Workforce Network of Kansas

Kansas Workforce Investment Partnership Council
Leadership Team
August 10, 2001
Minutes

Members in attendance in Emporia for this meeting were Ed Berger, Rick Beyer, Val DeFever, Jerry Hiatt, Marie Mareda, Dwayne Peaslee, Norman Scott, and Vice-Chair Gerald Cook. Staff Barb Reavis was present.

Guests in attendance were Armand Corpolongo, KDHR; Jim DeCoursey, KDHR; Steve Jack, KDHR; Kris Kitchen, Heartland Works; Keith Lawing, LWIA IV; Jim Stowell, KDHR; Linda Sorrell, SRS; Sarah Gilbert, City of Wichita

Cook called the meeting to order at 10:35 a.m. Self-introductions were offered.

Minutes for May 11 and August 2-3 meetings were approved following at Peaslee/Mareda motion.

Margie Phelps, Kansas Department of Corrections, described the Youth Offender Grant, which requires the Chair of the State WIB as one of the eight co-applicants. This 24-month grant targets offenders ages 14-35 who have just served confined time. If funded, this project will be located in Topeka. Heartland Works and all other required partners are already signed on. The grant proposal is due October 1. Reavis will serve as the KWIP representative on the group. After questions and discussion, approval was given following a Mareda/DeFever motion for Ken Bell, KWIP Chair, to sign as a co-applicant on behalf of KWIP.

Meeting dates for 2002 were reviewed and discussed. January 25 may be a conflict with Kansas Day activities in Topeka. If that is the case, it was suggested that meeting be held on Thursday, January 24 in Topeka rather than Local Area III to allow members to participate in both events. Reavis will check that date and revise as necessary prior to the KWIP meeting. Recommendation of the proposed dates were approved following a DeFever/Mareda motion.

Reavis began the discussion on WIA fifteen percent state set aside by describing the background section of a proposal she offered. Included was the list of allowable expenditures and the section from Executive Order 99-6 outlining the advisory duties of KWIP. Corpolongo shared the stated intent of state set aside from WIA regulations (Fed. Register Introduction to Statewide Activities under Title I of WIA, pg. 49354):
We believe that the use of these funds can provide critical leadership in the development and continuous improvement of a comprehensive workforce investment system for each State and, as a result, create a national system to which job seekers and workers can look to for expert assistance and employers can look to for a qualified workforce.

After discussion and lunch, members expressed the need for coordination among the Local Areas to maximize the use of these funds. The following use for $500,000 in WIA state set aside funds was approved following a Beyer/Mareda motion for recommendation to the full KWIP Council:

Item Description	Local Areas	State System	Notes
Marketing	75,000 (15,000 each area)	75,000	Provides for both statweide look and local implementation of Workforce Network of Kansas image on locally designed materials, in keeping with the WNK style guide
Continuous Process Improvement	180,000 (36,000 each area)	25,000	Provides grants to LWIBs in exchange for three-year plans for research and adoption of kansas Award for Excellence components, encouraging first stage concentration on customer focus
Continuous Process Improvement	145,000 (29,000 each area)		Grants to LWIBs in exchange for three-year plans to encourage One-Stop Operators' adoption of Kansas Award for Excellence components, encouraging first stage concentration on customer focus and front line staff skills
Totals	400,000 (80,000 each area)	100,000

Members approved the following items for the September 28 KWIP agenda:

Fifteen percent state set aside
Presentation by Ed Berger on the ACT center
Update on Welfare to Work by Linda Ramirez-Gonzalez
Meeting dates for 2002

A request was made for a School to Careers update but requested that be held until a later meeting.

Cook adjourned the meeting at 1:55 p.m.