Eligible Training Provider Background 
(Full Text of the Briefing Book, click here: Briefing Book, ITA/Eligible Provider Demonstration
U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration)

The WIA principles encourage more choice for customers and, overall, a more market-oriented training system. Bringing training vendorsthe suppliers of training servicesinto the system so that customers can have access to them is an essential element of making these principles real. Eligible training providers are training vendors who have applied to a workforce board to receive training funds under WIA and have been approved by the board and the state to do so. These providers face a variety of issues as they move into the WIA system, issues that the workforce boards and One-Stops must understand and take into account in operating the system. These issues include, among others, the approval process, a need for information about the WIA training market, a new customer focus, requirements to provide program and performance information, and how to respond to the new market conditions.

Training Provider Approval

For a training vendor to become an eligible training provider under WIA, they must complete a process by which a local workforce board gives approval to them to provide specific programs and in which the state agency verifies performance information. This involves several steps and all levels of the system within a state.

The state develops application requirements, including performance levels, that programs not eligible under the Higher Education Act nor a registered apprenticeship program must meet in order to become initially eligible. The state must set minimum levels of performance for all providers to remain subsequently eligible and the locals can adjust these upward. It is also the responsibility of the designated state agency to create a list of eligible training providers compiled from the submissions of the local boards. Those providers who have been approved by the local boards and have had their information verified by the state are added to the list. The state then has the responsibility to disseminate widely the list of providers. WIA is silent on the mechanism to be used for dissemination, but many states are developing or examining the use of web-based systems that can be easily accessed by One-Stops and individual participants. WIA also requires that consumer reports on performance and cost be provided, but is silent on how this will be accomplished.

Local Board responsibilities include:

• developing local application forms for HEA-eligible and NAA-registered programs,
• accepting and reviewing all applications for initial eligibility for programs offered by training providers,
• approving or disapproving all initial applications,
• compiling a local list of eligible training providers,
• receiving performance and cost information (and any other required information) on programs and providers and determining subsequent eligibility,
• submitting the list and relevant information to the state agency,
• ensuring the dissemination and appropriate use of the state list through the local One-Stop system, and
• consulting with the state Board in cases where the termination of an eligible provider is contemplated because inaccurate information has been provided or because of violations of the Act.