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House Committee on Border and International
Affairs Invited Testimony
Thursday, March 6, 2003
Good morning Chair Chavez, committee members, I am Diane Rath,
Chair of the Texas Workforce Commission and Commissioner Representing
the Public. It is a pleasure to be here to discuss the work of
the Texas Workforce Commission and our nine partner local workforce
development boards that deliver workforce solutions in the Texas-Mexico
Border Region.
As we discuss our work today it is important to remember that
local boards were developed based on economic similarities between
communities, not based on small units like counties or broad areas
like the Texas-Mexico Border Region. Therefore, the data I am providing
is for the nine local workforce development areas that provide
services to the border.
The Commission enthusiastically supports the important work of
this committee. We understand that a knowledgeable and skilled
workforce is fundamental to economic prosperity. We know that we
are seeing success in many of the initiatives that TWC and our
board partners have taken in providing that skilled workforce to
the employers in the border region. Today I want to address both
the workforce challenges and the activities that TWC is conducting
to address these challenges.
Let me first share the numbers with you. TWC has an appropriated
budget of approximately $1.1 billion each year. This fiscal year
we allocated, based on formulas, $735.5 million to local workforce
boards to provide workforce solutions based on local demand. Of
that $735.5 million, TWC allocated more than $254.3 million to
the Texas-Mexico border area.
· In addition, during this fiscal
year we have already provided Skills Development Fund and Self-Sufficiency
Fund grants
of more than $3 million to the region.
· We have funded $754,000 in TANF
rural expansion grants for the Texas-Mexico Border to bring Choices
training opportunities
to all border counties. In fact, through our rural expansion initiatives
we will have Choices training available in every county in the
state.
· We have funded an additional
$850,000 in Workforce Investment Act activities to support training
and capacity building in your
area.
· TWC has funded $959,000 in apprenticeship
programs in the border area already this year.
· We have assisted the boards
in gaining National Emergency Grants totaling $4.7 this year.
These funds have provided much
needed assistance to many of the dislocated workers in your areas.
· And we assisted the Lower Rio
Grande board in obtaining a federal H-1B grant totaling $3 million.
I believe we have dedicated significant resources to the region.
Governor Perry has recognized the importance
of the Texas-Mexico border area as the front door of the state,
and has dedicated $1.5
million in Governor’s Discretionary Funds to your area already
this fiscal year.
So, what have the dollars bought? In FY 2002 we provided child
care for 39,300 kids every day so their parents could work or attend
school or training. We also provided training for 90,600 people
residing in the nine workforce development areas that encompass
the Texas-Mexico Border Area, through the core services offered
at local workforce centers. In addition, let me give you some examples
of special initiatives that we have undertaken to help businesses
in your area grow, and to help your constituents gain the skills
needed to succeed in their careers.
1. TWC has dedicated $1 million toward develop an in-home learning
system for individuals in need of Workforce Adult Literacy Skills,
including ESL instruction.
The program, called Business Access, is based on a successful
model developed and tested in Dallas, as an initiative to help
welfare recipients transition to work. Computers are provided to
participants and their families for in-home use thus providing
access to computer learning by all family members.
A Spanish-language version of the program will offer a course
library of at least 300 Internet-based training courses on Adult
Basic Education, English as a Second Language and Computer Literacy.
Testing of the bilingual version has been underway in Cameron County
and El Paso, and we anticipate rollout in April. We believe this
program will open up vast learning opportunities for Spanish speaking
workers and mirror some of the excellent results the English version
has produced in the Dallas area.
In Dallas over 1,300 participants have taken advantage of this
unique learning opportunity in their own homes.
Here are the results:
· 72% of the participants are no longer receiving welfare support,
· 63% have received a wage increase in the last quarter, and
· 44% have reported getting a better job or a promotion due to the
computer in the home.
2. In Cameron County, the Center for Improving the Readiness of
Children for Learning and Education, or CIRCLE Program provides
training to pre-school teachers in the Brownsville ISD and child
care providers. The training focuses on teaching strategies to
better prepare children for classroom learning.
3. Chair Chavez, as you know, TWC has been working hard to implement
House Bill 2593, your initiative last session to provide bilingual
basic computer literacy skills training to dislocated workers.
