Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Injury list grows with opener nearing for Browns
Browns take hit on offensive line
Indians' top pick excels on field
McCain surprises, picks Alaska governor as running mate
High school schedule and results
Filling in for Martinez, Shoppach provides pop
Blogs:
Akron Law Café:
A Woman in the White House
The Heldenfiles:
"Opportunity Knocks" for Canton Family (Updated)
Patrick McManamon:
The Browns conclude preseason 0-4
Browns Bulletin:
Cliffs Notes: Bears vs Browns Review
Cleveland Browns:
Browns v. Lions: Fourth Quarter
Cleveland Indians:
Ten for ten. Playoffs possible?
Akron Aeros:
Aeros clinch wild card, celebrate
Akron Zips:
Zips top No. 3 Notre Dame
Varsity Letters:
Area girls have eyes on soccer titles
Kent State Sports:
Kent State versus Boston College Preview
The Sports Mix:
Ohio State Buckeyes - BTN and TW Reach a Deal
Ohio Politics:
Ad Watch: Flashback to 2006, Stevens and Palin
All Da King's Men:
McCain Selects Sarah Palin For Vice President
Blog of Mass Destruction:
McCain's Faulty Judgment On Display With Palin Pick
HRLite House:
Friday HR Fun Thought - Couch-surfing
Akrocentric:
"Sunflower," a poem by Frank Steele
Akron Gamer:
A look at Madden NFL 09, pt. 2: Gameplay
BokBluster:
Barackopolis
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Connie asks about hotels and resorts near the lake.
Sound Check:
LeRoi Moore, Dave Matthews Band saxophonist dies
Tia's Trends:
Light at the end of the Tunnel?
The machinery for aiding displaced workers grinds inefficiently in Ohio
Published on Wednesday, Feb 13, 2008
Unfortunately, the worker training services in Ohio are not up to the challenge. A study by Policy Matters Ohio released this month found several shortcomings in the state's management of resources from the federal Workforce Investment Act. There's no excuse for the weakness of the program. The need for worker services is much recognized and urgent.
Ted Strickland understands the urgency to improve the services. As a candidate for governor, he cited Ohio ranking next to last among the states in its use of federal WIA resources, spending 59 percent of federal allocations for work force training. The new report identified more weaknesses.
Ohio carries over large balances from year to year, particularly in Rapid Response funds, used to provide information and services to workers notified of layoffs. In the 2006-07 program year, the state spent a mere $10.5 million of the $29 million available.
Ohio serves far fewer workers than states with smaller populations, and Rapid Response is not standardized across the state. Further, there's poor coordination between the federal and state work force programs. Between 2003 and 2006, the number of workers referred from the state re-employment program to the federal training and education program dropped from 1,400 to fewer than 100.
To its credit, the Strickland team has made improvements the past year. Ohio needs every dollar it can muster to train new as well as dislocated workers. Under a new federal law, the state could lose work force funds it does not spend. The Policy Matters Ohio study serves well in pointing out how Ohio can serve its workers more effectively.
Get the full article here.
