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The State of Alabama and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta are launching a first-time partnership with the goal of helping more Alabamians get connected to a rewarding career.

The Dashboard for Alabamians to Visualize Income Determinations (DAVID) helps individuals understand which in-demand career pathways will help statewide residents achieve self-sufficiency and overcome a potential loss of public assistance based on their income, region, occupation and family dynamics.

DAVID was developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, in coordination with the 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.

“We are the first state to take a benefits cliff calculator and merge it with a workforce development career path planner,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in a release. “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 efforts across the state have increased focus on quality job training, credentialed workers and upskilling. The primary goal is to help individuals advance into higher paying careers and understand how higher income from new careers can establish a path towards self-sufficiency – the ability to pay bills without having to rely on public assistance.

“I’m excited about this collaboration with the State of Alabama. 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,” said Raphael Bostic, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. “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. The tool will also be integrated into the Alabama College and Career Exploration Tool (ACCET) to assist case managers and career coaches of providing 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. It can help inform decisions, reduce uncertainty and ensure everyone has an opportunity to participate fully in our economy,” said David Altig, executive vice president and director of research at the Atlanta Fed.

More information on the DAVID tool, complete with a demo, can be found on the AlabamaWorks! website at: https://alabamaworks.com/david/