California has finished negotiating local WIOA performance goals for Program Years 2026 and 2027. WSIN26-21 puts the benchmarks for all 45 Local Workforce Development Areas on the record. For boards, the important shift is from debating targets to managing toward them, without confusing a negotiated target with a final performance score.
Source checked October 28, 2026 · ISSUED OCTOBER 28 · FINAL LOCAL NEGOTIATED GOALS · Official EDD notice ↗ · 18-page attachment ↗ · AI-assisted
WDB decision strip
| Status | Action | Primary owner | Timing | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FINAL LOCAL GOALS | LOAD TARGETS + MONITOR DELIVERY | WDB Director · Program + Performance / MIS | PY 2026 and PY 2027 | Adult · Dislocated Worker · Youth |
The bottom line. The negotiations are over; the performance work is not. Each Local Area now has published benchmarks for Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth services. This notice does not create new measures or announce local performance findings. Use the published goals as a management baseline, then assess results against the applicable statistically adjusted levels when those become available.
What WSIN26-21 establishes
| Question | What the source says |
|---|---|
| What was completed? | EDD negotiated local performance goals with each Local Workforce Development Board in September 2026. |
| Which programs? | WIOA Title IB Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth. The attachment does not provide a local Wagner-Peyser goal table. |
| What measures? | Employment in the second and fourth quarters after exit, median earnings, credential attainment, and measurable skill gains. |
| How long do these goals cover? | Program Years 2026 and 2027. The attachment publishes one five-indicator table per local area under this combined two-year heading. |
| Can the second year be reopened? | No. The notice states that once negotiations are completed, goals are final and second-year goals cannot be renegotiated. |
| Is another submission due under this notice? | No new local reporting or response deadline is stated. EDD describes negotiations as already completed. |
The underlying framework remains WIOA Section 116(c) and California directive WSD19-11. WSIN26-21 announces the completed local negotiations and shares the resulting numbers; it is not a new performance formula.
The performance number that changes meaning over time
| Term | What it means | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Negotiated goal | The agreed benchmark published before results are known. | Use it now for planning and local tracking. |
| Adjusted level | A benchmark produced when the statistical adjustment model accounts for actual economic conditions and participant characteristics at year-end. | Use the appropriate adjusted level for formal assessment when available. |
| Actual result | The outcome recorded for participants in the relevant measure. | Check the data and service pattern behind the result. |
| Performance comparison | The relationship between actual results and the applicable adjusted benchmark. | Do not read the negotiated percentage itself as a performance score. |
This is an important distinction: the notice says the second-year negotiated goal cannot be renegotiated. That does not eliminate the separate statistical adjustment process described in 20 CFR § 677.210. A fixed negotiated goal and a later adjusted performance benchmark are not contradictory.
One example: Santa Cruz County
EDD’s attachment gives Santa Cruz County the following combined-cycle local goals. The values are an illustration of how to read an area’s table, not a statewide benchmark or a ranking.
| Indicator | Adult | Dislocated Worker | Youth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment, second quarter after exit | 79.0% | 73.0% | 78.0% |
| Employment, fourth quarter after exit | 80.0% | 73.5% | 83.0% |
| Median earnings, second quarter after exit | $10,500 | $11,750 | $4,800 |
| Credential attainment | 65.0% | 65.0% | 65.0% |
| Measurable skill gains | 60.0% | 62.0% | 78.0% |
You can now search all 45 California local areas in Workforce Wonkery’s goal lookup instead of opening the 18-page Word attachment. The searchable reference preserves all 675 values from the source table and links back to EDD.
What local boards should do next
- Put the correct goals in the right dashboards. Record the Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth targets by indicator for the new cycle. Label them as negotiated, not adjusted or actual.
- Test the measurement pipeline before the annual score arrives. Check participant exits, quarterly wage follow-up, credential evidence, and measurable skill gain coding with MIS and service partners.
- Use a leading-indicator review. Track training starts, skill gains, credential completions, and quality job connections during service delivery, while recognizing that many employment outcomes will appear only after exit.
- Ask where the variation comes from. Do not rank local boards by raw negotiated targets. Local labor markets, client populations, and negotiation histories differ.
- Document the decisions, not only the numbers. A board performance review should show the result, the data check, the service explanation, and the improvement action, if any.
Required, local choice, and watch out
| Label | WDB interpretation |
|---|---|
| Required | Local performance goals are negotiated under WIOA and state policy. WSIN26-21 publishes the completed agreements and confirms that second-year goals cannot be renegotiated. |
| Local choice | Boards can determine how to display the goals, organize performance reviews, and assign follow-up to staff and contractors, consistent with applicable agreements. |
| Good practice | Keep three separate columns in performance reports: negotiated benchmark, adjusted benchmark when available, and actual result. |
| Watch out | The figures are not PY 2026 or PY 2027 results, are not a league table, and do not by themselves establish local sanctions or corrective-action determinations. |
How this fits the existing performance guidance
- WSIN26-04: State Negotiated Performance Goals — PY 26–27 announced California’s state-level agreement with DOL. WSIN26-21 completes the separate local-negotiation step.
- WSIN26-18: WIOA Performance Accountability for PY 2025 concerns assessment of the prior program year. Do not confuse it with these new negotiated goals.
- WSD19-11: State Level Performance Goals and Local Area Negotiations explains the negotiation process and the statistical adjustment framework.
- 20 CFR § 677.210 addresses local negotiated and adjusted performance levels in federal regulation.
Source + Trust Record
| Record | Authority or limitation |
|---|---|
| Primary authority | EDD WSIN26-21: Local Area Negotiated Performance Goals — PY 26 and PY 27, issued October 28, 2026. |
| Published numeric source | EDD Attachment 1: PY 26 and 27 Local Area Negotiated Goals (DOCX). The attachment contains 45 area tables and 675 values. |
| Lookup | Searchable reference to all 45 areas and 675 published values. This is a transcription of EDD’s attachment, not a new EDD dataset. |
| Status | Completed local negotiations. The notice does not report actual results or year-end statistically adjusted levels. |
| Source checked | October 28, 2026. Issued date reflects EDD’s notice, not the date this article was drafted. |
| Evidence boundary | The notice and attachment establish the published targets and two-year finality. Suggestions for dashboards, quality checks, and management routines are Workforce Wonkery analysis. |
Official sources control. Workforce Wonkery is AI-assisted and is not a substitute for EDD, federal guidance, legal advice, or compliance determinations.