Policy Chapters and Sections

General Requirements for Program Exit

Chapter: 3 Section: 3
Effective Date: 11/5/2021
Expiration Date: Continuing
Published Date: 11/5/2021 12:22:15 PM
Status: Current
Version: 2

Tags: Exit, Performance

  1. A Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title IB program exit must occur when a participant has not received any active services funded by the program or a partner program for ninety (90) consecutive calendar days, has no gap in service, and is not scheduled for future services. To that end, the following must be considered:
    1. A participant may be exited sooner than ninety (90) days if it is known that they will not be receiving any additional active services funded by WIOA Title IB or a partner program.
      1. If an exit record has been entered in the Illinois Workforce Development System (IWDS) or other approved system of record and the participant receives a new active service funded by the program or a partner program within ninety (90) days of the previous service, then the exit record must be deleted from and the new service(s) added to the participant's existing application record.
        1. A written request must be made to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Office of Employment and Training (OET) staff listed in the contacts tab to delete the exit in IWDS that includes, at a minimum, the name of the participant, the name of the participant’s career planner, the Local Workforce Innovation Area (LWIA) for which the participant’s record was entered, and the reason for deleting the exit.
    2. An individual shall not have a new WIOA Title IB participant application entered for them if they:
      1. Have received an active program service within ninety (90) days; or
      2. Have not had an exit record entered in the appropriate system of record (regardless of whether ninety (90) days have passed since the last receipt of service).
    3. An individual must have a new WIOA Title IB participant application entered for them if they:
      1. Have not received an active program service within ninety (90) days from the date of prior program exit.
  2. The date of exit is applied retroactively from the current date to the last day on which the participant received an active program service funded by WIOA Title IB.
  3. If a participant receives services from multiple programs and is co-enrolled, the most recent service end date will be the date of exit.  See the Co-Enrollment and Exit section of this policy.
  4. Participants who have a planned gap in WIOA Title IB service of greater than ninety (90) days must not be considered as exited if the gap in service is due to one of the following circumstances:
    1. A delay before the beginning of training;
    2. A health/medical condition or providing care for a family member with a health/medical condition; or
    3. A temporary move from the area that prevents the individual from participating in services, including military service.
  5. The planned gap in WIOA Title IB services may not last more than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive calendar days from the date of the most recent service. All planned gaps in service must be documented in IWDS and include the reason for the gap and the anticipated return date to complete program services.
  6. Once a participant has no active WIOA Title IB services for ninety (90) consecutive calendar days, has no gap in service as outlined under 4 and 5 above, and is not scheduled for future WIOA Title IB services, then the exit record must be entered in the system of record.
    1. Prior to entering an exit record, the following information must be reviewed for accuracy, and any deficiencies identified must be corrected:
      1. Every service provided to the participant has been recorded and close any open services by adding the end date and completion status;
      2. All supporting documentation has been obtained and is physically located in the file and/or case notes are entered;
      3. Each credential (Diploma/Degree/Certification) achieved has been added to the credential record and appropriate credentials selected in the exit record;
      4. All types of Measurable Skill Gains (MSGs) achieved are recorded;
      5. The exit record includes one School Status at Exit and one Exit Reason; and
        1. If the exit reason is an exclusion from the performance indicators as outlined in the Exclusions from Performance section of this policy, supporting documentation/validation is included in the file.
      6. Note a separate exit reason is required for each co-enrolled program.
    2. Once all reviews are completed and documentation recorded as outlined above, the exit record must be recorded in the appropriate case management system.
  7. Credentials and/or Employment (Job Records) must be recorded in the appropriate system of record within ten (10) days of learning of a participant’s credential attainment or employment status.
    1. Participants can receive credit for a credential earned up to one (1) year from exit. 
    2. Career planners must ensure they record any credentials attained during the follow-up period.
    3. A participant’s credentials and/or employment (job record(s)) may be recorded during participation on the respective screens, which are separate from the Exit record (Exit Control Panel screen in IWDS). 
    4. Follow-up services must occur as outlined in the Follow-Up Services section of the policy manual.
  8. When selecting exit reasons Attained Credential/Diploma Certificate or Entered Unsubsidized Employment, at least one Credential and/or Employment record as applicable is required to be added on the exit record in the appropriate case management system before the exit can be submitted.
    1. The Career Planner must manually add a Credential(s) to the appropriate section(s) on the Exit record to count towards reporting for the Credential Attainment Rate measure. 
    2. In cases where the employment is supplemental, the record must also be manually added to the exit record.
    3. When the exit reason Entered Unsubsidized Employment is selected, the employment start date of the job record must align with the same quarter as the date of exit.
  9. The exit record must be entered no more than one hundred twenty (120) days from the last date of active program service.
    1. A report Days Since Last Active Service is available in IWDS for each LWIA to monitor participants' last service date.
    2. Additionally, the Illinois Performance Accountability and Transparency System (IPATS) dashboards serve as a reporting and management dashboard for tracking program activity and outcomes.
    3. LWIA staff must ensure program exits occur timely by monitoring participant progress through IPATS and utilizing the reports available in IWDS to identify participants without an active program service record in IWDS for more than ninety (90) days.
    4. IWDS locks the ability for local career planners to enter exit records after this timeframe.
      1. Once the system has locked the ability for the local career planner to exit the participant, a request must be submitted to the OET staff listed in the Contacts tab to exit the participant from the system.
  10. OET regularly reviews the reports and systems and will notify LWIA staff when they have identified instances where LWIAs fail to exit participants within the required timeframe.