U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration Washington, D. C. 20210 |
CLASSIFICATION
Reemployment Services |
| CORRESPONDENCE
SYMBOL
OWS | |
| ISSUE
DATE
July 31, 2001 | |
| RESCISSIONS
None | EXPIRATION
DATE
Continuing |
DIRECTIVE |
: |
TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 01-01 |
TO |
: |
ALL STATE WORKFORCE LIAISONS |
FROM |
: |
Wendy L. McConnell for |
SUBJECT |
: |
Program Year (PY) 200l Reemployment Services Allotments Planning Guidance |
Purpose. To provide State Agencies responsible for Wagner-Peyser (State Agencies) as the provider of labor exchange service within One-Stop Centers, with guidance for using Reemployment Allotments for PY 2001 announced in Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 12-00: Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Allotments for Program Year (PY) 2001; Wagner-Peyser Act Preliminary Planning Estimates for PY 2001; and Reemployment Services Allotments for PY 2001
References.
Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) 12-00: Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Allotments for Program Year (PY) 2001; Wagner-Peyser Act Preliminary Planning Estimates for PY 2001; and Reemployment Services Allotments for PY 2001
TEGL No. 17-00: Automation of SESA Standard Form 269 Financial Reporting. April 5, 2001.
Wagner-Peyser Act as amended, Section 3 (c) (3) (29 U.S.C. 49B) and Section 7 (e) (29 U.S.C. 49f).
Assisting Unemployment Insurance Claimants: The Long-Term Impacts of the Job Search Assistance Demonstration. U.S. Department of Labor. 2000.
Evaluation of Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services: Final Report. Research and Evaluation Report Series 99D. U.S. Department of Labor. 2000.
Evaluation of the Impact of Telephone Initial Claims Filing. Information Technology Support Center and Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. March 2000.
USES Employment Service Program Letter No. 1-98: Reemployment Services for Unemployment Insurance (UI) Claimants Through State Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) Systems. 1999.
Evaluation of the Maryland Unemployment Insurance Work Search Demonstration. U.S. Department Of Labor. 1998.
Evaluation of Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services Systems: Report to Congress, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Policy and Research, 1997.
The New Jersey Unemployment Insurance Reemployment Demonstration Project: Six-year Follow-up and Summary Report. Corson, Walter and Haimson, Josua. Unemployment Insurance Occasional Paper 96-2, 1996.
Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) Systems. National WPRS Colloquium, June 1996: Selected Papers and Materials. U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. 1996.
Social Security Act as amended. Section 303 (a) and (j).
Background. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 transformed the public labor exchange from a nationwide system of separate local employment offices into the foundation of the nation's One-Stop Centers. Through One-Stop Centers, job seekers need only make one stop to receive the services they need to enter or reenter the labor market. The reemployment allotments provided in the PY 2001 funding for Wagner-Peyser are intended to enhance and target the labor exchange services to unemployment insurance (UI) claimants provided within the framework of the One-Stop Centers. We expect that State Agencies will use these funds to expand integrated services that will increase the quality and quantity of services to UI claimants in the States. As part of the One-Stop Centers, State Agencies will provide UI claimants with early intervention and immediate referrals to suitable job openings, including employment services customized to their job finding needs, such as job search workshops, job development, and screening for referrals to jobs, training or other support services. This will speed UI claimants' reentry into employment.
To ensure that the guidance developed for distributing and using these funds is appropriate, reasonable, and designed to improve program effectiveness, a technical workgroup was formed with Federal (Regional and National Office) and State Agency participants. The guidance in this letter reflects the work of that group.
Funding for Reemployment Services. To enhance services to UI claimants, fiscal year 2001 funding for the Wagner-Peyser Act was expanded by the addition of $35 million for reemployment services. These are the first new funds for Wagner-Peyser Act activities since FY 1995 and they represent a strong commitment to serving UI claimants under the Wagner-Peyser Act funding umbrella. These funds are designated as PY 2001 funds and are intended to supplement Wagner-Peyser Act allotments and thereby increase the services to UI claimants over and above regular services to UI claimants.
State Distribution Formula. Formula allotments for the reemployment services were determined on the basis of each State's share of UI first payments with every State Agency receiving a minimum of $215,000. An advance allotment of funds (approximately one quarter funding) was issued to all States, along with the July base grant allotments. These funds must be expended in accordance with the Wagner-Peyser Act and Regulations and the State's WIA/Wagner-Peyser Five-Year Strategic Plan.
Use of the Reemployment Funds. We recommend that through the One-Stop Centers, State Agencies pursue a strategy for improving the quality and quantity of reemployment services, building on existing initiatives and targeting the funds where they are needed and will have the most positive outcomes. To achieve this objective, State Agencies should review existing policies, procedures and research to determine best practices and next step strategies. Some information and research findings are provided in the attachments to this TEGL: "Activities For Reemployment Services" and "Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services Policy Workgroup: Final Report and Recommendations," (The Executive Summary), February 1999. (The complete report is available at http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/employ.asp ) These materials may be helpful in determining which strategies could produce the most successful outcomes for the use of these new funds.
We encourage State Agencies to keep in mind three considerations as they begin to plan for the strategic use of these funds. First, the funds are intended to be used primarily to enhance direct service delivery to UI claimants. Second, given that many States have moved to telephone call centers as a primary method of service delivery, we strongly encourage those State Agencies to consider using these funds, or some portion of them, on strategies and service delivery methods that ensure claimants served through call centers are linked to all of the available reemployment services in their One-Stop service delivery system. Third, services provided should be integrated into the One-Stop service delivery system to ensure the maximum benefits for unemployment insurance claimants.
