WIOA Title I-A & I-B Policy & Procedure Manual Chapter 5) Nondiscrimination/Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action
5.5 Affirmative Outreach
Effective date: July 1, 2020
Local WDBs and service providers must take appropriate steps to ensure that they are providing equal access to their WIOA Title I programs and activities.1 These steps should involve reasonable efforts to include members of the various groups protected by these regulations (hereinafter referred to as "protected groups"): persons of different sexes, various racial and ethnic/national origin groups, various religions, individuals with limited English proficiency, individuals with disabilities, and individuals in different age groups.2
Outreach efforts may include, but are not limited to:3
promoting programs and activities in media outlets (including the Internet) that target protected groups;
sharing information about program offerings with schools and community-based organizations and service agencies that serve protected groups;
and
consulting with appropriate community organizations about ways outreach to protected groups may be improved.
To meet the minimum requirements of affirmative outreach, DWD-DET requires local WDBs to:
review Census or other reliable information on an annual basis to determine the protected groups in the area who could potentially use WIOA Title I programs and activities;
make efforts to use One-Stop partner resources and consult with One-Stop partners about ways to improve outreach and service for protected groups;
ensure staff awareness of outreach efforts through training and orientation; and
maintain documentation of all outreach efforts, including contacts with One-Stop partners, for monitoring purposes and make such documentation available for review by local, state, or federal EO Officials during monitoring and/or upon request.