Workforce Investment Act

Return to South Central WDC Home Page

Using U.S. Dept. of Labor funds from the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), the South Central Workforce Council oversees and administers a number of training programs for adults, youth, older workers, and dislocated workers who reside in Yakima, Kittitas, and Klickitat counties.

Program services, provided directly or through contracted service providers, include training for basic or advanced skills at a college, technical school, trade union, or on the job. Program services also include professional counseling and supportive services. The primary program goals are full-time employment for adults, and basic education and work competency for youth.

The re-authorization of WIA is being considered in Congress. Read about those considerations here.

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998
[WIA - text]    [WIA - pdf Adobe PDF document]    [WIA - large print]

Related Materials

  • The Workforce Investment Act in Eight States Adobe PDF- the report of a two-year study of many OneStop Career Centers across 8 states. Executive Summary is also availalbe Adobe PDF. Key findings were:
    • States and localities in the sample embraced newly devolved authority and responsibility for workforce investment under WIA, giving rise to an increasingly varied workforce development system
    • The current approach to measuring and managing performance under WIA has not been productive, nor does it fit well with the intergovernmental approach to workforce policy that has evolved in recent decades.
    • States and local areas with more integrated workforce investment programs provide services more seamlessly with less fragmentation and duplication.
    • One-Stop Career Centers are best viewed as places of service delivery, rather than programs, and are the key to providing seamless, comprehensive services.
    • A number of the new market mechanisms introduced by WIA, including ITAs and, to a lesser extent, eligible provider certification processes, appear to be working better than expected.
  • The "Plain English" Version of the Act
    [Plain English - html]     [Plain English - pdfAdobe PDF document]
  • Slide Show - Workforce Investment Act of 1998
    [WIA - html]    [WIA - Corel Presentations]
  • Summary of Workforce Development Provisions of the Act

Archive Material - The following links reference documents of no current relevance but may be useful for other purposes.