For immediate release: October 21, 2020
The State of Alabama and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta are launching a first-in-the-nation partnership to help more Alabamians connect to rewarding careers.
Unveiled today, the Dashboard for Alabamians to Visualize Income Determinations (DAVID) helps individuals understand which in-demand career paths will help them achieve self-sufficiency and overcome a potential loss of public assistance (sometimes known as a benefits cliff) based on their income, region, occupation, and family dynamics.
DAVID was developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, in coordination with the Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Transformation and the Governor’s Human Capital Development Task Force, chaired by Department of Human Resources commissioner Nancy Buckner.
"We are the first state to take a benefits cliff calculator and merge it with a workforce development career path planner," noted Governor Kay Ivey. "This is a significant milestone and we are proud to, once again, be leading the way with innovative workforce development solutions for the people of Alabama. We are grateful for the work of the Atlanta Fed in developing this resource that will help Alabama reach our attainment goal of adding 500,000 credentialed workers to the workforce by 2025."
More information on the DAVID tool, complete with a demo, can be found on the AlabamaWorks! website
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"I'm excited about this collaboration with the State of Alabama. It is important to address the issue of increased marginal tax rates—or benefit cliffs—in a coordinated way, to make sure that the incentives are not sending the wrong signal to people, but rather are pushing and driving them to invest in themselves and get to a more stable place," said Raphael Bostic, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. "This is one way we make sure that this economy works for everyone."
Workforce efforts across the state have increased focus on quality job training, credentialed workers, and skill enhancement. With these efforts, a primary goal is to help individuals advance into higher-paying careers and understand how higher income from new careers can establish a path toward self-sufficiency—the ability to pay your bills without having to rely on public assistance.
"DAVID helps workforce development professionals gain insight into what an actual career pathway looks like as a worker enters and moves up in a profession," said David Altig, executive vice president and director of research at the Atlanta Fed. "It can help inform decisions, reduce uncertainty, and ensure everyone has an opportunity to participate fully in our economy."
DAVID will help establish the goal of developing a no-wrong-door approach to the workforce development system. Additionally, the tool will be integrated into the Alabama College and Career Exploration Tool to assist case managers and career coaches to provide a full range of services for consumers of workforce and education programs.