Policy and Practice February 2017

from the field By Jennifer Heimericks, Jeriane Jaegers-Brenneke, and JaCinda Rainey

Missouri’s Story Practical Steps Toward WIOA/TANF Alignment

T he enactment of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 by bipartisan majorities in Congress revitalized and transformed the public workforce system to reflect the realities of the 21st century economy and meet the needs of jobseekers, workers, and employers. A key part of the WIOA vision is making government more efficient to serve the public more effectively through a comprehensive, integrated, and streamlined system. Missouri’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which is named Temporary Assistance (TA) in Missouri, encourages partner- ships to streamline services and align resources, and WIOA has solidified this concept. TA plays a vital role in WIOA by offering cash benefits to eligible participants while they are receiving assistance. Missouri chose to submit a WIOA combined state plan with Family Support Division

this is easier said than done. Since the passage of WIOA, Missouri has taken several concrete steps to better align the MWA program with its workforce development programs. These steps include: „ „ Changed the MWA regions to mimic WIOA regions „ „ Included MWA staff on Workforce Development Boards „ „ Hosted a WIOA Convening that partners from all regions attended to understand WIOA, the roles of various agencies, and local planning requirements „ „ Engaged in a WIOA Design and Delivery Team with partner agencies „ „ Made adjustments to requests for proposal/contracts by: – Requiring MWA contractors to start using the same Career Ready

programs as partners, including the Missouri Work Assistance (MWA) program, which is contracted to provide eligible TA participants with employment and training and other wrap-around services. The MWA offers educational assistance, training, supportive services, and job skills to help TA recipients become productive members of the work- force. While participating in these activities, MWA participants are also eligible for child-care assistance through the Family Support Division. Under WIOA, American Job Centers offer labor market analysis that helps ensure MWA participants not only get a job, but gain employment that meets the needs of employers and the participant. However, WIOA’s vision of this comprehensive, integrated, and streamlined system can only be achieved through the implementa- tion of new policies and practices, and

101 assessment used by work- force development programs in

See Missouri on page 30

Photo Illustration by Chris Campbell

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February 2017 Policy&Practice