“Virginia’s workforce development system provides more than 30 services and training programs. “Since 2003, multiple state reports have highlighted the need for an authority to coordinate the system’s many programs and services, which are spread across multiple secretariats and departments, in order to better meet the needs of workers and employers, enhance accountability and assess which programs are working and which are not. Suggested strategies have included uniting all workforce programs under a new workforce development agency and creating a Deputy Chief of Staff for Workforce Development in the Governor’s office who would have authority over funding and the ability to solve system problems across multiple Secretariats.

“Similarly, a 2010 report by the Governor’s Commission on Economic Development and Job Creation recommended that the governor appoint a senior-level leader to coordinate the entire system. None of these recommendations has been acted on.”