WIOA Titles I and III National Performance Summary

Program Year 2021

(July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022)

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) establishes performance accountability indicators and performance reporting requirements to assess the effectiveness of states and local areas in achieving positive outcomes for individuals served by the workforce development and education systems’ six core programs. These six core programs are the Adult, Dislocated Worker (DW), and Youth programs, authorized under WIOA title I and administered by the Department of Labor (DOL); the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) program, authorized under WIOA title II and administered by the Department of Education (ED); the Employment Service program authorized under the Wagner-Peyser Act, as amended by WIOA title III and administered by DOL; and the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program authorized under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by WIOA title IV and administered by ED. WIOA has provided a historic opportunity to align performance-related definitions, streamline performance indicators, integrate reporting, and ensure comparable data collection and reporting across all six of these core programs, while also implementing program-specific requirements related to data collection and reporting.

Program Year (PY) 2021 is the sixth year state grantees reported performance information under the WIOA performance accountability provisions. Title I and title III grantees submitted individual performance records to DOL using the Participant Individual Record Layout (PIRL) (ETA-9172) and states certified the results using the WIOA Statewide Performance Report (ETA-9169). WIOA section 116(d)(2) requires states to report on outcomes achieved on the primary indicators of performance, including outcomes achieved by individuals with barriers to employment, characteristics of participants, and other information such as numbers of participants who received training and/or career services, and the average cost per participant of those services.

PY 2021 performance results indicate recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is underway. Compared to PY 2020, Employment Rate 2nd Quarter after Exit (ERQ2) results have improved (participants who exited from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021). For example, the Dislocated Worker program went from 58.1 percent in PY 2020 up to 65.0 percent in PY 2021.

The improvements in PY 2021 Employment Rate 4th Quarter after Exit (ERQ4) results were smaller compared to the improvements in the ERQ2 results. This is expected since the national unemployment rate hit its peak at 14.7 percent in April 2020 and PY 2021 ERQ4 results represent a cohort of participants who exited at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (exit dates from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020).

This summary reflects the information available from the PY 2021 WIOA title I and title III program reports. PY 2021 reports for WIOA title II programs and reports for WIOA title IV programs are available on the ED performance websites. The WIOA definition of participant does not include those who used only the self-service system and/or received information-only services. These individuals are referred to as Reportable Individuals and are excluded from counts of participants and from the calculation of primary indicators of performance.

PY 2021 data include information on participant characteristics and the six performance indicators: Employment Rate in the 2nd Quarter after Exit, Median Earnings in the 2nd Quarter after Exit, Employment Rate in the 4th Quarter after Exit, Credential Attainment Rate, Measurable Skill Gains, and Effectiveness in Serving Employers.

The following key areas and supporting charts represent DOL’s high-level observations of the national WIOA titles I and III PY 2021 performance results.

Employment Rate 2nd Quarter after Exit

Figure 3 shows the PY 2018 to PY 2021 results for the Employment Rate 2nd Quarter after Exit performance indicator. The results for the Employment Rate 2nd Quarter after Exit indicator were relatively stable through PY 2019. PY 2020 was the first program year in which performance reports reflected the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall PY 2021 Employment Rate 2nd Quarter after Exit performance results improved, however only the WIOA Youth program results are back to pre-pandemic levels.

Median Earnings 2nd Quarter after Exit

Figure 4 shows the PY 2018 to PY 2021 results for the Median Earnings 2nd Quarter after Exit performance indicator. The Median Earnings 2nd Quarter after Exit results have increased year-over-year since PY 2017 and increased significantly in PY 2021 compared to PY 2020. These PY 2021 results represent the largest nominal increase in the five years of WIOA outcome data.

Employment Rate 4th Quarter after Exit

Figure 5 shows the PY 2018 to PY 2021 results for the Employment Rate 4th Quarter after Exit performance indicator. PY 2018 was the first year the results for this performance indicator were reported. The WIOA Dislocated Worker program is the only program to continue a downward trend for this indicator. All others had marginal improvements, but none have reached pre-pandemic levels. Because this indicator lags by 6 quarters and reflects participants who exited the program at the height of the pandemic, improved performance results are not expected until PY 2022.

Credential Attainment Rate

Figure 6 shows the PY 2018 to PY 2021 results for the Credential Attainment Rate indicator. PY 2018 was the first year results for this performance indicator were reported. Note that the Credential Attainment Rate is not a required performance indicator for Wagner-Peyser.

