US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE – US FOREST SERVICE

Optimizing Job Corps

CASE STUDY

Introduction

Portfolio Tracking & Analysis

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Forest Service (USFS) Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service operate 24 Civilian Conservation Centers under the Job Corps initiative, led by the Department of Labor. These centers combine traditional Job Corps programs with an opportunity to serve rural America, and gain the skills required to conserve the nation’s natural resources.

Spread across 18 states and 22 national forests, there are a total of 24 Forest Service Job Corp Civilian Conservation Centers operated by USFS. There are more than 1,600 requisitions a year that include temporary staffing; construction projects; student recruiting and enrollment; outreach and assistance (OA); career transition services (CTS); medical; food; training and more.

United States Forest Service (USFS) Seal

CASE STUDY

Agile Program Management

Challenge

The Job Corps acquisition NEXUS project included three main objectives. Addressing confusion around contracting roles and responsibilities, identification of the Job Corps acquisition portfolio and analysis, and a review of existing options for acquisition portfolio tracking.

The Job Corps and Procurement & Property Services (PPS) departments required clarity around roles and responsibilities within acquisition project planning and execution of procurement-related processes. They also needed to improve upon the methods and tools for Forest Service Job Corps staff to manage the acquisition portfolio, gather acquisition data, perform analysis, communicate information and more efficiently track acquisition-workload activities.

Solution

Longevity developed the NEXUS Report, which consisted of stakeholder feedback collection & analysis. As part of the final deliverable, we conducted a survey of all Job Corps stakeholders that were part of the acquisition process. Our subject matter experts then conducted detailed data analysis including all historical procurement data for fiscal years 2018 – 2022. This led to the identification of data trends, and recommendations for improvements by procurement category. An opportunity matrix was developed, in which five higher priority items were identified, including advantages, disadvantages, and risks.

Leveraging the work from phase I of the NEXUS project and the recommendations contained in the NEXUS Job Corps report and recommendations document, the Longevity project team worked with US Forest Service personnel to prioritize the defined recommendations and develop detailed action plans.

Business Impact

The NEXUS Report revealed hundreds of quantifiable observations, and nearly 100 SMART goals that were actionable by Job Corps personnel to improve their overall program efficiency. These recommendations influenced policy and program development efforts and will continue to do so for years to come.

Longevity constructed an actionable roadmap, which included improvement opportunities such as training, workforce capacity, process improvement, achievable efficiencies and economies of scale.

Smart Goals

100+

Surveyed Stakeholders

285

Optimized Spend Areas

20

NOTES FROM OUR CUSTOMERS

The team managed the acquisition portfolio, gathered and analyzed the data, and communicated that to the team. This project has boosted our acquisition workload activity tracking.