LWIB staff site visit interviews

INSTRUMENT 3
AJC DATA COLLECTION MASTER PROTOCOL

This page has been left blank for double-sided copying.

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

AJC DATA COLLECTION: MASTER PROTOCOL

Thank you for meeting with me/us today. As you know, my/our organization, Mathematica
Policy Research—along with its partners Social Policy Research Associates, Capitol Research
Corporation, and 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 to policymakers and administrators that can be used 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 around the
country. We will speak with a variety of AJC and local workforce investment board (LWIB)
staff, conduct a network analysis survey of each AJC’s partners, and interview state workforce
agency administrators from each state in which there is a participating AJC. During this meeting,
we hope not only to learn from you about how AJCs operate in your state, but also to identify
challenges and to hear your ideas about system improvements.
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 minutes. Do you have any questions before we
begin? Do you consent to participating in this discussion?
: I would like to record our discussion so I can listen to it later when
I write up my notes. No one outside the immediate team will listen to the tape. If you want to say
something that you do not want taped, please let me know and I will be glad to pause the tape
recorder. Do you have any objections to being part of this interview or to my taping our
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 Investment 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 an average of 1.5 hours with
no single interview to exceed 2 hours, 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
.

3.3

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

I.

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

Administrative structures

Questions in this section are intended to gather information about the AJC operator, AJC
partners and stakeholders, and the locus of decision making. Note that questions related to state
and LWIB influences on AJC administrative structures are in section 10.
Operator (entity responsible for the running of the AJC)
1. What entity or consortium of entities administers or operates the AJC? Which
organization holds the lease for the AJC’s space? Which organization employs the
AJC manager? What type of organization is it (for example: nonprofit, government,
or private)? How long has the organization operated the AJC? Does it operate any
other AJCs in the local area? In addition to serving as the AJC operator, what are
the organization’s other areas of expertise and/or lines of business?
2. What are the responsibilities of the AJC operator? Where are these responsibilities
delineated (for example, operator contract or annual plan)?
3. In what ways does the AJC operator interact and work with the LWIB and its
administrative staff? How has this relationship evolved over time? What are the
strengths and challenges of the relationship?
4. What elements of AJC operation are at the discretion of the AJC operator? For
example, does the operator have discretion on hiring? Which staff? Can the operator
identify and involve additional AJC partners?
5. What functions, if any, does the LWIB operate centrally that are not the
responsibility of the operator and/or AJC? Does the LWIB conduct public outreach
to individuals and employers? Does the LWIB operate business services centrally? If
so, how do LWIB business services staff work with AJC staff?
AJC structure and management
6. What is the mission of the AJC? How do the staff and program support that mission?
In what way does the mission pose challenges for the staff and programs?
7. What is the management structure of the AJC? What are the AJC manager’s
interactions and working relationship with the operator and the LWIB? Who is the
manager’s supervisor?
8. What are the responsibilities of the AJC manager? Is he or she involved in day-today operations? What role does he or she have for managing the AJC budget? What
oversight role does the manager have relative to partner staff working in the center?
Are state staff permitted to supervise nonstate staff and vice versa? Does the
manager also oversee one of the AJC partner programs (for example, WIA/WIOA
Adult/Dislocated Worker, Youth, or NEG; UI, or Wagner-Peyser)?
9. How, if at all, are AJC management responsibilities shared with other partners? How,
if at all, are the different partners involved in the management of the AJC? Please
describe their different roles and responsibilities. How are management decisions
made and communicated between managers? Is there a regular meeting of partner
managers to discuss AJC operations?

3.4

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

10. What is the AJC’s relationship with the LWIB’s satellite and/or affiliates (if any) in
the local area? Does the AJC manager have any management responsibility for these
centers? Are there shared staff and customers?
11. Has the AJC been part of any AJC consolidation or restructuring in the past three
years (for example, has the AJC merged with another one recently, or have other
nearby AJCs closed that would affect the AJC)? What was the impetus for
consolidation or realignment? How were these decisions made and by whom? Did
the consolidation or realignment cause any changes to staff, services, or other AJC
operations?
12. What challenges does the AJC face in its current administrative structure? How has
the AJC addressed these challenges? Why have these efforts been successful or not?
13. Has the AJC implemented any initiatives or changed practices or policies to enhance
center administration? In what ways has AJC administration practices or policies
changed in response to WIOA? What changes are being planned?
II. Partnerships

