Serving Out-of-School Youth Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (2014)

jor update in nearly 15 years to guide how the public workforce system helps job seekers access educa-tion, training, and employment. Compared with its predecessor — the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) — the new law puts greater emphasis on serving out-of-school youth through training and services that are employer driven and linked to labor market demand. WIOA defines out-of-school youth as 16- to 24-year-olds who are not attending any school and who have one or more barriers to employment, such as young people who are homeless, are parenting, have disabilities, or have a juvenile or criminal record.1 This report draws upon available research and the MDRC staff’s on-the-ground experience to summarize existing knowledge that can guide implementation of key WIOA provisions on serving out-of-school youth. It is organized in four sections: The first two sections focus on strategies for reaching and engaging a greater number of out-of-school youth, especially those who are most vulnerable; the third section re-views evidence on career pathway programs; and the final section discusses strategies for engaging pri-vate sector employers in job-related initiatives for youth. Reaching and Engaging Out-of-School Youth WIOA requires that a much higher percentage of available state and local youth funds go toward out-of-school youth — 75 percent versus 30 percent under WIA — and increases the age range fo