U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Plan: Louisiana PYs 2024-2027
Combined Plan C

Section: WIOA State Plan Common Elements

Narrative: III. b. 5. A. i.

Published
Located in:
  • III. Operational Planning Elements

    The Unified or Combined State Plan must include an Operational Planning Elements section that supports the State’s strategy and the system-wide vision described in Section II(c) above.  Unless otherwise noted, all Operational Planning Elements apply to Combined State Plan partner programs included in the plan as well as to core programs.  This section must include—

    • b. State Operating Systems and Policies

      The Unified or Combined State Plan must include a description of the State operating systems and policies that will support the implementation of the State strategy described in section II Strategic Elements.  This includes—

      • 5. Distribution of Funds for Core Programs

        Describe the methods and factors the State will use in distributing funds under the core programs in accordance with the provisions authorizing such distributions.  

        • A. For Title I Programs

          Provide a description of the written policies that establish the State's methods and factors used to distribute funds to local areas for—

III. b. 5. A. i. Youth Activities in Accordance with WIOA Section 128(b)(2) or (b)(3)

View corresponding narrative from PYs 2022-2023 (Mod)

Current Narrative:

The Governor reserves funds from Title I allotted for services to youth, adults and dislocated workers, for statewide workforce investment activities. The Governor reserves up to 15 percent from each of these sources. Funds reserved under this paragraph are combined and spent on statewide employment and training activities, for adults and dislocated workers, and statewide youth activities, without regard to the funding source of the reserved funds. The Governor reserves up to 25 percent of the dislocated worker funds for statewide rapid response activities, as described in WIOA.

The Governor allocates Title I Youth, Adult and Dislocated Worker formula funds in accordance with WIOA sections in accordance with the allocation formulas contained in WIOA sections 128(b) and 133(b).  Allocation methodologies are used for distribution of State funds appropriated for American Job Centers. LWC’s Office of Workforce Development and Office of Research and Statistics are responsible for computing the 15 local workforce area allocations for WIOA Title I programs based on the approved formula data and methodology and for providing the allocation levels to LWC’s Finance Department. Local area allocations are published annually with the detailed input data and formulas through the Fiscal Year WIOA Local Annual Plan Guidance Policy, and are updated as necessary during the fiscal year if there are changes in federal allotment levels.

The chief elected official or lead elected official in a local workforce development area serves as the local grant recipient for grant funds allocated to the local area for youth, adult, and dislocated worker activities under Sections 128, 129, 132, and 133 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act., and shall be liable for any misuse of these funds.

In Local Workforce Development Areas with more than one unit of general local government, the chief elected officials of each unit will execute an agreement that specifies the respective roles of the individual chief elected officials, including responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the allocated funds. If, after a reasonable effort, the chief elected officials are unable to reach agreement about this responsibility, the Governor makes the determination. The local plan must include the agreement concerning this responsibility.

Title II Adult Education and Family Literacy funding allocations are established based on data from the American Community Survey in addition to a review of the number of citizens needing literacy services within each of the eight LA Workforce regions.  WorkReady U (WRU) ensures that funding allocations are used to provide comprehensive literacy programs in all eight geographical workforce regions and that local providers are sufficiently equipped to meet the needs identified for each area.  Further, eligible providers are expected to identify and coordinate with all available organizations and programs in their workforce areas to expand and leverage deliverable services beyond those provided solely through WRU state/federal funding.

Louisiana is focused on performance to ensure that funds are used effectively to serve customers and produce positive results.  WRU implemented a funding formula for state/federal adult education funds. The formula was designed to consider the scope of services provided in the local program and performance as compared to established benchmarks as a basis for an increase or decrease in funds.  Performance benchmarks and performance standards were established with the expectation that grantees will maintain or exceed performance standards through effective service delivery and innovation.

(i.) Youth Activities in Accordance with WIOA Section 128(b)(2) or (b)(3)

Youth activities, in accordance with WIOA section 128(b)(2) or (b)(3), WIOA Title I Youth local area allocations, are computed in accordance with instructions in the WIOA sections identified above and are distributed by percentage share to the 15 Local Workforce Development Areas according to the formula shown below.

  • 33 1/3 percent based on the relative number of unemployed individuals in areas of substantial unemployment in the local workforce development area, compared to the total number of unemployed individuals in areas of substantial unemployment in the state.
  • 33 1/3 percent based on the relative excess number of unemployed individuals in the local workforce development area, compared to the total excess number of unemployed individuals in the state,
  • 33 1/3 percent based on the relative number of disadvantaged youth in the local workforce development area, compared to the total number of disadvantaged youth in the state.

A hold-harmless provision ensures that each local area’s percentage share of the State allotments designated for local WIOA Title 1 Youth and Adult program activities does not fall below 90% of the local area’s average percentage share for the prior two fiscal years.

While we acknowledge the model provided by the WIOA section, we believe it would be more effective to allocate funds to local areas based on the actual number of unemployed individuals representing the youth population. This approach appears to be more aligned with addressing youth unemployment. Currently, using the same basic premise as for adults skews the allocation of funding to certain areas intended to serve youth.