming full partners in the educational development of their children; and
(B) lead to sustainable improvements in the economic opportunities for their family;

4. Title II of WIOA
(3) assist adults in attaining a secondary school diploma and in the transition to postsecondary education and training, including through career pathways; and
(4) assist immigrants and other individuals who are English language learners in—
improving their—
reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension skills in English; and
(ii) mathematics skills; and
(B) acquiring an understanding of the American system of Government, individual freedom, and the responsibilities of citizenship.

5. VCCS Strategic Plan: Complete 2021
One Goal: Tripling the number of credentials that our students earn  
Objectives:
Connection - applications
Entry - enrollments
Progression - retention
Completion - credentials
Affordability and Sustainability - funding

6. Workforce Development IS Economic Development
Job market change is outpacing education models.
Employers need specific skills that can evolve.
One-quarter of U.S. workers require a state license to do their job, a five-fold increase since the 1950’s.
1.5 million Virginia jobs need to be filled by 2022.
50% - 60% will require more than a high school diploma but less than a degree.

7. Solving the 1:2:7 Challenge

8. America’s Divided Recovery: College Have and Have-Nots
A 2016 report from Georgetown University, Center on Education and the Workforce
“The economy has added 11.6 million jobs since the recession bottomed out –11.5 million, or 99% of them, have gone to workers with at least some college education.”

9. America’s Divided Recovery: College Have and Have-Nots, cont’d
A 2016 report from Georgetown University, Center on Education and the Workforce
“Of the 7.2 million jobs lost in the recession, 5.6 million were jobs for workers with a high school diploma or less. These workers have recovered only 1% of those job losses over the past six years. This group also saw no growth among well-paying jobs with benefits.”

10. Today’s Topics
Transitional Programs for Underserved Adults and Out-of-School Youth
New Workforce Development Opportunities: WCG, RVHI, FANTIC

11. Access by Underserved Populations
Minorities First Generation College Financial Aid Foster Care Transportation Low educational attainment Child Care Poverty
Overcoming Barriers

12. Transitioning: A Two-prong Approach
Transition Programs
Coaching
Integrated Education and Training

13. Coaching in Workforce Programs
Career Coaching
Preparing students with barriers for credential attainment and entry into employment leading to family sustaining wages
Student Success
Ensuring students’ academic success by increasing their persistence and performance outcomes

14. Life & Employability Skills
Career Coaching Model
Career Coaching
“With” the student
Barrier Removal
Life & Employability Skills
Career Planning

15. Career Planning Career Planning involves…
Assessment (skills, interest, values, etc.)
Career exploration
Decision making and goal setting
Ongoing review and revision

16. Career Coaching Programs
High School Career Coaches
In every school system
Adult Career Coaches
Go by many names
May be located in student services, career services, student success centers, or workforce development
Movement toward uniform, systemic delivery of services

17. Career Coaching Programs, cont’d
Rural Virginia Horseshoe Initiative
eleVAte SNAP E&T
Job Driven National Emergency Grant
Virginia Financial Success Network
On Ramp
TANF
PluggedInVA

18. Spotlight: Rural Virginia Horseshoe Initiative

19. Rural Virginia Horseshoe Initiative: Ten-year Goals
Reduce by 50% the number of Horseshoe residents who lack a high school diploma or its equivalence (from nearly 1 in 5 to 1 in 10)
Double the number of residents in the Horseshoe with an associate’s degree or other college certification from 26% to 53%

20. Rural Virginia Horseshoe Initiative: Strategies
Full time high school coaches
Career coaching
Parent outreach
Experiential learning
Summer melt and postsecondary transition
GED Incentives
Incentivize adults without a high school diploma to return to postsecondary training or education
Under construction

21. Success Coaching Combines career coaching with retention strategies
Focuses on student persistence and success
Identifies underserved populations and provides intrusive coaching

22. Elements of Success Coaching
Alert/kudos system (SAILS)
Financial Aid
Supportive Services/Overcoming Barriers
Career Planning
Summer Melt
Transfer assistance (four-year)
Mentoring and Life Skills
Tutoring
Student Leadership Programs

