The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 enacted a comprehensive youth employment program for serving eligible youth, ages 14-24, who face barriers to education, training and employment. The WIOA Youth Program focuses primarily on out-of-school youth, requiring local areas to expend a minimum of 75% of WIOA youth funds on them. The program includes 14 program elements that are required to be made available to youth participants and prioritizes that 20% of the funds are expended on the work experience program element.
![Group of young adults](https://regionviwv.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/youth.jpg)