I. Purpose
To communicate requirements and guidance for determining Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) youth program eligibility.
II. Effective
Date
Immediately
III. Rescission
ODJFS,
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter No. 15-03, Youth Program
Eligibility, (July 15, 2015).
IV. Background
Title I of WIOA outlines an integrated service delivery system and
provides a framework through which states and local workforce development areas
(local areas) can leverage other federal, state, local, and philanthropic resources
to support in-school and out-of-school youth. The WIOA youth program is designed
to provide services, employment, and training opportunities to those who can benefit
from and who need such opportunities. Meeting the eligibility criteria for a WIOA-funded
program does not entitle an individual to receive program elements and services.
All elements must be made available to the eligible youth population, whether funded
by WIOA or other resources, but the local decision on whether to provide a specific
service to a youth participant must be based upon the individual’s needs, appropriateness
for the service, and funding availability.
The implementation of the Comprehensive Case Management and Employment
Program (CCMEP) in Ohio transformed the network of human services and workforce
programs by integrating youth programs funded by Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) and WIOA into one program in local areas that opt to participate.
The braiding of WIOA and TANF dollars and co-funding of services when feasible leverages
federal dollars to provide integrated wrap-around services that address the various
needs of participants who are eligible for these separate funding sources.
Each local workforce development board (WDB) is responsible for establishing
the WIOA youth program within the overall strategy of the workforce development
system. Per section 5116.20 of the Revised Code, the local
WDB is required to decide whether to authorize the use of WIOA youth funds allocated
to the local area for CCMEP implementation. The local WDB’s decision applies
to all counties contained within the local area governed by the board. By authorizing
the WIOA funds to be used for CCMEP, the local WDB agrees to adhere to all provisions
of CCMEP, including the implementing legislation, procedure letters, and other guidance
pertaining to the delivery of services.
Per section 5116.21 of the Revised Code, if the local WDB does not
authorize the use of WIOA youth funds for CCMEP, the local area will administer
a WIOA-only youth program and forgo access to the additional TANF funds dedicated
to CCMEP. In this case, the local area will adhere to the eligibility requirements
contained in this policy.
V. Definitions
Alternative secondary school services:
Services provided to youth who have struggled in traditional secondary education
to help them re-engage and persist in education to complete a high school diploma
or recognized equivalent, including basic education skills training, individualized
academic instruction, and English as a Second Language training.
Attending school: An individual who
is enrolled in and/or attending secondary or postsecondary school, including alternative
secondary school services.
Basic skills deficient: A youth who
has English reading, writing, or computing skills at or below the eighth grade level,
based on a generally accepted standardized test, or who is unable to compute or
solve problems, or read, write, or speak English, at a level necessary to function
on the job, in the individual's family, or in society.
Charter school: Public, nonprofit,
nonsectarian, tuition-free schools operating independently of a school district,
but under contract with a Sponsor that has been approved by the Ohio Department
of Education (ODE).
Comprehensive Case Management and Employment
Program (CCMEP): An integrated intervention program that combines Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the WIOA youth program to provide employment
and training services to individuals ages 14 through 24 years.
Covered individual:
An eligible WIOA youth who is:
1. An in-school youth, or
2. An out-of-school youth who is low income
and meets one of the following criteria:
a. Has a secondary school diploma or its recognized
equivalent and is basic skills deficient or an English language learner; or
b. Requires additional assistance to enter
or complete an educational program or to secure or hold employment.
English language learner: An individual
who has limited ability in reading, writing, speaking, or comprehending the English
language, and whose native language is a language other than English or who lives
in a family or community environment where a language other than English is the
dominant language.
Family: Per 20 C.F.R. 675.300, two
or more persons related by blood, marriage, or decree of court, who are living in
a single residence and are included in one or more of the following categories:
1. A married couple
and dependent children;
2. A parent or guardian
and dependent children; or
3. A married couple.
Homeless child or youth (as defined
in 42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)): An individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate
nighttime residence and includes the following:
1. Children and youths
who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship,
or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds
due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency
or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals;
2. Children and youths
who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed
for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;
3. Children and youths
who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing,
bus or train stations, or similar settings; and
4. Migratory children
(as such term is defined in 20 U.S.C. 6399) who qualify as homeless for the purposes
of this part because the children are living in one of the previously mentioned
circumstances.
