Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014, States are required to submit a State Plan to the Secretary of the Department of Labor that outlines a 4-year strategic vision of, and goals for, how their workforce development systems will achieve the purposes of WIOA. The principal purpose of the plan is to communicate the Chief Elected Official’s vision for the State workforce system and to serve as a vehicle for aligning and integrating the State workforce system across Federal programs. States must have approved State Plans in order to be eligible to receive funding for the workforce development system’s six core programs under WIOA: the adult, dislocated worker, and youth programs (title I of WIOA); the AEFLA program (title II of WIOA); the Wagner-Peyser Act employment services program (title III of WIOA); and the Vocational Rehabilitation program under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (title IV of WIOA).
At a minimum, States must submit a plan that encompasses the six core programs under WIOA. States were required to submit a four-year State Plan for Federal review and approval in March 2020. States must conduct a two-year review and submit a modification to their State Plans in early 2022, and a new draft for approval in March 2024. The Departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Agriculture, whose programs are included in the plan, will review and approve each plan for the period July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2024. Subsequent Unified State Plans must be submitted no later than 120 days prior to the end of the 4-year period covered by a preceding Unified State Plan.
