WIOA - No Wrong Door

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act often referred to as WIOA is a way to bring together puzzle pieces to form a complete picture and allow job seekers to enter as the top left corner piece, the bottom right corner piece, or the center of the puzzle and be connected to the resources they need to find a job. There are seven elements to this:

• Element 1 – Work up-front with employers to determine local or regional hiring needs and design training programs that are responsive to those needs. 
• Element 2 – Offer work-based learning opportunities with employers—including on-the-job training, internships, and pre-apprenticeships and Registered Apprenticeship as training paths to employment. 
• Element 3 – Make better use of data to drive accountability, inform what programs are offered and what is taught, and offer user-friendly information for job seekers to choose what programs and pathways work for them and are likely to result in jobs. 
• Element 4 – Measure and evaluate employment and earnings outcomes. 
• Element 5 – Promote a seamless progression from one educational stepping stone to another, and across work-based training and education, so individuals’ efforts result in progress. 
• Element 6 – Break down barriers to accessing job-driven training and hiring for any American who is willing to work, including access to supportive services and relevant guidance. 
• Element 7 – Create regional collaborations among American Job Centers, education institutions, labor, and non-profits. 

Each piece of the puzzle is unique and offers services that not all the other programs offer, but can connect with those around to help bridge the needs of job seekers to those of the different services provided. 

So let's take a look at Element 5. How do we offer our job seekers/students seamless transitions from one stepping stone to another? Is it co-location? Is it co-programming? It may be - but, the real intention is to put less burden on the clients.

In our adult ed program, we already build bridges with other programs fairly well; however, we still don't understand every name, acronym or service that all entities under the WIOA law have. So under our adult high school completion program umbrella sits adult basic education and ESL. Under a different umbrella: Skills to Employment sits adult and youth dislocated worker, training pathways, and some tuition assistance. These two programs have some co-location with the Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services and the Iowa Workforce Development offices. However, job seekers and students don't always enter the best door to meet their needs on the first try. How can we make the bridge smoother in the areas that have a lot of bumps so that there really is no wrong door?