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The needs of the current and future workforce have
clearly created challenges for the education, training and employment
community. To prepare adults, in transition for successful participation in the
workforce, the following strategies have been identified to assist adults with
the employment and training opportunities to attain and retain employment to
achieve self-sufficiency:
- Expand access to and provide the necessary intensive services,
as appropriate, to include childcare assistance, transportation, substance
abuse counseling, and other services that will remove barriers to employment.
- Focus services on retention of jobs and wage progression.
- Increase access and opportunities in basic skills and English
as a Second Language instruction.
- Offer incentives to Employers for hiring and training
low-income and/or older workers to increase employment and training
opportunities.
- Provide the full range of services to the adult customer
through the WorkSource system.
The Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which
replaced the Job Training Partnership Act, is the nation’s principle
workforce development legislation. Key components include: streamlining
services through a one-stop service delivery system (WorkSource); empowering
individuals through information and access to training resources; providing
universal access to core services; increasing accountability results; ensuring
a strong role for local Workforce Council and the private sector in the
workforce investment system; and facilitating state and local flexibility.
WIA formula funds allocated to local Workforce Councils for Adult
programs must be used to provide services through the WorkSource delivery
system. Local agencies may use grant funds to provide services to individuals
who are 18 years of age or older and meet the local and federal WIA Adult
eligibility definitions. The goal is to provide workforce investment activities
that increase the employment, retention, earning, and occupational skill
attainment of job seeking customers.
WIA divides Adult services into three “tiers” –
Core, Intensive, and Training.
Core Services are available to all adults and
include but are not limited to the following:
- Determination of eligibility to receive additional services
(beyond WIA core);
- Outreach, intake and orientation to the information and other
services available through the WorkSource system (includes acting as a
broker);
- Initial assessment of skill levels, aptitudes, abilities, and
supportive service needs;
- Employment statistics information relating to local, regional,
and national labor market areas, including job vacancy listings, information on
job skills necessary for these positions, and information relating to local
occupations in demand and the earnings and skill requirements for these
occupations;
- Performance history and program cost of eligible providers of
training services;
- Job search and placement assistance, and where appropriate,
career counseling;
- Consumer information regarding local performance, supportive
services and how to file unemployment compensation claims;
- Follow-up services, including counseling regarding the
workplace, for participants in WIA activities who are placed in unsubsidized
employment, for not less than 12 months after the first day of the employment,
as appropriate.
Intensive Services are available to Adults and
who are eligible for WIA Adultr services and have received at least one core
service and are:
- Unemployed and are unable to obtain employment through core
services and who have been determined by the WorkSource Operator to be in need
of more intensive services in order to obtain employment; or
- Employed but who are determined by the WorkSource Operator to
be in need of such intensive services in order to obtain or retain employment
that allows for self-sufficiency.
Intensive Services activities include, but are
not limited to, the following:
- Comprehensive and specialized assessments of a customer’s
skill levels and service needs, which may include diagnostic testing and the
use of other assessment tools;
- In depth evaluation to identify employment barriers and
employment goals;
- Development of an individual employment plan to identify
appropriate objectives and combination of services for the customer to achieve
the employment goals;
- Group counseling;
- Individualized career planning;
- Case management for participants seeking intensive and training
services;
- Short-term prevocational services including development of
skills in learning, communications, interviewing punctually, personal
maintenance, and professional conduct to prepare individuals for unsubsidized
employment or training;
- Job retention and wage progression services after placement;
- Supportive services such as childcare, transportation, and
work- and training related expenses.
At a minimum, an Adult must receive at least one intensive service
before receiving Training Services. There must be a
determination of need for training services, as identified in the Individual
Employment Plan, comprehensive assessment, or through other intensive services.
Training Services for eligible individuals are
provided through Individual Training Accounts (ITA) vouchers that can be used
at any eligible training provider. Training includes:
- Occupational skills training, including training for
nontraditional employment;
- On the Job Training
- Programs that combine workplace training with related
instruction, which may include cooperative education programs;
- Training programs operated by the private sector;
- Skills upgrading and retraining;
- Entrepreneurial training;
- Adult education and literacy activities provided in combination
with other training services; and
- Customized training conducted with a commitment by an employer
or group of employers to employ an individual upon successful completion or the
training.
Supportive Services are intended to enable an
individual to participant in program activities and to secure and retain
employment Examples include assistance with local transportation costs;
childcare and dependent care costs; housing and food; and relocation and
out-of-area job search expenses
Retention Services (Follow-Up Services) –
Post-employment job retention services, including supportive services,
counseling and training, are allowable under WIA. These services are expected
to assist customers in maintaining and succeeding in their jobs, as well as
moving up in wage to achieve self-sufficiency. |