To support the transition to Youth Committees, the Division of Youth Services has hosted two webinars and created a guide designed to aid with transforming the potential of Youth Committees into measurable results: 

• Coming Together at the Table-The Power of Youth Committees to Convene, Coordinate and Collectively (2017)
• Firing Up Youth Standing Committees (2015)
• Recipes for Success: A Youth Committee Guide under WIOA  (2017)

By encouraging Local Workforce Development Boards (Local WDBs) to create Standing Youth Committees (Youth Committees), and allowing Local WDBs to designate eligible and effective existing Youth Councils as Youth Committees,

WIOA aims to provide local communities with the framework for developing comprehensive and effective strategies that ensure such successful transitions. By eliminating the requirement that a local area designate a Youth Council to implement the title I youth program, WIOA provides flexibility to address the difficulty that some local areas faced under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the predecessor statute to WIOA, in maintaining the required Youth Council partnerships. However, the U.S. Department of Labor (US DOL) strongly encourages Local WDBs to establish Youth Committees to provide information and to assist with planning, operational, and other issues relating to the provision of services to youth (see 20 CFR 681.100 and WIOA sec. 107(b)(4)(A)(ii)). The partnerships represented on the Youth Committee bring together a diverse set of stakeholders and resources, partners who can address the needs of young people more effectively than any one partner can do alone.

Youth Committee members have the expertise to advise on issues that support the Local WDB’s ability to attain the goals of State, local, and regional plans and to meet the objective of providing customer-focused services to individuals and businesses. WIOA promotes rather than requires the establishment of standing committees, but US DOL notes that examples of areas where standing committees may be particularly beneficial include serving targeted groups of youth. The partnerships represented on the Youth Committee bring together a diverse set of stakeholders and resources, partners who can address the needs of young people more effectively than any one partner can do alone while also expanding the capacity of the Local WDB in meeting required functions.

WIOA provides Local WDBs flexibility to design the Youth Committee membership to meet the local area’s needs. While the main function of a Youth Committee is to inform and assist the Local WDB in developing and overseeing a comprehensive youth program, the details of its responsibilities are assigned by the Local WDB. This guide is designed to provide practical information for community leaders, Local WDBs, Youth Committees, staff, and others that are committed to effective youth and workforce development.