Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth Activities

WIOA Title IB funds reserved for state level activities will be used to support the following:

• Rapid Response activities for dislocated workers;
• Disseminating by various means:
  • The State list of eligible providers of training for adults, dislocated workers and youth, including performance, tuition/fees and attendance cost information;
  • Information identifying eligible providers of work-based training opportunities;
  • Information on effective outreach and partnerships with business and service delivery strategies and promising practices to serve workers and job seekers;
  • Information of physical/programmatic accessibility for individuals with disabilities;
• Conducting evaluations;
• Providing technical assistance to local areas in carrying out state plan activities, including coordination and alignment of data systems in support of this Act;
• Assisting various entities provide opportunities for individuals with barriers to employment to enter in-demand industry sectors or occupations and nontraditional occupations, and the development of exemplary program activities.
• Assisting local areas for carrying out the regional planning and service delivery efforts;
• Assisting local areas by providing information on and support for the effective development, convening, and implementation of industry and sector partnerships;
• Providing technical assistance to local areas that fail to meet performance accountability measure;
• Carrying out monitoring and oversight of activities for services to youth, adults, and dislocated workers;
• Providing additional assistance to local areas that have a high concentration of eligible youth; and
• Operating a fiscal and management accountability information system.
• Supporting the state board as it implements workforce activities across the state.

Dissemination of Information

The State invests significant funds to meet this statutory requirement, which includes: eligible providers, outreach, service delivery strategies, accessibility and workforce information. The state’s eligible training provider performance reporting system will continue to receive investments to support eligible training providers and comply with increased regulations.

Assisting in the Operation of the One Stop System

The State invests a significant amount of state funds to assist in the support and operation of the One Stop system. This also includes staff development and technical assistance. To ensure more local funds are dedicated to service delivery, state funds are used to supplement the local planning process and other administrative and program activities.

High-Concentration of Eligible Youth

The State reserved $30,000 to be used to serve high concentrations of eligible youth needing assistance throughout the state. For PY18 & PY19, the state directed efforts to target enrollment of Hispanic and migrant and seasonal farmworker youth across the state. Funds are distributed based on areas demonstrating a need for additional monies.

Fiscal and Program Management

The State invests significant funds to pay for the costs of state administration and program functions such as monitoring, data validation and program assessments. This includes maintaining a fiscal reporting system as well as the annual subscription to America’s Job Link for supporting the shared statewide MIS system and assisting with federal reports. 

Rapid Response Activities

The Idaho Department of Labor’s Workforce Administration Division serves as the state Dislocated Worker Unit with responsibility for the coordination of Rapid Response/ Dislocated Worker/TAA services within the department and other state and local community resources. The department’s Rapid Response activities involve and are closely coordinated with the Workforce Services Division, Benefits Bureau, Research and Analysis Bureau, and American Job Center (AJC) locations. The department offers a comprehensive array of services including Title I-B, Wagner-Peyser, unemployment insurance, Trade Adjustment Assistance and veterans’ services.

Rapid Response interventions, implemented by the department’s Workforce Administration Division and coordinated with the local AJC locations, incorporate all these entities to ensure workers impacted by mass layoffs and closures are seamlessly transitioned to One-Stop activities. The department also coordinates with labor organizations in arranging services for dislocations involving organized labor. The East-Central Idaho Planning and Development Association in the eastern Idaho also plays a significant role coordinating that area’s local resources to meet the workforce needs of impacted workers.  These and other program representatives constitute the state’s Rapid Response Team.

Local AJC management staff is responsible for coordinating local workforce investment activities in conjunction with the state’s Rapid Response efforts, including making WIOA Title I-B resources available to dislocated workers. The staff assists the state in promoting rapid response, early interventions services, and helps to develop response plans to worker dislocations. AJC staff also assists in coordinating services with local economic development efforts and the appropriate local elected officials. The extensive involvement of both AJC management and frontline staff in each early stage of Rapid Response intervention ensures that affected workers are seamlessly transitioned to One-Stop activities.

Employers covered by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) must submit a notice of plant closures and mass layoffs to the Idaho Department of Labor, which in turn distributes the information to the department’s division administrators and state agencies participating in the One-Stop system. The Workforce Administration Division or local AJC management or staff will promptly initiate onsite contact with the employer and the appropriate employee representatives to implement the most effective re-employment activities including financial management, job search assistance and other workshops as requested. If appropriate, fully automated onsite re-employment centers may also be established and staffed. Career and training services are presented as viable options for the workers.

Promoting early intervention to worker dislocations allows the Rapid Response Team to develop the appropriate service delivery strategy for the impacted workers. The response takes into account the impacted workers’ skills through individual assessment, their potential for direct job placement and the availability of resources to address their short and long-term needs. Services include onsite information meetings on available employment and training programs, employee surveys, aggressive promotion of services and coordination with training providers.

Each year, the state sets aside a portion of the Title I Dislocated Worker funds, up to 25 percent, to support Rapid Response activities across the state. The funds are first prioritized for supplementing local WIOA Title I services and will support career and training services for the employees of the company. The second priority for funding is to support services for smaller dislocations where the Dislocated Worker Unit and local AJC staff agree that it is appropriate for the local area to take the lead in organizing the response. Funds are available for local areas lacking resources to meet the demand for services. The balance of Rapid Response funds not required to support the above activities is allocated to local Dislocated Worker providers to supplement their area formula-fund allocations. These funds are allocated based on needs (support for carry-in participants and an increase in dislocations). Funds retained for Rapid Response activities at the state level may be allocated for an array of business services, including layoff aversion and other workforce development services to employers to assist and prevent potential layoffs or closures.

The Rapid Response Team also reviews and evaluates the potential for layoff prevention services. The goal of these efforts is to retain the business and to minimize downsizing. If appropriate, the team will present local economic development programs to identify layoff prevention options. These efforts include determining appropriateness of requesting assistance from the state’s Workforce Development Training Fund.

The Idaho Department of Labor has years of experience providing Rapid Response services to the Idaho employer community. Its proven track record is evident by its exemplary performance. Department staff take every opportunity to promote the full range of business services with each employer, independent of the reason for that contact. This brings a comprehensive range of economic development, workforce development and education services to the attention of the businesses the department serves. Companies view these services as positive, proactive and business friendly.

The state’s management information system, IdahoWorks, currently provides integrated participant, financial and management reporting for WIOA Dislocated Worker, National Dislocated Worker Grants (NDWG) and TAA program activity. Tracking Rapid Response team activities are also noted in IdahoWorks.