Up to date computer skills are much needed by all workers in the
knowledge-based economy of the 21st Century.
We are very excited about a pilot we have undertaken in El Paso
to implement this law. Trade-affected workers can learn basic computer
skills through a bilingual curriculum for future employment as
Office and Nursing Assistants. Computer literacy skills enable
workers to complete their training in these vocational courses,
and at the same time providing ESL and GED learning opportunities.
4. In the Permian Basin area, TWC provided
Workforce literacy funds to pilot a customized training program
for Spanish-speaking
workers who are highly skilled metal fabricators at Odessa’s
oilfield equipment company, Sivalls. Through improved communication
skills, Sivalls has found that they can more easily bridge the
language gaps that workers were experiencing on the factory floor.
In fact, the company has seen such good results that it is now
paying workers even while they are attending ESL courses.
5. In the Lower Rio Grande Valley area,
TWC has funded an initiative involving the South Texas Manufacturing
Association, UT-Pan Am,
South Texas Community College, and the Region One-Education Service
Center. These organizations have formed a consortium to develop
a web-based curriculum that addresses the lack of qualified entry-level
applicants for the area’s manufacturing industry. The curriculum
will utilize an English language immersion approach that has been
proven successful with other limited-English speaking populations,
using interactive, multimedia workforce skills courseware program.
Training modules are currently under development.
These are just a few if the inventive ways we are addressing the
training needs particular to the Spanish speaking workers in this
region. When the first wave of garment workers faced lay-offs,
few resources were available to retrain these trade-affected workers
with new skills so they could quickly return to work.
We have struggled with education providers
who are unwilling to change their curriculum to meet the demand
for more flexible education
options. This has resulted in TWC launching a number of small pilots
to devise a solution to return trade-affected workers quickly back
to work. We don’t have all of the answers yet; but I want
you to know that we are continuing to work on alternative training
approaches.
We have also worked closely with businesses and our board partners
to provide grants of Skills Development and Self-Sufficiency Funds
to train new or incumbent workers.
· A consortium of 22 businesses
from McAllen, Edinburg, Pharr, Mercedes and Mission have received
a Skills Development
Grant in conjunction with South Texas Community College to train
830 new and current workers in warehouse operation and manufacturing
skills.
· In the Coastal Bend area, a consortia Corpus Christi
health care facilities including Integrated Health Services, Driscoll
Children’s Hospital and Christus Spohn Health Systems have
received a Skills Development grant of $900,000 to train 174 new
health care workers and to upgrade the skills of 763 existing employees.
· In the Upper Rio Grande area,
the Helen of Troy Company, that produces cosmetics and personal
care accessories, received
a Skills Development grant in conjunction with El Paso Community
College. The $500,000 grant will train more than 200 new and existing
workers for accounting, graphics and information technology positions
this year.
These are but a few of the many Skills Development and Self-Sufficiency
Funds that have been given to build the skilled workforce businesses
in your districts need to be able to compete in the global marketplace.
I have to brag on the local workforce boards that provide services
in your areas of the state.
· First, I want to congratulate
the South Texas Board. After struggling for several years, South
Texas has made amazing
progress in meeting performance numbers. In fact, the Commission
recognized these achievements and awarded them a $75,000 incentive
bonus as the Most Improved Board last year. The Board continues
to focus on performance.
· The Upper Rio Grande Board received the National Association
of Workforce Boards 2002 Theodore E. Small Partnership Distinguished
Honoree Award for the Board’s work with Boeing. The Board
and Boeing spent two years developing solutions to skills and labor
issues.
Boeing is now providing child care and
flexible schedules for employees. Boeing has also initiated an
accelerated MBA program
with UT El Paso that brings professors onto the Boeing campus.
There are already 24 new MBA’s that have completed this program.
· As a San Antonio native, I must
brag on the Alamo Board. The Board recently received a Youth
Opportunity Grant of $8.25
million from the U.S. Department of Labor. TWC is also very proud
to have worked closely with the Alamo Board to bring the recruiting
and training elements together that provided the cornerstone for
the package that lured Toyota to San Antonio.
The border regions of Texas are important to TWC. I hope that
today I have shown the degree of commitment we believe we have
made to the Texas-Mexico Border Region. If there are any questions
I would be happy to entertain them. |
