Best Practice Self-Assessments for Job Search & Reemployment Planning

President Barack Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) into law on July 22, 2014, using the pens shown below. The information in this post is from a Fact Sheet issued that same day by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and available at www.doleta.gov/WIOA.

WIOA will help job seekers and workers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and match employers with skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy. Congress passed WIOA, the first legislative reform of the public workforce system in more than 15 years, by a wide bipartisan majority. In doing so, Congress reaffirmed the role of the American Job Center (AJC) system, a cornerstone of the public workforce investment system, and brought together and enhanced key employment, education, and training programs. In recent years over 20 million people annually turn to these programs to obtain good jobs and a pathway to the middle class. WIOA continues to advance services to these job seekers and employers.

WIOA supersedes the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and amends the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, the Wagner-Peyser Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. WIOA authorizes the Job Corps, YouthBuild, Indian and Native Americans, and Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker programs, in addition to the core programs.

In general, the Act takes effect on July 1, 2015, the first full program year after enactment. DOL will issue further guidance on the timeframes for implementation of these changes.

Highlights of WIOA Reforms to the Public Workforce System

• Aligns Federal Investments to Support Job Seekers and Employers: At the state level, WIOA establishes unified strategic planning across core programs, which include Title I Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth programs; Adult Education and Literacy programs; the Wagner-Peyser Employment Service; and Title I of the Rehabilitation Act programs.
• Strengthens the Governing Bodies that Establish State, Regional, and Local Workforce Investment Priorities: WIOA streamlines membership of business-led, state and local workforce development boards. The Act emphasizes the role of boards in coordinating and aligning workforce programs and adds functions to develop strategies to meet worker and employer needs.
• Helps Employers Find Workers with the Necessary Skills: WIOA emphasizes engaging employers across the workforce system to align training with needed skills and match employers with qualified workers. The Act adds flexibility at the local level to provide incumbent worker training and transitional jobs as allowable activities and promotes work-based training, for example by increasing on-the-job training reimbursement rates to 75 percent. The law also emphasizes training that leads to industry-recognized post-secondary credentials
• Aligns Goals and Increases Accountability and Information for Job Seekers and the Public: WIOA aligns the performance indicators for core programs and adds new ones related to services to employers and postsecondary credential attainment. Performance goals must reflect economic conditions and participant characteristics. It makes available data on training providers’ performance outcomes and requires third-party evaluations of programs.
• Fosters Regional Collaboration to Meet the Needs of Regional Economies: WIOA requires states to identify economic regions within their state, and local areas are to coordinate planning and service delivery on a regional basis.
• Targets Workforce Services to Better Serve Job Seekers: WIOA promotes the use of career pathways and sector partnerships to increase employment in in-demand industries and occupations. To help local economies target the needs of job seekers, WIOA allows 100 percent funds transfer between the Adult and Dislocated Worker programs. WIOA adds basic skills deficient as a priority category for Adult services. WIOA also focuses Youth program services to out-of-school youth. The Act strengthens services for unemployment insurance claimants. It also merges WIA core and intensive services into a new category of career services, clarifying there is no required sequence of services. The Act allows Governors to reserve up to 15 percent of formula funds for activities such as innovative programs.
• Improves Services to Individuals with Disabilities: WIOA increases individuals with disabilities’ access to high-quality workforce services to prepare them for competitive integrated employment. It requires better employer engagement and promotes physical and programmatic accessibility to employment and training services for individuals with disabilities. Youth with disabilities receive extensive pre-employment transition services to obtain and retain competitive integrated employment. It creates an Advisory Committee on strategies to increase competitive integrated employment for individuals with disabilities.
• Supports Access to Services: To make services easier to access, the WIOA requires co-location of the Wagner-Peyser Employment Service in AJCs and adds the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program as a mandatory partner. WIOA establishes dedicated funding from AJC partner programs to support the costs of infrastructure and other shared costs that support access to services. It asks the Secretary of Labor to establish a common identifier for the workforce system to help workers and employers find available services. In addition, WIOA allows local areas to award pay for performance contracts so providers of services get paid for results. It also allows direct contracts to higher education institutions to provide training.

