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  2. Employment & Training
  3. Partners
  4. WIOA Title I-A & I-B
  5. Policy & Procedure Manual
  6. Basic Skills Deficient (Adult Program) Guidance

WIOA Title I-A & I-B Policy & Procedure Manual



Basic Skills Deficient (Adult Program and Dislocated Worker Program) Guidance

Effective date: September 1, 2020

"Basic Skills Deficient" for individuals in the Adult Program and Dislocated Worker Program means they are unable to compute or solve problems, or read, write, or speak English at the level needed to function on the job, in the individual's family, or in society.1

DWD-DET has developed a screening tool (DETW-18156-E) to help identify if an individual is basic skills deficient. This screening tool is not to be used as an assessment tool to help determine a participant's educational needs. If the screening tool identifies an individual as basic skills deficient, that individual should be further assessed to determine their educational needs.

All participants enrolling in the Adult Program and/or Dislocated Worker Program must complete the screening tool to determine whether they are basic skills deficient. A copy of the completed screening tool must be retained in the participant's case file, and each participant's basic skills deficiency status must be reported in ASSET to satisfy federal reporting requirements.2 Anyone unable to complete the screening tool without assistance must automatically be assessed as basic skills deficient.

Adult Program participants who are assessed to be basic skills deficient must receive priority of service, whether or not they are also low income or public assistance recipients.

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