1. What formal and informal partnerships among organizations does the AJC have?
What distinguishes a formal partnership from an informal one, and what are the
practical differences between the two? How did this set of partners become involved
in the AJC (for example, mandated by federal or state agency, or by the LWIB;
sought out by LWIB or AJC)? What form does each partnership take (for example,
contractual, memorandum of understanding (MOU), or informal)?
2. What is each partner’s involvement in the AJC? What are their roles and what
services do they provide? How long have they been involved? What contributions
does each of the partners make to the AJC (funding, services, referrals,
mgmt/oversight, and so on) through its off-site and on-site services? If partner staff
are colocated at the AJC, for what hours and where within the AJC are they located?
3. How are contracts for the partners within the AJC structured? Are these contracts
executed at the center, LWIB, or state level? Are they structured as cost
reimbursement, pay for performance, or some other payment structure? What
benefits or drawbacks have been experienced with these different types of contracts?
Are existing contracts renewable without being required to be opened for
competition?
4. What is the AJC’s relationship with other AJCs within or outside of the local area?
Does the operator of the AJC also manage one of these other AJCs? Is this
relationship based primarily on referrals? Does it vary by center or organization
type, or by whether other AJCs are operated by the same entity? Where are the other
AJCs located relative to the AJC?
5. What is the AJC’s relationship with other facilities providing employment-related
services, including those run by the state- or community-based organizations? Is this
relationship based primarily on referrals? Does it vary by center or organization
type? Where are the other facilities located relative to the AJC?

3.5

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

6. To what extent do staff (ask of senior/management and line staff) from each of the
AJC programs/partners interact with one another? How frequently? In what form (in
person, email, or telephone) and for what purposes (referrals, to discuss common
customers, or funding-related issues)?
7. Does the AJC have its own centerwide performance goals? If so, what are these
goals? Who sets them? Are they formal or informal? To what extent do AJC partner
organizations share these goals? If they do not share these goals, how do their goals
differ? What policies and practices have been employed to promote a sense of shared
goals despite (or in response to) these differences?
8. What challenges exist in working across partners within the AJC? What, if any,
challenges have arisen in working with program partners to serve the same
customer? How have these challenges been addressed? Have these efforts been
successful?
9. What practices or policies has the AJC implemented to facilitate and enhance
relationships across programs/partners? In what ways has AJC partnership
arrangements and communications changed in response to WIOA? What changes
are being planned?
III. Management and performance

The goal of this section is to understand AJCs’ performance and management. Questions
focus on the type of performance data collected and used. Site visitors will identify the data
required and the different data collected, by whom, for what purpose and how it is used. In
addition, the questions aim to understand how performance management influences decisions on
policy, procedure, and practice at AJCs.
1. How does planning for this AJC occur around particular aspects of operations (such
as around customer services, staffing, performance measures)? To what extent is
there a defined process for planning, and at what level does it occur (regional level,
LWIB, operator, or AJC)? What partners and staff are involved in the process? How
frequently does it occur (for example, annually or biannually)?
2. Does the AJC/LWIB have a strategic plan? If so, what key goals are included in the
AJC’s strategic plan, and what are the plans for achieving them? Is the plan specific
to the AJC or for the LWIA’s AJC network as a whole? Is the plan aligned with the
state WIB plan?
3. How is the overall performance of the AJC monitored and assessed? What types of
performance information, if any, are collected about the AJC as a whole—across
partners and programs?
4. What types of customer measures/outcomes other than the common measures are
collected and assessed? How are they used to gauge performance?
5. What types of measures are used at the staff, program, and management levels to
gauge performance? How are these measures produced, by whom, and with what
frequency?

3.6

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

6. What are funders’ requirements for reporting performance (by funder, we mean
federal, state, or city funds, grants, and so on)? To what extent are data collection
and procedures for monitoring the AJC’s performance the result of funders’
requirements?
7. What strategies and initiatives are in place to address any particular weaknesses or
performance issues identified in the data? Do these strategies involve multiple AJC
partners and programs? How are partners involved in addressing these issues?
8. What management information system(s) are used by the AJC for management
purposes? To what extent do different partners or programs use these AJC systems,
or do they use their own program or partner-specific ones? How, if at all, do
multiple systems interface? Is the system aligned with the state system?
9. What cross-program/partner data reports are available, and for what purpose? How
are the data used? For example, are cross-program data used for case management,
ongoing monitoring/performance management, informing decision making on
policies or procedures, or evaluation?
10. What types of reports are used to help monitor AJC performance? What information
do they provide? How frequently are they produced or disseminated? What
programs are included in these reports? Who produces them? Who uses these
reports, and how?
11. What, if any, performance data are not collected or tracked and should be? Why are
these performance data collected? Why aren’t they being collected?
12. How does the AJC use performance data to inform policies and procedures? How are
partners involved in this process?
13. How are business services monitored and assessed? What, if any, measures have
been developed to measure success? What data are collected? What is the role of the
AJC operator and other AJC partners in collecting data and assessing performance?
14. What challenges does the AJC face in managing the AJC and monitoring
performance? How has the AJC addressed these challenges? Have these efforts been
successful?
15. What practices or policies has the AJC implemented to facilitate and enhance its
management and performance? In what ways has AJC planning and management
practices changed in response to WIOA? What changes are being planned?
IV. Management information system (MIS) and technology tools for service
delivery