Career Action Resources will publish more information as it becomes available.

The U.S. Department of Labor has just awarded $68,745,912 to states and territories to implement or continue reemployment and eligibility assessments for Unemployment Insurance (UI) beneficiaries.

“Offering newly unemployed Americans access to a full array of job training and placement services will help to reduce time spent between jobs,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “These federal grants will also strengthen the integrity of the UI program by preventing improper payments so that it remains available for those who truly need it.”

The funding will be used to conduct in-person assessments at American Job Centers. The assessments include the development of an individual reemployment plan for each claimant; the provision of labor market information that is appropriate to the claimant’s location, job skills and employment prospects; a review of the claimant’s eligibility for UI benefits; and referral to reemployment or training services provided by the American Job Center.

In research for the US DOL, the Layoff-to-Employment Action Planner (LEAP) assessment, published by Career Action Resources, is identified as an innovative workforce development best practice for REA programs. Specifically, the study explains how the LEAP is used to assess UI claimants in the nation’s most-effective reemployment program. The research found Nevada has the most effective REA program of the states studied. The study explains the LEAP is useful to claimants participating in REAs by helping them identify their needs. The report also states the LEAP is useful to REA staff by helping them better refer claimants to much-needed services. A follow-up IMPAQ study found Nevada’s REA participants had 3.13 fewer weeks on UI compared to individuals in the control group, saving $873 in benefits payout per REA participant. This amount exceeded REA costs by more than 4 times.

Colorado is receiving a first-time grant to implement an REA program while the other states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia are being awarded additional funds to continue their programs. This brings the total number of states that have offered reemployment and eligibility assessments to 44. This is the 10th year that the department has awarded grants through the REA initiative.

Here are the states and territories receiving the 2014 REA grants:
Arizona $138,623
California $5,211,049
Colorado $227,971
Delaware $206,208
District of Columbia $661,870
Florida $4,933,760
Georgia $301,387
Hawaii $855,485
Idaho $333,933
Indiana $3,225,985
Iowa $759,892
Kansas $273,173
Kentucky $1,558,925
Louisiana $2,059,493
Maine $1,493,763
Maryland $547,982
Massachusetts $4,582,706
Montana $111,287
Minnesota $1,598,840
Mississippi $759,072
Missouri $611,887
Nebraska $244,158
Nevada $1,543,703
New Hampshire $929,832
New Jersey $1,965,447
New Mexico $136,452
New York $18,061,968
North Carolina $2,244,876
Oregon $3,147,793
Puerto Rico $25,685
Rhode Island $701,363
South Carolina $1,354,859
South Dakota $330,647
Utah $1,094,632
Vermont $1,047,893
U.S. Virgin Islands $304,849
Virginia $980,811
Washington $3,111,757
West Virginia $191,863
Wisconsin $874,033
Total = $68,745,912

The information in this post is adapted from a recent US DOL news release, with additional information on the Nevada REA program added by Career Action Resources, based on IMPAQ International studies for the U.S. Department of Labor.
 

Most people make assumptions about careers. These assumptions often hold back job seekers. Do you recognize your job hunters in the following career myths?

• MYTH: There is one right job for me. HOW TO RESPOND: There are many jobs you would enjoy and do well in. Focus on work that suits your interests and skills, but don't restrict yourself to one job.
• MYTH: No one will hire me because I lack experience. HOW TO RESPOND: If you need experience, get it! Volunteer, work in a related or entry-level job, or take classes. Also consider whether you have done work-related activities, such as caregiving or blogging, that may be appropriate to add to your resume.
• MYTH: I’m too old to change my career. HOW TO RESPOND: Workers who change careers come from many age groups and backgrounds. To make change easier, "transfer" your experience to other jobs. Start at www.myskillsmyfuture.org.

Do you need help getting your job hunters past career myths? Consider Your Employment Search (YES), a quick and easy career assessment tool that covers career direction, attitude, and much more.

If you are a workforce development or career services professional, please request your complimentary YES sample from the publisher, Career Action Resources.
 

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