Name: Lee H. Arnold
Position: Director, Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training; Executive Director, Rhode Island Human Resource Investment Council
Backround: Attained rank of U.S. Army Captain and was awarded the Bronze Star for service in Vietnam; named Program Budget Manager City of Warwick in 1971; joined Governor’s Office as Manpower Planner in 1973; Associate Director, Rhode Island Department of Employment and Training; worked on loan to United States Department of Labor in 1996.
Education: University of Rhode Island, bachelors’ degree 1967; University of Rhode Island, Master of Public Administration, 1970; Doctorate in Public Administration, Nova Southeastern University, 1984.
Age: 54
Family: Married, two sons
Residence: Warwick
LEE H. ARNOLD: ‘Our goal is to have every Rhode Islander within a 15 minute drive of one of these centers (netWORKri).’
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PBN: What exactly is netWORKri?
ARNOLD: To begin with, it is a concept. What we wanted to do was to convert what used to be called unemployment offices into re-employment offices. Once we had done that we wanted to expand the possibilities for people by making sure it wasn’t just the Department of Labor and Training in those offices. We have a number of partners and services from all over the state. We build netWORKri offices as places where people and jobs connect. Our starting premise is that no one really knows what they want to be when they grow up. Even if they are as old as I am. But that’s the premise. And it’s generally borne out. People come in and they are sort of at a loss. Whether they are looking for their first job, a new job or a better job — they are looking for guidance. They are looking for resources, for options. In terms of guidance, we try to sort out the answer to the question; What do you want to be when you grow up? We have a series of tests to help them to narrow the range of possibilities. We show them the kind of resources we have. Once people are trained on how to use the resources, they are welcome there any time. They can consider that their office between jobs. They can come in and use the computers. We have been very careful to find devices that will help people with a variety of abilities. We have computers for people who are visually impaired, hearing impaired. These netWORKri centers have universal access.
Where are they located?
In Pawtucket, Warren, Providence and Wakefield. Our goal is to have every Rhode Islander within a 15 minute drive of one of these centers. Over the next 12 months, we hope to open centers in Woonsocket, in a central Rhode Island area, and if resources permit, on Aquidneck Island. I would like to do that. Our hope for Aquidneck Island is that a new branch of the Community College of Rhode Island will establish itself there and that we can be a part of that.
Where these office are located, do they take the place of what was the unemployment office?
Yes. One of the goals we had when I took over as director in 1997 was to make unemployment lines in Rhode Island history. I always thought that the process of having people stand in line to get temporary income support while they are in between jobs was a demeaning process. I never cared for it. I know people worked hard to do it well and that they had made improvements over time – by having waiting areas with numbers and videos with job hints – but I was never enamored with the process to begin with. Why did we have to have lines? Why did we have to have unemployment offices?
Where did you first get that idea – had you seen it done somewhere else?
No. It was just something that I didn’t like. I thought about ways we could eliminate unemployment lines without eliminating the capacity of people to file claims for unemployment insurance.
Does netWORKri begin to combat that stigma so often attached to the unemployed?
Absolutely. About 97 or 98 percent of our customers who need unemployment insurance file by telephone. One of the things they can do is use the netWORKri web site and from that they can get a complete directory. And we just received in the past month a grant for Internet filing. I know it will be a small percentage of our customers, at least initially. But it is a growing customer base. We are trying to shorten the period of unemployment. One of the things that disappoints me is that federal legislation requires that unemployment benefits be taxed. That’s a shame. At the time when you most need temporary income and support to tide you over, that benefit is taxed. It’s a disgrace. But it isn’t something I can do anything about. What I can do something about, is to perhaps shorten that duration of unemployment. We’ve managed to shorten the term of unemployment in Rhode Island to about 13 weeks, and it was about 16 weeks three years ago. Our goal is to get that down to the 10 or 11 week range.
Are our elementary and secondary schools adequately training students to enter the workforce?
They are getting better at it. They’re doing a couple of things. One is called School-to-Career. It’s an effort that works jointly with the Department of Education and the Department of Labor and Training. It is getting people who are in the schools — teachers and administrators and parents – to understand that if you can begin early to acquaint children with possibilities, they connect. In addition to the School-to-Career activities, one of the things netWORKri offices have been doing has been inviting groups of school children with their teachers and guidance counselors into these offices. Peter McWalters, the commissioner of education, understands the connection between learning and life. That’s what we are trying to impart in the school children, teachers, guidance counselors, principals, parents and school committees. The more we can do to help promote that, the better off we are. Part of our hope is that we can structure an internship opportunity for every kid in Rhode Island so that they can test drive a thought. To me, it’s as important for a child to know what they do not want to be as it is to know what they do want to be. Elementary and secondary education all relates to our life. The lights are going on.
The national economy has rarely been stronger. Rhode Island has enjoyed a ride on that wave. We’ve built Providence Place, hotels are under construction, our capital city has never looked better. But are Rhode Island’s entry-level workers and those who have been in and out of jobs, seeing any of that prosperity?
