The Workforce Investment Act: How policy conflict and ambiguity affect implementation.

2005

Allison Hall
[email protected]
480-677-9677

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) authorizes a new workforce investment system that is rooted in the “One-Stop” concept, enabling customers to access a wide array of training, education, and employment services from multiple agencies at a single location. Because of the organizational change required by the legislation, including the important collaborations it has sought to create, it is critical to assess its implementation in terms of the relationships that have developed between agencies mandated to work together. These relationships will be considered with particular regard to their potential to expand employment for individuals with disabilities served by the One-Stop system. Using Matland’s analytic framework for policy implementation that considers policy conflict and ambiguity, this paper addresses WIA implementation in three states. Case study research in Maine, Minnesota, and Kentucky provides the opportunity to study how certain characteristics of the legislation have affected WIA implementation and the collaboration of its partners. Implications from the research can help to inform the future re-authorization of the legislation.

Peer-reviewed publications in scholarly journals Published/In Press

Electronic (disc, CD, 508 compliant web posting)

N/A