Goodwill Industries believes that one of the United States’ top priorities must be to help people with disabilities and disadvantages gain skills so they can become self-sufficient.
The reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) offers an opportunity to ensure that our public workforce system is responsive to the diverse needs of workers. To that end, Goodwill Industries offers the following recommendations as Congress debates reauthorization.
Promote Greater Access to Training
As employers increasingly demand high-skilled labor and better educated workers, the nation’s workforce development system has made it more difficult for job seekers to access training. Goodwill urges Congress to allow for increased access to training, so that people with disabilities and disadvantages can move toward self-sufficiency.
Create Incentives for Targeting “Harder to Serve” Populations
Because of the statute’s current structure, many one-stop operators target services to people most likely to achieve positive outcomes with the least investment of resources. This results in fewer services for people with disabilities and disadvantages. Goodwill supports policies that recognize the higher costs and societal benefits of moving harder-to-serve individuals toward independence.
Address the Needs of Prisoners Going Home
With nearly 650,000 federal and state prisoners returning to their communities this year, many will go home with little education or training. To succeed in the workforce, these former inmates will need to learn skills and get an education. Goodwill urges Congress to make serving ex-offenders a priority in the WIA system.
Address the Needs of People with Disabilities
WIA requires that people with disabilities have full access to one-stop centers—both, the physical space and through programs. As one-stop centers move toward becoming physically accessible, Goodwill supports states making their centers programmatically accessible for people with disabilities.
Protect and Strengthen the Vocational Rehabilitation System
The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program provides services and support, which cannot be replicated by the one-stop system. As the only government program focused on serving people with significant disabilities and placing them in jobs, the VR systems and the programs that support it need protection. Goodwill urges Congress to give its backing.
Adequately Fund Workforce Investment Programs
With WIA job training programs getting consistently under funded, Goodwill encourages Congress to make the investment of the United States’ workforce skills its top priority.
Read more in a letter to Sen. Ted Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
