|
The Tri-County region has experienced a
significant level of company downsizing and plant closures across many
industries, resulting in worker dislocation. These displaced workers must
compete in an already challenged labor market. Any service that provides these
workers with job seeking skills, placement assistance or occupation skills will
be of clear benefit to the worker as well as the community workforce.
WIA formula funds allocated to local Workforce Councils for
Dislocated Worker 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 Dislocated Worker eligibility definitions. The goal is to provide
workforce investment activities that increase the employment, retention,
earning, and occupational skill attainment of job seeking customers.
The Rapid Response service to community businesses and workers
affected by business closures, downsizing or other forms of displacement that
lead to permanent job loss, will emphasize early intervention to accelerate the
employment of all those affected.
The emphasis on Rapid Response to businesses and workers
incorporates the following strategies:
- Provide the full range of services to dislocated workers
through the WorkSource (One-Stop) system.
- Continue exemplary best practices such as a community response
to displacement involving public service employment, the community college
system and labor.
- Prioritize dislocated workers’ return to work at
comparable wages in as short a time as possible.
Adults are eligible as Dislocated Workers if they:
- Recently lost a job through no fault of their own and are
unlikely to return to their previous occupation or industry
- Are about to be laid off due to a plant closure or mass layoff
- Are formerly self-employed but now unemployed because of
general economic conditions or natural disaster
- Meet the definition of a displaced homemaker. Displaced
homemakers are equally eligible for Dislocated Worker Services if they have
been dependent on the income of a family member but are no longer supported by
that income and if they are experiencing difficulty obtaining or retaining
employment.
WIA divides Dislocated Worker services into three
“tiers” – Core, Intensive, and Training.
Core Services are available to all Dislocated
Workers 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 Dislocated
Workers and who are eligible for WIA Dislocated Workerr 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 Dislocated Worker 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.
Rapid Response activities are provided to enable
Dislocated Workers to transition to new employment as quickly as possible,
following either a permanent closure or mass layoff. These services are
provided by the Tri-County Workforce Council Rapid Response Team at the
worksite and are customized to meet the needs of both the employer and
employees.
Rapid Response activities include but are not limited to:
- On-site contact with employers, representatives of the affected
workers and the local community;
- Assistance with application for Unemployment Insurance;
- Job search workshops;
- Referral of affected workers to appropriate short- and
long-term resources for finding new jobs and/or upgrading their skills.
|