WITSA Awards Program
Nomination Response Forms
YOUR NOMINEE(S):America's Job Link Alliance - www.kansasjoblink.com
State Workforce Agency: The Kansas Department of Human Resources as lead state for the America's Job Link Alliance. Other members include: the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the Vermont Department of Employment and Training, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, the Missouri Departments of Labor and Industrial Relations and Economic Development, the New Mexico Department of Labor, and the Nebraska Department of Labor. State Contact: William Sanders
Title: Chief Information Officer
Street Address: 401 SW Topeka Blvd., Topeka, KS 66603 Telephone: 785-296-5075
E-mail: [email protected]
REASONS FOR NOMINATION (please justify why you think your candidate is qualified): The America's Job Link Alliance is worthy of the WITSA Global IT Excellence Award for 2001 because it is an innovative approach to help state workforce development agencies with limited project budgets achieve greater success jointly. By working together, these states are able to implement tested state-of-the-art workforce systems, customized to meet each state's specific and customers’ needs, and to get them implemented in a fraction of the time and cost it would take them to implement an independently developed system.
The interactive web site www.kansasjoblink.com effectively serves employers seeking qualifies workers and job seekers looking for their first or next job, and provides for case management, tracking, and reporting. Other states are implementing similar systems and interactive websites based on the source code developed, updated, and enhanced through this innovative partnership. The America's Job Link Alliance has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor and awarded the JETT*CON Showcase Award for System Building Tools: Technology@Work, confirmation of the Alliance's innovative approach and the USDOL's appreciation for the effort to collaborate across state lines to improve the quality of customer services, and save time and money in government operations.
SUPPORTING INFORMATION: Please send any supporting information to the address above, including information from candidate (i.e. excerpt from program description, web site print-out, press release, etc.)
The America's Job Link Alliance was borne of a situation where the needs of internal and external customers far outweighed available resources. The federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) was requiring states to provide case management and customer tracking systems that would
communicate across agency lines. Meanwhile, internal and external customers were requiring a solution that allowed a no-wrong-door approach to customer service. Employers needed effective and efficient methods to find qualified workers and job seekers needed effective and efficient methods to find their first or next job.
Kansas' original goal was simply to implement a federally compliant workforce development one-stop operating system and to have it operational as quickly as possible at the lowest cost. In doing their evaluation of systems available nationally, they determined that the Ohio Works system already developed and in use by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services could meet most of their needs if some additional work were done to revise and enhance it. Kansas Department of Human Resources officials approached Ohio agency leaders about the possibility of receiving the development code so the system could be enhanced and implemented in Kansas. Ohio generously agreed. Once Kansas was able to enhance, update, and implement the system to rave customer reviews in only four months for $2.3 million, they realized the tremendous gains that could be realized from such a collaborative relationship. In November 2000 the America's Job Link
Alliance was born when the Kansas Department of Human Resources and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services formalized their Alliance by signing a Memorandum of Understanding. Since that time, five additional states have joined the Alliance, recognizing the value and cost savings to be gained. Now seven states are committed to sharing development efforts reducing the costs, risk and implementation time of systems development efforts.
The America's Job Link Alliance software developed and enhanced by Accenture is designed to improve the user experience for internal and external customers alike, including job seekers, employers, state/local staff and Workforce Investment Boards, partners and training providers. The program runs on Intel based Compaq Proliant servers using Windows NT 4.0 as the operating system, Microsoft IIS as the web server. ColdFusion 4.5 as the web application and Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 as the database. The application uses SSL to provide a secure connection between the local host and the application and database to protect sensitive information.
Accenture worked directly with subject matter experts from several divisions of state government and other agencies to insure the product would meet the needs of the Kansas Workforce
Development system. By using a single development environment and two distinct testing environments, the combined development team was able to rapidly move from initial concept to full deployment in minimum time.
From start to finish, the process to deploy the system took less than eight months. Over 2000 specific changes or enhancements were made during this time frame. Additionally, while the original beta release of the self service product for job seekers and employers was made on
September 15, 2000, by the end of the initial development and deployment phase on December 31, 2000, not only had the final release of both the self service and case management application been accomplished, we had advanced to release 2.5 of the self service application.
The application was developed and enhanced using rapid development methodologies including the extensive use of joint application development sessions where all potential users of the system provided significant input into the design of the application and data collection requirements. Validation of system changes and enhancements were accomplished using developer testing, system testing and regression testing methodologies to insure we minimized any potential user difficulties.
The Basic Service:
The America's Job Link Alliance is an innovative approach to systems building that is redefining how states resolve their system building needs. The America's Job Link Alliance is an alliance of state workforce agencies created to maximize their return on investments in information systems and to help them achieve the highest level of success in the workforce development strategies and business practices that surround the design, implementation, operation, management and
improvement of those systems.
The America's Job Link Alliance members are committed to teaming together to jointly develop a core set of modules and technology features and adapt and improve them to meet their individual needs; in turn sharing those improvements with other members for their consideration. In addition to the system development, the Alliance plans to go far beyond a traditional consortium in that they plan to continue the cooperative relationship past the development efforts to ensure the most
effective strategies and business practices that surround the implementation, operation, management and improvement of those systems once they are in place. Each America's
Job Link Alliance member state agrees to share in the following areas: Technology development, best practices, marketing, training and purchasing.