Questions in this section aim to identify how the AJCs use MIS and technology tools— the
degree to which the AJC has employed technology to serve customers and create efficiencies for
staff.
1. What management information system(s) are used in the AJC to track services
provided to individual customers? To what extent do different partners or programs
use these AJC systems, or do they use their own program-/partner-specific ones?
3.7

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

How, if at all, do multiple systems interface? What are the characteristics (coverage,
availability, access, and linkages) of the key data systems that are in use? What are
the successes and limitations in supporting cross-program service delivery and
management?
2. To what extent does the AJC and its partners have any discretion regarding which
systems are used? Are any systems developed or purchased for this particular AJC?
Are decisions about the use of systems the purview of the LWIB?
3. What types of electronic tools and resources are available to staff to facilitate their
provision of customer services? For example, is there an online interface that staff
can access to update information? Does the system customize for each customer?
4. What tools and resources developed by AJC/LWIB/state are available to customers?
What electronic tools and resources are typically used by customers or
recommended by staff? For example, is there an online interface that customers can
log into for resources? Does the system customize for each customer? What
resources can be accessed online? How many customers access information and
services on-line?
5. Do employers have access to an online interface or labor exchange? For example,
are they able to upload information about job openings or review job-seekers’
applications?
6. How are customer data entered into systems? Do multiple staff enter data or is a
single staff member assigned to enter data? What data, if any, can customers enter
on their own? How often are data entered? Do any data have to be entered into
multiple systems?
7. What data are readily available about the characteristics of customers served by the
AJC (individual job-seekers and employers) and the services they receive? Are these
data available through standardized reports or ad hoc queries, and with what
frequency can they be accessed?
8. To what extent is information shared across partners or programs about services that
the customer is receiving? How does information-sharing occur? How have any
challenges to sharing information, such as privacy concerns, been overcome?
9. To what extent, if at all, are program data systems linked? What are the linkages, if
any, among the systems of the AJC, AJC partners, LWIB, and state workforce
agency? What are the linkages, if any, among the systems of different partners? How
long have these linkages been in place?
10. How often does data-linking occur? Does it occur automatically or are staff required
to run the linkages? Are some fields automatically populated across programs or
from other databases?
11. How does the linked/shared data system affect the AJC? How does it affect staff
members’ work? The customer experience? To what extent does the AJC realize
efficiencies across partners and programs through the use of linked/shared data?
12. How flexible is the linked/integrated system to adapt to new requirements or data
requests? What is involved to modify data elements to meet any new program

3.8

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

requirements or priorities? How labor-intensive or costly are any changes to the
system?
13. What types of measures are used at the staff, program, and management levels to
track and manage service delivery with the AJC? How are these measures produced,
by whom, and with what frequency?
14. What challenges and successes has the AJC experienced in its use of data to track
and manage services to customers? How has the AJC worked to overcome these
challenges?
15. What best practices or innovations has the AJC implemented to improve staff and/or
customers’ experiences with the MIS and other technology tools?
16. In what ways has AJC MIS or use of technology tools changed in response to
WIOA? What changes are being planned?
V. Funding and resource sharing

The goal of this section is to understand the different sources of funding for the AJC, how
partners share the costs of operating the AJC, and whether and how partners track and report
financial information.
AJC funding and cost-sharing
1. What sources of funds support AJC infrastructure, management and administration,
and service delivery (such as WIA/WIOA formula funding, Wagner-Peyser,
Unemployment Insurance (UI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF),
federal competitive grants, state or local funds or grants, and 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 the state dictate how LWIBs/AJCs should use their WIA/WIOA
and other allocations? For example, are there policies—explicit or implicit—on using
funds to provide training rather than intensive services, or vice versa?
3. What are the LWIB’s policies regarding the distribution of its WIA/WIOA and other
allocations? How does the LWIB determine distribution of funds to the different
AJCs? To what extent does the LWIB reallocate funds across AJCs during a
program year to reflect varying demand?
4. Does the operator receive funds that are specifically set aside for AJC operations in
the budget? What is (are) the source(s) of these funds? Is this amount sufficient to
cover the costs of the AJC?
5. Are there funds in the LWIB/AJC operator budget for system support/infrastructure
at the AJC (includes software, internet connectivity, and hardware)?
6. Does the AJC operator and/or manager have any discretion over how to use the
funding specified for AJC operations (for example, can the operator make
renovations or buy equipment without approval from the WIB/state)? In what ways
does the AJC have discretion? In what areas does it not have control? Can the AJC

