More Alabamians will have the ability to get connected to rewarding careers through a first-in-the-nation partnership between the state of Alabama and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

The Dashboard for Alabamians to Visualize Income Determinations (DAVID), a workforce development tool, is launching to help job seekers understand which in-demand career pathways may help them achieve self-sufficiency. Access to the tool will assist in overcoming potential loss of public assistance based on income, region, occupation or family dynamics.

AW-DAVID from AIDTCreative on Vimeo.

DAVID was developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, in coordination with the Alabama 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. More information on the DAVID tool can be found on the AlabamasWorks! website.

“We are the first state to take a benefits cliff calculator and merge it with a workforce development career path planner,” said Gov. 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.”

Workforce development efforts across the state have increased focus on quality job training, credentialed workers and preparing workers for a modernized workplace. With these efforts, a primary goal is to help people advance into higher-paying careers and understand how higher income from new careers can establish a path toward self-sufficiency – the ability to pay all bills without having to rely on public assistance.

“I’m excited about this collaboration with the state of Alabama,” said Raphael Bostic, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. “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. This is one way we make sure that this economy works for everyone.”

DAVID will help operationalize 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 (ACCET) to assist case managers and career coaches to provide a continuum-of-services approach for consumers of workforce and education programs.

“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,”