State Workforce Administrator interviews

INSTRUMENT 5
STATE ADMINISTRATOR INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

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INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 5

STATE ADMINISTRATOR INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
Introduction

Thank you for meeting with me today. As you know, Mathematica Policy Research—along
with its partners Social Policy Research Associates, Capitol Research Corporation, and the
George Washington University—is conducting the Institutional Analysis of American Job
Centers, or AJCs, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The study’s purpose is to
provide information that policymakers and administrators can use to accurately describe the full
range of institutional features that shape AJCs’ day-to-day operations and customer experiences.
As part of this national study, members of the study team are visiting 40 AJCs from around
the country, including . We will be speaking with a variety of AJC
staff and local workforce investment board (LWIB) staff, and conducting a network analysis
survey of each AJC’s partners.
In addition to these site visits, we are interviewing state workforce agency administrators,
including yourself, from each state in which there is a participating AJC. During this meeting, we
hope to learn about state-level priorities, policies, and activities that will contribute to our
understanding of the AJC system in your state and how it operates.
The sole purpose of this interview is to collect information to use to increase and deepen
understanding of the AJC system; it is not a monitoring effort. Everything that you say will be
kept strictly private within the study team. The study report will include a list of the AJCs and
their LWIBs and states included in the study, as well as a description of the method by which
AJCs and states were selected to participate in the study. All interview data, however, will be
reported in the aggregate and, in our reports, we will not otherwise identify a specific person,
AJC, partner agency, or state unless we are highlighting a promising practice.
This discussion should take about 60 minutes. Do you have any questions before we begin?
Do you consent to participating in this discussion?
[The research team will not ask all questions of all respondents. For example, some questions
pertain only to the work of certain partner agencies (such as the state agencies responsible for
administering the programs funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act,
Employment Services, and so on). Protocols will also be customized before interviews, based on
each respondent’s job duties and knowledge.]

Public burden statement. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control
number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to take 1 hour per respondent,
including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data
needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden
estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to
[mailing address for DOL Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration Management]. The OMB control
number for this project is ; expiration date .

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INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 5

I. State agency priorities related to AJC system

1. Please describe any statewide workforce development priorities or initiatives that affect
the way that AJCs are structured or deliver services. What is the goal of these initiatives
or priorities? What effect will these initiatives or priorities likely have on AJCs? Has the
state implemented any initiatives or changed practices or policies designed specifically
to enhance center administration and operations?
2. What are your agency’s overall goals and priorities for the AJC system?
II. Administrative structure, partnerships, and staffing

1. What guidance does your agency provide to [LWIBs and their] AJCs about the
administrative structure and operations of the AJCs in your state? For example, does your
agency provide any guidance about the procurement of AJC operators?
2. What guidance has the state provided to [LWIBs and their] AJCs regarding the
requirements for comprehensive centers? Does the state certify AJCs? If so, based on
what criteria?
3. In addition to your agency or division, what other state-level entities are involved in
setting policy or overseeing AJCs (Trade Adjustment Assistance, ES, Vocational
Rehabilitation, Unemployment Insurance (UI), and veterans staff)? How does your
agency coordinate with these partners on AJC-related issues at the state level? How does
the state-level organizational structure of these agencies facilitate or impede
coordination between partners?
4. What additional partners, if any, has your state designated as mandatory AJC partners
(beyond those designated in the WIOA legislation)? What was the reason for this
designation?
5. What guidance does your agency provide to [LWIBs and their] AJCs on coordination
with AJC partners? For example, have you provided guidance on required memorandums
of understanding (MOUs) or cost-sharing agreements?
6. What is the role of state-run programs, such as ES, in operating the AJCs when the AJC
is located in a state-owned building, as opposed to one that is not owned by the state?
7. Has your agency sought to improve communication and coordination between different
program staff and partner staff within AJCs and at the local level in specific ways? If so,
in what ways? Have you developed specific initiatives or procedures to foster
communication and coordination?
8. Does your agency have any policies regarding AJC staffing structure and deployment of
staff at AJCs? Does your agency have any policies regarding whether any staff from
different programs are colocated at AJCs? Does your agency have any policies
regarding the staffing of comprehensive versus satellite or affiliate centers?

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INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 5

9. Has the state implemented functional alignment for adult or dislocated workers at AJCs?
If not, why not? Which other programs, if any, are affected? How has this policy been
working? Have there been any challenges? How have these challenges been addressed?
10. What role does your staff play at AJCs? Do they ever serve as AJC managers? Why or
why not (for example, does this depend on whether the agency is the owner or
leaseholder of the AJC space)?
III. Management and performance

1. Are there any efforts in your state to monitor or assess the overall performance of the
AJC? If so, what types of performance information, if any, are collected about AJCs as a
whole—across partners and programs? What happens when an AJC performs poorly on
these measures or fails to meet performance goals?
2. What management information system(s) do you use to monitor and manage AJC
performance information/data? To what extent do different partners or programs use this
system or these systems, or do they use their own program- or partner-specific ones?
How, if at all, do multiple systems interface?
3. What types of reports are produced to help monitor AJC performance? What information
do they provide?
4. What, if any, performance data would you like to be collected that are not currently?
IV. Funding and resource-sharing

1. What sources of funds does your agency use to support AJC infrastructure, management
and administration, and service delivery (such as WIOA formula funding, WagnerPeyser, UI, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, federal competitive grants, state
or local funds or grants, or foundation grants or funds from other private entities)? What
is the relative share of each of these sources of funding?
2. To what extent does your agency dictate how [LWIBs and their] AJCs should use these
funds? For example, policies—explicit or implicit—on using funds to provide core or
universal, intensive, and training services?
3. What guidance does your agency provide regarding cost-sharing for AJC operations
among AJC partners? For example, are [LWIBs and their] AJCs required or prohibited
to share the costs of certain activities?
4. What is your agency’s role in setting up and/or administering cost-sharing agreements?
Does this vary depending on whether your agency is the owner or leaseholder of the
AJC space?
5. Has your agency experienced any significant changes in funding in the past three years
that have affected AJC operations? What has been the effect on AJCs?

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INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 5

V. Service delivery

1. Does your agency have any policies regarding the location (such as a stand-alone
building, storefront, and so on), layout, or other physical characteristics of AJCs? About
AJC hours of operation? About whether there is dedicated space for employer activities?
2. Does your agency provide guidance regarding how AJC services should be marketed?
Does the state have a brand that is displayed on marketing materials for its AJCs? If not,
does the state encourage individual AJCs to develop and market as their own brand? To
what extent do AJCs have flexibility in designing outreach materials and other
strategies?
3. What guidance does your agency provide regarding services delivered through AJCs? Do
you provide guidance about pathways for customers participating in certain programs or
with partners? Center intake and enrollment or eligibility?
4. What tools and resources developed by your agency at the state level are available to AJC
customers? What electronic tools and resources do you require AJC staff to use or to
encourage customers to use? For example, is there an online interface that customers
can log into for resources? Does the system customize for each customer?
5. What guidance does your agency provide to [LWIBs and their] AJCs about how to provide
services? Core or universal services? Assessments? Workshops? Intensive services? Case
management or counseling? Placement services? Supportive services? Training? Followup services? Services to employers?
6. What, if any, technical assistance does the state provide to [LWIBs and their] AJCs?

5.6