3.9

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

move funds between partners? How much, if any, oversight does the AJC have over
partner spending?
7. Can the AJC operator apply for grants for the AJC? Who makes these decisions?
What are the barriers, if any, for applying for grants? To what extent do AJC
partners apply for funds or grants together? Which partners tend to be involved?
8. What grants does the AJC currently hold, either as sole grantee or with the LWIB or
other AJCs? Who awarded the grant(s) and for what purpose(s)? To what extent
have these grants enabled the AJC to expand services to job-seekers, in particular
underserved populations?
9. How does the AJC share costs? How are costs defined? What costs are shared?
What programs participate in cost-sharing? What methods are used? How have cost
sharing practices changed with WIOA?
10. What sources of funding do partners use to support the AJC (such as WIA/WIOA
formula funding, Wagner-Peyser, UI, TANF, federal competitive grants, state or
local funds or grants, and foundation grants or funds from other private entities)?
What is the relative share of each of these sources of funding?
11. What entity receives the funding provided by partners? For example, the WIB? The
operator? The lease-holder or owner of the AJC facility?
12. How did the AJC determine this cost-sharing arrangement or structure? How is it
executed (for example, do partners contribute to a pool that is used to pay for shared
resources)? What funding sources do AJC partners use to pay for the resources that
they share? How much money does each partner contribute to the costs of each
shared resource? How is the cost-sharing arrangement monitored? How has it
changed with WIOA? What changes are being planned?
13. What has been successful about the cost-sharing structure? What is challenging? In
what ways, if any, were challenges overcome?
14. Has the AJC recently made any changes to its cost- or resource-sharing? If so, why
and how has the cost- or resource-sharing changed?
15. What, if any, resources do partner programs share that are not included in costsharing? What resources do staff and customers from across partners use, but (a)
only one partner pays for; or (b) none of the partners pay for (for example, in-kind
resources, such as volunteers or donated space, and so on)?
16. What are the major service delivery or operations requirements of the different AJC
funders or programs? What are the service delivery requirements of each? Staffing
requirements? Performance requirements (tracking and targets)? Enrollment
targets? How do the requirements affect AJC operations?
17. Has the AJC experienced any unique funding situations in the past three years? Were
there any substantial budget cuts in the past three years? Was the AJC affected by
sequestration or other federal or state budget reductions?

3.10

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

18. How does the AJC manage fluctuations in funding levels? How have budget changes
influenced staff, services, or other AJC operations?
19. How has the AJC handled the need to make unexpected purchases or expenditures in
the past year (for example, new printers, office equipment, or facility)? Were costs
shared across partners? If so, how were the costs shared or allocated across
partners or programs? Was the cost-sharing agreement amended to include these
additional costs? How is the customer experience affected by the availability (or
lack of) funding through different program and revenue sources? Are customers
aware of the connection between the services they receive and funding sources, or is
it largely invisible to the customer? What role does the level of available funding
play in determining what services an eligible customer may receive? What strategies
are used to prioritize the availability and receipt of services?
Fiscal monitoring and systems
20. What is the process for collecting, reporting, and monitoring financial information
related to the AJC? What is the AJC’s responsibility? How does the responsibility
vary by partner? What is the LWIB’s responsibility?
21. What fiscal monitoring and reporting systems are used? Does the AJC have a single,
integrated financial reporting system shared by multiple partners, or does each
partner use its own system? If multiple systems, how do those systems interface?
What is the quality of the data? How complex or easy to use are the single or
multiple systems? What information is shared and what is not?
22. What reports does each fiscal system provide? Can each provide ad hoc reports if
requested? Does the AJC use multiple systems to produce a single report? How do
these systems interface? Which reports are most useful? What data would be useful
for center management but are not contained in the reports?
23. What are the challenges to the AJC’s fiscal monitoring and reporting processes and
systems? What are best or innovative practices?
24. How have AJC’s fiscal monitoring and reporting processes and systems been
affected by WIOA? What changes are being planned?
VI. Staffing

Questions in this section aim to provide information regarding hiring, recruitment, and
retention of AJC staff.
1. What is the staffing structure of the AJC? Are staff functionally aligned (organized
by job function)? Are staff organized by funding stream? Are job seeker and/or
employer staff organized by industry sector and, if so, why and how is this
operationalized? Are any staff employed by the AJC itself (if the AJC is a separate
entity?) How are staff distributed across types of staff—for example, merit staff,
county staff, and local provider staff? What factors account for using this particular
staffing structure as opposed to alternatives?

