WIOA State Plan Common Elements

More than 200,000 service men and women leave the military every year, and over half currently face potential unemployment. There are unfilled jobs in Indiana, and employers need people equipped with the skills and work ethic to step up to the responsibility of training for a career. Governor Holcomb signed House Bill 1010 into law in 2019 that eliminated state taxes on military retirement income for Indiana resident veterans and their spouses. Starting in 2020, there will be an Indianapolis-based office where veterans can access federal level, state level, and private resources all in one location to allow for coordinated access to information. 

Launched in 2019, the Indiana Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) created a new online benefits portal to help veterans and their families with obtaining state benefits. Previously, anyone seeking benefits faced a lengthy process that required an in-depth understanding of legal requirements. This portal is specific to Indiana’s benefits portal, rather than benefits by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, which offers information on federal resources regarding disability, education, and healthcare. The Indiana Interactive portal allows veterans and dependents or surviving spouses of veterans to determine which state veteran benefits they may be entitled to without an in-person meeting requirement.

WorkOne offices are required to ensure that Priority of Service is observed. To further improve service to veterans, the Priority of Service to Veterans and Eligible Spouses Federal Regulations, effective January 19, 2009, provides specific guidance on how One-stop Career Center providers, Wagner-Peyser staff, DVOPs, and LVERs are to serve veterans with respect to priority of service. Veteran and eligible spouse customers should be identified upon entry at a WorkOne and allowed to move to the front of the waiting line. To assist with identifying veterans and eligible spouses, Priority of Service signs have been developed and are posted in all WorkOne offices where veterans are served. Signs are framed and displayed in a manner where the public and especially veteran and eligible spouse customers can easily see them. In accordance with the priority of service sign, eligible veterans and eligible spouses should notify staff upon entry into the facility. Typically, this will be near the entry point. Customers with visual impairments must be asked if they are a veteran or eligible spouse.

DWD Policies 2019-03 and 2015-08 provide additional definitions of the populations of eligible veterans to be served by the one-stop delivery system partners.

The welcome staff within our AJC's identify those eligible veterans or eligible spouses with significant barriers to employment (SBE) and/or other additional service population criteria eligible to be served by Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program specialist (DVOPs) as found in current VPLs. Then direct those eligible veterans or eligible spouses with SBEs and or other additional service population criteria to the (DVOPs) for assistance with intensive services (Individualized Career Services) and case management. The DVOP is not to perform intake duties or point of entry functions for non-SBE veterans or any functions normally assigned to other AJC partner staff or other automated procedures, thereby detracting from their ability to provide services, case management, or outreach duties related to meeting the employment needs of eligible veterans and eligible spouses. Additionally, under no circumstances will the LEVR perform any of these functions. In the event that a DVOP Specialist is not available, the veteran or spouse should be referred to the appropriate Wagner-Peyser or Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) staff in addition to scheduling or referring to an available DVOP specialist by appointment. Under normal operating circumstances, all WorkOne customers are greeted by the welcome team and moved on to the appropriate staff for assistance. The LVER should be integrated into the WorkOne Employment Team or Business Services Team (or equivalents). The difference between the LVER and any other member of the team is that the LVER advocates for veterans for employment and training opportunities with businesses, industries, unions, and apprenticeship programs. They may ask employers specifically to seek veterans for positions in their companies. Optimally, the employer would target specific positions for veterans with certain skills (based on the veterans’ military training/military occupational specialty). Under no circumstances will the LVER provide related services to non-veteran customers unless the customer is an eligible spouse covered by priority ofservice. The LVER staff must be able to inform the community of Veteran services. LVER staff should be encouraged to attend meetings of the local Chamber of Commerce, area Unions, and Hiring Events to promote all the WorkOne services; both as a networking tool and for the opportunity to speak about veterans’ programs.

DWD policy 2015-08 pertaining to priority of service for Vets is available at: https://www.in.gov/dwd/files/3511/2015-08-P_POS_Veterans_WorkOne_Offices.pdf.

The referral process for veterans determined to have a significant barrier to employment to receive services from the JVSG program DVOP specialist is available in DWD Policy 2019-03 https://www.in.gov/dwd/files/3511/2019-03_P_JVSG_Roles.pdf.