ETA recently published the Regional Forums Final Report, which summarizes the content and outcomes from six Regional Recovery and Reemployment Forums held across the country between April and June. The Forums were developed to provide timely and regionally customized technical assistance to the workforce system.  Designed to be a follow-up to the ReemploymentWorks! Summit held in January in Baltimore, and with more than 2200 people participating across the country, the Forums expanded and deepend the conversations started there.

All of the Regional Recovery and Reemployment Forums focused on the immediate and effective implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), as well as on enhancing the effectiveness of system-wide Reemployment efforts.  Given the timing of the Forums, it isn't suprising that two especially popular topics were Summer Youth Programs and Green Jobs. Each of the Forums offered multiple plenary sessions, and across the six there were 143 workshop options.  Workshops covered all seven of the "Reemployment buckets" identified by the Reemployment Architects and Designers (RAD) group at the Baltimore Summit, including: Actionable Workforce Data and Information, Early Warning Networks and Rapid Response, Flexible Service Delivery, Skills Assessment, Skills Transferability, Tools and Technology, and Unemployment Insurance System Integration, as well as ARRA-related discussions like Green Jobs, Youth,and Performance and Reporting.

The final report provides an overview of information presented at the Forums and summarizes the Forums feedback into three categories:  policy recommendations directed to USDOL, questions and technical assistance needs raised, and action steps committed to/taken at the Forums.  The report appendices offer individual details on each of the six Forums and several valuable resource lists.

I strongly encourage you to read the final report and discuss it with your colleagues.  The report is rich in ideas about how to improve the effectiveness of our service strategies, build more effective partnerships, and achieve stronger and more lasting results - ideas all worthy of much discussion and exploration.  We can facilitate further discussion of any of these topics on the Community of Practice (CoP).  So please read the report, comment on it, and let the discussion begin!  As one Forum participant said, "The need and the opportunity to make a difference is now!"

Click here to read the full report.