3.11

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

2. What is the total number of paid staff from across all partners or programs that work
at the AJC? How many AJC staff members are full-time? How many AJC staff
members are part-time? Which, if any staff, work off-site, for how many days, and
from when to when? How does this break down across programs or partners? How
are these staff deployed throughout the day (for example, are more staff available
during the AJC’s busiest hours of the day or busiest days of the week?)
3. Are any staff shared across different partners (for example, between the SWA and
WIA/WIOA provider)? If so, what are these staff members’ roles? Is the cost of
supporting them covered through cost-sharing? To whom do these staff report? Who
is their employer of record?
4. How do the different types of staff (merit, county, local provider) interact? What
challenges, if any, does the AJC face in working with these different types of staff?
What strategies have been implemented to address any challenges?
5. Do any volunteer staff work at the center and, if so, what are their roles? How are
these volunteers recruited and supervised? How often do they work at the center?
For what duration?
6. Do any AJC partner program participants work at the AJC (such as Senior
Community Service Employment Program or TANF participants) and, if so, what are
their roles? How often do they work at the center? For what duration? How are they
supervised?
7. How are staff physically located within the AJC? Are staff integrated across
programs? Does each program or partner have designated space within the AJC?
8. What are the positions and responsibilities of AJC staff across partners or programs?
Which provide direct services to customers? Which staff provide business services?
Are these positions and responsibilities determined by the partner or program, or
does the AJC have a role in determining or structuring the staffing positions and
responsibilities?
9. What is the process for hiring staff who work at the AJC? Who is responsible for
hiring particular staff? How do hiring requirements vary by program or partner for
similar types of staff? What role, if any, does the AJC manager have in the hiring of
partner staff working at the center?
10. To what extent does the AJC staff reflect the community’s demographics? What
percentage of the staff are women? What percentage are African American?
Hispanic?
11. What kind of guidance do staff members receive regarding their roles and
responsibilities? In addition to specific job training, do staff receive cultural
sensitivity training? Training on working with different populations? Training on
women’s unique issues? How does this guidance vary across programs or partners?
Who provides guidance, and in what form (written or verbal)?
12. What are the qualifications and background of the AJC manager? How long has he
or she been in the position?

3.12

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

13. What are the listed qualifications for positions at the AJC, especially those positions
that are similar across programs or partners (such as case managers)? How, if at all,
do qualifications vary by program/funding source?
14. How are AJC staff members supervised? Who are staff members’ direct supervisors?
What are the responsibilities of the different program managers? What are the AJC
managers’ responsibilities?
15. For which positions, if any, is turnover considered a problem within the AJC? Does
the AJC have open positions? What are likely causes of turnover across positions
within the AJC? Do staff leave positions for other positions within the AJC or within
their program? Are any efforts currently underway within the AJC to address these
issues?
16. Does the AJC offer opportunities for cross-training? Which staff are offered crosstraining? What other types of AJC-specific training are provided to AJC staff?
17. Do staff receive ongoing career development opportunities? Do staff development
activities vary by program or partner?
18. What staffing-related challenges have the AJC and its partner programs faced? How
have they worked to overcome these challenges?
19. What, if any, innovative staffing strategies have the AJC and its partners program
implemented?
VII. Physical environment

This section addresses the AJC’s overall accessibility. These questions are also intended to
provide an understanding of how accessible the AJC is to specific populations, including the
people with physical disabilities and those with limited English proficiency. Site visitors will
also complete an observation matrix that includes a description of the AJC’s physical layout
(including the waiting area, the resource room, and the availability of private meeting spaces)
and its accommodations for disabled populations (including ramps and accessible computers in
the resource room). Additionally, site visitors will observe use of the resource room to see what
resources customers seek and use.
1. How are the AJC’s services marketed? Does the AJC have a brand that is displayed
on marketing materials? To what extent does the AJC have flexibility in designing
outreach materials and other strategies? How much is the brand guided by the state,
LWIB, or operator?
2. What information is available online for the outside customer? When was the last
time information about the AJC was updated? What kind of resources are used to
share events: FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram?
3. How do customers typically get to the AJC? Is the AJC accessible through public
transportation? If visitors drive to the AJC, do they have to pay for parking? Is
parking typically available?
4. Does the AJC offer any services to increase access by specific populations? What
kinds of services or accommodations are available for the physically disabled? How
does the AJC serve customers with limited English proficiency? What

