Workforce Investment and Opportunities Act (WIOA) in a Framework of Leadership

1. Workforce Investment and Opportunities Act (WIOA)in a Framework of Leadership Paula Pottenger, M.Ed. and Peggy Hale, M.S., CRC

2. A Framework of Leadership • The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner • 1. Model the way. • 2. Inspire a shared vision. • 3. Challenge the process. • 4. Enable others to act. • 5. Encourage the heart.

3. Your Organization’s Mission: • Reduce poverty • Promote thriving communities in Arkansas. • To what degree does quality employment relate to your mission? • Disability and employment

4. WIOA – Modeling the Way • WIOA is legislation passed July 22, 2014 and that created significant changes in the services structure for individuals with disabilities seeking employment. • This legislation “Models the Way” for greater coordination of workforce activities that support people with disabilities in preparing for, finding, and sustaining employment.

5. Intent of WIOA • The purpose of WIOA is to better align the workforce system with education and economic development in an effort to create a collective response to economic and labor market challenges on the national, state, and local levels.

6. Background • Signed into law by President Obama on July 22, 2014 • Effective for 6 years (through 2020) • Final regulations released August of 2016 – Effective date: October 18th 2016

7. WIOA Core Programs • The Adult program (Title I of WIOA) • The Dislocated Worker program (Title I of WIOA), • The Youth program (Title I of WIOA), • The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act program (Title II), • The Wagner-Peyser Act program (Wagner-Peyser Act, as amended by title III) (One Stop Employment Centers) • The Vocational Rehabilitation program (Title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by Title IV).

8. What is VR? • Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) is a federal-state program that helps people who have physical or mental disabilities get or keep a job. • Work with businesses who seek to employ individuals who have a disability.

9. WIOA Authorized Programs • Other programs administered by DOL that are authorized under title I of WIOA include: • Job Corps • YouthBuild • Indian and Native American programs • Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker programs • Evaluation and multistate projects

10. Unified State Plan • Unified plan include strategic vision and goals for preparing an educated and skilled workforce and meeting needs of employers. • Unified plan must address a State’s strategy for engaging community and technical colleges as partners in workforce system.

11. State Plan – VR Working with Employers • VR portion includes additional descriptions on how the VR agency will work with employers to identify competitive integrated employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

12. What is Competitive Integrated Employment? • Competitive earnings. (equivalent) • Integrated Location (typically found in the community). • Opportunities for advancement. (equivalent) For full regulatory definition: WINTAC Areas resources and strategies for competitive integrated employment

13. Link to 2018 Arkansas WIOA Unified State Plan: • 2018 Arkansas WIOA Unified State Plan.pdf

14. What does this mean for Arkansas? • More effort is devoted to developing and sustaining relationships with core partners. • Development of Memoranda of Agreement. • Exploring issues related to cost sharing. • Other administrative details must be addressed.

15. Link to RSA WIOA Vocational Rehabilitation Information Page: • RSA WIOA Information Page

16. Inspiring a Shared Vision • WIOA creates a shared vision created by an emphasis on services for youth, supporting students and youth in exploring and expecting to have employment as adults. The WIOA concept of pre-employment transition services will be described.

17. What is a Student with a Disability? • WINTAC Competitive Integrated Employment • Specific age range relates to how the state defines transition age. (It will likely be somewhere between ages of 14 and 24) • Enrolled in a secondary, postsecondary, or other recognized education program. • Receiving special education or related services under IDEA or is an individual with a disability, for purposes of section 504.

18. Emphasis on Students • Pre Employment Transition Services • Career Pathways • Pre Apprenticeships • Apprenticeships • Registered Apprenticeships • Skills Gain

19. Key Element: Fiscal Requirement Requires VR agencies to reserve at least 15% of Federal VR allotment to provide “Pre-employment Transition Services” for students with disabilities.

20. Key Elements: Required Pre-Employment Transition Services • Job Exploration Counseling • Work Based Learning Experiences (including Internships) • Counseling on Transition to Postsecondary Education Programs • Workplace Readiness Training to develop social skills and independent living skills • Instruction in Self-Advocacy, including peer mentoring

21. Key Elements: Authorized Pre-Employment Transition Services • Implement effective strategies that increase  independent living and inclusion • Develop and improve strategies for individuals with intellectual and significant disabilities to live independently, participate in postsecondary education experiences, and obtain and retain competitive integrated employment; • Provide training to vocational rehabilitation counselors, school transition staff, and others supporting students with disabilities; • Disseminate information on innovative, effective, and efficient approaches to implement pre-employment transition services;

22. Key Elements: Authorized Pre-Employment Transition Services There are a series of coordination and development activities that can be authorized. For more detail, reference the WINTAC website that Peggy will discuss later.

23. Impact: • The WIOA intent of pre-employment transition services is for students with disabilities to become more prepared in every way to eventually enter the workforce.

