Territorial labor official outlines WIOA programs, youth initiatives and apprenticeship expansion

Commissioner Gary Malloy and senior staff of the Virgin Islands Department of Labor briefed the Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development on March 7, 2025, updating lawmakers on federally and locally funded workforce programs that target construction, technology and health-care industries.

Malloy said the department delivers services through the territory's America's Job Centers and works with a one-stop operator, Equis Workforce Solutions, to administer adult and dislocated worker programs under Wagner-Peyser and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). "The Virgin Islands Department of Labor builds the territory's pipeline through the workforce development programs that focus on those identified target industries," Malloy said in his testimony.

The committee heard a breakdown of program-year activity, performance measures and local appropriations. Malloy and his directors described: WIOA adult, dislocated worker and youth programming; the View electronic workforce system enrollments; Grow with Google online offerings; and the youth-team portfolio, which includes the summer youth work experience, the work-learn-and-earn model and the Lift internship for college students. The department reported program-year performance measures such as adult entered employment (67% for the second quarter of PY 2023, 64.2% in the second quarter of PY 2024) and various credential and retention figures for youth and dislocated workers.

Lawmakers pressed officials for greater clarity on outcomes and the underlying denominators for percentages. Senator Kurt Vele asked what the 67% figure meant in raw counts; Director Charlene Hodge said the percentages are performance measures reported to the U.S. Department of Labor and that the denominators are the number of individuals served during the reporting period. When asked, Hodge and Malloy acknowledged the committee had requested more granular data and agreed to provide a detailed breakdown of individuals served, demographics, program outcomes and provider lists.

Youth and apprenticeship updates: Malloy described the youth and apprenticeship division's services for 14' to 25'year'olds, including paid work experiences and the Jobs for America's Graduates Virgin Islands (JAGVI) program. The department said a Casino Control Commission grant of $385,956.64 expanded JAGVI services in 2024 and helped provide stipends for 265 12th graders in required on-the-job training segments. Malloy said JAGVI achieved national recognition (a "6 of 6 national network award") and that the program placed 90% of the class of 2023 into employment or further education during a 12-month follow-up.

Officials described a summer youth work experience application pool of 548 applicants as of February 2025, with island breakouts reported in testimony (271 on St. Croix, 140 on St. Thomas, 2 on St. John for a 5-week paid program for ages 16'to 25). Malloy and Director Shanika Sebastian said the youth team serves over 700 youth annually using federal and local funds, noting final performance figures for the 2024 academic year would be available after the May 2025 high-school graduation cycle.

Apprenticeships and training pipelines: Malloy outlined registered apprenticeship activity, noting recently approved programs including a line-maintainers program with the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority and a K'12 teacher apprenticeship sponsored by the Department of Education. The department reported an appropriation of $720,000 for apprenticeship-related supports in 2025 and said it projects to serve about 90 individuals through individual training accounts (ITAs), on-the-job training and customized training.

Budget and funding detail requests: Senators repeatedly asked for clearer financial breakdowns. Malloy and staff provided several figures in testimony: a 2024 summer program appropriation of $578,955 that served 381 students; youth transition appropriation $320,278; and a 2025 projection showing some local appropriations unchanged. Malloy and Director Hodge said local "at-risk" funding previously shown in 2024 line items (the Casino Control Commission appropriation) did not appear in the 2025 line because the territory no longer receives that specific commission funding.

Equis contract and administrative concerns: Senators asked about the one-stop operator contract with Equis Workforce Solutions. The committee was shown contract figures and administrative breakdowns cited in testimony: a one-year Equis contract total of $1,627,880; customer expenses listed as $384,956; and staff salary/wages in the contract at approximately $866,000 (figures provided to the committee by staff). Malloy confirmed the contract is regularly rebid and said administrative arrangements are constrained by U.S. Department of Labor rules for one-stop operations.

Lawmakers' requests and next steps: At the hearing's close the clerk read a formal request for additional information that the department agreed to supply through the committee. The list included: demographic breakdowns of individuals served, itemized program budgets and expenditures, the eligible training provider list, outcomes for the Skills for the Day $10 million training grant previously awarded, counts of inmates participating in training, childcare-support recipients in training programs and data on Department of Human Services referrals and employment outcomes.

The committee did not take formal votes at the hearing; members signaled they will follow up with a request for the numeric data underlying performance percentages and return for further questioning once the department supplies the requested reports.