256.40  Statewide work-based learning intermediary network — fund — steering committee — regional networks.
  1.  A statewide work-based learning intermediary network program is established in the department and shall be administered by the department. A separate, statewide work-based learning intermediary network fund is created in the state treasury under the control of the department. The fund shall consist of all moneys deposited in the fund, including any moneys appropriated by the general assembly and any other moneys available to and obtained or accepted by the department from federal or private sources for purposes of the program. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the state. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or earnings on moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund.
  2.  The purpose of the program shall be to build a seamless career, future workforce, and economic development system in Iowa to accomplish all of the following:
  a.  Better prepare students to make informed postsecondary education and career decisions.
  b.  Provide communication and coordination in order to build and sustain relationships between employers and local youth, the education system, and the community at large.
  c.  Connect students to local career opportunities, creating economic capital for the region using a skilled and available workforce.
  d.  Facilitate the sharing of best practices statewide by business and education leaders.
  e.  Provide a one-stop contact point for information useful to both educators and employers, including a state-level clearinghouse for internships, job shadowing experiences, and other workplace learning opportunities for students that are linked to the state’s economic goals.
  f.  Implement services for all students, staff, and districts within the region and integrate workplace skills into the curriculum.
  g.  Develop work-based capacity with employers.
  h.  Improve the skills of Iowa’s future workforce.
  i.  Provide core services, which may include student job shadowing, student internships, and teacher or student tours.
  3.  The department shall establish and facilitate a steering committee comprised of representatives from the department of workforce development, the economic development authority, the community colleges, the institutions under the control of the state board of regents, accredited private institutions, area education agencies, school districts, and the workplace learning connection. The steering committee shall be responsible for the development and implementation of the statewide work-based learning intermediary network.
  4.  The steering committee shall develop a design for a statewide network comprised of fifteen regional work-based learning intermediary networks. The design shall include network specifications, strategic functions, and desired outcomes.
  5.  Each regional network shall establish an advisory council to develop and implement the regional network.
  6.  Funds deposited in the statewide work-based learning intermediary network fund created in subsection 1 shall be distributed to each region for the implementation of the statewide work-based learning intermediary network based upon the distribution of the kindergarten through grade twelve student enrollments in each region. The amount shall not exceed three dollars per student.
  7.  The department shall provide oversight of the statewide work-based learning intermediary network and shall annually evaluate the statewide and regional network progress toward the outcomes identified by the steering committee pursuant to subsection 4.
  8.  Each regional network shall match the funds received pursuant to subsection 6 with financial resources equal to at least twenty-five percent of the amount of the funds received pursuant to subsection 6. The financial resources used to provide the match may include private donations, in-kind contributions, or public funds other than the funds received pursuant to subsection 6.
2005 Acts, ch 154, §1; 2006 Acts, ch 1030, §31; 2011 Acts, ch 118, §85, 89
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