Using Data to Improve Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Services for Immigrants and Refugees

Timed to coincide with the release of a series of fact sheets that provide in-depth data profiles of immigrant and refugee adult learners and workers, this webinar explores the relationship of key Census data findings to current state and local efforts to devise plans for implementation of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). 

In recent decades roughly 1 million foreign-born individuals have settled in the United States per year, many with needs for adult education and workforce training services. WIOA’s implementation could play a critical role in supporting the upward mobility of these immigrants and refugees in the workforce and their successful integration into the civic life of the cities and states where they have settled. However, the law’s narrow accountability measures are expected by many to make it more difficult for local providers to serve immigrants and refugees seeking to learn English or improve their basic skills, especially those who are not on track to earn postsecondary credentials or who do not have this as a goal.

The Immigrants and WIOA fact sheets released by MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy provide a detailed analysis of characteristics of immigrant and native-born residents of the United States and top immigrant-receiving states that are relevant to understanding needs for adult education and workforce training services. Connecting these data to WIOA planning efforts, this webinar explores the equity and system-design challenges illuminated by Census data and the ways in which these data might be applied as states begin to release their draft implementation plans.