Since July 1, 2017, KRA has served as the One-Stop Operator (OSO), playing an essential role in keeping Baltimore County’s workforce system aligned, responsive, and effective.
Under contract with the Department of Economic and Workforce Development (DEWD), KRA helps ensure that OSO- designated workforce partners are not just meeting WIOA requirements, but actually working together in ways that benefit jobseekers, employers, and frontline staff alike.
Joseph Seymour, KRA One-Stop Operator, has been connected to the OSO program since inception commenting, “This tenure represents a unique level of continuity, meaning that KRA doesn’t just understand the mission; we understand the history, the relationships, and the context behind the work. This perspective allows KRA to support three main groups that contribute to the County’s workforce system with consistency, greater clarity, fewer assumptions, trust, and a stronger foundation for collaboration.”
- The CAREER Team is a group of supervisors, managers, and front-line staff from the partner agencies, i.e., Baltimore County Housing and Community Development; Community College of Baltimore County; Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center; DEWD; Department of Human Services; and Maryland DOL, among others.
For the Team, KRA facilitates monthly meetings, bringing partners together at the operational level to provide a space to coordinate services, surface challenges, and problem-solve across agencies. Information sharing, reviewing best practices, and networking are key priorities.
- The WIOA Steering Committee is an assemblage of the executive leadership of system partner agencies that convene quarterly, during which they provide direction for the system and discuss tangible pathways to improved system alignment and partnership. KRA facilitates and supports the Steering Committee in clarifying its purpose, maintaining a regular meeting cadence, and grounding discussions in operational realities—all helping to connect high-level decision making with what is actually happening across the system.
- The Baltimore County Workforce Development Board, for which KRA provides OSO updates, as well as professional development, which may be the most impactful service we provide system wide. Rather than treating training as a one-and-done activity, KRA facilitates monthly learning opportunities for partner staff across the system, with topics ranging from WIOA policy and documentation standards to customer flow, equal-opportunity compliance, partner roles, and service integration. By learning together, staff across agencies build shared understanding and a common language, reducing inconsistency, strengthening relationships, and building confidence at every level of the system.
In summary, Mr. Seymour concludes, “At its core, the OSO role is about connection—linking partner agencies and organizations to one another, policy to practice, and strategy to day-to-day operations. In a system comprised of multiple agencies, programs, and priorities, coordination of services is critical.”