US Workforce Development Resources in United States

US Workforce Development Resources

12 different federal agencies provide funds for various workforce development programs. Among them are the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs.[1] However, the states bear a heavy burden in ensuring that these programs are successfully administered. The 4 major programs outlined below provide a significant portion of the federal funding available to the states.

Workforce Investment Act (WIA)

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 provided the framework for a national workforce preparation and employment system to meet the needs of business for skilled workers and the training, education, and employment needs of individuals. WIA required states to create “One Stop” service centers to provide easy access to employment and job training information and services. [2] WIA also created a system of state and local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) to design and manage training and employment programs at the local level.[3]

The Adult program provides employment and training assistance to adults (age 18 and older) to increase their employment, earnings, occupational skill attainment, and job retention.[4] The Youth program works to improve the long-term employability of youth ages 14 through 21, enhances their educational, occupational and citizenship skills, encourages school completion, aims to increase future employment and earnings and reduce welfare dependency, and assist youth to make a successful transition from school to work.[5] The Dislocated Worker programs provide retraining and re-employment services to individuals dislocated from their jobs because of layoff or plant closing.[6] The definition of dislocated worker also includes those who were self employed but are currently unemployed as a result of general economic conditions or because of natural disasters and displaced homemakers.[7]

During program year 2003, local boards across the country received a combined total of approximately $2.4 billion in WIA funds. Boards used about $929 million for direct training activities, primarily occupational classroom training.[8] States may set aside up to 15 percent of allocated funds to support a variety of statewide workforce initiatives, including training programs for low-wage incumbent workers, state operations, demonstration pilots, and other state-level activities. Set-aside funds can also be used for direct training costs, instructors’ wages, curriculum development and resource materials, but not for trainees’ wages or for training equipment.[9]

WIA established a performance measurement system that emphasizes results in areas of job placement, retention, earnings, and skill attainment.[10] States negotiate annual performance goals with the Department of Labor. To meet a performance measure a state must obtain 80 percent of the negotiated goal. To exceed a goal a state must obtain 100 percent of the negotiated goal or better.[11] Failure to meet the performance goals leads to sanctions, while exceeding the levels may entitle a state to receive incentive funds. Training providers have to meet performance goals to remain eligible to receive funds under the Act.[12]

On December 20, 2006, the Department of Labor released proposed amendments to the WIA designed to create a more effective governance structure; strengthen the One-Stop Career Center system; improve comprehensive services for adults; create a targeted approach to serving youth; improve performance accountability; and promote state flexibility.[13] One specific amendment would allow states to use non-merit-staffed employees to deliver employment services. The Department reasoned that the merit-staff employee requirement did not take into account the intended integration of employment services into the One-Stop delivery system, nor the wide variety of State and local arrangements for delivering these services. Removal of the requirement allows states to deliver services in the manner they feel is most effective and efficient.[14]

Wagner-Peyser

The Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933 established a nationwide system of public employment offices known as the Employment Service. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 amended Wagner-Peyser and made the Employment Service part of the One- Stop delivery system.[15]

The services funded by Wagner-Peyser include assessment of skill levels, abilities and aptitudes, career guidance when appropriate, job search workshops, and referral to training as appropriate. Services offered to employers include matching job requirements with job seeker experience, skills and other attributes, helping with special recruitment needs, assisting employers analyze hard-to-fill job orders, assisting with job restructuring and helping employers deal with layoffs.[16]

Wagner-Peyser may also fund the following services:

· A nationwide computerized career information system including an automated job bank of employment vacancies and job seekers resumes, career, and workforce information, and institutions and organizations that provide training; and

· The development and distribution of state and local workforce information which allows job seekers, employers, and providers and planners of job training and economic development to obtain information pertaining to job opportunities, labor supply, labor market or workforce trends, and the market situation in particular industries.[17]

Despite the Act’s intent to closely tie Employment Service offices and services to one-stop centers, the two offices continue to exist side-by-side in some states; sometimes with very little coordination. An informal surveys conducted by Employment & Training Administration staff revealed that 19 states still operate stand-alone Employment Services offices and 13 states operate parallel systems to a substantial degree.[18] DOL’s proposed rule prohibits stand-alone Employment Service offices from qualifying as affiliated one-stop centers and from operating independently.[19]

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

TANF was designed to ensure that low-income families have the resources they need to get a job, succeed at work, and move out of poverty. TANF relies heavily on state and local administration, and states are responsible for the following:

· Ensuring that families have sufficient food, medical coverage, quality and affordable child care, and reliable transportation to enable them to work;

· Focusing on educational and training opportunities that improve wages and working conditions for low-income families;

· Crafting services for families with special needs or multiple employment barriers that appropriately and effectively address their needs; and

· Developing collaborative linkages among employers, local leaders and organizations, and faith-based and nonprofit community groups so as to combine their resources and talents to create jobs, support work, and make low-income neighborhoods more viable.[20]

TANF funds are flexible enough to provide funding for a wide variety of employment and training activities, supportive services, and benefits. States must use objective criteria to determine eligibility and benefits but are given the freedom to decide the income and resource standards that they will use to determine eligibility, and may set different financial eligibility criteria for different benefits or services. For example, a state could limit eligibility for cash assistance to families living below poverty, but provide supportive services like child care and transportation to working families with incomes up to 185% of poverty.[21]

Both federal and state funds are available under TANF, each with their own specific restrictions.