3.13

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

accommodations are available for job-seekers with children? How does the AJC
serve or triage veteran customers?
5. What are the AJC’s hours of operations? Is the center open during nontraditional
times (for example, evenings or weekends)? If not, has it ever had extended hours in
the past and, if so, why did the AJC stop offering those extended hours? When is the
AJC typically the busiest?
6. Does the AJC provide dedicated space for employer activities, such as job interviews
or training activities? Is private meeting space available, when required to ensure
customer confidentiality? Can nonemployers use the dedicated space when
employers aren’t using it?
7. How well does the resource room provide the employment-related services that
customers seek? To what extent is the resource room used? What resources are used
the most? What resources are used the least? What additional resources are needed?
8. Does the AJC face any particular challenges with regard to its facility? Please
describe.
9. Has the AJC implemented any innovations with regard to its physical environment?
Are there any innovations with regard to the facilities and/or layout of the facilities?
Please describe.
VIII. Service delivery structure and linkages

The goal of this section is to identify the AJC service delivery structure and linkages. The
site visitors must understand the customer flow for all customers, including target populations,
and all possible pathways and connections between programs or partners. If available, the site
visitor should request copies of intake forms, assessment tools, and orientation information
packets.
Service pathways and client flow
1. What service delivery pathways or models, if any, have been developed? Are there
clear pathways for customers participating in certain programs or with partners? If
yes, how and by whom was the pathway designed? If no, how did the AJC develop a
unified pathway? How, if at all, has WIOA affected pathways or models?
2. How is the customer’s path through the AJC determined? What factors influence the
path? Factors could include the customer’s characteristics, preferences, or reasons
for being at the AJC (such as requirement for UI receipt or interest in training).
3. How does the AJC use labor market information to design pathways and services?
4. How many customers does this AJC serve in total, by program, and online?
Initial entry
5. What happens when a customer enters the AJC? Which staff does he or she meet upon
entering? If interested in multiple services, does the customer have to complete a
single intake form or multiple intake forms? What paperwork, if any, does the
customer need to complete?

3.14

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

6. How does the AJC inform customers of available services? Are AJC materials
available in multiple languages and formats? How knowledgeable are frontdesk/greeter staff about the different program/partners opportunities at the center?
How are they kept informed?
7. What kind of orientation is provided to a new AJC customer? Does the AJC provide a
single orientation or does each partner or program provide its own orientation? Is
the orientation conducted in person, by video, or on a computer? Do all new
customers receive a general orientation, or do certain customers (for example,
specific target populations such as veterans or women) receive different orientations?
8. What are the next steps for the customer after an orientation? How and by whom are
these next steps determined?
9. How, if at all, do any of these initial steps differ for different types of customers? For
example, do the initial steps for veteran customers differ? For UI claimants? If so,
how?
Assessment
10. What assessment tools are available? What is the purpose of each? Who conducts
these assessments? How is it determined which assessment tools the AJC and its
partners can use? Do staff and management think that these are useful tools that help
them achieve their intended goals?
11. How, if at all, do assessments and the assessment process differ for different customer
groups? When and how are the needs of veterans assessed? When and how are the
needs of customers with disabilities assessed? Youth? UI claimants? Long-term
unemployed? Dislocated workers? Others?
12. How does the AJC determine which customers should receive particular services? Is
this information shared across partners or programs?
13. How does the AJC determine or assess what other services the customer is receiving
through AJC partners? In what ways, if any, are partners able to identify common
customers and communicate/share information about them?
Service delivery strategies
14. What, if any, innovative or promising practices does the AJC use to deliver services?
For example, does the AJC use social media or the Internet to provide or enhance
service delivery? If so, please describe.
15. What major barriers or challenges, if any, have the AJC identified in providing
services? Which services? How has the AJC worked to address them? How successful
has the AJC been? How, if at all, has WIOA affected the challenges?

