The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is a United States public law that replaced the previous Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) as the primary federal workforce development legislation to bring about increased coordination among federal workforce development and related programs.
The One-Stop Delivery System
WIOA continues the requirements of WIA for each state to establish a One-Stop delivery system to
provide "career services" and access to "training" services; provide access to programs and activities carried out by One-Stop partners; and provide access to all workforce and labor market information, job search, placement, recruitment, and labor exchange services.
+ Required Partners in One-Stop Centers Program Federal dept. Youth Workforce Investment Activities Labor Adult Employment and Training Activities Labor Dislocated Worker Employment and Training Activities Labor Job Corps Labor Native American Programs Labor Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Programs Labor YouthBuild Program Labor Employment Service Labor Adult Education and Literacy Activities Education Vocational Rehabilitation State Grant Programs Education Senior Community Service Employment Program Labor Postsecondary Career and Technical Education Education Trade Adjustment Assistance Labor Jobs for Veterans State Grant programs Labor Employment and Training Activities carried out under the Community Services Block Grant HHS Employment and Training Activities carried out by the Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD State Unemployment Compensation programs Labor Reintegration of Offenders Programs Justice Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) HHS
+ Optional Partners in One-Stop Centers Programs Federal agency Employment and training programs, e.g., Ticket to Work Social Security Administration Employment and training programs Small Business Administration Any employment and training activities required of recipients under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp program), and work programs for those recipients who are able-bodied adults without dependents Client Assistance Program authorized under section 112 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Programs authorized under the National and Community Service Act of 1990, e.g., AmeriCorps
Employment Service Although the Employment Service (ES) is one of 19 required partners in the One-Stop delivery system, its central mission—to facilitate the match between individuals seeking work and employers seeking workers—makes it critical to the functioning of the workforce development system under WIOA. To this end, one of the key functions played by the ES is to deliver many of the "career services" established by WIOA. ES staff often are the first to assist individuals seeking employment assistance and refer individuals to other programs in the One-Stop system of partners.
Services provided by the ES include:
Labor exchange services (e.g., counseling, job search and placement assistance, labor market information) Program evaluation Recruitment and technical services for employers Work tests for the state unemployment compensation system, and Referral of unemployment insurance claimants to other federal workforce development resources
Labor exchange services are provided via three tiers of service delivery:
Self-service—typically electronic databases of job openings Facilitated self-help—access to self-service tools, e.g., computers, resume-writing software, fax machines, photocopiers, and Internet-based tools Staff-assisted service— One-on-one services for job seekers often include assessment, career counseling, development of an individual service plan, and intensive job search assistance Group services for job seekers include orientation, job clubs, and workshops on such topics as resume preparation, job search strategies, and interviewing
Provisions
WIOA includes five titles:
Title I—Workforce Development Activities—authorizes job training and related services to unemployed or underemployed individuals and establishes the governance and performance accountability system for WIOA; Title II authorizes adult education, integrated education and training, and workforce preparation services that enable adults to gain skills, earn credentials, and transition into employment and postsecondary education; Title III—Amendments to the Wagner-Peyser Act—amends the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933 to integrate the U.S. Employment Service (ES) into the One-Stop system authorized by WIOA; Title IV—Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973—authorizes employment-related vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities, to integrate vocational rehabilitation into the One-Stop system; and Title V—General Provisions—specifies transition provisions from WIA to WIOA.
Title I Title I of WIOA authorizes programs to provide job search, education, and training activities for individuals seeking to gain or improve their employment prospects, and which establishes the One-Stop delivery system. In addition, Title I of WIOA establishes the governing structure and the performance accountability for all programs authorized under WIOA. Title I programs are administered by the US Department of Labor (DOL), primarily through its Employment and Training Administration (ETA).
