Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

President Barack Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) into law on July 22, 2014. WIOA is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy. Congress passed the Act by a wide bipartisan majority; it is the first legislative reform in 15 years of the public workforce system.

Every year the key programs that form the pillars of WIOA help tens of millions of job seekers and workers to connect to good jobs and acquire the skills and credentials needed to obtain them. The enactment of WIOA provides opportunity for reforms to ensure the American Job Center system is job-driven—responding to the needs of employers and preparing workers for jobs that are available now and in the future.

WIOA supersedes the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and amends the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, the Wagner-Peyser Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In general, the Act takes effect on July 1, 2015, the first full program year after enactment, unless otherwise noted. 

Full text of WIOA

Recent Updates:

• In October 2021, representatives from the Department of Labor spoke with Oregon partners and practitioners regarding "Rapid Response" and services to dislocated workers. Topics ranged from state level application of the Final Rules to state and local flexibility to providing services with a "function over funding" philosophy.
• Jeff Ryan, Business Engagement Specialist with the Division of Adult Services and Governance, Office of Workforce Investments was joined by Timothy Théberge, Lead Program Analyst with the Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance.                                 
• Draft versions of policies are posted for review and public comment here.

• The Office of Workforce Investments announces the intent to apply for a waiver on the requirement to expend a minimum of 75 percent of funding on the Out of School Youth (OSY) population. 
• Specifically, this waiver would lower the OSY minimum expenditure levels to 50 percent.
• Public comment on this proposed waiver will be accepted for thirty (30) days, beginning July 2, 2021.
• The draft waiver can be found here.
• ​The public comment period for this waiver has closed.      

• Oregon has implemented several temporary changes to policies, procedures, and timelines as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and related state and national health and safety guidelines. For the most current list, see "COVID-19 Emergency Guidance" on the WIOA title I Policy and Guidance page. 

• Oregon has released "Guidance Related to the Flexibility and Innovative Uses of Layoff Aversion Funding During the Era of COVID-19."
• The Layoff Aversion Reporting Template can be found here.

 

• ​​Oregon’s 2020 to 2023 WIOA Combined State Plan is undergoing the required pre-approval review process. By following this link you can read the draft. 

   

• Guidance and resources for local planning efforts have been updated on Oregon's Local/Regional Planning page. (NOTE: Local/Regional Planning timelines have been adjusted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. See information above.)

 

• DOL/ETA's "mini-SMART 3.0 Training" materials and presentations are now available on our WIOA Conference and Training Resources page.​ (From Oregon's October 2019 Strategies for Monitoring, Accountability, Risk-mitigation, and Transparency (SMART) training.)

 

• 2019 WIOA T-I Conference Materials 

Final performance targets for WIOA title I & III programs

(On May 19, 2020, Oregon received notification of finalized, agreed-upon performance targets for Program Years 2020 and 2021. These targets replaced the numbers proposed in Oregon's WIOA state plan.)