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Summer Employment and the Value of Work-Based Learning
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Workforce Centers and WIA Youth Programs

One-Stop Workforce Centers are the centerpiece of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). The One-Stop system operates through a network of centers in each state. These workforce centers provide job training, education, and employment services at a single neighborhood location. States are required to have at least one center located in each local service delivery area. Any city or county with a population of 500,000 or more is automatically approved as a local workforce investment area.

Every individual, including people with disabilities, has the right to access the basic services offered by a Center. These services include skill assessments; information on employment and training opportunities; and unemployment services, such as job search and placement assistance and up-to-date information on job vacancies.

People with disabilities have more choices in the workforce center system than they had in the past. Individuals who need more than the basic services offered by Workforce Centers can also access vocational rehabilitation services for people with disabilities through their workforce center.

WIA also provides a variety of youth development programs that help eligible youth prepare for and find employment. Youth activities are provided to low-income youth. To be eligible, low-income youth between the ages 14 and 21 must also be:

  • a high school dropout
  • in need of basic literacy skills
  • homeless, runaway, or a foster child
  • a pregnant mother or a parent
  • an offender
  • someone who needs help in completing an educational program or securing and holding a job

While young people with disabilities can qualify under the same criteria as any other youth, WIA incorporates the following provisions to ensure that youth with disabilities can participate.

  • Low-income youth with disabilities who need additional assistance to complete an educational program or to secure and hold employment are eligible for youth services.
  • WIA considers only the personal income of youth with disabilities -- not the income of their family -- when determining income criteria for eligibility.
  • Youth who have already qualified to receive cash payments from any Federal, state, or local public assistance program (such as SSI benefits from Social Security), are automatically eligible for youth services.
  • Finally, up to five percent of youth program participants do not have to meet income criteria, as long as they are from specific populations, one of which is youth with disabilities.

One significant reform of the 1999 WIA was the consolidation of federally funded year-round and summer youth programs. Under WIA, each local workforce area must have a year-round youth services strategy that incorporates summer youth employment opportunities as one of ten required program elements. Required youth support services include tutoring, study skills instruction, support leading to high school completion (including dropout prevention), alternative school services, adult mentoring, paid and unpaid work experiences (including internships and job shadowing), occupational skills training, leadership development opportunities, follow-up services for not less than 12 months as appropriate, and comprehensive guidance and counseling.

Workforce Centers and WIA Links

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