84A.5  Department of workforce development — primary responsibilities.
  The department of workforce development, in consultation with the workforce development board and the local workforce development boards, has the primary responsibilities set out in this section.
  1.  The department of workforce development shall develop and implement a workforce development system which increases the skills of the Iowa workforce, fosters economic growth and the creation of new high skill and high wage jobs through job placement and training services, increases the competitiveness of Iowa businesses by promoting high performance workplaces, and encourages investment in workers.
  a.  The workforce development system shall strive to provide high quality services to its customers including workers, families, and businesses. The department of workforce development shall maintain a common intake, assessment, and customer tracking system and to the extent practical provide one-stop services to customers at workforce development centers and other service access points. The department of workforce development shall administer a statewide standard skills assessment to assess the employability skills of adult workers statewide and shall instruct appropriate department staff in the administration of the assessment. The assessment shall be included in the one-stop services provided to customers at workforce development centers and other service access points throughout the state.
  b.  The system shall include an accountability system to measure program performance, identify accomplishments, and evaluate programs to ensure goals and standards are met. The accountability system shall use information obtained from the customer tracking system, the economic development authority, the department of education, and training providers to evaluate the effectiveness of programs. The economic development authority, the department of education, and training providers shall report information concerning the use of any state or federal training or retraining funds to the department of workforce development in a form as required by the department of workforce development. The accountability system shall evaluate all of the following:
  (1)  The impact of services on wages earned by individuals.
  (2)  The effectiveness of training services providers in raising the skills of the Iowa workforce.
  (3)  The impact of placement and training services on Iowa’s families, communities, and economy.
  2.  The department of workforce development shall make information from the customer tracking and accountability system available to the economic development authority, the department of education, and other appropriate public agencies for the purpose of assisting with the evaluation of programs administered by those departments and agencies and for planning and researching public policies relating to education and economic development.
  3.  The department of workforce development is responsible for administration of unemployment compensation benefits and collection of employer contributions under chapter 96, providing for the delivery of free public employment services established pursuant to chapter 96, other job placement and training programs established pursuant to section 84A.6, employment agencies under chapter 84I, and the delivery of services located throughout the state.
  4.  The director of the department of workforce development shall form a coordinating committee composed of the director of the department of workforce development and other administrators. The committee shall monitor federal compliance issues relating to coordination of functions within the department.
  5.  The department of workforce development shall administer the following programs:
  a.  The Iowa conservation corps established under section 84A.7.
  b.  The workforce investment program established under section 84A.8.
  c.  The statewide mentoring program established under section 84A.9.
  d.  The Iowa employer innovation program established under section 84A.13.
  e.  The workforce development centers established under chapter 84B.
  f.  The statewide work-based learning intermediary network program under section 84A.16.
  g.  The new jobs training program under chapter 260E, in consultation with the community colleges.
  h.  The Iowa jobs training act under chapter 260F.
  i.  The workforce development fund program under chapter 84G.
  j.  The accelerated career education program under chapter 260G, in coordination with the community colleges.
  k.  The older American community service employment program under section 84A.17.
  l.  The apprenticeship training program under chapter 84E.
  m.  The future ready Iowa registered apprenticeship development program under section 84F.1.
  n.  The future ready Iowa expanded registered apprenticeship opportunities program under section 84F.2.
  o.  Adult education and literacy programs under section 84A.19.
  6.  The department of workforce development shall work with the economic development authority to incorporate workforce development as a component of community-based economic development.
  7.  The department of workforce development, in consultation with the applicable local workforce development board, shall select service providers, subject to approval by the workforce development board for each service delivery area. A service provider in each service delivery area shall be identified to coordinate the services throughout the service delivery area. The department of workforce development shall select service providers that, to the extent possible, meet or have the ability to meet the following criteria:
  a.  The capacity to deliver services uniformly throughout the service delivery area.
  b.  The experience to provide workforce development services.
  c.  The capacity to cooperate with other public and private agencies and entities in the delivery of education, workforce training, retraining, and workforce development services throughout the service delivery area.
  d.  The demonstrated capacity to understand and comply with all applicable state and federal laws, rules, ordinances, regulations, and orders, including fiscal requirements.
  8.  The department of workforce development shall provide access to information and documents necessary for employers and payors of income, as defined in sections 252D.16 and 252G.1, to comply with child support reporting and payment requirements. Access to the information and documents shall be provided at the central location of the department of workforce development and at each workforce development center.
  9.  The director of the department of workforce development may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to charge and collect fees for enhanced or value-added services provided by the department of workforce development which are not required by law to be provided by the department and are not generally available from the department of workforce development. Fees shall not be charged to provide a free public labor exchange. Fees established by the director of the department of workforce development shall be based upon the costs of administering the service, with due regard to the anticipated time spent, and travel costs incurred, by personnel performing the service. The collection of fees authorized by this subsection shall be treated as repayment receipts as defined in section 8.2.
  10.  The department of education, in collaboration with the department of workforce development, is responsible for the development and oversight of industry and sector partnerships in the state.
  11.  The department of workforce development is responsible for the administration of the state list of eligible providers and programs under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Pub. L. No. 113-128, §122.
  12.  The department of workforce development is responsible for the review of local workforce development plans under section 84A.4. The department may approve a local workforce development plan, conditionally approve a local workforce development plan with requests for additional information and recommended changes, or reject a local workforce development plan and request the submission of a new local workforce development plan. The department may create templates, policies, and procedures regarding the submission, format, and contents of local workforce development plans.
  13.  The department of workforce development shall provide oversight, guidance, and technical assistance to local workforce development areas, including but not limited to local workforce development boards, local fiscal agents, youth providers, and eligible providers of career services.
86 Acts, ch 1245, §902
C87, §84A.2
93 Acts, ch 180, §53; 96 Acts, ch 1186, §12
C97, §84A.5
98 Acts, ch 1061, §2, 11; 98 Acts, ch 1170, §19; 99 Acts, ch 21, §3; 99 Acts, ch 68, §1; 99 Acts, ch 130, §7; 2001 Acts, ch 61, §13; 2002 Acts, ch 1050, §11; 2007 Acts, ch 211, §33; 2008 Acts, ch 1191, §43; 2011 Acts, ch 118, §85, 89; 2016 Acts, ch 1118, §10, 11, 21; 2018 Acts, ch 1026, §29; 2018 Acts, ch 1067, §8, 15; 2018 Acts, ch 1143, §7, 9; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §1441, 1739, 2192, 2193
Referred to in §84G.5, 260G.5
Subsection 3 amended
Subsections 4 and 5 stricken
Subsection 6 amended and renumbered as 4
Subsections 7 – 15 renumbered as 5 – 13
Subsection 5, NEW paragraphs f – o