Workforce board outlines budget, warns youth performance lags under WIOA measures

Gretchen, executive director of the Saratoga-Warren-Washington Workforce Development Board, told the committee Aug. 21 that the board expects roughly $1.9 million in WIOA funding and about $600,000 from the summer youth employment program for the local three-county system. She said the system’s three career centers are meeting adult and dislocated-worker measures but are “not hitting our numbers for youth.” Gretchen described WIOA’s measurement structure — “we are measured by 16 different things” — and said those measures focus on outcomes such as credentials and measurable skills gains, which currently favor older youth and high-school outcomes rather than middle-school career exposure. She told the committee the federal administration has requested reviews of workforce programs and that a recent federal report reinforced the board’s view that WIOA funding will likely continue even as mechanisms and priorities shift toward registered apprenticeships and middle‑school career exposure. Gretchen said she repurposed the deputy director role toward strategic management and has extended her planned retirement to June 30 of the next fiscal year to provide continuity amid funding uncertainty. She described the allocation formula for the three counties and gave population figures the board uses in planning: Saratoga about 240,000, Warren about 65,000 and Washington about 62,000, noting population is only one of several allocation factors (unemployment, long-term unemployed, industry mix, layoffs and data lags). Committee members and staff discussed youth outreach challenges, data-entry and measurement issues, and the summer youth employment program as a key pipeline into WIOA services. Supervisor Stroud asked whether the federal directive targeted middle-school interventions; Gretchen replied it “was in broad general terms” and that “the devil will be in the details.” County staff reported the workforce board’s recent audit returned no findings on finances. The committee reviewed and approved the board’s proposed budget for the coming program year (a roughly $1,100 increase overall was noted in staff slides, driven by salary and benefit changes tied to county contracts). Gretchen and staff said they will continue to examine system finances, service delivery and organizational structure ahead of the next program year.