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As a patron of the Arkansas Workforce Centers, you are eligible of a broad menu of core services. These services — usually referred to as self-assisted core services — will be described to you when you visit an Arkansas Workforce Center. Workforce Investment Act (WIA) self-assisted core services are available to any person who visits the workforce center. There are no eligibility requirements for self-assisted core services. These core services are facilitated by workforce center resource area staff and include the following services:
- Outreach, intake, and orientation to the information and other services available through the One-Stop delivery system
- Initial assessment of skill levels, aptitudes, abilities, and supportive service needs
- Determinations of whether individuals are eligible to receive assistance under subtitle B of title I of WIA
- Job search assistance
- Provision of employment statistics information, including the provision of accurate information relating to local, regional, and national labor market areas, including--
- Job vacancy listings in such labor market areas
- Information on job skills necessary to obtain the listed jobs
- Information relating to local occupations in demand and the earnings and skill requirements for such occupation
- Provision of program performance information and program cost information on:
- Eligible providers of training services described in WIA section 122
- Eligible providers of youth activities described in WIA section 123
- Providers of adult education described in title II
- Providers of postsecondary vocational education activities and vocational education activities available to school dropouts under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.)
- Providers of vocational rehabilitation program activities described in title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 720 et seq.)
- Provision of information on how the local area is performing on the local performance measures and any additional performance information with respect to the One-Stop delivery system in the local area
- Provision of accurate information relating to the availability of supportive services, including, at a minimum, child care, and transportation, available in the local area, and referral to such services, as appropriate
- Provision of information regarding filing claims for unemployment compensation
- Assistance in establishing eligibility for—
- Welfare-to-work activities authorized under section 403(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603(a)(5))available in the local area
- Programs of financial aid assistance for training and education programs that are not funded under this Act and are available in the local area
Employment and training services beyond self-assisted core services — staff-assisted core services, intensive services, and training services — are available only to individuals who meet specific eligibility criteria established by the federal Workforce Investment Act. Generally, eligibility for these services is limited to low-income adults and youth and to qualified dislocated workers.
Income and family size must be taken into consideration when determining the eligibility for adult and youth services. Priority is given to low-income individuals, individuals receiving public assistance, and other individual specified in the Act.
For the purpose of determining eligibility priority for WIA services, the term “low-income individual” means an individual who —
- Receives, or is a member of a family that receives, cash payments under a federal, state, or local income-based public assistance program
- Received an income, or is a member of a family that received a total family income, for the 6-month period prior to application for the program involved (exclusive of unemployment compensation, child support payments, and old-age and survivors insurance benefits received under section 202 of the Social Security Act) that, in relation to family size, does not exceed the higher of —
- The poverty line, for an equivalent period, or
- 70 percent of the lower living standard income level, for an equivalent period
- Is a member of a family that receives (or has been determined within the 6-month period prior to application for the program involved to be eligible to receive) food stamps pursuant to the Food Stamp Act of 1977
- Qualifies as a homeless individual, as defined in subsections (a) and (c) of section 103 of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act
- Is a foster child on behalf of whom state or local government payments are made, or
- In cases permitted by regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Labor, is an individual with a disability whose own income meets the requirements of a program described above but who is a member of a family whose income does not meet such requirements
Generally, an eligible dislocated worker is an individual who meets the following criteria:
- Has been terminated or laid off, or who has received notice of termination or layoff, from employment
- Is eligible for or who has exhausted entitlement unemployment compensation; or
- Has been employed for a duration sufficient to demonstrate an attachment to the workforce but is not eligible for unemployment compensation due to insufficient earnings, or
- Has performed services for an employer that were not covered under the state’s unemployment compensation law, and
- Is unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation has been terminated or laid off, or has received a notice of termination or layoff, from employment as a result of any permanent layoff.
Anyone may apply for WIA Title I services. A workforce center staff person will assist workforce center patrons with an application form for the adult, dislocated worker, or youth program. Depending on the program for which you are applying and your personal circumstances, completing the application may include providing documentation of receipt of public welfare or food stamps, disability, family size, family income, status as a dislocated worker, or other information specified in the application.
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