The Midlands Workforce Development Board  is the Workforce Investment Act Administrative (WIA) unit for Richland, Lexington and Fairfield Counties, South Carolina. Under the Act the MWDB is committed to building an integrated workforce development system for the area that effectively pools the resources of 14 diverse partner agencies and delivers optimal quality customer focused service. The Board will seek ways to build a comprehensive and seamless workforce development service delivery system. Partner agencies include local area school districts, county social service providers, the state vocational rehabilitative agency, the state Employment Security Commission, local community action council, private non-profits. The services to be provided to both youth age’s 14 to 21 and adults ages 21 and over include job readiness and motivation, job search assistance, job placement and job retention services.

Overview of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA):

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) was signed by President Clinton on August 7, 1998 to reform the nation’s job training system. WIA establishes the One-Stop Career Center concept, operating under state and local Workforce Investment Boards.
Key components of WIA include:

• Streamlining services through the One-Stop delivery system;
• Empowering individuals through the use of Individual Training Accounts (ITAs) for eligible participants who have exhausted other sources of aid, and providing greater levels of information, guidance and support services from a single location;
• Universal access to core employment-related services such as job vacancies, career options, financial aid for education, employment trends, how to conduct a job search, write a resume, interview for a job, etc.;
• Increased accountability through the establishment of core indicators of performance that local and state managers of the workforce system must meet in order to retain funding levels;
• Strong role for local workforce investment boards: representatives of designated service agencies and the private sector establish business-led boards that develop strategic planning, establish local policy and provide oversight of the local system;
• State and local flexibility to create a system that responds to local and regional labor market needs with significant authority reserved for the Governor;
• Improved youth programs linked more closely to local labor market needs and community youth programs and services with emphasis on academic and occupational learning.

Youth Council

The Youth Council provides a unique opportunity for the local community to create, through a common vision, a system of activities and services that will enable youth to be successful in education and the workplace, and to become leaders in their community. The Youth Council identifies both duplication and gaps in the services and activities offered to area youth, works to address the needs of the youth population as a whole, and emphasizes the importance of continuity of service in appropriately meeting the complex needs of both in-school and out-of-school youth.

The Youth Council is actively engaged in planning and managing WIA youth funds received in their Local Area, as well as:

• Building community awareness and demonstrating leadership by addressing key development, education and employment issues affecting youth;
• Facilitating the coordination of youth activities in the community; and
• Influencing and leveraging other community youth funds and services.

Board Members

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