The short answer is yes. But the longer answer is that there are not enough opportunities for the full spectrum of jobs for everyone to be enjoying the robust economy.
What advice do you have for the small business owner who laments the fact that he or she can’t find skilled workers?
They need to try a number of approaches. A business owner has to use every avenue available to find skilled workers – whether that is one individual or 100 or 1,000. We believe that our netWORKri offices and our Department of Labor and Training have performed to the point where they ought to be a resource that they take very seriously. We can help do screening. We show up at job fairs. We also have training grants, tax credits for training. We have competitiveness improvement activities sponsored by the Human Resource Investment Council.
These programs you are suggesting come at no cost to small businesses?
That’s right. The services at netWORKri offices are no-fee services.
In June, your department took over the programs operated by the Northern Rhode Island Private Industry Council, essentially putting the agency out of business. That move came on the heels of a probe by the state auditor into missing funds. You called the situation “something of an extreme concern.” Where does that investigation stand?
At the end of May, the governor announced four actions. First, revoking all active northern Rhode Island job training programs; Second, he announced his intent to reorganize the Northern Rhode Island Private Industry Council; Third, to name himself as the grant recipient, the first person to whom the federal funds would arrive – therefore he would have a certain fiduciary responsibility; Fourth, to have the Department of Labor and Training assigned to conduct the activities with those job training funds for the residents and businesses of northern Rhode Island. That was all done. One of the first concerns was the summer youth program. Unless we moved very quickly to get that right, there would not have been one. The result has been that 400 to 500 young people were involved in the summer job program.
Does the Northern Rhode Island Private Industry Council have a future, or do you consider it permanently disabled?
The Northern Rhode Island Private Industry Council, Inc., as the oversight entity, as I understand it, is about to meet and decide its last stepwhether that is voluntary receivership or something of that nature. I feel badly for those folks because they have worked hard and they are good people. This was as much a surprise to them as it was to anyone else. To their credit, they have worked hard to try and get this right – and put this in a situation where legitimate creditors can be paid. Hopefully, that piece of this activity will come to a conclusion shortly. We are still waiting for the final report from the auditor general. I think that will dictate the future.
So at this point the state is running the organization?
Yes. The governor in his letter said that the state would run it through June 2000.
So the people who were working at the Northern Rhode Island Private Industry Council – they’re not going to work anymore?
No, the people who were working there were laid off effectively, back in April. In fact, part of the fallout from this is that most of those people are still owed at least one week’s salary. So that is working its way through the U.S. Department of Labor. If there is a receivership or bankruptcy situation, the courts will decide who gets paid first.
Is it just the state auditor that is investigating the situation right now?
Yes.
It hasn’t gone any further than that?
No.
What is the best thing about your job?
The variety and the people. In many states, I usually have three counterparts. In most states, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and job training are separate and in fact, in a lot of states there is no such thing as a private or state job training fund as there is in Rhode Island. My calendar, for any given week, covers everything from looking at a workers’ compensation assessment fee to forklift licenses to a jurisdictional dispute between unions trying to decide how elevators should operate at Providence Place It is a tremendous variety and I thrive on variety. I don’t get tired of it. Every day is new. I love the people. I’ve got 600 colleagues in this department – I don’t know every one of them, but I know most of them and I feel good about that. We change people’s lives. I don’t mean to sound like a Baptist minister, but we honestly do. We touch 150,000 to 200,000 Rhode Islanders every year.
What is most frustrating?
Securing the resources that I think are necessary to be fully faithful to the laws. We’ve been fortunate. The General Assembly has been very kind to me. I say that number one because it is true and number two because I hope they will continue to be kind to me. I also understand the pressures that everyone has – every member of the cabinet. Everyone has legitimate needs. Sometimes the only answer is more money. I will advocate for my department, but I also keep things in context. That is my only frustration, that I can’t always secure the resources that are necessary.
Has the fact that you spent a year in Washington, D.C. helped you in this job?
Yes. All those people who sign the formal letters and responses – I know them personally. I enjoyed my time in Washington. It was neat for me to be able to connect with my former boss, John Robinson. I learned a lot and I saw a lot of neat things. One thing I learned was where the money is. And that has helped us in several regards. It has helped me get on the phone with the national director of unemployment insurance to talk about my call center. I can talk to someone about the national unemployment service, because that’s where I worked. Sometimes I get hints as to where money is. Knowing so many people really helped in getting Rhode Island its first Job Corps center.
How did it help, specifically?
We had a good application. But having spent a year in Washington, it occurred to me what else we had to do to get over the top. Our Congressional delegation was immensely helpful in getting the proper language into an Appropriations Bill that directed the Secretary of Labor to give priority to those states that did not have a Job Corps center. We were always getting muscled out. Job Corps is a popular program. We needed political help. Our Congressional delegation and the governor worked together. It was a true bipartisan effort. So in April 2000, the Department of Labor and Training will move into its first permanent headquarters in renovated buildings at the Howard Complex in Cranston. A year after that, we should be cutting the ribbon and greeting students for our Job Corps center in Exeter. You can’t know how good that feels. It all relates to the experience I had in Washington in 1996.
