|
WIA and the Workforce Development System
Workforce development is the general term used to describe activities
and services designed to increase individuals’ employment and
earning potential, such as job-search and placement assistance, career
counseling, training and other job preparation activities. Workforce
development also is sometimes called workforce investment or employment
services.
Workforce development services are provided through a nationwide
system of public and private agencies working in partnership with
local communities and businesses. The Workforce Investment Act of
1998 (WIA) mandated the streamlining and integration of the various
groups involved in workforce development activities in order to improve
the skills of America’s workforce, reduce welfare dependency
and enhance the nation’s productivity and competitiveness. Clearly,
achieving these goals requires collaboration among the numerous Federal,
state and local agencies, non-profit organizations, employers and
workers.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) created WIA in cooperation with
the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Housing
and Urban Development and other agencies that oversee training and
employment programs. It was the first reform of the nation’s
job training system in more than 15 years, replaced the Job Training
Partnership Act (JPTA) and is up for reauthorization
in 2003.
WIA has five underlying principles:
- Business leadership—The business community
should play an active role in preparing people for current and future
jobs by providing local leadership and critical labor market information.
- Local management—Training and employment
programs should be designed and managed at the local level, where
the needs of businesses and individuals are best understood.
- One-Stop convenience—Job seekers and employers
should be able to conveniently access employment, education, training
and other information services they need at a single location in
their communities—One-Stop Career Centers.
- Individual choice—Customers should control
their own career development process and have options in selecting
the training activities that best fit their needs and the organizations
that provide such services.
- Accountability—Customers have a right
to information about how well training providers succeed in preparing
people for jobs.
WIA reformed the nation’s workforce development system to be
more comprehensive in order to provide services for all individuals
seeking jobs and employers seeking workers. Key components of the
reformed system are Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) and One-Stop
Career Centers.
Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs)
WIBs operate at both the state and local level. State WIBs help governors
develop strategic plans for workforce development goals and activities.
They also explain how WIA requirements will be implemented and outline
outreach strategies to serve special populations. State WIB members
include state and local officials, employers and representatives from
community-based organizations.
Local WIBs plan and oversee local workforce development activities.
They designate One Stop Career Center operators, identify training
service providers, create performance measures with the assistance
of state WIBs, monitor performance and help develop local labor market
information systems. Local WIB members include locally elected officials;
business and education leaders; representatives from faith-based,
community-based, labor and economic development organizations; and
One-Stop Career Center partners.
In addition, Local Youth Councils develop plans specific to youth,
recommend providers of youth services and coordinate with local youth
initiatives. Local Youth Council members are appointed by local WIBs
and include WIB members, youth service providers, public housing authorities,
education agencies and local youth themselves.
WIA mandates that particular sectors be represented on WIBs; however,
WIBs may include other, additional individuals selected and/or approved
by locally elected officials, including substance abuse treatment
providers. Becoming one of these voluntary partners offers an opportunity
for substance abuse treatment programs to get involved in WIB activities.
Such a relationship would be established though a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU).
Back
to Top
One-Stop Career Centers
One-Stop Career Centers serve both employers and job seekers. They
are local facilities where access to a variety of job
training, education and employment services are available under
one roof. One-Stops are managed by their own staff, but policies and
procedures are governed by their local WIBs. To locate the One-Stop
nearest to them, job seekers and employers can use America’s
Service Locator or call 1-877-US-2-JOBS.
Through Individual Training Accounts (ITAs), individual adult One-Stop
customers are able to choose the training that best suits their needs,
in consultation with a case manager. The One-Stop provides customers
with lists of eligible training providers and information about how
well these providers perform. A key concept behind ITAs is that granting
individuals choice based on performance information helps foster increased
competition and thus improves outcomes among local training service
providers.
Back
to Top
Who is Served and What Services are Available
The workforce development system governed by WIA was designed to
serve multiple audiences, including employers, adults, dislocated
workers and youth. To be eligible for adult and dislocated worker
services, individuals must be at least 18 years old. To receive dislocated
worker services, individuals must have been terminated or laid off.
Displaced homemakers (individuals who have been providing unpaid services
to family members and have been dependent on the income of another
family member but are no longer supported by that income) are also
eligible. If adult funds are limited in an area, recipients of public
assistance and low-income individuals receive priority.
