Kansas Department of Commerce

TOPEKA–Kansas has been awarded a $5,597,365 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor as part of the third round of Workforce Innovation Fund awards. The Kansas Department of Commerce will oversee the implementation of the grant to provide job seekers with seamless access to multiple workforce development programs. The grant will expand and enhance strong workforce development partner collaboration and improve the employment outcomes of job seekers with multiple barriers to employment. In addition, funding will integrate workforce service delivery.

“The Workforce Innovation Fund grant will allow us to reach more job seekers efficiently and help them transition into training and employment,” Kansas Commerce Interim Secretary Michael Copeland said in a news release. “We’re looking forward to collaborating with our partners to implement this grant and help more Kansans find rewarding career opportunities.”

The Department will join forces with the Kansas Department for Children and Families, the Kansas Board of Regents, Wagner-Peyser partners and the Registered Apprenticeship program to develop and implement a comprehensive staff training program to be delivered by Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Core Partners to all partner staff members who provide workforce development services.

The partners will also work to recruit job seekers with multiple barriers to employment, assess them for training participation and place them in on-the-job training. Commerce and WIOA Core Partners will implement a web-based intake and registration portal that will provide job seekers with convenient access to services from providers of all WIOA Core programs. The portal, which will be called START HERE, will gather intake and initial program eligibility data and will also connect users with performance data of the programs for which they may be eligible.