Outstanding Accomplishments/Successes:
The America's Job Link Alliance accomplishments can be measured in breadth and depth. The Alliance has grown in breadth to include seven states since the original Alliance Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Kansas and Ohio in November of 2000. The core Workforce Investment Act compliant system developed by Accenture and Ohio has been enhanced and
customized and implemented in Kansas as the Kansas Job Link system with the help of Accenture. The Nebraska Department of Labor, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, and the Vermont Department of Employment and Training are in the process of planning and/or
implementing their own state specific versions of the Kansas Job Link System. Other states are currently evaluating to see how the available modules might fit into their business plans.
The depth of the America's Job Link Alliance can be measured in the reduction of time, cost and risk to implement the Alliance system. The Kansas Department of Human Resources was able to implement their fully federally compliant workforce development system in four months for an investment of just over $2 million. While that is still a significant investment, the time-savings
realized are likely unequalled considering the scope and breadth of the project. Equally as important is the risk reduction that was also accomplished. The Kansas Department of Human Resources was able to enhance and implement a system that was already in operation in Ohio. In addition, they benefited from working with a vendor (Accenture) who had previously successfully installed the system.
Job Seekers and Case Managers - The America's Job Link systems are designed to serve as the backbone of states' network of one-stop centers. The systems are capable of linking multiple state agencies and 70 federally funded workforce programs. The America's Job Link system allows job seekers to come to a one-stop center, interact with any agency's case manager, and receive services. Job seekers can also use any PC to search for jobs or post resumes. Adopted in whole, as in
Kansas, the America's Job Link system allows case managers to view pertinent information on a client without having to move from one agency system to another.
Employers and Job Seekers - The America's Job Link system is the tool job seekers can rely upon to assess their skills and learn about current labor market trends and employers can rely upon the system to list job orders and determine how well a job seeker measures up to their standards. Through the use of skill matching, employers can view on-line how well a potential employee meets the job qualification criteria. The better the match, the lower subsequent training costs will be and the higher retention rates should be.
Job Seekers, Service Providers and Case Managers - In most states, a single mother with five children, but no G.E.D., is likely to qualify for many programs. In the past, she might have to fill out core data more than ten times as she goes through the application process. The America's Job Link system though, eliminates the need for duplicate data entry in many cases, so the single mother will need only to provide the core information once.
The system also provides access to data on service providers. From online information regarding what training is available in an area, to directions to facilities complete with maps, to performance data on the quality of particular providers, the America's Job Link system improves choice. No longer are case managers in sole possession of relevant data. Customers have the data to choose the best training, and the best training provider.
Project Operation:
Kansas Department of Human Resources leaders believed the key to successful implementation of a cross-agency system lay in thorough advance planning and partner support. They began their quest for a one-stop operating system by developing a set of guiding principles and conducting a complete analysis of customer and agency requirements for a workforce development system. Working with an executive steering committee whose function was to determine the final form of the project, Kansas was able to accurately map the needs of both self-service and staff-assisted customers and the requirements of an inter-agency case management system. This effort allowed Kansas to determine that the existing Ohio Works application could be imported into Kansas and modified to meet the established system requirements while staying within the allocated budget. Kansas began the project implementation by conducting joint application development (JAD) sessions with representatives of several agencies including KDHR, SRS, the Board of Regents and the Department of Housing and Commerce and non-profit organizations. This brought
representatives of Labor Exchange programs, WIA programs, Welfare to Work programs, TANF programs, Adult Basic Education programs, Carl Perkins programs, Community Service Block grant programs and HUD programs together to conduct a gap analysis of the existing program versus the assessed Kansas requirements. Fifty percent of the JAD team members were front line staff who interact daily with Kansans seeking assistance through our workforce system. These sessions provided a strong customer voice in determining the final format of the Kansas
application, Kansasjoblink.com.
From there, Kansas developed a full on-line eligibility assessment for job seekers. This allows job seekers to quickly determine which programs they may be eligible for, read a short description of the services available and find the location of their nearest service provider.
Kansas also collected data from job seekers and employers to ensure their previous unmet needs were addressed during their development process.
Understanding that the best-laid plans often fail to meet expectations, Kansas built three distinct methods for self-service customers to provide immediate feedback to the development team on the effectiveness of the application: Frequently Asked Questions; Job Link Success stories; and direct e-mail. During the first three months of pilot and operational use, these avenues allowed the development team to quickly identify and correct actual and perceived problems that affected customer use and to make rapid changes to the application to increase its operational effectiveness. Over seventy-five changes were made to the application during the first three months of operation. A universal approach was used to develop the case management part of the application. The JAD team insured the system reflected common themes in case management and service delivery as opposed to program centric requirements. The result is a true One-Stop case management system capable of cross-programmatic service delivery and providing single case files accessible by case mangers from multiple agencies.
The Kansas Job Link system now makes up the core America's Job Link Alliance system that will soon be implemented in other states.
(SEE ATTACHED RELATED INFORMATION: website address; copies of news releases; and marketing material)
