Attachment III
Statement of Work Guidelines
Grantees are required to produce seven deliverables with PY 2003 funding. Except for those core products which are expected to be standard and comparable across states (the core ALMIS Database, industry and occupational projections, and the ALMIS Employer Database), all other required deliverables allow states flexibility to address the priority while determining the form and content that best meets the state's needs.
The plan statement of work will be posted on an ETA supported Web site to allow review by the workforce investment system. For consistency and ease of review, the format of the statement of work must discretely and concisely address each of the planned products and services and include the following information for each:
· A description of the core product, service or other demand activity;
· How the deliverable supports the goals of the state's WIA/Wagner-Peyser Five Year Strategic Plan;
· The principal customers of the deliverable;
· The outcome(s) and system impact projected for each deliverable;
· Planned milestones for completion of the deliverable; and
· The total estimated cost of each deliverable, including identification of planned equipment purchases of $5,000 or more per unit cost.
Core Products and Services
1) Continue to populate the ALMIS Database with state data.
The ALMIS Database provides states with a common structure for storing information in a single database in each state. The database is intended to serve as the cornerstone for information delivery, labor market research and product development. Using the same version of the database in all states is important for providing interstate access to workforce information. Therefore, states are required to implement and maintain the most current version of the ALMIS Database and populate all tables designated as core tables in accordance with guidelines issued by the ALMIS Database Consortium. Database content must be updated timely in order to be as current as the state’s most recent publications and data releases. Information and technical support will be provided on the Consortium's new Web site at: http://www.almisdb.org. The new site will be available to the system in August, 2003.
States are required to populate the database with the following licensing files: license.dbf and licauth.dbf. Licensing data must be updated every two years. States are required to submit licensing data through the National Crosswalk Service Center (NCSC) for inclusion on the America’s Career InfoNet (ACINet) site. The licensed occupations information on Career InfoNet has been recoded from OES to the O*NET/SOC taxonomy. The NCSC will assist states in recoding their files to O*NET/SOC for submittal to ACINet, if necessary. States may access information and support through the NCSC Web site at http://www.xwalkcenter.org or by calling 515-242-5034.
Now that the basic building and population of the ALMIS Database has been accomplished in all states, a major emphasis in states should be the full utilization of this resource in meeting national, state, and local customer information needs. At the national and consortium level, the focus will be on providing tools to states to help them realize the full potential of the ALMIS Database and related resources. These tools will be developed and disseminated as part of new concept known as the ALMIS Resource Center. More information on these tools will be forthcoming from the ALMIS Database Consortium.
New and more effective methods are being developed for providing staff training and information updates. Many materials will be provided electronically, and on-site training requiring staff travel will be kept to a minimum. It is important that all states take advantage of the resources and training opportunities provided and in PY 2003, it is anticipated that one national training event will be held. Funds may be used for any costs required to implement and maintain the database, including staff training.
2) Produce and disseminate industry and occupational employment projections.
States must continue to produce and disseminate state-level, long and short-term industry and occupational employment projections, using the methodology, software tools and guidelines developed by the Projections Consortium and the Projections Managing Partnership. States should continue focusing on refining their historical NAICS industry database to be used in the projections process. Long-term projections are to be developed for the 2002 to 2012 period, and short-term projections developed for the 2003 to 2005 period. The primary activity for PY 2003 will be the production of statewide projections. However, area and local projections should be initiated and produced when possible. Inability to produce area and local projections should be noted in the annual plan.
States are required to populate the ALMIS Database with the 2003-2005 short-term and 2002-2012 long-term projections data and submit the data for public dissemination following the procedures established by the Projections Consortium and the Projections Managing Partnership.
States are encouraged to participate in the various training opportunities provided by the Projections Consortium and the Projections Managing Partnership.
3) Provide occupational and career information products for public use.
States must continue to produce and disseminate customer focused occupational and career information products, incorporating related information such as occupational projections, demand occupations and supply indicators by geographic area, wages and benefits by occupation, trends, skills and education requirements and career ladder information.
The OES, industry and occupational projections, benefits surveys and the Job Vacancy Survey (JVS) system, developed by the WIC sponsored JVS Workgroup, are all useful data sources for occupational information. Grant funds for occupational information products may be used to conduct job vacancy surveys, using the standard methodology developed by the JVS Workgroup.
All products must be SOC-based and developed in consultation with intended customers. States will determine the appropriate media for dissemination of occupational and career information.
4) Provide public electronic access to the ALMIS Employer Database.
States are required to integrate the ALMIS Employer Database with the ALMIS Database in accordance with ALMIS Database Consortium guidelines. States have options of how to provide public electronic access to the database: develop or purchase electronic applications, use the application provided on the Employer Database CD, or establish links from an electronic application to the Employer Database in Career InfoNet. Describe how and where customers can access the information for the purposes of job search and job development.
5) Provide information and support to state and local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) and provide other special demand information products and services.
Describe how activities are consistent with the strategic vision of the State WIB and the information products and services to be provided, as a result of consultation, to support state and local WIB planning, analysis, policy development and program operations. Also describe any special information products and services to be provided at the request of principal customers or other stakeholders.
6) Improve and deploy electronic state workforce information delivery systems.
Funds are provided to support continued improvement and deployment of publicly accessible state workforce information delivery systems. Grantees are required to provide electronic public access to the information in the state's ALMIS Database through Internet or Intranet based applications. States are encouraged to develop systems that facilitate customer access to information across multiple states and for labor market areas that cross state boundaries.
Describe what system activities will be undertaken with these funds to improve customer access to workforce information. Examples include, but are not limited to: upgrading system content and technology; improving formats and usability, providing Web-based or other electronic applications for self-service: developing systems which are compatible with other states’ workforce information systems for interstate functionality; and integrating workforce information systems with other workforce operating systems.
Funds may be used for system development, procurement, implementation or other necessary costs.
7) Support state workforce information training activities.
Describe the training activities to be undertaken to increase staff and external customer understanding of workforce information. The plan must describe the type of training to be provided and its purpose, the intended recipients of the training, the number of training classes planned or alternative methods of training delivery to be used. Funds may be used to support the costs of course development, training materials, training delivery, facility rental, tuition, training related travel expenses and other associated costs necessary to provide workforce information training.