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. 3. Describe how the State assists local workforce boards in implementing innovative models for delivering youth workforce investment activities, including effective ways local workforce boards can make available the 14 program elements described in WIOA section 129(c)(2); and explain how local areas can ensure work experience, including quality pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship, is prioritized as a key element within a broader career pathways strategy.
Current Narrative:
Maryland will work alongside its Local Area partners to ensure that each area has the technical knowledge and training to provide top-notch services to the youth participants across the State. The State recently modified its State Youth Policy to reflect the State’s desire to provide the Local Areas the most flexibility to be innovative in designing services to meet the needs of the participants and address the labor market needs of the Local Area. Furthermore, Federal guidance has also offered the necessary clarifications on items such as supportive services. Local Areas must ensure that each WIOA Youth Program provider consistently conducts an objective assessment of each participant’s academic levels, skill levels, and service needs to properly identify the appropriate services and career pathways. The assessment must include a review of: basic skills; occupational skills; prior work experience; employability; interests; aptitudes, including interests and aptitudes for nontraditional jobs; supportive service needs; and developmental needs.
If the participant has been assessed by a provider to pursue another education or training program within the last year, the WIOA Youth Program provider may use that existing assessment to fulfill program requirements. When used, the provider must retain copies of previous assessment(s) and/or assessment result(s) in the participant’s case file.
The ISS serves as a guide for both the participant and staff by outlining the necessary and recommended next steps in the program. Through the ISS, staff should aim to identify the appropriate combination and sequence of services to help the participant fulfill goals and program requirements. Staff must interpret assessment results and incorporate those results into service planning and activities. This will help to ensure that youth achieve established goals and obtain desired career and educational outcomes. The ISS must map out anticipated progress taking into account individual needs, abilities and goals.
Local Areas must ensure that each WIOA Title I Youth Program provider develops an ISS with each youth participant after they have been objectively assessed. When developing the ISS, the Youth Program staff and participants must jointly take the objective assessment results into account.
The ISS must identify career pathways and must, at a minimum, include an examination of short-term and long term:
1. Education goals;
2. Employment goals;
3. Appropriate achievement objectives or benchmarks/milestones; and,
4. Appropriate services.
Once completed, Local Areas must ensure that the ISS is signed, either on paper or electronically, by the Youth Program staff and participant. Local Areas must ensure that each participant receives a signed copy of their ISS as record.
Once an ISS is completed, if a participant then pursues a different education or training program within the same quarter, the new WIOA Title I Youth Program provider may use the existing ISS to fulfill program requirements. In order to ensure ongoing review of the ISS, staff must meet with youth participants every 90 days, at a minimum, to review progress and make necessary adjustments. As the ISS is a living document that should be adjusted as the participant and case manager deem necessary, changes should be recorded, signed and dated by both the staff person and participant. At times, the most recent ISS will remain in effect with no changes. In this case, a case note should be created reflecting that the staff and participants met to review the ISS and that no changes were necessary. The date of the meeting must be listed in the case note. Examples of updates to the ISS include, but are not limited to:
1. Participant progress;
2. Completed activities or benchmarks;
3. Rewriting new goals once objectives have been met;
4. Outlining a clear direction or career pathway for the participant;
5. Changes to household status;
6. Legal name changes;
7. Address changes; and,
8. Other updates to contact information.
MD Labor has provided policy guidance to Local Areas on each program element and will continue to offer support to help Local Areas achieve related goals. MD Labor’s policy on the WIOA Title I Youth Program clearly states that Local Areas must ensure that providers offer youth participants access to each of the 14 key program elements. If the WIOA Title I Youth Program provider does not directly offer all program elements, it must ensure that strong partnerships and referral mechanisms are in place to provide access to each element, as necessary. Through ongoing monitoring and technical assistance, MD Labor and the Local Areas will ensure that access is effectively provided to youth participants.