By Garrison Moore
Congress recently passed a rewrite of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The new law, The Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act, makes a number of changes from WIA. However, both laws have the same primary goals, the training and placement of poor and unemployed people in decent jobs. It seems useful to have a point of reference for program performance under the new law by reviewing recent WIA program performance. Critics and supporters have many claims about Workforce Investment Act program performance. Most lack any basis in fact. This paper provides a few facts about WIA for the layperson.
Programs funded under Workforce Investment Act service a variety of poor and unemployed populations (youth, Native Americans, migrant workers, the disabled, etc.) WIA Services range from counseling and job search assistance to a variety of training options (community college education courses, customized classroom training, employer provided on-the-job training, etc.) This paper reviews outcomes and simple benchmarks for unemployed adult participants and recently laid off or “dislocated” workers.
Download the report here: http://www.innovationamerica.us//images/stories/pdf2/WIA-Report-for-Review-2-15-2015.pdf
