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. Youth Program Requirements.
With respect to youth workforce investment activities authorized in section 129 of WIOA, States should describe their strategies that will support the implementation of youth activities under WIOA. State’s must-
- c. Youth Program Requirements.
c. 2. Explain how the State assists local workforce boards in achieving equitable results for out-of-school and in-school youth. Describe promising practices or partnership models that local areas are implementing and the state’s role in supporting and scaling those models within the state for both in-school and out-of-school youth.
Current Narrative:
In order to improve the outreach and recruitment of out-of-school youth, the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services and its divisions will partner with the Department of Human Services, and other community-based organizations to create a streamline pathway and align services to meet the needs of youth participants. Core programs will no longer serve out-of-school youth in silos, but rather through a referral system leveraged within these partnerships. Local workforce development boards will work with referrals of able-bodied young adults in the SNAP Employment & Training sector of the Department of Human Services, juvenile offenders within the juvenile justice system, clients receiving housing assistance through the local housing authority agencies and community organizations assisting homeless youth to boost enrollment and performance in the out-of-school youth core programs. These partners may prove beneficial in addressing persons with identified and unidentified disabilities, high school equivalency credentials, leadership development and supportive service needs.
The State expects Workforce Development Boards to focus a higher percentage of Out-of-School Youth (OSY) Funding on direct costs to OSY since this population of youth is more difficult to locate, engage, and will potentially require a longer range of services to be successfully served. We also expect as a result of higher expenditure requirements of OSY funds:
Increased collaboration amongst core partners through sharing of costs and information to ensure that youth have access to all available clusters of needs-based services.
A focus on forming and/ or improving alliances with the Department of Education, Pre-Apprenticeship Programs, Employers, Training Providers as well as Community Based Organization which have traditional connections to disconnected youth.
Greater disseminating of documented strategies among Workforce Development
Boards that demonstrate success in locating and engaging eligible youth. The state will also support this practice by adopting best practices demonstrated by local partners and/or agencies and other nationally recognized programs that have successfully served similar populations of youth with state, federal or other limited funds.
As part of the State’s overarching outreach strategy, a Targeted Populations Advisor is devoted to developing the comprehensive outreach plan to reach certain populations, including Out-of-School youth. This staff creates synergy and alignment among WIOA core and non-core partners.
The State is focused on its partnerships with Vocational Rehabilitation to provide transition services to youth with disabilities to ensure high school completion. Local boards will be asked to describe these proposed partnerships in their local plans.
By reviewing the plans of Adult Education and Family Literacy Act providers, local boards will also have an opportunity to drive performance toward those established for youth in the WIOA programs further enhancing coordination efforts. The state will continue to direct local staff to utilize a portion of the 75% out-of-school youth funding on re-engagement strategies and program related transitional planning for reconnecting disconnected youth to the education and workforce system.