Frequently Asked Questions

Explore the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative's Frequently Asked Questions for answers to questions about the initiative and its metrics and methodology. The first section below offers an overview, with the next two sections exploring the Metrics and Methodology.

Overview

The Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative was conceptualized in support of the CareerSource Florida Board of Directors' core value of continuous improvement for Florida's workforce development system. The metrics and components included in the Initiative are aligned with the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, CareerSource Florida's corporate goals and the priorities and strategies of the State of Florida.
The initiative was designed and developed based on input from local workforce development board leaders during strategy planning and feedback sessions. Team members from CareerSource Florida and the Department of Commerce conducted best practice research, historical data analyses and evaluation of past performance systems. Florida's Performance Funding Model was instrumental in the design of the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative. Additionally, a Performance Advisory Council, consisting of local workforce development board representatives, was established to provide ongoing feedback and recommendations for continuous improvement.
The Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative focuses on three mission-critical metrics:
  • Employment Rate 1st Quarter After Exit: The percentage of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and Wagner-Peyser participants* who exited the system and had certified wages the first quarter after exit.
  • Participant Training Rate: The percentage of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act participants* who received training services.
  • Business Penetration: The number of business establishments provided a staff-assisted, high-value service by a local workforce development board.

More information, including the numerator and denominator for each metric, is available on the Metrics page of this website.

* Excludes participants served through time-limited special initiative grants that do not include local formula funds (e.g., apprenticeship grants).
Performance in the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative is measured on a quarterly basis. Annual performance, including additional credit, is compared to performance, excluding additional credit, from the same quarter in the previous year.

To view local workforce development board performance on the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative, you must first log in to this site. Once logged in, a dropdown list with Florida's 24 local boards will appear in the website's navigation menu at the top of the page. Select a local board from the dropdown to view that board's performance on the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative metrics.

A Dashboard page is also accessible from the navigation menu once logged in to the site with year-over-year performance comparisons by local board.

The CareerSource Florida Performance website is updated monthly as follows:
  • Preliminary data supporting the three Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative metrics is updated as soon as it is available.
  • Final quarterly data for the training and business metrics is updated after the end of the month following the end of each quarter. Local workforce development boards have a full month after each quarter's end to finalize their data in Employ Florida.
  • Final quarterly wage data for the employment metric is updated as soon as the certified wages are received from the Florida Department of Revenue – which is typically about five months after the first quarter after exit (or eight months from when the wages are earned).

Below is the schedule for the certified wage data for fiscal year 2021-2022 performance:

Performance Period / Participant Exit Dates 1st Quarter After Exit / Wages Earned Wage Data Updated Online
July 1 – Sept. 30, 2021 Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2021 May 2022
Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2021 Jan. 1 – March 31, 2022 August 2022
Jan. 1 – March 31, 2022 April 1 – June 30, 2022 November 2022
April 1 – June 30, 2022 July 1 – Sept. 30, 2022 February 2023
For fiscal years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, the CareerSource Florida Board of Directors allocated $5 million per year to recognize local workforce development board performance on the metrics within the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative.
Performance awards were allocated using the federal formula funding model, with each local workforce development board allotted the same proportionate percentage as their federal formula funding. Each local workforce development board's annual allocation was divided evenly by quarter among the three metrics.
Local workforce development boards that were certified as required by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (per Administrative Policy 91 and Administrative Policy 93)  were eligible for performance award funding in the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative.
Each local workforce development board that met the WIOA requirements for certification and met its target for a Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative metric in any given quarter, received award funding for that quarter during fiscal years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.
In addition to this FAQ page, the About, Metrics and Methodology pages on this website provide a wealth of information regarding the initiative. The Resources page includes quick links to supporting documentation and past presentations/webinars for this initiative.
Inquiries regarding the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative may be sent to CareerSource Florida by email at performance@careersourceflorida.com.

Metrics

The numerator and denominator for each Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative metric is as follows:

  • Employment Rate 1st Quarter After Exit

    • Numerator: Participants* who exited during the period being measured and had certified wages, reported by the Department of Revenue, in the first quarter after exit.

    • Denominator: Participants* who exited during the period being measured.

  • Participant Training Rate

    • Numerator: Participants* who are in training, or have completed training, during the period being measured.

    • Denominator: Participants* served during the period being measured.

  • Business Penetration

    • Numerator: The number of business establishments that were provided a staff-assisted, high-value service by the local workforce development board during the period being measured.

    • Denominator: N/A (this metric is not a rate)

*Excludes participants served through time-limited special initiative grants that do not include local formula funds (e.g., apprenticeship grants).

The Employ Florida service codes included in the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative were selected to align with the service codes included in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act's Primary Indicators of Performance.
The Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative recognizes performance aligned to the baseline funding formulas for each local workforce development board; and, therefore, excludes participants served through time-limited special initiative grants that are not included in local formula funds.
The Employment 1st Quarter After Exit metric includes only certified wage data from the Florida Department of Revenue.

Participants who complete training during a quarter will not be counted in the numerator the following quarter, unless they are receiving additional training. Participants will be counted in the denominator of subsequent quarters if they continue to receive services, other than training, in those quarters.

If participants are no longer receiving services, they should be exited from the Employ Florida system per the exit definition described in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, available in Attachment I of the Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 10-16, Change 1.

The Business Penetration metric measures the number of business establishments provided a staff-assisted, high-value service in each performance quarter. The additional credit added to the metric measures the number of staff-assisted, high-value services provided to business establishments in up to five board-selected industry sectors.
A local workforce development board receives credit in the business metric for any business establishment served by that board regardless of geographic location.

Methodology

The methodology for the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative is as follows:

  • Based on thorough reviews and analyses of historical local workforce development board performance data, the improvement target for each quarterly metric was set at 10% compared to the baseline metric performance during the same quarter in the previous year.

  • As data becomes available, the Employment Rate, Training Rate and Business Penetration for the quarter being measured is calculated using the metric's numerator and denominator, as applicable.

  • Additional credit is added to the Employment Rate, Training Rate and Business Penetration.

  • The performance of local workforce development boards is measured by comparing the quarterly metric including additional credit (e.g., Employment Rate + Additional Credit) to baseline performance (the metric without additional credit from the same quarter in the previous year).

Visit the Methodology section of this website for more details.

The improvement target for each metric within the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative was set following thorough reviews and analyses of historical and current performance data. As data became available, the Employment Rate, Training Rate and Business Penetration for each quarter was calculated using the metric's numerator and denominator, as applicable. These calculations became the baseline for target setting in the same quarter for the following year.

Performance targets are updated on the website as data becomes available following the completion of each quarter.

Local workforce development boards receive .20 (or one-fifth of a point) in additional credit in the employment and training metrics for each barrier to employment identified in Employ Florida for the participants in the numerator. Individuals with more than one barrier to employment count multiple times.

Local workforce development boards also receive .30 (or approximately one-third of a point) for each staff-assisted, high-value service provided to business establishments in up to five board-selected industry sectors identified in their local Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act plan. Industries with more than one NAICS code (e.g., manufacturing, retail trade, and transportation and warehousing) count as one industry sector for the purpose of additional credit. Employ Florida maintains an updated list of NAICS codes.

The Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative follows the definitions for barriers to employment in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. A full list of the barriers to employment included in the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative is available here.
Employ Florida is the sole data source for the Continuous Improvement Performance Initiative. The data for the three metrics and additional credits are pulled from Employ Florida with wages certified by the Florida Department of Revenue.