Consistent with previous years, Adult and Dislocated Worker program participants most frequently attained occupational certificates in PY 2021. For WIOA Youth, the two most common credential types were secondary school diplomas (or their equivalent) and occupational certificates. The pandemic delayed education and training services while providers adjusted to assisting participants in a virtual environment, but the effect on the Credential Attainment Rate indicator is not clear. Fewer participants received training services, but the Credential Attainment Rate marginally increased for the Dislocated Worker and Youth programs.

Measurable Skill Gains

Figure 7 shows the PY 2016 to PY 2021 results for the Measurable Skill Gains indicator. Note that Measurable Skill Gains is not a required performance indicator for Wagner-Peyser.

The significant increases from PY 2016 to PY 2019 are primarily due to the positive strides made by state grantees in collecting and reporting data on this indicator. This was a new performance indicator for title I programs and DOL provided substantial technical assistance to support states with meeting the reporting requirements for Measurable Skill Gains. Also, DOL and ED (the Departments) revised the calculation specifications for Measurable Skill Gains so that states could more accurately report the results for the indicator. These adjustments became effective July 1, 2018 (PY 2018) and are reflected in the PY 2018 through PY 2021 results. Similar to the Credential Attainment Rate results, the PY 2021 Measurable Skill Gains results are not conclusive. Overall, fewer participants were enrolled in education or training services; however, those enrolled are making measurable skill gains at a higher rate than previously observed.

Effectiveness in Serving Employers

The Effectiveness in Serving Employers (ESE) indicator is a statewide aggregate indicator that represents the work done on behalf of employers by all WIOA core programs. In PY 2021, the Departments required states to report data for two of three pilot indicators: Retention with Same Employer Rate, Employer Penetration Rate, and Repeat Business Customers Rate. Figure 8 shows the number of states that reported on each of the three pilot indicators in PY 2021.

Figure 9 shows the results for the ESE indicators that states reported in PY 2021.

The Departments are currently engaged in rulemaking to define this indicator.

Types of Barriers to Employment

Figure 12 shows the number of participants with select types of barriers to employment for the WIOA title I programs as defined in section 3 of WIOA.

Low-income is the most common barrier, followed by Single Parenting for Adult participants, Long-term Unemployed for Dislocated Worker, and English Language Learners/Low Levels of Literacy/Cultural Barriers for Youth and Wagner-Peyser participants. In the Adult program, which had a total of 287,659 participants in PY 2021, 60.6% of participants reported a Low-income barrier.

Figure 13 shows the number of participants with select types of barriers to employment for the Wagner-Peyser program.

Reportable Individuals

Figure 14 shows the total count of Reportable Individuals from PY 2018 to PY 2021. Reportable Individuals are individuals who engaged with the workforce development system by accessing self-services, received information-only services or activities, or who did not complete program requirements for eligibility or participation.

DOL clarified the definition of Reportable Individuals and added codes in the reporting specifications to better identify Reportable Individuals for each program. These adjustments became effective July 1, 2018 (PY 2018) and are reflected in the reporting beginning in PY 2018. This change to the reporting specifications for Reportable Individuals makes comparisons to program years before PY 2018 irrelevant. The number of Reportable Individuals more than doubled across all title I and III programs from PY 2018 to PY 2019. During PY 2020 the workforce system responded to a surge in individuals seeking assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. In PY 2021 the number of Reportable Individuals in the WIOA title I and III programs returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Performance Data Availability

WIOA Primary Indicator of Performance First Program Year of Complete Performance Data:

  • Employment Rate 2nd Quarter after Exit - PY 2017
  • Median Earnings 2nd Quarter after Exit - PY 2017
  • Employment Rate 4th Quarter after Exit - PY 2018
  • Credential Attainment Rate - PY 2018
  • Measurable Skill Gains - PY 2016
  • Effectiveness in Serving Employers - TBD (Subject to final definition of indicator)

Data Sources

Sources:

  1. PY 2021 Q4 WIOA State Performance Records
  2. PY 2020 Q4 WIOA State Performance Records
  3. PY 2019 Q4 WIOA State Performance Records
  4. PY 2018 Q4 WIOA State Performance Records
  5. PY 2017 Q4 WIOA State Performance Records
  6. PY 2016 Q4 WIOA State Performance Records