Academy partners, 

As we prepare to close out this fiscal year we are reflecting on the work we have done together in the last twelve months and are looking ahead to what is next. Our team has worked closely with our partners to continue providing quality workforce development services in the midst of a number of large scale change management efforts (including continuing to enhance our virtual service delivery, implementing a statewide Learning Management System, shifting our business model to accommodate AB5 requirements, and remediating curricula so they are accessible). We are so grateful to our outside trainers, coaches and facilitators for partnering with us through this time. 

We are scheduled to resume in-person services on October 1. We recently conducted a survey with our county partners to assess which services they would like to continue receiving virtually and which they would like to see a return to in person. Many of our counties have found that there are benefits to virtual deliveries (such as increased access to coaches and reduced travel time to attend a training) and would like to have some services be delivered through both modalities. Most counties are interested in having at least some coaching and training delivered virtually. All counties are interested in seeing simulations return to in-person delivery. Most counties are interested in regional events like convenings and summits continuing to be virtual. We are finding that transfer of learning continues to be strong and virtual coaching and training can be successful and we are excited to continue building on what we have learned in the past year to meet the needs of the Southern region. 

Thank you for your ongoing partnership. 

Dawn