Untangling a training mess

Untangling a training mess

Cincinnati Enquirer: By any reasonable standard, Ohio’s job training initiatives are a tangled mess — 77 programs scattered among 13 state agencies, administering $290 million in workforce funds with a jumble of different rules, procedures and application forms. The system is so confusing that two thirds of employers don’t get involved in it — and more than 80,000 jobs go unfilled each year as a result.

It’s ripe for reform — but not simply because reform would make the state’s flow chart neater, or even because workforce funds would be used more efficiently.

It’s because making the system simpler and more transparent would better serve the people these programs are supposed to serve — to get them trained and employed.

The Name of the game

It’s all about jobs, says Rich Frederick, who was appointed by Gov. John Kasich in February to direct the new Office of Workforce Transformation.

“Our goal is to guide the customer to the most appropriate place,” Frederick said in an Enquirer interview. “The whole idea is to make people aware of all the options that exist for them.”

We applaud that effort. It’s the kind of common-sense reform that’s bound to get push-back from programs and agencies with turf to protect, but will benefit Ohioans struggling to regain their economic footing. ...

It’s a smart, targeted effort that indeed could help transform Ohio’s job picture.