More and more states are releasing drafts of their Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act plans for public comment. But when it comes to implementing a law that many Americans haven’t heard about, does the public even know what it’s looking for?

Probably not yet.

That’s why the Center for Law and Social Policy has released a list of questions that members of the public can ask when reviewing draft WIOA plans. The list, which includes 38 questions in 12 categories, is an important primer for anyone who cares about the plight of low-income Americans and wants to have impact on how millions of federal dollars will be spent by their state. It’s also exceptionally worthwhile reading for those who are drafting or implementing WIOA plans and want to make sure they’re answering vital questions before those questions are even asked.

Here are three key questions that CLASP has posed, and some strategies for finding answers.

1. 1. Does the plan include education and training interventions and strategies that are culturally responsive? Built into every state plan should be the acknowledgement that not everyone will respond to workforce training or educational interventions in the same way, and that cultural differences will play a large role in that response. Culturally responsive plans acknowledge that access and equity are two very different things, and seek to bridge the divide that exists between providing the possibility of success for everyone and offering a true opportunity to realize it for anyone, even in the face of vastly different life experiences and circumstances.
2. 2. Does the plan identify work-based learning, including transitional jobs, as a strategy? For individuals who have been chronically unemployed, even the best of educational and job training programs won’t be enough. For those most in need of stabilized employment, work history is vital — but that can be a challenge to establish. This is what makes transitional jobs so important. Under the provisions of WIOA, local areas can spend up to 10 percent of their adult and dislocated worker funds to offer time-limited subsidized work experiences that help workers build up the soft skills of dependability, loyalty and fortitude that are crucial to keeping a job, and which are a key indicator to business owners that a person is a “safe bet” for employment.
3. 3. Does the plan set an expectation for the share of adult participants who are low income? This might seem commonsensical, but here it is vital for communities to take a lesson from what sometimes happens when innovative charter schools intended to help low-income students start seeing success. In states and districts where parents and students have the power to send their students to any school with an open seat, students from higher economic brackets also begin flooding in to take advantage of resources and teaching methods that were intended to help give a hand-up to students who had a harder road to begin with. This can happen in job training situations, as well. When a particular program begins to show results, it won’t just be the people in the greatest need This might seem commonsensical, but here it is vital for communities to take a lesson from what sometimes happens when innovative charter schools intended to help low-income students start seeing success. In states and districts where parents and students have the power to send their students to any school with an open seat, students from higher economic brackets also begin flooding in to take advantage of resources and teaching methods that were intended to help give a hand-up to students who had a harder road to begin with. This can happen in job training situations, as well. When a particular program begins to show results, it won’t just be the people in the greatest need who take advantage. In a world with unlimited resources, this wouldn’t be a problem, but since we don’t live in such a world, an ounce of prevention here is warranted — and is a simple matter of setting adjustable parameters to ensure those most in need will always be able to find a seat.

Those are just three of CLASP’s 38 questions. The rest are also absolutely worth a look. More importantly, other advocacy organizations should be offering their own lists of questions to ensure that the ultimate verbiage of each state’s plan is reflective and responsive to the diverse needs in our communities.