How must Local Workforce Development Boards design Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act youth programs?
20 C.F.R. § 681.420
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) The design framework services of local youth programs must:
(1) Provide for an objective assessment of each youth participant that meets the requirements of WIOA sec. 129(c)(1)(A), and includes a review of the academic and occupational skill levels, as well as the service needs and strengths, of each youth for the purpose of identifying appropriate services and career pathways for participants and informing the individual service strategy;
(2) Develop, and update as needed, an individual service strategy based on the needs of each youth participant that is directly linked to one or more indicators of performance described in WIOA sec. 116(b)(2)(A)(ii), that identifies career pathways that include education and employment goals, that considers career planning and the results of the objective assessment and that prescribes achievement objectives and services for the participant; and
(3) Provide case management of youth participants, including follow-up services.
(b) The local plan must describe the design framework for youth programs in the local area, and how the 14 program elements required in § 681.460 are to be made available within that framework.
(c) Local WDBs must ensure appropriate links to entities that will foster the participation of eligible local area youth. Such links may include connections to:
(1) Local area justice and law enforcement officials;
(2) Local public housing authorities;
(3) Local education agencies;
(4) Local human service agencies;
(5) WIOA title II adult education providers;
(6) Local disability-serving agencies and providers and health and mental health providers;
(7) Job Corps representatives; and
(8) Representatives of other area youth initiatives, such as YouthBuild, and including those that serve homeless youth and other public and private youth initiatives.
(d) Local WDBs must ensure that WIOA youth service providers meet the referral requirements in WIOA sec. 129(c)(3)(A) for all youth participants, including:
(1) Providing these participants with information about the full array of applicable or appropriate services available through the Local WDBs or other eligible providers, or one-stop partners; and
(2) Referring these participants to appropriate training and educational programs that have the capacity to serve them either on a sequential or concurrent basis.
(e) If a youth applies for enrollment in a program of workforce investment activities and either does not meet the enrollment requirements for that program or cannot be served by that program, the eligible training provider of that program must ensure that the youth is referred for further assessment, if necessary, or referred to appropriate programs to meet the skills and training needs of the youth.
(f) In order to meet the basic skills and training needs of applicants who do not meet the eligibility requirements of a particular program or who cannot be served by the program, each youth provider must ensure that these youth are referred:
(1) For further assessment, as necessary; and
(2) To appropriate programs, in accordance with paragraph (d)(2) of this section.
(g) Local WDBs must ensure that parents, youth participants, and other members of the community with experience relating to youth programs are involved in both the design and implementation of its youth programs.
(h) The objective assessment required under paragraph (a)(1) of this section or the individual service strategy required under paragraph (a)(2) of this section is not required if the program provider determines that it is appropriate to use a recent objective assessment or individual service strategy that was developed under another education or training program.
(i) The Local WDBs may implement a WIOA Pay-for-Performance contract strategy for program elements described at § 681.460, for which the Local WDB may reserve and use not more than 10 percent of the total funds allocated to the local area under WIOA sec. 128(b). For additional regulations on WIOA Pay-for-Performance contract strategies, see § 683.500 of this chapter.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-20.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026