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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 6956 w INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 6956 ' �OfFORl�Q To the Mayor and Members of the City Council July 24, 1984 l.. A V � _ rexPy Subject: MANAGEMENT STUDY: JOB TRAINING PAR' MRSHIP ACT PROGRAM ,e73 Background During the month of March, 1984, the Fort Worth City Council and the Private Industry Council (PIC) approved a contract for a management study of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program. The contract was awarded to Price Waterhouse. The objectives of the study was to review the following: 1. The internal functions of the JTPA program; 2. The policy-making process of the PIC; 3. The status of program activities; and, 4. Examine the present administrative structure of the program. Representatives of the consultant team conducted interviews with PIC members and staff, performed an anlysis and evaluation of the current client intake, and other administrative processes durinq the period of June 11 to July 7, 1984. A copy of the final report was submitted to members of the City Council, and PIC on June 29, 1984. The PIC reviewed the report during their July 12 meeting and decided to recor:raend approval of some of the major reccrrriendations. A surmary of action taken by PIC is presented below. �j Findings/ReconTr endations The final report listed several findings and recommendations to improve operational efficiency for the JTPA program. The Executive Stum}ary is attached to this report. A corrective action plan will be developed for irplementation by staff, with the concurrence of the PIC. Some of the recommendations were implemented prior to the corpletion of the study. The PIC has identified several key issues from the consultants' findings that are reccrrended for immediate action. 1. Finding: The PIC should compile and approve a written mission statement. Actions: An ad-hoc c mdttee was named to draft the mission statement. L ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER - FORT WORTH, TEXAS - INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 6956 - p. 2 �,PTfFfO V0;?,- o To the Mayor and Members of the City Council July 24, 1984 MANAGIIM= STUDY: JOB TRAINING PARTNERSHIP ACT PROGRAr1 l %TExPy Subject: 2. Finding: The PIC should incorporate in order to present a permanent and stable image to the business ccnuunity. Actions: The PIC has authorized its Chairman to take the necessary steps to submit a request for incorporation. The PIC, once incorporated, would contract with the City to administer the JTPA program. 3. Finding: One individual should be accountable to the PIC for JTPA administrative activities. Actions: During the meeting on July 12, the PIC passed a motion to recommend to the City Manager that a separate City Department be established for the JTPA program and that the administrator report directly to an Assistant City Manager. It was further reccm-ended that an Acting Administrator be appointed until a permanent administrator is named. While staff concurs that most of the recommendations can be implemented without disrupting the program, the most significant change will be reorganizing the office and creating a separate department. In the opinion of staff, if the City Council agrees with the recommendations by the PIC, these changes can be made without a significant cost increase. Additionally, all costs will be within the 15% allowed for administrative cost. Council guidance is requested on the items recormended by the PIC. Robert L. HerchertZ City Manager RLH:kcnn L ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER - FORT WORTH, TEXAS -- I . EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Fort Worth Private Industry Council (PIC) completed its first nine months of operation and , as a result , is still under- going the adjustment and education process common to new volun- teer government boards and councils . The management study, covering a wide range of issues facing the PIC including plans , structure , systems and procedures , indicated that the maturing process for this organization can be accelerated if certain recomendations are implemented . We believe that several struc- tural changes are needed and that some modification of procedures an6 training of staff will improve effectiveness . There are certain key recommendations that we believe are central to the administration of the JTPA. These recommendations can be summarized as follows . (References are to the detailed discussions in the subsequent text . ) • Organization - We recommend that the PIC pursue the approval and adoption of a planned reorganization within the Department of Housing and Human Services of the JTPA staff (Recommendation 5) . • JTPA responsibility - We urge that the JTPA administra- tive as well as the employment and training responsi - bilities be supervised and controlled by one individ- ual who reports directly to the PIC. This individual should be involved with JTPA on a daily basis (Recom- mendation 6) . • PIC mission statement - We recommend the approval and adoption of a mission statement for the PIC to estab- lish its goals and objectives as . an organization (Recommendation 1) . • Incorporation - We recommend that the PIC incorporate to establish a more stable and permanent image with the local business communities , but we encourage imple- mentation of procedural improvements before private funding is pursued (Recommendation 13) . In addition to these key recommendations , there are others that we believe should be implemented as soon as possible to facilitate the day-to-day activities and promote the effective- ness of the program: o Staff responsibilities - We recommend that job descrip- tions be prepared and approved to document the respon- sibilities of the various JTPA staff members , j ol- procedures be identified , and that training be co-,-) - ducted , as required (Recommendation 11 ) . f - 2 - c o Monitoring and evaluation - We recommend expanding the monitoring and evaluation function of the PIC to include the review of financial and operational pro- gram information to verify compliance with statutory requirements (Recommendation 12) . o Marketing assistance including image improvement - We recommend the renewal of the Marketing Specialist contract (Recommendation 15) and the pursuit of changes in office location and changes in identity association with the JTPA program (Recommendation 16) . o Procedural changes including: - agenda and minutes - We recommend the distribution of an agenda for PIC meetings among appropriate JTPA staff with adequate lead time to prepare supporting information (Recommendation 7) and the distribution of meeting minutes to appropriate JTPA staff on a timely basis (Recommendation 8) . - applicant flow steps - We recommend combining the separate Document Check and Intake functions (Recom- mendation 19) and increased assessment responsibili- ties by Counselors (Recommendation 21) . - financial and operational reports dissemination - We urge that all financial. and operational reports of program activity, such as funds expended and par- ticipant enrollment by activity, be obtained in order for the PIC to fulfill its guidance and over- sight functions (Recommendations 22 and 23) . - financial management audit findings - We recommend the correction of control weaknesses noted and the compliance with program requirements suggested in an independent financial audit dated April , 1984 (Rec- ommendation 24) . `. The subsequent sections of the report contain more details and support for each significant finding and recommendation that was noted during our management study.