In 1982, the year after KRA was founded, the U.S. Department of Labor passed the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), repealed after 16 years by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998. By coincidence, 16 years later, WIA was replaced by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), signed into law on July 22, 2014.
Operating under JTPA/WIA for 30+ years, KRA embraced the revitalization that WIOA brought to the nation’s workforce development system, and early on adapted our Standard and Center Operating Procedures, policies, and practices to comply with WIOA requirements.
As with WIA, American Job Centers–One Stop Career Centers in some regions–operate as the KRA Career Services access-point for three primary categories of jobseekers–inclusive of individuals with co-existing special needs–unemployed/under-employed Adult Workers; Dislocated Workers, who lost their jobs through no fault of their own; and In-School and displaced Out-of-School Youth.
WIOA clearly indicates that the private sector should take the lead in local workforce development efforts, even mandating that 51% of Workforce Boards be business representatives. Following that lead, KRA Business Services Representatives continue to engage employers in maximizing job-driven educational and occupational-skills training that is linked directly to in-demand industry positions.
Dr. Boone’s 20+ years’ experience in the industry is extensive and her expertise in private-, public-, and non-profit sector workforce-services organizations is unparalleled, particularly in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan area.
