27. There is established in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Center for Occupational Employment Information, which shall:

a. Serve as the entity designated to carry out the State level career information activities prescribed in the Perkins Act. In accordance with that act, the center shall, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education:

(1) Provide support for career guidance and academic counseling programs designed to promote improved career and education decision-making by individuals, especially in areas of career information delivery and use;

(2) Make information and planning resources that relate educational preparation to career goals and expectations available, on the Internet to the extent possible, to students, parents, teachers, administrators, counselors, job-seekers, workers and other clients of the workforce investment system, including the consumer report card on the effectiveness of qualified schools and other approved training providers placed on the State Eligible Training Provider List provided pursuant to subsection f. of this section and required to be made available pursuant to section 13 of P.L.2005, c.354 (C. 34:15C-10.1), section 4 of P.L.1992, c.48 (C. 34:15B-38), section 7 of P.L.1992, c.43 (C. 34:15D-7) and section 3 of P.L.1992, c.47 (C. 43:21-59);

(3) Equip workforce investment system professionals, including teachers, administrators, and counselors, with the knowledge and skills needed to assist clients of the workforce investment system, including students and parents, with career exploration, educational opportunities and education financing;

(4) Assist appropriate State entities in tailoring career-related educational resources and training for use by such entities;

(5) Improve coordination and communication among administrators and planners of programs included in the State’s workforce investment system to ensure non-duplication of efforts and the appropriate use of shared information and data; and

(6) Provide ongoing means for clients of the workforce investment system, including students and parents, to provide comments and feedback on products and services and to update resources, as appropriate, to better meet customer requirements.

b. Design and implement a comprehensive workforce information system to meet the needs for the planning and operation of all public and private training and job placement programs, which is responsive to the economic demands of the employer community and education and training needs of the State and of Workforce Investment Board areas within the State, as recommended by the commission and designated by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development. In doing so, the center shall insure that the information:

(1) Is delivered in a user friendly, timely and easily understood manner;

(2) Pays special attention to the particular needs of each Workforce Investment Board and is consistent with the labor market of each Workforce Investment Board; and

(3) Is delivered, to the extent possible, on the Internet in a format designed to meet the needs of all user groups.

c. Use the occupational employment information system to implement an electronic career information delivery system, which shall provide students, parents, counselors and other career decision makers with accurate, timely and locally relevant information on the careers available in the New Jersey labor market.

d. Analyze, not less than once every two years and on a regional basis, the relationship between the projected need for trained individuals in each of the career clusters and each of the career pathways, and the total number of individuals being trained in the skills or skill sets needed to work in each of the clusters and pathways. Based on this relationship, the center shall designate as a labor demand occupation any occupation that is in a cluster or pathway for which the number of individuals needed significantly exceeds, or shall exceed, the number being trained, and may designate as a labor demand occupation an occupation for which the center determines that the number of individuals needed significantly exceeds, or will exceed, the number being trained, even if that is not the case for the entire career cluster or pathway to which the occupation belongs. In cases where a Workforce Investment Board established pursuant to section 18 of P.L.1989, c.293 (C. 34:15C-15) submits information to the center that there is or is likely to be, in the region for which the board is responsible, a significant excess of demand over supply of adequately trained workers for an occupation, the center may conduct a survey of the need or anticipated need in that region for trained workers in that occupation and, whether or not it conducts that survey, shall, in conjunction with the board, determine whether to designate the occupation to be a labor demand occupation in that region. The center may utilize survey data obtained by other agencies or from other sources to fulfill its responsibilities under this subsection.

e. Assist the commission in preparing the New Jersey Unified Workforce Investment Plan pursuant to section 10 of P.L.1989, c.293 (C. 34:15C-7) by providing information requested by the commission.

f. Compile information provided to the department by training providers on the State Eligible Training Provider List pursuant to sections 14 and 29 of P.L.2005, c.354 (C. 34:15C-10.2 and C. 34:1A-88) into a consumer report card on the effectiveness of qualified schools and other approved training providers. The consumer report card shall include, at a minimum, the following information compiled annually: the number of enrollees; the completion rate; placement in employment information, including the names of employers where placements are made ; licensing information; examination results; enrollee demographic information; and information showing the long-term success of former trainees of each provider and school in obtaining permanent employment and increasing earnings over one or more time periods following the completion or other termination of training, including a period of two years following the completion or other termination of training.

g. Ensure that the data needed to produce a consumer report card, pursuant to subsection f. of this section, is submitted by the training providers and qualified schools to the department in a timely manner and, for those training providers and qualified schools that do not submit the data in a timely manner, implement and enforce a process to revoke or suspend the entity from the State Eligible Training Provider List, pursuant to section 14 of P.L.2005, c.354 (C. 34:15C-10.2).

L.2005, c.354, s.27; amended 2013, c.208, s.1.