Homeless individual (as defined in
section 41403(6) of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12473(6)): An individual who lacks a fixed, regular,
and adequate nighttime residence and includes:
1. An individual
who:
a. Is sharing the
housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar
reason;
b. Is living in a
motel, hotel, trailer park, or campground due to the lack of alternative adequate
accommodations;
c. Is living in an
emergency or transitional shelter;
d. Is abandoned in
a hospital; or
e. Is awaiting foster
care placement.
2. An individual
who has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed
for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; or
3. Migratory children
who qualify as homeless because the children are living in circumstances listed
above.
Individual with a
disability: An individual who:
1. Has a physical
or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities
of such individual;
2. Has a record of
such an impairment; or
3. Is regarded as
having such an impairment.
Low income individual (as defined in 29 U.S.C.
3102(36)(A)): An individual who:
1. Receives, or in
the past six months has received, or is a member of a family that is receiving or
in the past six months has received, assistance through the supplemental nutrition
assistance program (SNAP), temporary assistance for needy families (TANF), or supplemental
security income (SSI), or State or local income-based public assistance;
2. Is in a family
with total family income that does not exceed the higher of –
a. The poverty line;
or
b. 70 percent of
the lower living standard income level.
3. Is a homeless
individual or homeless child or youth;
4. Receives or is
eligible to receive a free or reduced price lunch under the Richard B. Russell National
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.), (does not include students in school
districts participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Healthy, Hunger-Free
Kids Act of 2010);
5. Is a foster child
on behalf of whom the State or local government payments are made; or
6. Is an individual
with a disability whose own income meets the eligibility income requirement of clause
(2) but who is a member of a family whose income does not meet this requirement.
Offender: An adult or juvenile who:
1. Is or has been
subject to any stage of the criminal justice process and for whom services under
WIOA may be beneficial; or
2. Requires assistance
in overcoming artificial barriers to employment resulting from a record of arrest
or conviction.
Participation: The point at which the
individual has been determined eligible for youth program services, has received
an assessment, and has received or is receiving at least one program element and
the point at which the individual is to be included in calculations for performance
measures.
Postsecondary school: Any schooling
that follows graduation from high school or completion of high school equivalency,
including community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and technical
and trade schools.
School dropout: As defined in section
3(54) of WIOA, an individual who is no longer attending any school and has not received
a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent.
School year calendar quarter: The timeframe
identified as an academic quarter by the local school district or charter school
that a youth last attended, or the calendar quarter if not defined by the district
or school.
Secondary School: A school operated
by a board of education, a community school established under Chapter 3314 of the
Revised Code, or a nonpublic school for which the state board of education prescribes
minimum standards under section 3301.07 of the Revised Code that provides secondary
education as determined under State law, except that the term does not include any
education beyond grade 12.
VI. Requirements
Local areas implementing WIOA Youth program services must ensure
that participant eligibility for such services and participant school status are
accurately determined based on the following requirements. Each eligibility factor
must be verified in accordance with the policy on source documentation for WIOA
programs.
A. In-School Youth (ISY) Eligibility Requirements
An individual is eligible as an in-school youth if, at the time of
enrollment, he or she is:
1. Attending school,
including secondary and postsecondary school;
2. Not younger than
age 14 or older than age 21 (unless an individual with a disability who is attending
secondary school under state law);
3. A low-income individual;
and
4. Has one or more
of the following barriers:
a. Basic skills deficient;
b. An English language
learner;
c. An offender;
d. A homeless individual,
homeless child or youth, or a runaway;
e. An individual
in foster care or has aged out of the foster care system or has attained 16 years
of age and left foster care for kinship guardianship or adoption, a child eligible
for assistance under the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, or in
an out-of-home placement;
f. An individual
who is pregnant or parenting (which may include a mother or father, custodial or
non-custodial);
g. An individual
with a disability; or
h. An individual
who requires additional assistance to complete an education program or to secure
or hold employment.
B. Out-of-School Youth (OSY) Eligibility Requirements
An individual is eligible as an out-of-school youth if, at the time
of enrollment, he or she is:
1. Not attending
any school;
2. Not younger than
age 16 or older than age 24; and
3. Has one or more
of the following barriers:
a. A school dropout;
b. A youth who is
within the age of compulsory school attendance, but has not attended school for
at least the most recent complete school year calendar quarter;
c. A recipient of
a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent who is a low-income individual
and is basic skills deficient or an English language learner;
d. An offender;
e. A homeless individual,
homeless child or youth, or a runaway;
f. An individual
in foster care or has aged out of the foster care system or has attained 16 years
of age and left foster care for kinship guardianship or adoption, a child eligible
for assistance under the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, or an
individual in an out-of-home placement;
g. An individual
who is pregnant or parenting (which may include a custodial or non-custodial mother
or father);
h. A youth who is
an individual with a disability; or
i. A low-income
individual who requires additional assistance to enter or complete an educational
program or to secure or hold employment.
