Ensuring Workers
Get the Training They Need Under the Workforce Investment Act
I. Background to the Issue
Labor's goal for training is to ensure that workers gain the skills they need to increase their employment opportunities and access to good jobs and ensure long-term self-sufficiency. The local Workforce Investment Board (WIB) will be making critical decisions that impact this goal. While state policies may provide guidelines for local policies, the WIBs will determine:
-
Who receives training;
-
Who provides training;
-
How long the training lasts;
-
How much training money any one individual can receive; and
-
What constitutes quality and effectiveness of training?
What
can the WIB do to Address this Issue?
The training policies developed by local WIBs must complement, reinforce, and support choices that are described in other WIA policies. These include: priorities established for which participants receive training and intensive services; budget decisions that impact the level of resources in the budget devoted to training; the self-sufficiency wage level that should guide training choices; and performance measures that capture good training. This action brief will provide the following:
-
A list of the policies on training local boards will need to develop and the decisions that are critical in developing those policies;
-
Draft language for those policies;
-
A discussion on performance measures that encourage training effectiveness; and
-
A special focus on "Work While You Learn" training models since workplace-based learning is emerging as particularly effective for adults and, perhaps even more importantly, most workers need to earn while they are learning new skills.