§ 23:1801 — Workforce solutions; development; coordination with employers

§1801. Workforce solutions; development; coordination with employers
A. Louisiana Works shall coordinate and be responsible for the delivery of business
workforce solutions to address the state of Louisiana's workforce and economic development
needs through the various workforce and educational agencies of the state. The secretary of
Louisiana Works shall have the authority to align or realign workforce systems as necessary
to better deliver workforce solutions to meet the needs of the state economy and people of
the state. The secretary shall convene the leaders of the agencies listed in Paragraph (B)(1)
of this Section in order to guide their collaboration across these agencies and within their
agencies to improve the delivery of workforce solutions to businesses and their workforce
needs.
B.(1) The Board of Regents, the Louisiana Community and Technical College
System, Louisiana Economic Development, the Department of Education, the Department
of Public Safety and Corrections, the Louisiana State University system, and the Department
of Children and Family Services shall identify, recognize, change, create, or recommend any
initiatives, services, data collection, research, and programs that will promote workforce
development in the state.
(2) Recommendations for workforce development may include special initiatives, ad
hoc reports, or involvement and recommendations from the following entities:
(a) The Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of
Louisiana at Lafayette or any other policy institute or center operated by or affiliated with a
public university located in the state of Louisiana.
(b) Local workforce development boards.
(c) Regional economic development organizations.
(d) State and local chambers of commerce.
(e) Parish or city economic development organizations.
(f) Other ad hoc reports developed and published pursuant to the provisions of R.S.
17:3138.12 at the request of the secretary of any state entity listed in that Section, or other
state entities with prior approval of all parties to the data-sharing agreements associated with
data used in developing the ad hoc report and with requisite funding.
C. Recommendations and development of workforce solutions shall seek to
accomplish the following goals:
(1) Design and collaborate business solutions capabilities to enable employers in
every region of the state to have a single point of contact for developing solutions to their
immediate and long-term workforce needs.
(2) Provide a path for college students in Louisiana's four-year universities and
two-year colleges toward paid or unpaid internships in Louisiana while they are in their
associate degree, noncredit, or technical credential program or bachelor's degree program,
with the goal that their internships are embedded in their degree programs and are in their
fields of study or professional fields of interest after graduation. The Board of Regents shall
research and enact policies and procedures that incentivize Louisiana's public institutions to
incorporate work-based learning into their degree program curricula and strengthen the
impact of work-based learning on graduate outcomes.
(3) Provide a path for high school participants to earn credit for a paid internship or
apprenticeship through work-based learning by the time they graduate from high school. As
necessary, the Department of Education shall recommend changes to the state accountability
system to increase and reward work-based learning in high schools throughout Louisiana.
These internships or apprenticeships should be available in a broad range of fields, including
professional and technical, and coordinated regionally and locally with chambers of
commerce and economic development organizations.
(4) Design a process for accurate workforce shortage forecasting relevant to the
current state needs and forecasted economic development sector goals reported to the state
workforce investment council and Louisiana Economic Development, annually.
(5) Organizations listed in Paragraph (B)(1) of this Section shall collaborate on
development of an inventory of workforce programs in Louisiana and metrics on their
performance and report by February first of each year to the governor and legislature on a
strategy and progress to address and improve workforce needs. The organizations shall
develop common communication and information for the public and business community
to understand the state's workforce vision with messages that guide improvement of
workforce development efforts in Louisiana.
(6) Identify, recommend, and pilot solutions that use nonprofit or private partners for
state workforce solutions where possible.
D.(1) Louisiana Works shall determine entities responsible for convening the state's
economic sectors with the greatest workforce demand shortages to address solutions to the
top three sectors' shortages, annually. If the healthcare sector is determined to have workforce
shortages, the recommendations shall be comprehensive to also include solutions for
shortages of medical doctors and doctors of osteopathic medicine, especially in rural
Louisiana, as well as nursing and allied health professionals.
(2) The agencies and institutions listed in Paragraphs (B)(1) and (2) of this Section
shall provide educational attainment data from their constituents to ensure achievement for
sixty percent of adults to possess a postsecondary degree or certificate in a trade by the year
2030, enabling more adults to possess postsecondary degrees, diplomas, certificates, and
credentials of value.

Legislative History

Acts 2024, No. 330, §2.