TRANSMITTAL # 5

MEMORANDUM

October 19, 2015

TO: Workforce Development Council

FROM: Susan Simmons, Deputy Director

SUBJECT: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Youth Program Design for PY 2016

ACTION REQUESTED: Set and Approve Service Priorities for Youth Program Design

BACKGROUND:

As part of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Youth Program design process, the Youth Council, during its meetings earlier in the year, determined that the design review process should address three questions: 1) Who should we serve; 2) What services should be offered; and 3) How should these services be provided?

To determine who is served through the WIOA Youth Program in the coming years by establishing service priorities for various groups of at-risk youth, the Youth Council reviewed the WIOA Youth program eligibility requirements for services. This includes an age change for out-of-school youth (16-24 yrs.), and having one of the following barriers to employment: school dropout, homeless/foster child/runaway, pregnant/parenting, offender, individual with a disability or a low-income individual who is basic skills deficient, an English language learner or requires additional assistance to complete an education program or to secure and hold employment. In addition, the State can identify additional requirements that identify other barriers to employment.

The Youth Council reviewed previous guidance issued by the US Department of Labor that charged all Federal youth-serving agencies with developing more effective interagency collaborations to better serve targeted youth populations. This guidance gave priority to serving the “neediest youth” including the following categories: children of incarcerated parents, court-involved youth, youth at risk of court involvement, homeless and runaway youth, Indian and Native American youth, migrant youth, out-of-school youth, youth in or aging out of foster care, and youth with disabilities.

The Youth Council reviewed the current distribution and demographics of current WIOA youth participants. The Youth Council was concerned about leveraging existing WIOA resources in partnership with other youth service providers, especially in light of dwindling funding levels for most all partner agencies.

Idaho Department of Labor WIOA staff reached out to other youth service providers to identify various demographic groups with potential gaps in services and to discuss how WIOA resources might best be utilized in leveraging other partner resources. This included the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Job Corps, Department of Health &Welfare – Foster Care program, Division of Professional Technical Education, Department of Juvenile Justice/Department of Corrections, the Community Council of Idaho, Adult Basic Education, the Idaho Commission for Blind and Visually Impaired, and the Idaho Youth Ranch. Partner providers presented the department with service data and demographics from the previous two years. This data allowed the Youth Council to identify gaps in services to youth with barriers to employment.

After reviewing all the available data, the Youth Council established the following recommendations for service priority during the WIOA 2016 Program Year for the state’s youth program:

A)  Establish youth service priorities for the following youth groups:

·  Low-income youth involved with the juvenile justice system;

·  Low-income youth exiting foster care;

·  Low-income youth that are pregnant and/or parenting; and

·  Low-income youth with disabilities.

It should be noted that the establishment of these WIOA youth program service priorities does not mean that the program will exclusively serve these populations groups. Rather, it will be a concentrated focus of the Idaho youth program to target these four demographic groups to meet a need based on the data reviewed.

B) Have program enrollment and participation reflect the incidence of population in the areas where programs operate.

C) Focus WIOA youth program services exclusively to out-of-school youth throughout the state. With diminishing program funds year after year, the Youth Council concluded more of an impact could be made by serving solely out-of-school youth rather than splitting the dwindling resources between in-school and out-of-school youth. With school resources already in place and Vocational Rehabilitation dedicating a minimum of 15 percent of its funding towards this group, the Youth Council felt that in-school youth were best served by these entities.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends the Workforce Development Council approve the Youth Council’s recommended service priorities – A), B) and C) above – for WIOA implementation during PY16.

Once action takes place on these items, the Youth Council will proceed with the next step in the development of the WIOA Youth Service Design framework – What services should be offered, followed by how should these services be provided?

Contacts: Primary: Rico Barrera (208) 332-3570, ext. 3316

Secondary: Cheryl Foster (208) 332-3570, ext. 3310