23. Spotlight: Great Expectations
Served over 3,000 foster youth at 18 community colleges since 2008
In 2016, 1,325 current and former participants served
99 credentials awarded in 2016 – a record number!
Goal of serving 50% of identified need

24. College Success Coach Initiative
At the 9 smallest community colleges in Virginia
Targets “underserved population”
Served over 3,000 students since it began in 2012
Achieved a 10% increase in retention and credential attainment
Has a three-year ROI over $3 million dollars

25. Career Pathways and Transitional Programs

26. PluggedInVA
Career pathways bridge program that moves low skilled adults and out-of-school youth through secondary completion and postsecondary training for work readiness in a targeted industry.
Components:
Accelerated learning • Career coaching
Contextualized basic skills • Experiential learning
Employability & soft skills • Employer partner
Industry recognized credential • GED or HS equivalence
Digital literacy certification • Cohort structure
Career readiness certification • Multiple levels

27. Regional Industry Need
PluggedInVA
Regional Industry Need
Coaching
College & Career Planning
Virginia Wizard
Support Services
Experiential Learning
Job Readiness & Placement

28. PluggedInVA Programs at Community Colleges
Middle College
Out-of-school youth, age years
New initiative underway targeting minority youths and ELLs in Richmond area
SNAP E&T
DSS collaboration serving SNAP recipients
TANF
DSS collaboration serving TANF recipients
ATB Guidance and Support for PlVA

29. New Workforce Development Opportunities

30. New Economy Workforce Credentials Grant (WCG)
Virginia now joins 19 other states in investing state general funds into workforce training and credentialing. Program is designed to put an additional 10,000 high-demand credentials into the workforce in the next 2 years. Examples: Welders, electricians, pharmacy technicians, medical records technicians and coders, computer network specialists, digital security specialists, industrial machinery mechanics, phlebotomists, emergency medical technicians, commercial truck drivers.

31. New Economy Workforce Credentials Grant (WCG)
“This program establishes a first-in-the-nation performance funding formula to create and sustain a supply of credentialed workers who meet the needs identified by our business leaders.” - Governor McAuliffe

32. New Economy Workforce Credentials Grant (WCG)
Create and sustain demand-driven supply of credentialed workers in high-demand occupations
Expand affordability of workforce training and credentialing
Increase the interest of current and future Virginians in middle-skill occupations
Target: SKILLS GAP
Target: AFFORDABILITY GAP
Target: INTEREST GAP

33. Workforce Credentials Grant: How it Works
1) The eligible student pays 1/3 of the cost of the noncredit workforce training program
2) Upon completion of the workforce training program, college receives 1/3 from SCHEV
3) Upon receiving an industry-recognized credential, college receives final 1/3 from SCHEV
Cap of $3,000 by the state, per credential
Permits soft skills as part of credential training, but not primary
Permits student to use financial aid or other funds to cover their 1/3

34. Workforce Credentials Grant: Status
On July 1, 124 different credential programs, in 7 industry areas, available at all 23 community colleges, became eligible: \

35. FAQ’s Can funds be used for any non-credit program?
No, the program must be on the in-demand credential list for the college
Can funds be used for credit programs? No
Can students apply for more than one grant?
Yes
Can students use WIOA, Rural Virginia Horseshoe Initiative, FANTIC or other funds to pay for their 1/3?

36. FANTIC
Financial Aid for Non-credit Training leading to an Industry Credential
How will the award be distributed to the student?
A student award shall be used only for an approved WCG credential program and related testing
Award amounts are to be based solely on institutional charges to the student (i.e., indirect costs – costs not charged to the student account, such personal expenses, transportation, or child care – cannot be funded)
Award amounts may be set as a percentage of total costs or a tiered-award amount and must be based on either income level or a percent of poverty; Individual award amounts should take into consideration each student’s financial circumstances ensuring that students demonstrating greater need – those with lower adjusted gross income (AGI) or income as a percent of poverty level – receive larger awards than students with less need
Institutions may set annual maximum awards per student and/or expenditures per program
5/27/2016

