{
  "id": "R41855",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R41855",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 388813,
      "date": "2011-06-09",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T22:04:22.546933",
      "title": "An Analysis of State Formula Grants for Dislocated Worker Activities Under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)",
      "summary": "The Workforce Investment Act (WIA), enacted in 1998, is the federal government\u2019s primary employment and job training legislation. Title I of WIA\u2014Workforce Investment Systems\u2014authorizes job training and related services to unemployed or underemployed individuals. Funds authorized under Title I, Subtitle B of WIA are allocated to states by formula and are used for workforce development activities.\nThis report analyzes the current allocation formula for one of the three Title I formula grant programs\u2014the dislocated worker program, which is the largest of the three Title I grant programs with annual funding of about $1.2 billion. The dislocated worker program is intended to fund employment and training activities for a specific group of unemployed individuals\u2014dislocated workers. Dislocated workers are distinguished from the general category of adult unemployed individuals for purposes of funding allocations and are defined in WIA by specific criteria such as being part of a mass layoff.\nInterest in the dislocated worker program\u2019s allocation formula has increased recently because some high unemployment states have lost substantial funds under this program in recent years and there has been significant volatility in year-to-year state funding allocations under this particular funding stream. This report examines the funding formula and explores the pros and cons of alternative allocation procedures. The analysis in this report leads to three conclusions:\nFirst, the current dislocated worker formula does not align fully with the WIA-defined population of dislocated workers. The factors used for allocating funds in the formula may include but do not focus on the targeted population of dislocated workers.\nSecond, as currently configured, the dislocated worker formula results in volatile changes in state allocations from one year to the next. While some volatility in allocations may be desirable so that funds go to the areas of greatest temporal need, the mechanics of the current formula tend to exaggerate the underlying volatility of the factors and lead to large annual changes in the intensity of funding (i.e., funding dollars per funding factor).\nThird, there are several alternatives to the current factors in the dislocated worker formula and several alternative formula features that may potentially offer better alignment with the target population and reduced volatility. In addition, there are options available to mitigate the large swings in specific state annual allocations under the dislocated worker formula.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": true,
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 647,
          "name": "Employment and Training Policy"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": []
}