Located in:
- Program-specific Requirements for Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth Activities under Title I-B
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include the following with respect to activities carried out under subtitle B—
- c. With respect to youth workforce investment activities authorized in section 129 of WIOA—
With respect to youth workforce investment activities authorized in section 129 of WIOA—
- c. With respect to youth workforce investment activities authorized in section 129 of WIOA—
c. 1. Identify the State-developed criteria to be used by local boards in awarding grants or contracts for youth workforce investment activities and describe how the local boards will take into consideration the ability of the providers to meet performance accountability measures based on primary indicators of performance for the youth program as described in section 116(b)(2)(A)(ii) of WIOA in awarding such grants or contracts.[11]
[11] Sec. 102(b)(2)(D)(i)(V)
Current Narrative:
Currently, Commerce embeds policy related to youth within the relevant chapters in the ePolicy manual. However, over the next four years, Commerce plans to put into place policy specific youth that will not only be inclusive of WIOA statute and regulations, but also lessons learned through the Governor’s Statewide Activities funding that supports youth grants. As part of this policy development, Illinois will put into place a robust technical assistance plan for local areas and youth providers.
Illinois provides guidance to the Local Workforce Innovation Boards in Chapter 3 - Vision, Goals, and Implementation Strategies of the Local/Regional Planning Guidance. Specifically, this Chapter requires the LWIB to describe how they will coordinate, the regional workforce, education and economic development activities with regional activities that are carried out in the local areas. Their responses must illustrate that business, education and workforce development stakeholders have provided input and are involved with the development of the strategies and to ensure alignment with other plans. These goals and coordinated activities must include youth and show how the LWIB intends to meet performance indicators related to goals. In Chapter 4 Operating Systems and Policies – Local Component, the LWIB must describe how the local area will provide youth activities including assessment, provision of the 14 program elements, activities, and meeting expenditure rates.
Additionally, during 2017 and 2018, the Disadvantaged Youth Career Pathways Task Force morphed into the Career Pathways for Targeted Populations Committee (CPTP). While the CPTP’s overall charge expanded beyond youth, this population remained a primary focus. While the CPTP focused on creating opportunities to provide funding and technical assistance for local systems in developing Career Pathways, the State of Illinois through the Workforce Readiness through Apprenticeship and Pathways brought together education, workforce, and human services to develop a common framework for career pathways. This framework provides a foundational policy to guide local boards as they develop career pathways within their local areas.
The funding opportunities of the Youth Career Pathways Initiative continues refinement and is another avenue to providing guidance to the local system for creating a robust model for serving youth and creating sustainable career pathways. Beginning in 2019, all youth related funding opportunities must align with local negotiated performance. Technical Assistance offered through these opportunities include engaging business, best practices for dropout prevention, family focused coaching, supportive services, and general case management.