2.2 Design and Organization

2.2.2 One-Stop Partners

Effective date: August 1, 2020

Entities that receive funding through the following programs are required to participate in the one-stop delivery system:¹

• WIOA Title I Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth;
• WIOA Title I Job Corps;²
• WIOA Title I YouthBuild;
• WIOA Title I Native American Programs;
• WIOA Title I National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP);
• WIOA Title II Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA);
• WIOA Title III Wagner-Peyser Act Employment Service;
• WIOA Title IV State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services;
• WIOA Title V Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP);
• Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA);
• Unemployment Compensation;
• Jobs for Veterans State Grant (JVSG);
• Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO);
• Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006;
• Employment and training programs funded through Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD);
• Employment and training programs funded through Community Services Block Grant (CSBG);
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)³

NOTE: The entity is the grant recipient, administrative entity, or organization responsible for administering the funds of the specified program in the local area. This does not include the service providers that contract with, or are sub-recipients of, the local administrative entity. For programs that do not include a local administrative entity, the responsible state agency is the partner.⁴

If the required program or activity is not operational in a local area, the requirements relating to the required one-stop partner are not applicable to that program or activity in that local one-stop delivery system.⁵

With the approval of the local WDB and chief elected official (CEO), other entities may participate as optional partners in the one-stop delivery system, including:

• Employment and training programs funded through Social Security Administration (SSA) including Ticket to Work and Self Sufficiency programs;
• Employment and training programs funded through Small Business Administration;
• Employment and training programs funded through Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP);
• Client Assistance Programs (CAP) authorized under WIOA Title IV;
• National and Community Service Act programs;
• Other appropriate federal, state, or local programs, including, but not limited to, employment, education, or training programs such as those operated by libraries or in the private sector;
• Programs providing transportation assistance; and
• Services for those with substance abuse or mental health issues.

Partners within the one-stop delivery system make services available on-site, via the use of technology, and/or via formalized referral processes. The methods partners use to provide services and coordinate with each other, including required resource sharing, are documented in the one-stop delivery system Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) (see Section 2.6 of this chapter).

All required partners must use a portion of their program funds to maintain the one-stop delivery system, including jointly funding Job Center infrastructure, based on each partner's proportionate use of and relative benefit from the one-stop delivery system. The allocation methodologies and partners' individual contributions must be documented in the One-Stop Delivery System MOU.⁶

The local Workforce Development Board (WDB) for each local workforce development area (WDA) is the primary convener of these partners and has responsibility to ensure that required partners are included in the one-stop delivery system.

NOTE: The local WDB is not a one-stop partner, unless it is a specific program provider as well.⁷

• ¹ WIOA Sec. 121(b)(1)(B); 20 CFR § 678.400; TEGL 17-16, pp. 6-7
• ² Per TEGL 17-16, p. 5 the entity for Job Corps is the Job Corps training center.
• ³ TANF was exempted from WIOA participation in 2015 as allowed under 20 CFR § 678.405(b)
• ⁴ 20 CFR § 678.415
• ⁵ 20 CFR § 678.415(a)
• ⁶ 20 CFR § 678.420(b)(2)
• ⁷ 81 FR 55882

2.2.3 What is a Job Center?

Effective date: May 3, 2021

To be considered an American Job Center within Wisconsin's one-stop delivery system a location must:

• Physically house at least one required partner, and may physically house additional required and/or optional partner(s); and
• Provide basic and individualized career services;¹ and
• Make available (on-site, via the use of technology, and/or via formalized referral processes) and/or provide training and support services as authorized under WIOA;² and
• Make available (on-site, via the use of technology, and/or via formalized referral processes) and/or provide information about the full range of services available through the one-stop delivery system as authorized under WIOA;³ and
• Include a service area, commonly known as a Resource Room, that is open to the general public or specialized/targeted population (i.e., incarcerated individuals in a correctional facility) during regularly scheduled hours and provides access to labor exchange services⁴ for job seekers and employers.

The local WDB should work with its one-stop delivery system partners to determine the number and placement of Job Center sites. In doing so, the local WDB should consider the resources available within the system, customer needs, and available methods of service delivery.⁵

The local WDB is responsible for assessing physical locations within the borders of its WDA to determine which sites meet the criteria to be considered Job Centers. Each location within the WDA that meets all five of these criteria must be designated as an American Job Center, be identified as an American Job Center in accordance with Section 2.5 of this chapter, be included in a one-stop delivery system MOU in accordance with Section 2.6 of this chapter, and be certified in accordance with Section 2.8 of this chapter. All certified Job Centers within the WDA must be reassessed on a regular basis, at minimum once every three years, to ensure ongoing compliance with these requirements.⁶

Types of Job Centers

Job Centers may be identified as comprehensive, affiliate, or specialized.

