CHAPTER 710
An Act to direct the Virginia Board of Workforce Development to develop strategies to identify and engage certain persons; report.
Approved March 30, 2018
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. The Virginia Board of Workforce Development (the Board) shall recommend strategies to identify and engage discouraged workers and unemployed individuals not currently served by the workforce system and measurably improve the performance of federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-128) Title 1 Youth programs so they lead to improved employability and the development of skills to enter the workforce in a high-demand field. The Board shall (i) review the Commonwealth's current workforce development programs and use income, race, geographic, and age data to identify underserved populations that will be targeted; (ii) determine which localities to target using measures such as the fiscal stress index published by the Commission on Local Government of the Department of Housing and Community Development, underemployment and unemployment data, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics; and (iii) encourage partnerships among public and private entities, including the Department of Social Services, to provide identified underserved populations and populations with low labor market participation rates with job training and other resources to obtain employment.
2. That the Virginia Board of Workforce Development shall report on its recommended strategies developed pursuant to the first enactment of this act, and metrics and other items identified therein, to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1, 2019.