Frequently Asked Questions

Florida's local workforce development board letter grades were developed in response to the Reimagining Education and Career Help (REACH) Act. The law calls for the Governor's REACH Office to develop criteria for assigning a letter grade to each local workforce development board and for CareerSource Florida to assign and make public the letter grades annually.

The final criteria developed by the Governor's REACH office was presented to the CareerSource Florida Board of Directors at the Sept. 12, 2022, board meeting. Baseline letter grades for performance during program year 2021-2022 were assigned by the CareerSource Florida Executive Committee on Oct. 18, 2022.

As required by the REACH Act, the majority of the grade is based on the improvement by each local board in the long-term self-sufficiency of participants through outcome measures such as reduction in long-term public assistance and the percentage of participants whose wages were higher after program completion compared to wages before participation in a program. To that end, seven core metrics and one extra credit metric were developed. Each metric is assigned a weight and the weighted performance add up to the annual letter grade for each local workforce development board. Visit the Methodology page for more information.

Florida's letter grades for local workforce development boards include seven core metrics and one extra credit metric focused on employment services, training services, business services, and economic self-sufficiency:

1. Participants With Increased Earnings
2. Reduction in Public Assistance
3. Employment and Training Outcomes
4. Participants in Work-Related Training
5. Continued Repeat Business
6. Year-Over-Year Business Penetration
7. Completion-to-Funding Ratio
8. Extra Credit: Serving Individuals on SNAP, TANF, Adult Education, Blind Services or Vocational Rehabilitation

A description of the metrics, their numerators and denominators, targets, data sources, and weights within the letter grades are available on the Methodology page of this website.

The metrics that make up the local workforce development board letter grades were developed by the Governor's REACH Office in collaboration with an interagency workgroup and feedback from local workforce development boards. The metrics were designed with these Guiding Principles . In the spirit of continuous improvement, these metrics are tracked and analyzed on a continuous basis and adjustments are made as needed to reflect evolving economic conditions and state priorities. For program year 2023-2024, the following updates were made: 1) the targets for two metrics (Participants with Increased Earnings and Reduction in Public Assistance) were revised; 2) WIOA Title II and Title IV activities were added to the extra credit metric; and, 3) the point scale for the Extra Credit metric was revised. Detailed program year information is available on the Methodology page of this website.

The letter grades are assigned on an annual basis, by Oct. 15, for performance in the prior program year (which runs from July through June). The data comprising the letter grades represents a rolling four quarters. Due to the reporting process and timing for each data point, however, the timing of the cohorts within each metric may vary. View or download the Metric Cohorts Timeline spreadsheet on the Resources page of this website to learn more about the timing of the data within each metric.

In consultation with CareerSource Florida and the Florida Department of Commerce, the REACH Office set the targets for each metric using historical performance data to test the letter grades methodology and the results were analyzed by an interagency workgroup.

The target is the goal for the specific individual metric, while the weight is the maximum total points that can be achieved by meeting or exceeding the target. The percent of the target met is multiplied by the weight to determine the weighted performance for each individual metric. See the sample calculations on the Methodology page for illustration.

Following the submission of the final program-year performance report to the U.S. Department of Labor, the Florida Department of Commerce calculates the final letter grade for each local workforce development board using the following methodology:

For each metric:

1. A rate is calculated using the metric's numerator and denominator. See the Methodology page for details.
2. The percentage of the target met is then calculated by dividing the rate by the metric's target and then capping it at 100 percent.
3. The percentage of the target met (the result of #2 above) is then multiplied by the metric's weight to get the weighted performance.

Finally, the weighted performance for all metrics are summed for an annual score that translates into a letter grade based on the following scale:

• A+: ≥ 97
• A : 93 to < 97
• A-: 90 to < 93
• B+: 87 to < 90
• B : 83 to < 87
• B-: 80 to < 83
• C+: 77 to < 80
• C : 73 to < 77
• C-: 70 to < 73
• D : 60 to < 70
• F : < 60

The result of each step is rounded to the hundredth decimal place. Additional information on the letter grades methodology, including calculation examples, is available on the Methodology page of this website.

Letter grades are assigned by the CareerSource Florida Board of Directors on an annual basis, by Oct. 15, following the close of the program year.

As data becomes available, on a rolling four-quarter basis, preliminary scores are calculated per metric and updated on this website on a quarterly basis. A summary of all scores is posted on the Performance page and individual scores are made available on each local workforce development board's performance page.

Once final data is available after the close of each program year and the final program-year performance report is submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor, an annual score is calculated for each local workforce development board. Following data validation of final scores, the CareerSource Florida Board of Directors assigns and makes public the letter grades annually by Oct. 15. The letter grades, scores and underlying data are then made available on this website.

To view local workforce development board performance data, you must first register and log in to this website. Once logged in, a dropdown list with Florida's local workforce development boards will appear in the site's navigation menu at the top of the page. Select a local board from the dropdown to view that board's performance. Local workforce development board performance can also be accessed by clicking on each board's name on the Performance page of this website.

At the current time, there are no rewards or punitive measures for local workforce development board letter grades.

Inquiries about the local workforce development board letter grades may be sent to CareerSource Florida through the Contact form on this website.