8.7 Program Exit

8.7.2 Exit Date

Effective date: January 1, 2023

A participant's exit date is the actual close date of the last participation-causing service¹ provided by any of the common exit programs in which the participant is enrolled.²

To accurately capture the participant's exit date, services must be opened and closed to correspond with the actual dates of service delivery. Detailed guidance on recording the opening and closing of services in ASSET is located in the Service Management Policy.

The following services are not participation-causing and therefore do not prevent program exit:

• self-service;
• information-only services or activities;
• follow-up services ;
• supportive services (for the Adult Program and the Dislocated Worker Program);
• case-management activities that involve contact (or attempted contact) with the participant or employer (e.g., seeking information about the participant's employment status, educational progress, or need for services).³

• ¹ The participation-causing service guidance provided is specific to WIOA. Common exit programs other than WIOA programs may have different participation-causing services other than those listed in our WIOA guidance. For example, TAA has a "RTAA" service that extends participation.
• ² 20 CFR 677.150(c)(1);
• ³ "DWD-DET defines 'case management' as the staff activity coordinating allowable career, training, and supportive services for a participant. While DWD-DET recognizes that this is a vital component of the program, it does not consider 'case management' to be a program service as it is not identified as a career service in 20 CFR § 678.430(a) or (b)"; DWD-DET continues the use of canceled TEGL 17-05 p. 21 case-management verbiage.

8.7.3 Future Services

Effective date: January 1, 2023

Future services accommodate start dates for training, educational, or other services.

Some future service examples include:

• resuming training after a break between semesters for participants attending training at an Eligible Training Provider;¹
• a clinical nursing scheduled to start nine months after the end of the classroom portion of the training program;
• a participant who enrolls mid-academic year/semester and needs to wait to start training until the start of the new academic year/semester.

Career planners must plan future services, which means identifying them on the IEP or ISS, and entering the specific service in ASSET.² Future services more than 90 days after the last actual service date will not prevent an exit from occurring in ASSET. To prevent an exit, the participant must receive another participation-causing service within 90 days. Participants co-enrolled in a common exit program may receive services from any of the providers.

Note: Future services are not placeholders or “to be determined” services.³ This means career planners must only enter services in ASSET that are on the IEP or ISS. Career planners must only enter planned services in ASSET regardless of the uncertainty of the participant's status. . ASSET does not need to show an 'open' service for a participant at all times during their participation period. Any sequence of participation-causing services where a start date occurs within 90 days of the most recent close date will extend the period of participation.

• ¹ PIRL Reporting Online Resource (dol.gov) p.23
• ² TEGL 14-18, p.10; TEGL 10-16, Change 2, p.34; PIRL Reporting Online Resource (dol.gov) p.23
• ³ PIRL Reporting Online Resource (dol.gov) p.23

8.7.4 How Exits Work in ASSET

Effective date: January 1, 2023

ASSET automatically generates the exit date based on the participant's last date of service and the exit date is determined when the participant has not received any participating-causing services in 90 days and no future services are planned.

ASSET calculates the correct exit date using the following rules:

• Once a service's Actual Open Date field for a service is entered in ASSET, the participant's episode in ASSET remains open for 90 days after the date that is entered in the service's Actual Close Date field.
• If no Actual Close Date is provided, the episode will close 90 days after the Planned Close Date.
• When there are multiple services with Actual Open Dates, the participant's episode will remain open until 90 days after the latest Actual or Planned Close Date.

To illustrate the simplest possible case in ASSET, when an episode has only one service:

Participants' episodes will remain open until 90 days after the last Actual Close Date or Planned Close Date for all services across the common exit programs.¹ The episode remains open to allow time for the common exit partners to record services provided and for co-enrolled participants to begin additional services with another program. For example, if a participant is co-enrolled in TAA and WIOA Title I, once the participant completes the allowable TAA services, WIOA Title I career planners will have 90 days to provide additional services before the participant exits. Once the exit has occurred, the episode ends. If the participant re-enrolls after the episode ends, they will begin a new episode.

DWD-DET requires career planners to enter any known information into ASSET to appropriately capture performance information upon a participant's exit from the program. For example, career planners must enter the following:

• acquired credentials in ASSET Follow-ups;
• measurable skills gain(s) in ASSET Assessments;
• retirement status in ASSET Exits;
  and
• employment details, including whether the individual is employed and their hourly wage, and any known exclusion reason in ASSET Exits.

DWD-DET strongly recommends career planners review monthly exit reports and update necessary information to prevent untimely exits. The Exit Reports Resource Page provides the available reports and descriptions. The exit reports provide career planners the opportunity to view a list of participants who are close to exiting or have exited during the previous quarter to:

• determine whom they should contact to see if further services are needed;
• verify services provided are accurately documented;
• add any newly identified service details
  and
• complete the first quarter follow-up.

For example, a participant may have received a service not entered in ASSET, or a planned future service may have started and need to be updated.

Note: Career planners and local WDB program operators must not prevent program exits by artificially extending Service Close Dates in ASSET. Participant service records, and therefore exits, are a critical component of the WIOA performance accountability system. Manipulating such records to achieve more positive performance outcomes undermines the integrity and program accountability intended by WIOA. ² DWD-DET's Local Program Liaisons and other program monitoring staff will monitor this.

• ¹ TEGL 14-18 pp. 12-13
• ² FR 55832

8.7.5 Other Reasons for Exit (Exclusions)

Effective date: January 1, 2023

If a participant exits a WIOA program due to an allowable exclusion, in that case, they are excluded from performance reporting.¹ In order to ensure the exclusion has been appropriately documented,² the career planner must record the exclusion reason in ASSET Exit's Planned Exit Details.

• ¹ TEGL 10-16, Change 2, Attachment 2- Exclusions- Table A and B
• ² TEGL 23-19, Attachment II- data element number 923 (see "WIOA Source Documentation" column)

8.7.6 Re-enrollment After Exit

Effective date: January 1, 2023

DWD-DET has determined that if, at any time after a common exit occurs, a participant needs additional WIOA services that are not allowable during follow-up, they must be allowed to reapply following the WIOA Title I Application Guidance. This requirement applies to all Title I programs regardless of current enrollment in other programs and/or previous services received.