3.15

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

Partner services and communication
16. How are customers connected with different programs or partners? Is there a
formalized referral process? If yes, what does it entail? Does this differ depending on
whether partner staff are located on or off site?
17. What partner services, if any, are provided to AJC customers outside the physical
location that houses the AJC? How do customers access these services (through a
mobile van, kiosk, or at another location)? What partners provide those services?
Does the AJC monitor use of these services?
18. How do the line staff of the various programs and partners communicate with one
another, and about what issues (such as case conferencing)? How often do they
communicate across programs or partners? Does this differ depending on whether
partner staff are located on or off site?
19. In what way, if any, has the AJC improved communication between different
program and partner staff in specific ways? Has the AJC developed specific initiatives
or procedures to foster communication? Has the AJC solicited staff feedback to
improve the process or increase efficiency?
Employer engagement
20. In what ways do business services staff of different programs (for example,
WIA/WIOA, Wagner-Peyser, and VETS) communicate and coordinate their work
with employers? What are the respective roles of the business service representatives,
LVERs, and other related staff? How many partners, and which staff, have direct
contact with the business community?
21. In what way, if any, has the AJC improved communication between business services
staff at different programs in specific ways? Has the AJC developed specific
initiatives or procedures to foster communication (such as shared partner meetings
or management information systems, and so on)? Has the AJC solicited employer
feedback to improve the process or increase efficiency?
22. What, if any, is the effect of these activities? How has it affected the AJC, employers,
and/or the broader community?
23. Is there a process in place to solicit, measure, and use employer feedback? If it is
measured, how is it measured? If used, how is it used? Who is responsible for
collecting this information?
24. In what areas of business services has the AJC made the greatest improvement over
the past three years? What contributed to this progress? What has been the role of
WIA/WIOA?
25. What practices do you use in working with the business community that are
particularly successful?
26. What are the major barriers or challenges in working with the business community?
Community role
27. Are there specific ways (such as participating in associations, committees, and so on),
in which the AJC has worked within the broader community? Has the AJC been the

3.16

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

initiator of these activities, or has the AJC been a participant? What are the AJC’s
goals for these interactions?
28. Is there a way for the broader community to provide feedback on AJC operations and
services? What impact has this feedback had?
IX. Programs and service mix

In this section, site visitors will obtain information about the range of programs and services
available to all customers, including individuals and employers. The site visitors will also
explore how services are delivered to customers, including different target populations, across
AJC programs or partners.
Job-seeker services
1. How do customers hear about the AJC within the community and come in to access
its resources? What is the role of the AJC, its partners, and the LWIB in activities to
raise customer awareness? What outreach and public awareness approaches are
used and by whom? What outreach activities are perceived as most effective? How
are outreach efforts tracked and measured? What misperceptions or misinformation
about the AJC exist?
2. What, if any, initiatives or activities promote partners providing services at the AJC?
Who is responsible for their promotion: each program partner? To what extent have
any initiatives or activities been successful?
3. Who decided what services—such as job search, job placement, job readiness
training, or training—are available to customers? How was this done? How, if at all,
have services changed recently? What AJC services do job-seekers access most
frequently?
4. How does the mix of programs and services that a customer receives vary by
customer group? What kinds of specialized services, if any, does the AJC offer to
veterans, women, UI claimants, farm workers, people with disabilities, older
workers, dislocated workers, low-income customers (including TANF and SNAP
recipients), ex-offenders, long-term unemployed, and youth? How, if at all, has this
changed with WIOA?
5. How are different customer groups connected to their specialized services? For
example, how are UI claimants connected to reemployment services? How are
veterans or ex-offenders connected to any targeted services?
6. Has the AJC planned for and/or implemented career pathway and/or sector
initiatives? What career pathway initiatives are available? What sector-based
strategies might be available to job seekers interested in employment in particular
sectors? How does the mix of programs and services that a customer receives vary
by the customer’s career and/or sector interests?
7. What are the AJC’s policies for co-enrollment? To what extent are these policies
influenced or dictated by the state and/or LWIB? In what instances, if any, does the
AJC provide cross-program service delivery in which programs jointly fund
customers’ services? How does joint funding affect service delivery? Do customers

3.17

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

know when they are being served by multiple programs rather than by a single
program? Do customers work with multiple AJC staff members? How is coenrollment tracked? What are the benefits and challenges associated with coenrollment?
8. What training options are available (such as classroom occupational skills, on-thejob, or customized training, and so on)? Which program or partner funds or
administers each of the training options? Which training providers are used most
commonly, and why?
9. To what extent is Registered Apprenticeship offered as a training option to
participants? If not offered, why not? If is offered, how do you make apprenticeships
available to participants? What challenge have you encountered, and how have you
overcome them?
10. How do AJC staff determine the appropriate customers for occupational training?
What are the eligibility criteria for who gets job training?
11. How does the AJC determine the appropriate types of occupational training? To what
extent does the AJC use LMI? Who determines which available opportunity is the
right option or program for each customer? To what extent do counselors consider
non-traditional gender-based occupations for their customers?
12. How does the choice of occupational skills training relate to customers’ needs and
career goals? What kind of information (for example, about earning potential or job
opportunities) is available to customers to allow an informed training choice? To
what extent do customers enroll in training to become employed, to move ahead in
their existing career path, or to retool their skill set of a new career trajectory?
13. How do AJC staff share and receive information from training providers to ensure
effective services, case management, and continuing participant eligibility (such as
attendance records and grades)? What barriers have you faced, and how have you
overcome them?
14. What services are provided to customers to support them during training? What case
management or counseling is provided? What support services are provided?
15. What placement services are provided to customers following completion of
training? What follow-up services are provided to AJC customers? How frequently
are follow-up contacts made, and by whom?
16. What challenges has the AJC faced in identifying the menu of services for jobseekers? How has the AJC been able to overcome them?
17. What innovative services has AJC offered to job-seekers? Please describe.
Services to employers
18. What menu of AJC services is available to employers? Does the AJC offer job
matching services? Job seeker screenings? OJT opportunities? Registered
Apprenticeships? Customized training?