Eligible youth under WIA are defined as low-income individuals between
the ages of 14 and 21; however, some youth in a local area who are
not considered low-income may be eligible for services if they face
certain barriers to school completion or employment. Such barriers
may include incompletion of high school, lack of basic literacy skills,
pregnancy, being a parent, homelessness and/or a criminal record,
among others.
Services for Employers
Through One-Stops, employers can benefit from recruitment and pre-screening
of qualified applicants, a place to advertise vacancies, information
about job and industry growth trends, labor market information and
compliance assistance on federal legislation affecting employment.
Services for Adults
Core services such as job search and placement assistance, skills
and needs assessments, service provider information, unemployment
insurance and labor market information are available to all adults
with no eligibility requirements. Intensive services, which include
more comprehensive skills assessments, diagnostic testing and group
and individual counseling, target unemployed individuals who are unable
to find jobs though core services alone. Under some circumstances,
employed individuals may be eligible for intensive services. Both
core and intensive services include 12 months of follow-up after job
placement. Training is provided to eligible job seekers through ITAs.
Services for Youth
Youth services can lead to either employment or post-secondary education
and link academic and occupational education. Services may be located
within a One-Stop or at a separate location just for youth and must
include tutoring and study skills, drop-out prevention, alternative
school programs, mentoring by appropriate adults, paid and unpaid
work experience, occupational skills training, leadership development
and appropriate support activities, such as drug and alcohol counseling.
Back
to Top
Substance Abuse Issues Under WIA
Both One-Stop Career Centers and substance abuse treatment centers
face challenges since the individuals they serve often have multi-faceted
job preparation needs. Although, WIA does not specifically indicate
how individuals with substance abuse problems should be treated within
the workforce development context, it does stipulate that no individual
can be excluded from participation in or denied the benefits or services
because of a disability. A disability is a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits a major life activity.
In certain circumstances, alcoholics and drug addicts in treatment
or recovery may be qualified individuals with a disability and protected
by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
and other Federal disability non-discrimination laws, including Sec.
188 of WIA. However, regardless of whether or not an individual’s
alcohol or drug use problems constitute a disability, they often present
major barriers to employment that warrant attention. In addition to
job preparation, services authorized by WIA include childcare, transportation
and other support activities to address such barriers that may help
individuals successfully secure and maintain employment. Collaboration
between treatment providers and workforce development professionals
can, for some individuals, ensure they have access to all services
they need in order to work.
Back
to Top
Welfare Reform and Substance Abuse
In 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act (PRWORA), also known as the Welfare Reform Act, fostered a new
vision for public assistance—welfare as short term, emergency
aid focused on increasing self-sufficiency through unsubsidized, full-time
employment. It created a new system of block grants to states called
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and drastically changed
the nature and provision of welfare benefits in America.
With emphasis on “work-first” and short-term financial
assistance, TANF impelled welfare agencies to strengthen their workforce
development activities, either by bolstering their in-house capabilities
or forging relationships with the nationwide workforce
development system, in order to help families transition off of
welfare.
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 then authorized the U.S. Department
of Labor (DOL) to provide Welfare-to-Work (WtW) competitive grants
to states and communities to create additional job opportunities for
the hardest-to-employ recipients of TANF. Grantees were given considerable
flexibility in designing strategies geared to the needs of their own
local labor markets and economies. Grants provided job readiness,
community service or work experience, job creation through public-or
private-sector employment wage subsidies, on-the-job training, job
placement services, and post-employment and job retention services
to long-term welfare recipients and non-custodial parents of children
on welfare who were considered hardest to employ.
Eligibility criteria outlined in the original WtW legislation specifically
included individuals with substance abuse problems, and although the
criteria were later simplified to not include this level of specificity,
substance abuse remains a barrier faced by many welfare recipients.
WtW allowed grantees to use Federal funds for alcohol and drug treatment
as long as services were non-medical (such as sessions with counselors,
technicians, social workers and psychologists and services not provided
in a hospital or clinic, including 24-hour care programs). These types
of services are critical to individuals working towards recovery who
are transitioning off welfare. States could use their own or other
funds to provide medical treatment.
|
