The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act WIOA TOWN HALL LISTENING SESSION ON VETERANS’ SERVICES DECEMBER 5, 2014

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Robert Kight Director of Adult Services Office of Workforce Investment Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Ruth Samardick Director of National Programs Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) 2

WIOA Overview  President Barack Obama signed WIOA into law on July 22,  Passed by Congress with wide bipartisan majority (the Senate voted 93-5 and the House of Representatives voted 415-6).  Broad vision of workforce programs: reaffirms ongoing role of American Job Centers and also requires coordination and alignment of key employment, education, and training programs.  Promotes program alignment at the Federal, State, local, and regional levels.  Builds on proven practices such as sector strategies, career pathways, regional economic approaches, work-based training. 3

WIOA Overview : Job-Driven Training  Job-Driven Workforce Development –Aligns with and complements the President’s Vision for Job-Driven Workforce Development – o Prepare workers for 21 st century jobs o ensure American businesses have skilled workers to be competitive in global economy  “ Ready to Work: Job-Driven Training and American Opportunity” –The Vice President issued a report on July 22, 2014 based on his review of federal job training programs. (  Job-Driven Training Involves 3 Important Themes: –Business Engagement; –Strong Data; and, –Stakeholder Collaboration. 4

Programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act  Supersedes the Workforce Investment Act of 1998  Retains and amends the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, the Wagner-Peyser Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of  Identifies “core programs”: – Adults, Dislocated Workers, and Youth formula programs and Wagner-Peyser employment services administered by the Department of Labor; and, – Adult education and literacy programs and Vocational Rehabilitation state grant programs that assist individuals with disabilities in obtaining employment administered by the Department of Education.  Authorizes the Job Corps, YouthBuild, Indian and Native Americans, and Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker programs, and evaluation and research activities conducted by DOL. 5

Services to Veterans  Priority of service requirements for eligible veterans and spouses continue under WIOA.  WIOA has several provisions which codify practices to support military and veteran communities: –Expands National Dislocated Worker Grants eligibility to areas that have higher than average demand for services from dislocated members of Armed Forces and other eligible individuals. –Includes spouses of certain active duty members of Armed Forces in the definition of dislocated workers and displaced homemakers eligible for assistance under the Dislocated Worker formula program. 6

Services to Veterans – Jobs for Veterans State Grants  The Jobs for Veterans State Grants (JVSG) program is a required One-Stop Partner Program under WIOA.  Recent refocusing of the JVSG program is unchanged under WIOA.  States have the option of including their JVSG plan in their state’s combined four-year plan submission. 7

Performance Under WIOA  Six measures for serving adults and dislocated workers: –Employed 2 nd quarter after exit –Employed 4 th quarter after exit –6-Month Median Earnings –Skill Attainment –Credential Attainment –Effectiveness of Services to Employers  JVSG statute requires consistent performance metrics with WIOA 8

Highlights of Reforms to the Public Workforce System under the Act  Requires states to strategically align workforce development programs to support job seekers and employers.  Promotes accountability and transparency of programs.  Fosters regional collaboration to meet the needs of regional economies.  Streamlines and strengthens the strategic roles of workforce development boards.  Enhances services provided to job seekers and employers through the one stop centers.  Improves services to employers and promotes work-based training. 9

Highlights of Reforms to the Public Workforce System under the Act  Provides access to high quality training  Enhances workforce services for the unemployed and other job seekers.  Improves services to individuals with disabilities.  Makes key investments in serving disconnected youth and other vulnerable populations, including Native Americans and Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers.  Increases the performance and quality of the Job Corps program.  Reinforces connections with Registered Apprenticeship. 10

Poll With which of the following choices do you most closely identify yourself? (Select one) 1. State Workforce Agency 2. JVSG Programs 3. Veterans’ Service Organizations 4. American Job Centers 5. Other 11

Veterans’ Services Stakeholder Question What opportunities and/or challenges do you foresee in aligning JVSG service delivery with ‘career services’ under WIOA? 12

Poll Does your state or local area currently utilize a business services’ or employer effectiveness measure? 1. Yes 2. No 3. Don’t know 13

Veterans’ Services Stakeholder Question How would you recommend DOL calculate the “effectiveness measure” regarding services to employers, particularly from a Local Veterans’ Employment Representative perspective? 14

Poll Are you familiar with the changes to performance under WIOA? 1. Yes 2. No 3. Unsure 15

Veterans’ Services Stakeholder Question What opportunities and challenges do you anticipate with aligning JVSG performance measures with the performance measures under WIOA? 16

Poll Are you involved in the development of the 5-year JVSG State plan? 1. Yes 2. No If you are involved in the JVSG State plan development, have you been included in initial discussions on a Combined State Plan? 1. Yes 2. No 3. Does not apply 17

Veterans’ Services Stakeholder Question What opportunities and/or challenges do you see to including the Jobs for Veterans State Grants (JVSG) program into the combined four-year WIOA state plans? 18

Poll Are there important services to veterans you provide that are not currently collected by the existing reporting systems? 1. Yes 2. No 3. Unsure 19

Veterans Services Stakeholder Questions What reporting elements on Veterans and Veterans-services do you think are important to collect? 20

Veterans’ Services Stakeholder Question National Dislocated Worker Grant eligibility has been expanded under WIOA to include serving areas with higher-than-average demand for employment and training activities for dislocated members of the Armed Forces. Does your state and/or local area collect the type of data necessary to make these determinations on a regional or local level? 21

Other Feedback on Veterans’ Services and WIOA? 22

Transition to WIOA and key implementation dates In general, the Act takes effect on July 1, 2015, the first full program year after enactment, unless otherwise noted. Title IV, amendments to the Rehabilitation Act takes effect immediately. The State Unified Plans and Common Performance Accountability provisions take effect July 1, Notices of Proposed Rulemaking must be published by January 18, 2015 (no more than 180 days after enactment). Final Rules must be published by January 22, 2016 (no more than 18 months after enactment). 23

Stakeholder engagement DOL, in coordination with Education and Health and Human Services, has to ensure states and local areas, other grantees, and stakeholders are prepared for implementation of WIOA. Stakeholder input is critical to the success of WIOA implementation. Information on opportunities to provide input is available at DOL providing in-person and virtual technical assistance throughout the implementation period. 24

Technical assistance tools and resources  Department of Labor  WIOA Resource Page (  WIOA Dedicated  Veterans’ Priority Resource Page (veterans.workforce3one.org)veterans.workforce3one.org  Veterans’ Priority  Department of Education  Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education’s WIOA Resource Page (  Rehabilitation Services Administration’s WIOA Resource Page ( reauthorization.html) reauthorization.html 25