An editorial from The Register-Herald
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — WorkForce West Virginia put its best foot forward for legislators in Charleston this week, telling lawmakers about its programs to help job seekers and employers.
WorkForce Deputy Director Valerie Comer said her agency has 26 programs and secured 43,012 job openings with 17,041 job orders.
It served 114,520 jobseekers, more than 81,000 of whom received staff assistance and nearly 44,700 of whom were referred to employment opportunities.
She also talked about the drug testing policy implemented in 2012 and has collected a total of 1,205 drug tests in the last year with less than a 1 percent failure rate for this year.
Sen. Bob Williams, D-Taylor, acting chair of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Workforce Investment for Economic Development, wondered why just 1,205 people were tested for drugs but 16,000 to 17,000 people are receiving benefits.
Comer said only people seeking tuition reimbursement are tested for drugs.
“We don’t test everybody who comes in looking for work,” she said.
That was a surprise to us, too…