C. Determining School Status
School status must be based on status at the time the eligibility
determination portion of program enrollment is made. Once the school status of a
youth is determined, that school status remains the same throughout the youth’s
participation in the WIOA youth program, unless the youth exits from the program,
reapplies, and is again determined eligible.
For the purposes of determining ISY status, the school attended may
be either a secondary school (including alternative secondary school services) or
postsecondary school. If the youth participant is enrolled in credit-bearing postsecondary
classes, including credit-bearing community college and credit-bearing continuing
education classes, he or she is attending postsecondary education and is an ISY.
If the youth is only enrolled in non-credit bearing postsecondary classes, he or
she would be considered an OSY.
For the purposes of WIOA school status, the following are not considered
to be schools, so youth enrolled only in these programs are OSY:
- Adult education programs under Title II of WIOA (in
Ohio, called Aspire);
- YouthBuild programs; and
- JobCorps programs.
Youth enrolled in high school equivalency programs and dropout re-engagement
programs are also generally considered OSY, unless the program is funded by the
public K-12 school system and the youth is enrolled in the school system, in which
case the youth is an ISY.
If a youth is determined eligible for the WIOA youth program during
the summer and is in between school years, the youth is considered an ISY if enrolled
to continue school in the fall. A youth who is determined eligible for the WIOA
youth program between high school graduation and postsecondary education is considered
an ISY once he or she has registered for postsecondary courses (i.e., when courses
for the upcoming term have been selected and confirmed) even if classes have not
yet begun. However, if a youth who completed secondary education has not yet registered
for postsecondary courses at the time of eligibility determination, he or she is
an OSY, even if he or she has been accepted into a postsecondary education program.
Regardless of the prior paragraph, a secondary student earning postsecondary
credit through the College Credit Plus program defined in Chapter 3365 of the Revised
Code who intends to continue attending the same postsecondary school after graduating
secondary school remains an ISY during the period between completion of secondary
school and enrollment in the postsecondary school.
For the purposes of this policy, if a child is being homeschooled
in accordance with the requirements of ODE, the child is in school.
D. Dropout Barrier
Local areas must verify a youth's dropout status at the time of program
enrollment. If a youth has not received a high school diploma or a recognized equivalent
and is not attending any school at the time of eligibility determination, he or
she is considered a dropout and is an OSY. A dropout only includes an individual
who is currently a secondary school dropout at the time of enrollment and does not
include a youth who previously dropped out of secondary school but subsequently
returned.
A youth receiving alternative secondary school services at the time
of enrollment is not a dropout. A youth who is an OSY at the time of enrollment
and is subsequently placed in alternative secondary school services (or any school)
remains an OSY. Additionally, a youth who has stopped attending postsecondary education
is not a dropout for the purposes of youth program eligibility.
E. Not Attending School Barrier
In Ohio, children between the ages of 6 and 18 are required to attend
school, whether it be public, private, or home schooling. Exceptions from compulsory
school attendance are granted to children who:
1. Received a high
school diploma before the age of 18;
2. Are over 14 years
old, lawfully employed, and it is necessary that they work; or
3. Have a physical
or mental condition that does not allow for school attendance.
To meet OSY eligibility, youth who are excused from compulsory school
attendance due to one of the above exceptions would need to be facing some other
barrier besides not attending school.
F. Basic Skills Deficient Barrier
In assessing basic skills, local programs must use assessment instruments
that are valid and appropriate for the target population. The local program must
also provide reasonable accommodation in the assessment process, if necessary, for
people with disabilities.
G. Additional Assistance Barrier
For both ISY and OSY, as stated in Ohio’s Combined State Plan, an
individual who requires additional assistance to complete an education program or
to secure or hold employment is a youth who receives, or in the past six months
received assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or
who meets the criteria defined by the local WDB.
The local WDB must establish definitions and eligibility documentation
requirements to verify that the local criteria have been met by youth who require
additional assistance to enter or complete an educational program or to secure or
hold employment. The local area’s policy should be reasonable, quantifiable, and
based on evidence that the specific characteristics of the youth identified in the
policy objectively require additional assistance.