24. Implications for States • Financial analysis to determine impact of fiscal requirements • Studying internal systems (staffing, resources) relative to implementation of requirements. • Considerable time and effort around fiscal projections. • Need to carefully document staff time spend in Pre-ETS.

25. Challenging the Process • How sub-minimum wage is handled. • How mandated partners report data and measure results.

26. Sub-Minimum Wage • WIOA legislation (Section 511) significantly challenges the formerly existing process of individuals with disabilities being placed directly in sub-minimum wage jobs without significant opportunity to transition to full time jobs in competitive integrated employment.

27. Subminimum Wage – Section 511 • Section 511 took effect June 30, 2016. The purpose is to make sure that people working in subminimum wage jobs have repeated opportunities to be informed about and access competitive, integrated employment. This does not eliminate sheltered work or subminimum wage employment.

28. Subminimum Wage for Youth with Disabilities Youth may not begin work paying subminimum wage unless they have: • Received Pre-ETS from VR or transition services under IDEA, and • Applied for VR services and found ineligible for services, or has received VR services but has not been successful, and • Have been provided with Career Counseling, Information &Referral to other appropriate resources, twice a year. The youth with a disability seeking subminimum wage employment must provide documentation to the employer.

29. Key Changes: Subminimum Wage for Individuals of any Age (above 24) Career counseling & information and referral services. Reviews must be done twice during the first year, then annually.

30.  Additional Information • Community Rehabilitation Programs list wage and hour division • In Arkansas there are 1,769 CRPs that have an active or pending 14C certificate.

31. Disability Rights Arkansas • Excellent booklet that addresses the issues of sub-minimum wage in Arkansas.

32. Key Emphasis: Common Performance Measures WIOA includes six common performance accountability measures that apply to the WIOA core programs. Reasons for common measures includes: • align definitions • streamline performance indicators • integrate reporting for each of the core programs (to the extent practicable) • create accountability

33. For More Information on Common Measures: Transition to the Common Performance Accountability System

34. Enable Others to Act: WIOA not only enables others to act, it mandates it. The result is that that WIOA mandated partners are exploring and learning new ways to integrate services so that there is less “tangle” for the individuals seeking support that will result in employment.

35. Enabling Others to Act • Use of Labor Market Information • Working better with employers (businesses) • Supported Employment • Customized Employment • Apprenticeships and Pre-Apprenticeships • Career Pathways • Sector Strategies

36. The Career Index Plus – A Labor Market Tool • The Career Index Plus

37. Supported Employment • Ongoing support services (including customized employment) needed to support and maintain an individual with a most significant disability in competitive integrated employment. • Often includes a job coach.

38. Customized Employment • Based on an individualized determination of the unique strengths, needs, and interests of the individual with a significant disability. • “Discovery” – a process to determine the above. • Designed to meet the specific abilities of the individual with a significant disability and the business needs of the employer.

39. Customized Employment Involves • Job exploration by the individual • Working with a business to: (1) Customize a job description (2) Negotiate job duties, work schedule and job arrangement, specifics of supervision including performance evaluation (3) Provide needed services and supports

40. Department of Labor Youth Services • Pacer Center • Article from Pacer Center by David Hoff, ICI. • Age 16-24

41. Out of School Youth Can Include: • Individual with a disability • School dropout • Not attending school for at least the most recent complete school year calendar quarter • A high school graduate who is basic skills deficient. • A high school graduate who is an English language learner.

42. Out of School Youth, Continued: • Offender • Homeless, runaway, or foster child • Pregnant or parenting • A low-income individual who requires additional assistance to enter or complete an educational program or to secure or hold employment

43. Department of Labor Youth ServicesIn School Youth • Age 14 to 21 (and attending school) • Low Income • In one or more of the categories on next slide:

44. Encourage the Heart • Part of “encouraging the heart” is successful outcomes and improved lives for everyone in our communities, including those of us who have disabilities.

45. Questions so Far?

46. Youth Technical Assistance Center Youth Technical Assistance Center

47. Y-TAC MISSION & GOALS GOAL 1 Increase State VR agencies abilities in and implementation of the following practices: • Identifying the needs and creating plans to meet the needs of youth with disabilities. • Establishing partnerships with State and local agencies, service providers, or other entities.

48. Y-TAC Goal 1, Continued • Implementing outreach policies and procedures to increase engagement of youth with disabilities. • Implementing collaborative/coordinated service strategies that increase youth competitive, integrated employment (mentoring, higher education and training, work experiences, internships and apprenticeships).

49. Y-TAC Goal 2 Increase VR personnel’s abilities in and implementation of the following practices:  • Developing quality individualized plans for employment for youth with disabilities. • Developing and sustaining partnerships and relationships.

50. Y-TAC Goal 2, Continued • Developing and implementing effective outreach to increase VR access for youth with disabilities. • Developing customized training, career training, and work experiences for youth with disabilities. • Developing and delivering support services to career training providers and employers.