Federal TANF Funds. Recipients of assistance[1] provided through TANF block grants must either work or participate in work activities, are limited to five-years on federal assistance, must fulfill data reporting requirements, and are subject to certain prohibitions. However, these restrictions do not generally apply to other services and benefits not defined as “assistance.” Also, states have broad discretion to provide a wide range of benefits and services and to set different eligibility standards for the different types of benefits.

The recent TANF reauthorization significantly increased the percentage of customers required to participate in specified work activities each week. In addition, states had to verify participation hours for all eligible activities as of October 2006.[22]

State “maintenance-of-effort” (MOE) funds. States must spend 80% of their historic level of spending (FY 1994) on “qualified state expenditures” to meet the basic MOE requirement. The required percentage drops to 75% for states that meet work participation requirements. All MOE funds must be spent on TANF eligible families. These families need not actually be TANF recipients in order to receive services or benefits funded with MOE dollars, but must be financially eligible for the service or benefit and have a minor child living with an adult relative in the home.

In addition, TANF generally prohibits providing “assistance” to certain teen parents, convicted felons, and individuals convicted of fraud; federal TANF funds may not be used for medical services (except pre-pregnancy family planning); and states may not use more than 15% of TANF funds for administrative expenditures.[23]

Trade Adjustment Act (TAA)

The Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) provides employment and training benefits to individuals displaced from their jobs as a result of foreign competition.[24] TAA aims to encourage the rapid reemployment of displaced workers, provide training and income support, and assist individuals to obtain reemployment in fields where they are likely to remain employed and earn wages comparable to the jobs they lost.[25]

Before workers can access TAA benefits, the worker group to which they belong must be certified by the Department of Labor. The DOL investigation includes an examination of the workers’ previous employer’s employment levels, company sales and production, and company imports.[26]

In 2006, TAA funding totaled $966 million.[27] 12,097 California workers were certified, the highest number in FY 2006, followed by 11,143 in North Carolina and 8,562 in Michigan.[28]

Additional Federal Sources of Workforce Development Funds

In addition to the 4 programs described above, federal workforce development funds are also available to mitigate large-scale events and reward successful programs. For example, the Department of Labor awards National Emergency Grants (NEGs) to serve workers from larger dislocations of at least 50 workers.[29] WIA provides Incentive Awards for WIA programs who successfully meet or exceed performance standards. The Department of Education in Adult Education and Perkins Act programs offer additional funds to successful programs.[30]

[1] Under TANF, “Assistance” is defined as a cash payment directed at ongoing, basic needs.

[1] East-West Gateway Coordinating Council, Federal Funding Streams for Workforce Development Planning and Programming (St. Louis: EWGCC2). [n.d.]

[2] Kathy Sparks, Kansas Legislative Briefing Book 2007: Workforce Development Programs – Kansas 1st, (Topeka: Kansas Legislative Research Department, 2007), 3.

[3]U.S. General Accounting Office, Workforce Investment Act: Substantial Funds Are Used for Training, but Little Is Known Nationally about Training Outcomes, GAO-05-650, Washington, D.C., June 29, 2005, 8.

[4] Iowa Workforce Development, State of Iowa Annual Report (Des Moines: IWD, 2005), 27.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid., 28.

[7] GAO, Workforce Investment Act, 5.

[8] Ibid., 3.

[9] OECD, Skills Upgrading, 186.

[10] GAO, Workforce Investment Act. 11.

[11] Office of Workforce Training and Development, The State of New Mexico Workforce Investment Act Annual Report Program Year 2005, (Santa Fe: OWTD, September, 2006), 14.

[12] U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Division, White Paper: Implementing the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, (Washington, D.C.: USDOL, November 12, 1998) http://www.doleta.gov/usworkforce/documents/misc/wpaper3.cfm.

[13] U.S. Government Printing Office, “Proposed Rules: Workforce Investment Act Amendments,” Federal Register, Vol. 71, No. 244, (Washington, D.C.: GPO, December 20, 2006), 76559.

[14] Ibid., 76559-76560.

[15] U.S. General Services Administration, The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (Washington, D.C.: GSA, September, 2006), CFDA # 17.207.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Ibid.

[18] GPO, “Proposed Rules: Workforce Investment Act Amendments,” 76559.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, Helping Families Achieve Self-Sufficiency: A Guide on Funding Services for Children and Families Through the TANF Program, (Washington, D.C.: Administration for Children and Families, n.d.), http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/funds2.htm

[21] Ibid.

[22] Utah State Workforce Investment Board and Utah Department of Workforce Services, 2006 Annual Report, (Salt Lake City: DWS, 2006), 12.

[23] Administration for Children and Families, Helping Families Achieve Self-Sufficiency.

[24] IWD, State of Iowa Annual Report, 26.

[25] U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Assistance, Overview of Trade Adjustment Assistance Program, PowerPoint presentation, 2nd slide, http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/docs/ShortProgramOverview.pdf.

[26] Ibid., slides 4-5.

[27] Ibid., slide 8.

[28] Ibid., slide 12.

[29] IWD, State of Iowa Annual Report, 28.

[30] Ibid.