DIRECTIVE: OLDER WORKER BULLETIN 98-32

TO: ALL SENIOR COMMUNITY SERVICE EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM (SCSEP) SPONSORS

SUBJECT: Workforce Investment Act

1. Purpose: To provide SCSEP grantees with basic background information on the recently enacted workforce development legislation that will replace the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA).

2. References: The Administration and the Congress have been working to Areform@ job training programs for some time now, going back to the 1995 proposed Reemployment Act. In this session of Congress, these efforts came to fruition. A conference report reconciled differences between House and Senate versions of new workforce development legislation late in July. This was with approval by the Congress and the President's signature, which enacted the new law on August 7.

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) replaces JTPA, and will be phased in during the next two program years, taking effect in all States on July 1, 2000, (Many States will implement the WIA a year earlier, however). Copies of the legislation are available on the Internet at the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Homepage, www.doleta.gov. Hard copies of the Act may be requested from your Member of Congress; ask for the Conference Report on H.R. 1385 (House Report 105-659).

Also available on the ETA Homepage and attached to this bulletin are a 14-page summary of the WIA, and a side-by-side comparison of the WIA with JTPA.

3. Future Activity: We hope to have another bulletin available in the not-too-distant future that will analyze some of the likely consequences of the new legislation with regard to SCSEP.

4. Action: Please provide the attached materials to appropriate staff, and become familiar with the key elements of the newly enacted legislation.

5. Inquiries: Questions should be directed to your Federal Representative at (202) 219-5904.

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