The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), comprehensive reform legislation that superseded the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and amended the Wagner-Peyser Act. The WIA also contains the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (title II) and the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 (title IV).
The WIA reformed Federal job training programs and created a new comprehensive workforce investment system. The reformed system is customer focused to help Americans access the tools they need to manage their careers through information and high quality services, and to help U.S. companies find skilled workers.
The cornerstone of the new workforce investment system is One-Stop service delivery, which unifies numerous training, education and employment programs into a single, customer-friendly system in each community. One-Stop systems coordination of programs, services and governance structures so that the customer has access to a seamless system of workforce investment services. It envisioned that a variety of programs use common intake, case management and job development systems in order to take full advantage of the One-Stops' potential for efficiency and effectiveness. A wide range of services from a variety of training and employment programs are available to meet the needs of employers and job seekers.
This legislation provided unprecedented opportunity for major reforms that resulted in a reinvigorated, integrated workforce investment system. States and local communities work together with business, labor, community-based organizations, educational institution, and other partners, to develop customer-focused, comprehensive delivery systems.
For more information about WIA, go to http://www.floridajobs.org/awi_programs.html