Elements of WIOA that are collectively intended to comprise a "workforce development system" are:
WIOA is designed to be a demand driven workforce development system. This system is supposed to provide employment and training services that are responsive to the demands of local area employers. The demand driven nature of WIOA is manifested in elements such as Workforce Development Boards (WDBs), a majority of whose members must be representatives of business, and in the requirement for local plans to identify existing and emerging in-demand industry sectors and occupations. WIOA emphasizes coordination and alignment of workforce development services, through provisions such as a required Unified State Plan for core programs and a common set of performance indicators across most programs authorized by WIOA. In addition, WIOA requires regional planning across local areas. WIOA provides local control to officials administering programs under it. Under the state formula grant portion of WIOA, which accounts for nearly 60% of total WIOA Title I funding, the majority of funds are allocated to local WDBs (after initial allotment from ETA to the states) that are authorized to determine the mix of service provision, eligible providers, and types of training programs, among other decisions. The WIOA system provides central points of service through its system of One-Stop centers. The concept of a One-Stop center is to provide a single location for individuals seeking employment and training services, thus making the process of locating and accessing employment services more efficient and seamless. WIOA requires certain programs to be "partners" in the One-Stop center, either by physical colocation or other accessible arrangements. Notably, WIOA requires the colocation of Employment Service offices with One-Stop centers. WIOA provides universal access to its career services to any individual regardless of age or employment status, but it also provides priority of service for career and training services to low-income and skills-deficient individuals. WIOA emphasizes sector partnerships and career pathways workforce development strategies by requiring local WDBs to lead efforts to develop career pathways strategies and to implement industry/sector partnerships with employers. WIOA provides consumer choice to participants. Eligible participants are provided with Individual Training Accounts (ITAs), with which they may choose a type of training and the particular provider from which to receive training. WIOA implements a performance accountability system based on primary indicators with state-adjusted levels of performance resulting from negotiations between each state and the Secretary of Labor and revised based on a statistical adjustment model. The performance accountability system applies across all titles of WIOA.
Title II Title II of WIOA is the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA). AEFLA supports educational services, primarily through grants to states, to help adults become literate in English and develop other basic skills necessary for employment and postsecondary education, and to become full partners in the education of their children.
Title III Title III amends the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933, which authorizes the Employment Service (ES), to make the ES an integral part of the One-Stop system amended by WIOA.
Title IV Title IV of WIOA amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and authorizes funding for vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities. Most programs under the Rehabilitation Act are related to the employment and independent living of individuals with disabilities.
History Background
The first substantial federal training programs in the postwar period were enacted in the Manpower Development Training Act (MDTA; ) in 1962, although federal "employment policy," broadly defined, had its origin in New Deal era programs such as Unemployment Insurance (UI) and public works employment. Starting with MDTA, there have been four main federal workforce development programs. The MDTA provided federal funding to retrain workers displaced because of technological change. Later in MDTA's existence, the majority of funding went to classroom and on-the-job training (OJT) that was targeted to low-income individuals and welfare recipients. Funding from the MDTA was allocated by formula to local communities based on factors of population and poverty. Grants under MDTA were administered through regional DOL offices and went directly to local service providers.
The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), enacted in 1973, made substantial changes to federal workforce development programs. CETA transferred more decision-making authority from the federal government to local governments. Specifically, CETA provided funding to about 470 "prime sponsors" (sub-state political entities such as city or county governments, consortia of governments, etc.) to administer and monitor job training activities. Services under CETA—which included on-the-job training, classroom training, and public service employment (PSE)—were targeted to low-income populations, welfare recipients, and disadvantaged youth. At its peak in 1978, the PSE component of CETA supported about 755,000 jobs and accounted for nearly 60% of the CETA budget. CETA was amended in 1978 in part to create private industry councils (PIC) to expand the role of the private sector in developing, implementing, and evaluating CETA programs. The composition of PICs included representatives of business, labor, education, and other groups.
In 1982, changes to federal workforce development policy were made by enactment of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Major changes implemented under JTPA, which provided classroom and on-the-job training to low-income and dislocated workers, included service delivery at the level of 640 "service delivery areas," federal funding allocation first to state governors and then to PICs in each of the service delivery areas (unlike CETA, which provided allocations directly to prime sponsors), prohibition of the public service employment component, and a new emphasis on targeted job training and reemployment. With a new emphasis on training (rather than public employment), JTPA required that at least 70% of funding for service delivery areas be used for training. Although this percentage was dropped to 50% in the 1992 amendments to JTPA, the emphasis on training remained.