LA PLATA — Decisions about how federal job-training money is spent in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties are made by a board based in Southern Maryland. A state study now underway could change that.
The Maryland Department of Labor has finalized a request for proposals to hire a consultant to review the state’s 13 local workforce development areas, Ruthie Davis, director of regional workforce and business development for the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland, told Charles County commissioners Oct. 20. The study will ask whether Maryland needs all 13 local boards, whether some should be combined, or whether governance and funding should move to a single state-level board.
A draft of the request circulated in August, Davis said. The final version came out the week before her briefing, and she said it did not change.
Davis first raised the issue with Calvert commissioners this month, when she warned a state review could strip the region of local control over its job-training dollars. Her Charles briefing came after the request was finalized. She said the Tri-County Council’s executive board wanted all three boards of commissioners to hear it.
What the local board does
The Southern Maryland workforce area, which covers all three counties, is one of 13 in the state. Its board, a division of the Tri-County Council, sets strategy for federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act money that passes from the U.S. Department of Labor through Maryland Labor to the region. Davis said that funding is just under $1 million a year and shifts depending on what Congress approves.
The region has two American Job Centers, one on Post Office Road in Waldorf and one on Three Notch Road in California. Davis said the St. Mary’s center also serves Calvert residents.
Davis said the region’s distinct industries, commuting patterns and employer needs are why local control matters. “We are not Baltimore City,” she told the board, a line she repeated through the briefing.
Concerns about cost comparisons
Davis listed what she sees as the risks of restructuring: loss of local control, one-size-fits-all programs, disruption while changes are made and savings that are assumed but not proven. She said the final request asks the consultant to compare the cost per participant in each local area, a measure she said varies widely between Baltimore City, which is entirely urban, and mixed rural and suburban areas like Southern Maryland.
She pointed to changes in other states as examples of where reviews can lead:
- Arkansas: Local areas remain on paper but lose their funding and strategy role, and job centers are replaced by service kiosks, effective July 1, 2027, Davis said.
- Oklahoma: A single statewide workforce area and board, with no local boards.
- Kansas: Consolidated to fewer, larger areas and is now moving toward one state-controlled area.
Under the federal workforce law, Davis said, the governor makes the call on how a state’s workforce areas are drawn, and this effort is coming from the governor’s administration through Maryland Labor.
Letters, then a request for help
Davis did not ask commissioners for any action. She said the Maryland Workforce Association, a nonprofit made up of the state’s 13 local workforce directors, is drafting letters for each local board chair to sign and send to the chair of the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, arguing for local control. A second letter from local elected officials to the governor could follow, she said, and the association may come back to commissioners for support.
The review comes as the Tri-County Council expands its training work. This month it landed a state EARN Maryland grant to train workers for manufacturing jobs.
Local boards also had support in the General Assembly this year. House Bill 1358, the Local Workforce Solutions Investment Act, would have routed more state workforce programs and money through local boards. Its co-sponsors included Del. Todd Morgan of St. Mary’s County. The bill received a hearing in February, and the legislature’s site lists no further action.
Maryland Labor has not announced when a consultant will be chosen or when the study is due.