3.18

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

19. How was the menu of services that should be available to employers determined, and
by whom? How, if at all, has this menu of services changed recently? With WIOA?
What AJC services do employers access most frequently?
20. Where and how do AJC staff provide services to employers? Do employers typically
access AJC services at the AJC itself? Are there specialized business services centers
or offices separate from the AJC? Do AJC staff provide employers with services at
the employer’s place of business? Do employers contact the AJC directly, or are
services initiated by business services staff contacts?
21. What steps or actions have been taken to increase employers’ awareness of AJC
services and how these might benefit employers? What is the role of the AJC, LWIB,
and state in increasing awareness? How, if at all, is it determined which employers
or industries to target for the AJC’s employer services?
22. What steps/actions have been taken to connect and establish ongoing relationships
with employers? What particular actions are undertaken by the state, LWIB, and
AJC?
23. What, if any, has been the role of sector strategies in developing relationships with
employers of particular sectors?
24. In which areas of business services has the AJC made the greatest improvement over
the past three years? What contributed to this progress?
25. What challenges has the AJC faced in providing each of the service options to
employers? What strategies have been implemented to overcome them?
26. What challenges have AJC partners faced in providing employer services?
27. What innovative approaches to service delivery and/or special initiatives are being
operationalized by the AJC? How are these approaches or initiatives funded? Are
these AJC-wide approaches or initiatives? Are they program/partner-specific?
X. AJC Administration and oversight

The goal of this section is to understand how the federal, state, and local guidance and
requirements affect AJC operations. In particular, site visitors will seek to understand how
guidance related to WIOA has affected AJCs’ operations and planning.
1. How has WIOA and any other recent changes in federal policy, guidance, and
reporting requirements affected AJC operations?
State
2. To what extent do state guidance and regulations affect the administrative structure
and operations of the AJC? (For example, does the state require the operator’s
contract to specify particular performance goals? Does the state have requirements
as to the set of partners that should operate out of the centers?) In what ways do the
state’s AJC certification requirements and processes affect the structure of the AJC?
3. What policies or guidance has the state initiated to facilitate coordination and/or
integration of services to all AJC customers?
3.19

INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AJCs

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT: INSTRUMENT 3

4. What state policies affect the location of state workforce staff? Do particular
policies or regulations require locating state staff at AJCs or stand-alone state
offices?
5. What, if any, technical assistance does the state provide to the AJC?
6. How does the AJC receive guidance from the state regarding new federal policy (for
example, when DOL releases new guidance) or new state policy? How is it
disseminated from the state?
LWIB
7. To what extent do LWIB guidance and regulations affect the administrative structure
of the AJC? Does the LWIB require the operator’s contract to specify particular
performance goals? Does the LWIB have requirements as to the set of partners that
should operate out of the centers?
8. What LWIB-level policies, guidance, and partner agreements shape the AJC’s
relationships and operations? How has the LWIB facilitated the AJC’s ability to
provide integrated and quality services to all customers?
9. What are the LWIB’s standing committees and what are their roles in shaping the
local area’s AJCs’ structure and services, including partnerships? Are any topic
specific?? Services to individuals with disabilities?
10. What, if any, technical assistance does the LWIB provide to the AJC?
XI. Community contextual factors

The goal of this section is to understand the community contextual factors that influence
services and operations at AJCs.
1. What local political factors affect the operations of AJCs and how?
2. What economic factors currently affect AJC’s operations and service delivery?
How? Has the state or local government experienced funding cuts (beyond
sequestration and reductions in WIA) that have influenced the AJC budget or
operations? How, if at all, have these cuts affected available services? Staffing?
Management? Program outcomes?
3. What are the local labor market and community conditions, such as the
unemployment rate; high-growth industries; and availability of employment,
education, training, and social service organizations? What are the unemployment
rates of different populations (such as people with disabilities, veterans, and
women)?
4. In the past three years, what changes, if any, has the AJC experienced in the
demographics of the customers that it serves?

3.20