WIOA establishes a priority requirement with respect to funds allocated to a local area for adult individualized career services and employment and training activities; there is no priority applied for receipt of basic career services. Funds must give priority to recipients of public assistance, other low-income individuals, individuals who are basic skills deficient, and individuals with barriers to employment. Priority must be implemented regardless of the amount of funds available to provide services in the local area.

Veterans and Adult Priority of Services

Veterans and eligible spouses continue to receive priority of service for all DOL-funded job training programs, which include WIOA Title I programs. A veteran must meet each program’s eligibility criteria to receive services under the respective employment and training program.

Application of Priority

In regards to WIOA Adult funds, priority must be provided in the following order:

1. To veterans and eligible spouses who are also included in the groups given statutory priority for WIOA Adult formula funding. This means that veterans and eligible spouses who are also recipients of public assistance, other low-income individuals, or individuals who are basic skills deficient would receive first priority for services with WIOA Title I Adult formula funds for individualized career services and training services.

2. To non-covered persons (that is, individuals who are not veterans or eligible spouses) who are included in the groups given priority for WIOA Title I Adult formula funds.

3. To veterans and eligible spouses who are not included in WIOA’s priority groups.

4. To priority populations established by the Governor and/or Local Workforce Development Board (Local WDB).

5. To non-covered persons outside the groups given priority under WIOA.

Priority of Service for Adult Program Funds

1. Recipients of public assistance

   • Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)  

   • General Assistance (GA)  

   • Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA)  

   • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)  

   • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

   • Other income based public assistance

2. Low-Income Individuals

   • Receives, or in the past 6 months has received, or is a member of a family that is receiving or in the past 6 months has received, assistance through the SNAP, TANF, SSI under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, or state or local income-based public assistance program; or

   • Receives an income or is a member of a family receiving an income that in relation to family size, is not in excess of the current U.S. DOL 70 percent Lower Living Standard Income Level Guidelines and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines, or

   • Is a homeless individual, or

   • Is an individual with a disability whose own income meets the income requirements above, but who is a member of a family whose income does not meet this requirement.

3. Individuals Who Are Basic-Skills Deficient must meet at least one of the following:

   • Lacks a high school diploma or equivalency and is not enrolled in secondary education; or

   • Is enrolled in Title II adult education (including enrolled for English Language Acquisition); or

   • Has poor English-language skills and would be appropriate for ESL, even if the individual isn’t enrolled at the time of WIOA participation; or

   • The career planner makes observations of deficient functioning, and, as justification, records those observations in the data management system; or

   • Scores below 9.0 grade level (8.9 or below) on the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE); Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) or other allowable assessments as per National Reporting System (NRS) developed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Division of Adult Education and Literacy; or

   • Individual does not earn the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) (e.g., one or more of the scores are below a Level 3 on the Workplace Documents, Applied Math, or Graphic Literacy assessments). 

4. Individuals with Barriers to Employment. Individuals with barriers to employment may include:  

   • Displaced homemakers

   • Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians

   • Individuals with disabilities, including youth who are individuals with disabilities

   • Older individuals (age 55 and older)

   • Ex-offenders

   • Youth who are in or have aged out of the foster care system

   • Individuals who are:

     • English language learners  

     • Individuals who have low levels of literacy (an individual is unable to compute or solve programs, or read, write, or speak English at a level necessary to function on the job, or in the individual’s family, or in society); and  

   • Individuals facing substantial cultural barriers

   • Eligible migrant and seasonal farmworkers

   • Individuals within two years of exhausting lifetime TANF eligibility

   • Single parents (including single pregnant women)

   • Long-term unemployed individuals (unemployed for 27 or more consecutive weeks)

   • Underemployed Individuals. Underemployed individuals may include:

     • Individuals employed less than full-time who are seeking full-time employment

     • Individuals who are employed in a position that is inadequate with respect to their skills and training

     • Individuals who are employed who meet the definition of a low-income individual

     • Individuals who are employed, but whose current job’s earnings are not sufficient compared to their previous job’s earnings from their previous employment, per state and/or local policy

The above list is used only for applying priority for the individual to receive individualized career services and training services. Certain individualized career services or training services may require pre- and post-test scores to measure skills gain for the specific activity; in this case the determination is made by administering an acceptable skills assessment or by using scores from any partner’s previous assessment.

Local WDBs must develop, and include in their local plan, policies and procedures for determining priority of service for adults.