37. Criteria Must be for WCG approved credential
Institutional charges (tuition, materials, testing, etc.) to student only.
Based on income levels and % of poverty
How will the award be distributed to the student?
A student award shall be used only for an approved WCG credential program and related testing
Award amounts are to be based solely on institutional charges to the student (i.e., indirect costs – costs not charged to the student account, such personal expenses, transportation, or child care – cannot be funded)
Award amounts may be set as a percentage of total costs or a tiered-award amount and must be based on either income level or a percent of poverty; Individual award amounts should take into consideration each student’s financial circumstances ensuring that students demonstrating greater need – those with lower adjusted gross income (AGI) or income as a percent of poverty level – receive larger awards than students with less need
Institutions may set annual maximum awards per student and/or expenditures per program
5/27/2016

38. Criteria, cont’d Award can be reduced if course not completed
No additional awards if student fails to complete course successfully
10% of total college allocations must be paid by student
If a student does not complete the program, the award may be reduced in accordance with the institution’s tuition refund policy
A student who fails to successfully complete a funded program of study is ineligible for additional awards, subject to an appeal to the institution for unusual or mitigating circumstances
If a student fails to pass the credential testing, then the student is to pay for additional testing
10% of total college allocations must be paid by the student 
5/27/2016

39. FANTIC Eligibility Requirements
U.S. Citizen
Domiciled in Virginia
Completed HS or no longer of age to attend HS
Compliance with selective service
US citizen – will provide link to guidelines
Domiciled – we are working with SCHEV to come up with guidelines
Completed HS or beyond the age of secondary school attendance (need proof of age)
Compliance with selective service registration requirements. Will provide a link to verify compliance.
5/27/2016

40. Eligibility Requirements, cont’d
Not enrolled in Assoc. or Bachelor program (unless noncredit is related to such program)
Submit application (to be designed by college)
Enrolled in eligible noncredit program
Not receiving other form of training tuition assistance
Not be currently enrolled in an associate or bachelor’s degree program, unless the noncredit program provides training related to the degree program and is necessary to meet a job requirement or advance student’s employment success
Have submitted a complete application packet designed by the college for this program; Used to better identify eligibility requirements.
We can share the applications designed by colleges who participated in the pilot to capture essential information from the student to help determine eligibility.
Be accepted and enrolled in an eligible training program at the community college;
Be ineligible if receiving other forms of tuition or training assistance. - i.e. employer assistance, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment Training (SNAPET), Virginia  Initiative for Employment Not Welfare (VIEW), Virginia’s work program for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, federal or state financial aid, etc. - for the noncredit course to which the industry based credential (IBC) funds are applied; and
5/27/2016

41. Financial Need Proof of TANF or SNAP eligibility
Income at 200% or below national poverty level or
Income at 300% or below where average living wage is above statewide average
Proof of TANF or SNAP eligibility
Demonstrating that the student, or the dependent student’s parent, has a household adjusted gross income that is 200% or below that of the national federal poverty level,
or 300% or below the federal poverty level (See Appendix A) for localities whose average living wage is above the Virginia statewide average. (The statewide average living wage for a household of one individual is $25, ) Verify that the average living wage for a locality is below the state’s average living wage. This can be done for any size household. Proof can be documented by the Living Wage Calculator ( by providing one of the following:
(For annual wage, take hourly rate from living wage calculator times 2,080 hours. )
Federal poverty guidelines to be provided in guidelines to be sent out.
5/27/2016

42. Proof of Income Recent tax transcript from IRS W2 Wage stubs
Letter of appeal
Most recent copy of Tax Transcript for IRS;
As obtained from or, if unavailable, satisfactory proof of prior year income, such as wage stubs or W2 forms.
Letter of Appeal: If the student’s financial situation has changed within the last year, a letter of appeal may be submitted to the institution to consider the current financial status;
The institution will determine the required documentation, which may include recent pay stubs, proof of job change, bank statements, etc. The college must maintain a record of the appeal including supporting documentation and written justification for the decision to provide funding or to the decision to deny the appeal.
5/27/2016

43. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today!
Questions?
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today!
Jim, ,
Jim André