Of the total ISY enrolled by a local area during a program year,
no more than five percent may be individuals who require additional assistance to
complete an educational program or to secure or hold employment.
H. Youth Living in a High-Poverty Area
For WIOA eligibility purposes, living in a high-poverty area is an
additional criterion establishing that the youth is a low-income individual. Per
20 C.F.R. 681.260, a high-poverty area is defined as a Census tract or a set of
contiguous Census tracts with a poverty rate of at least 25 percent based on the
American Community Survey data.
Instructions on determining if a county or Census tract is a high-poverty
area using the Census Bureau’s American Fact Finder homepage are available in Attachment
2 of the Department of Labor (DOL) Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL)
No. 21-16.
I. Five Percent Low-Income Exception for Youth Eligibility
Youth participants whose eligibility criteria require them to be
low-income individuals are defined as covered individuals. Up to five percent of
a local area’s covered individuals may be enrolled in the youth program if they
meet all other eligibility criteria except the low-income criterion. In a program
year, the number of newly enrolled covered individuals who are not low-income must
not exceed five percent of the local area’s total new enrollments of covered individuals.
J. Selective Service Eligibility
Male youth participants who are 18 years of age and older and have
fulfilled registration requirements of the Military Selective Service Act (MSSA),
32 C.F.R. Part 1605, are eligible to participate in WIOA-funded programs and services.
The WIOA policy letter on selective service registration provides further guidance
on this requirement.
If a male reaches his 18th birthday during WIOA program participation,
he must register for selective service to continue receiving WIOA youth program
services. A male youth applicant who is 18 years old or older who has not registered
for the selective service or who is unwilling to register will be denied any WIOA
program services.
K. Co-Enrollment with Other Programs
Youth may participate in both the WIOA youth program and the adult
program at the same time if they are eligible and appropriate for both. The determination
of the appropriateness for co-enrollment is based on the participant’s service needs,
career readiness, occupational skills, prior work experience, and employability.
If such concurrent enrollment occurs, the local area must track expenditures separately
by program.
Youth may not be co-enrolled in the WIOA dislocated worker program
because any youth meeting the eligibility for the dislocated worker program would
have already successfully attained a job and would most likely be more appropriately
served under the dislocated worker program.
Youth who are eligible under both programs may enroll concurrently
in the WIOA youth program and Aspire program services under WIOA Title II.
VII. Out-of
School Priority
For any program year, not less than 75 percent of the youth funds
available to local areas shall be used to provide youth workforce investment activities
for OSY.
VIII. Reporting
As sub-recipients of WIOA youth program funds, local areas are required
to maintain and report accurate program and financial information. Per rule 5101:9-30-04
of the Ohio Administrative Code (O.A.C.), program information including participant
demographic data, activities, and performance must be accurately entered, within
30 days, into the Ohio Workforce Case Management System (OWCMS) and financial information
must be accurately entered into the County Finance Information System (CFIS).
IX. Monitoring
The local area must conduct oversight and monitoring of the implementation
of the WIOA youth program to ensure that participants enrolled in the program are
eligible and that eligibility has been properly documented.
Through the state’s monitoring system, ODJFS program monitors will
review the local area’s determination of WIOA youth program eligibility and the
provision of services to eligible youth during the annual onsite monitoring review
for compliance with federal and state laws and regulations. Any issues will be handled
through the state’s monitoring resolution process.
X. Technical
Assistance
For technical assistance, you may send your request to the Office
of Workforce Development: WIOAQNA@jfs.ohio.gov.
XI. References
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, §129, Pub. L. 113-128.
20 C.F.R. §§ 681.200 – 681.410.
29 U.S.C. § 3101, et seq.
O.R.C. § 3321.01, et seq.
O.A.C. rules 5101:9-30-04, 5101:10-3-01, and 5101:14-1-01 - 5101:14-1-07.
USDOL, Training and Employment Guidance Letter WIOA No. 21-16, Third
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title I Youth Formula Program Guidance,
(March 2, 2017).
USDOL, Training and Employment Guidance Letter WIOA No. 08-15, Second
Title I WIOA Youth Program Transition Guidance, (November 17, 2015).
USDOL, Training and Employment Guidance Letter WIOA No. 23-14, Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Youth Program Transition, (March 26, 2015).
ODJFS, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter No.
15-04, Selective Service Registration, (July 15, 2015).
ODJFS, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter No.
15-07.1, Source Documentation for WIOA Title I Program Eligibility, (June 25, 2018).