The Michigan Talent Investment Agency (TIA) and Michigan Office for New Americans (MONA) have collaborated on two new publications intended to support frontline workforce staff in facilitating eligible immigrants’ access to public workforce services.
Both publications focus on how workforce agencies – including local workforce boards, MichiganWorks! American Job Centers, and other stakeholders – should determine immigrant and refugee eligibility for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title I services.
Under the WIOA statute, immigrants who are authorized to work legally in the United States are eligible to access Title I services, provided they meet other standard eligibility criteria.
The new Michigan publications include:
Both publications link to the underlying federal legislation, policy guidance, and regulations that dictate WIOA eligibility requirements, as well as the accompanying state guidance from Michigan’s TIA.
Because states are not required to collect data on the nativity of WIOA participants, there is no available information on how many immigrants are currently served under Title I. However, there is data on how many participants have limited English proficiency. National data shows that only 1.5 percent of participants in Title I intensive training services are limited English proficient. In comparison, a full 10 percent of the US workforce has limited English skills.
Michigan is a national leader on immigrant workforce policy issues, with MONA having previously advanced initiatives focusing on innovative adult ESOL, occupational licensing guides, Refugee/Immigrant Navigators, and more. Most recently, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed an executive order transferring authority over much of the state’s refugee resettlement services from its Department of Health and Human Services to MONA.
Michigan was also one of just eight sites selected to participate in the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP), a national technical assistance initiative led by the nonprofit WES Global Talent Bridge. The new workforce publications were developed as part of that initiative, and MONA and TIA have also collaborated to provide in-person training to state and local workforce staff on use of the new publications. National Skills Coalition served as a technical assistance provider for the SIIP project, aiding in the development of the publications and participating in the training sessions this summer.
