This report focuses on implementation of changes to the Youth Program under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014. The changes to that program were designed to focus on serving more out-of-school youth as well as to focus more on work-based learning and apprenticeship, and to coordinate services across multiple local programs. Findings in the report are based primarily on site visit interviews conducted in early 2019 with administrators, workforce boards, and front-line staff in 14 states and 28 local areas. The study also included an analysis of data on participants and services under the program.

Respondents in the states and local areas provided information on successes, challenges and promising practices, and reported they successfully met or were on track to meet the requirement to spend 75 percent of program funds on out-of-school youth.

This report is one of a series of products from a larger study of WIOA implementation. The study focused on the core programs under WIOA Title I (Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth Services) and Title III (Employment Services). The goals of the study were to (1) examine the variation in the approaches used to implement key WIOA provisions, (2) assess implementation progress, and (3) identify best practices and areas for possible additional guidance or technical assistance.