WIOA Opportunity Youth

WIOA Opportunity Youth program recognizes that, when a youth or young adult is both not in school and not employed, a dangerous disconnection can develop. We offer individualized support to help 16- to 24-year-olds get back on the path to self-sufficiency, the development of job skills and career pathway planning.

Services include skills and interest assessments, setting education and employment goals, dropout recovery strategies, placement in paid and unpaid work experience, occupational skills training, and financial literacy. The emphasis on preparing participants for in-demand occupations helps to ensure that jobs will be available.

Eligibility:

• Not attending school (participant has either dropped out or graduated)
• Age 16 to 24
• Meet one or more additional conditions:
  • School dropout;
  • Within the age of compulsory school attendance, but has not attended school for at least the most recent complete school year calendar quarter;
  • Recipient of a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent who is low-income and either basic skills deficient or an English language learner;
  • Subject to the juvenile or adult justice system;
  • Homeless, runaway, in foster care or has aged out of the foster care system, an applicant receiving Social Security, in out-of-home placement;
  • Pregnant or parenting;
  • An individual with a disability; and/or
  • Low-income individual who requires additional assistance to enter or complete an educational program or to secure or hold employment.