Grant Procedures. Funds are being provided to State Agencies for the provision of reemployment services to UI claimants. These services must be consistent with the instructions in this TEGL. In order to meet the requirements for these funds (advance plus allotment balance), States must submit a grant plan which conforms to the requirements of this issuance and the State's WIA/Wagner-Peyser Five-Year Strategic Plan.
Grant Agreement. The Reemployment Services grant will be included in the current Wagner-Peyser Annual Funding Agreement. The Funding Agreement includes Assurances and Certifications which apply to all grants covered by the Agreement.
State Program Plan. The Grant Application must include a signed transmittal letter, a signed Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424), Budget (SF-424A, Section D only) and Plan Program Narrative. States are requested to submit two signed copies of the Plan to the appropriate Regional Office and one copy to:
U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
Division of USES/ALMIS
Room S-4231
200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20210
Attn: Donna Dye
The program plan should be developed in accordance with the following guidelines:
The program plan must not exceed 12 months. This project must be completed within 12 months and a report submitted 90 days after the start of the project. It is important to demonstrate in a timely fashion that the use of these funds contributes significantly to positive outcomes for UI claimants.
The program plan must describe how the funds will be used providing information about specific activities, milestones and positive outcomes expected. It must also describe how services will be delivered through the One-Stop system.
The program plan must identify the specific program performance outcomes anticipated and method to measure attainment of those outcomes. The following are provided as examples of outcomes and tracking measures. State Agencies need to determine the most appropriate outcomes and tracking measures based on the program plan:
| Outcome (Illustrative) | Measurement (Illustrative) |
|---|---|
| Reduce the duration of profiled UI claimants receiving benefits by % | Unemployment Insurance Report 9049 A.2. (UI-9049) |
| Reduce the rate of UI benefit exhaustion by % | Unemployment Insurance Report 9049 A.1 |
| Increase number of UI claimants participating in customized services e.g. Job Search Workshops or Job Clinics by % | Unemployment Insurance Report 9048 C.6. (UI-9048) |
System building projects can be done but only if the projects are directly related to services delivery and performance outcomes measured in some way. For example, Significant Improvement Grants that are directly related to service delivery could be extended.
Program Plan Approval. Regional Administrators are responsible for review, negotiation of changes, if appropriate, and final approval of the plan and will issue an approval letter, with a copy of the approved plan, to the State Agency and a copy of the approval letter and plan to the Grant Officer and the USES/ALMIS. A Notice of Obligation will be issued by the Grant Officer subsequent to the receipt of the Regional Office's approval package.
Program Report. State Agencies must submit a program narrative performance report using ETA Form 9096 which is due 90 days after the completion of the project. (See Attachment C., ETA Form 9096.) The performance report must compare accomplishment of planned performance goals with the attainment of the performance indicators identified by the State Agency in the program plan. State Agencies should describe activities and an overview of
how the activities were accomplished. If the goals were not achieved, State Agencies should explain why the goals were not met and propose action that would correct the problem.
To evaluate the success of this effort, ETA will track for each State, the entered employment rate with a new employer by the end of the second quarter following registration with the labor exchange using the ETA 9002 report. In addition, ETA will track activity reported on the UI-9048 and UI-9049 reports. In particular, ETA will be noting increased reemployment services to UI claimants. Further, ETA will contract for a national evaluation of program implementation, planned activities compared to actual results and other aspects of the program that can be used to determine the impact of these new funds to increase the number of UI claimants that enter employment and increase reemployment services to UI claimants. State Agencies' participation will consist primarily of providing information about operational and technical components of the program and recommendations based on lessons learned.
Financial Report. State Agencies must report quarterly expenditures by direct data entry of Standard Form 269 into the web-based Enterprise Information Management System (EIMS). Reports must be submitted in accordance with guidance provided in TEGL No. 17-00, Automation of SESA Standard Form 269 Financial Reporting. Following the instructions in TEGL No. 17-00, Section 4., please provide appropriate contact information for data entry and data certification for reemployment services. If reemployment services will be added to a State Agency Contact Information Listing (Attachment II of TEGL No. 17-00) already submitted per instruction in TEGL No. 17-00, please re-submit that listing and identify as revised. If reemployment services contact information is different from that for all other State Agency programs, an additional Contact Information Sheet must be provided. As with all other SF 269 reporting, the data must be entered electronically into the system within 30 days after the end of each quarter.
OMB Approval. Persons are not required to respond to this request unless it displays an OMB approval number. Respondent's obligation to reply to these reporting requirements is required to receive reemployment services grants. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 56 hours for two reports per year including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. If you have any comments regarding this estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information including suggestions for reducing this burden, please send them to the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Employment Service/ALMIS, Room C-4512, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210 (Paperwork Reduction Project 1205-0424).
Action Required. State Agencies should develop a strategy for utilizing these reemployment funds and submit a plan outlining how the funds will be utilized during the year. Grant plans are due within 30 days of the date of this directive. Regional Offices may extend the due date, if necessary. State Agency Administrators are requested to:
Immediately transmit this planning guidance to the appropriate State Agency office.
Submit two signed copies of the PY 2001 grant plan to the appropriate Regional Administrator and one copy to the National Office address indicated in Section 7 above.
Forward the Contact Information, as specified in Section 7., to Thomas C. Martin at tcmartin@doleta.gov, with a copy to the Regional Office.
Inquiries. Questions regarding this TEGL should be directed to the appropriate Regional Office.
Attachments.