WIOA has placed an increased focus on serving the most vulnerable low-income adults and youth who have limited skills, lack work experience and face other barriers to economic success through Priority of Services.
WIOA focuses on individuals who are basic skills-deficient, low-income, recipients of public assistance – INDIVIDUALS WITH BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT. Priority of Services under WIA applied only when adult funds were limited; WIOA now requires that individuals receive automatic access to Priority of Services! Both adult and dislocated worker funds can be used to support these services.
WIOA allows Local Workforce Development Boards (LWDB) through their One-Stop Operators to provide career services to those individuals (they identify) who are not members of these groups. The goal is to have coordination between WIOA-funded and other programs available in the one-stop delivery system. For example, individuals receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) should have access to a broader range of solutions. By leveraging services and funding resources, TANF recipients will have more comprehensive access that promotes employment retention and self-sufficiency.
Individuals with barriers include, but are not limited to:
- Displaced Homemakers
- Low-income individuals
- Indian, Alaskan and Hawaiian Natives
- Individuals with disabilities, including youth
- Ex-offenders
- Homeless individuals
- Youth who have aged out of foster care
- Individuals who are English language learners
- Individuals who have low levels of literacy and face substantial cultural barriers
- Individuals with two years of exhausting lifetime eligibility under part A of title IV Social Security
- Long-term unemployed
- Other groups that a Governor determines to have barriers
Transitional Jobs offer a way for adult or dislocated workers with barriers to employment (e.g. those who have experienced chronic unemployment, have a limited work history or have limited skills to gain necessary experience) to gain much-needed experience. Transitional Jobs are limited in time and can be subsidized employment opportunities in the private, non-profit or public sectors. Funding for supportive services is also eligible. The goal is to help individuals establish a work history, demonstrate work success and develop new skills that could lead to employment. Transitional Jobs are different than an On-the-Job (OJT) contract - the goal is for each individual to gain much-needed work and training experience.
States and LWDBs can reserve up to 10 percent of their combined adult and dislocated worker funds to support Transitional Jobs along with comprehensive career and supportive services.
Does your LWDB have experience in engaging employers to participate in Transitional Jobs? How are you going to engage employers to participate in this training program? What steps are you taking to ensure that these services are being delivered in the One-Stop Center? We are here to help you.
If you are interested in gaining more information about WIOA and Transitional Jobs, please contact me at Tkaufman@edsisoluions.com.