A comprehensive Job Center⁷ must meet all the criteria in Section 2.2.2 and must make available (on-site, via the use of technology, and/or via trained staff) all the required partners/programs identified in Section 2.2.1. A comprehensive Job Center must provide career services, workforce and labor market information, as well as access to training services, other employment and training activities,⁸ and programs and services provided by required partners/programs.⁹

A comprehensive Job Center¹⁰ must provide meaningful access to all the required partners/programs by one or more of the following:

• Having a program staff member physically present at the Job Center;
• Having a staff member from a different partner program physically present and appropriately trained to provide information to customers about the services available through all partner programs;
• Making a direct linkage to off-site partner program staf who can provide meaningful information or services.¹¹

If a direct linkage is utilized, then it must occur at the comprehensive Job Center by phone or through real-time Web based communication. Providing a referral, information, or materials does not constitute a direct linkage.¹²

There must be at least one comprehensive job center in each WDA.¹³ At least one WIOA Title I funded staff person must be present when the one-stop center is open for operations.¹⁴ Title I funded partners include the WIOA Adult Program, Dislocated Worker Program, and Youth Program, Job Corps, YouthBuild, Native American Programs, and National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP).¹⁵

An affiliate Job Center meets the criteria identified in Section 2.2.2 but does not include all required partners. If WIOA Title III Wagner-Peyser Act services are provided at an affiliate Job Center, at least one or more other one-stop partner programs must be located in the affiliate Job Center, and there must be a physical presence of combined staff from the other program(s) over 50 percent of the time that the site is open.¹⁶

A specialized Job Center is a service location that may or may not meet the criteria listed above, but that is designed to serve as an access and/or outreach site for a specialized group of the population (i.e., youth, dislocated workers from a particular company, incarcerated individuals in a correctional facility, etc.). Specialized Job Centers may be overseen by the local WDB or by DWD-DET. Because a specialized center may be housed in an alternative location (i.e., on-site at an employer facility, in a correctional facility, etc.) hours and access may be determined by the facility, not by a One-Stop Operator or local WDB.

Job Center Hours of Operation

The local WDB and/or the One-Stop Operator (OSO) must work with one-stop delivery system partners to determine hours of operation for each Job Center site. DWD-DET encourages local areas to consider nontraditional hours of operation where driven by customer need and supported by local budgets and staffing patterns.¹⁷ Hours of operation should be negotiated as part of the one-stop delivery system MOU development process, and should be documented in the MOU.

DWD-DET acknowledges that circumstances may arise which require a Job Center to close temporarily due to public health and/or safety concerns (e.g., inclement weather, facility malfunction, etc.). For Job Centers housed in State of Wisconsin owned facilities the State of Wisconsin Executive & Agency Building Closure Policy: Inclement Weather or Emergency Situations must be applied. For Job Centers housed in facilities not owned by the State of Wisconsin, the local WDB and/or One-Stop Operator must establish policies and procedures to address temporary Job Center closures. These policies and procedures must address circumstances that warrant temporary closures, the process by which partner agency staff and the general public will be notified of the closure, and identify which entity has final authority to make the determination of closure. Local policies should take into account that each partner agency must follow its own policies regarding hours and staffing.

• ¹ 20 CFR § 678.305(b)(1); 20 CFR § 678.400; 81 FR 55883
• ² 20 CFR § 678.305(d)
• ³ 20 CFR § 678.305(d); 81 FR 55875
• ⁴ 20 CFR § 652.3
• ⁵ 81 FR 55879
• ⁶ 20 CFR § 678.800(d)
• ⁷ 20 CFR § 678.305(a)
• ⁸ WIOA sec. 134(d)
• ⁹ 20 CFR § 678.305(b)
• ¹⁰ 20 CFR § 678.305(a)
• ¹¹ 20 CFR § 678.305(d); TEGL 16-16
• ¹² 20 CFR § 678.305(d); TEGL 16-16
• ¹³ WIOA Sec. 121(e); 20 CFR § 678.300(c)
• ¹⁴ 81 FR 55877
• ¹⁵ 81 FR 55877
• ¹⁶ 20 CFR § 678.315
• ¹⁷ 20 CFR § 678.800(b);81 FR 55877-55878