Attachment II
Common Reporting Issues in the WIASRD

This document highlights some significant data problems that were common in states' PY 2001 WIASRD submissions. States are requested to review their procedures for assembling the WIASRD records to assure that these problems are minimized in the PY 2002 submissions, which are due to ETA no later than January 14, 2004.

• The PY 2002 WIASRD should include exiters during PY 2000, PY 2001, and PY 2002.

• All individuals who exited from National Emergency Grant projects must be included in the WIASRD.

• The number of exiters included in the WIASRD and the number reported in the Annual Report should match for PY 2002, PY 2001, and PY 2000. ¹

—Exception: Individuals who participated in National Emergency Grants only are included in the WIASRD but excluded from the exiter counts on the Annual Report.

• The PY 2002 WIASRD should include all outcome data used for either the PY 2002 Annual Report or the Quarterly Report due 11/14/2003. Table 1 shows the exit groups for which each outcome should be complete.

• Ethnicity (Item 105) and Race (Items 106 to 110) are separate and distinct concepts. Race must be collected for all individuals regardless of their ethnicity. In particular, race is a required item for Hispanics. It is understood that some Hispanics may refuse to answer the race questions, but an attempt must be made to collect this information for all individuals. In addition, individuals must be allowed to identify with more than one race.² In the PY 2001 WIASRD race was missing for a large number of Hispanics.

• Some categorical items in the WIASRD are not coded as 'yes'/'no'. Some states used incorrect coding schemes for these items in PY 2001 WIASRD. States should verify that they are using the correct codes for these items, as summarized in Table 2. Items that were particularly subject to reporting problems included:

  —Campaign Veteran (Item 112). Some states reported many Vietnam-era Veterans, but almost no other campaign veterans; other states reported many other campaign veterans, but almost no Vietnam-era veterans. Code '1' is Campaign Veteran (not Vietnam-era veteran); Code '2' is Vietnam-era veteran; Code '3' is no.

  —Unemployment Compensation Programs (Item 118). Some states reported almost no claimants; some reported almost all claimants, others reported almost all exhaustees. Code '1' is claimant not referred by WPRS; code '2' is Claimant referred by WPRS, Code '3' is exhaustee; Code '4' is neither claimant nor exhaustee.

• Highest Grade Completed (Item 123) should not be zero unless it is known that the individual did not complete any years of school. If highest grade completed is not known, the item should be left blank. Some states reported an unusually high percentage of individuals with zero grades completed in the PY 2001 WIASRD.

• Education Status (Item 130) should be consistent with Highest Grade Completed (Item 123) for youth. These two items were often inconsistent in the PY 2001 WIASRD.

  —If education status is '1' or '3' (Not attending school, H.S. dropout), then highest grade completed should be less than 12.

  —Conversely, if education status is '2' (student, attending post-H.S.) or '4' (not attending school, H.S. graduate), then highest grade completed should be 12 or higher.

  —Individuals who are not high school graduates but are attending a postsecondary institution should be reported as code '1' (student, H.S. or less) in education status

• If an individual is served by a National Emergency Grant (NEG), the Project ID Number should be reported in Item 313a. Some states used invalid codes (e.g., 2, 0000, or 9999) in this item. These codes apparently identified individuals who were not served by NEGs. This item should be blank for individuals who are not served by NEGs.

• Item 328, Employment and Training Programs Related to Food Stamps, is intended to capture participation in the Food Stamp E&T program—not receipt of Food Stamps. Receipt of Food Stamps was reported under WIA but is not to be reported on the WIASRD.

• If an adult or dislocated worker received training, both a date of first training service (Item 333) and the type of training (Items 335 to 337) should be reported. These items were often inconsistent in the PY 2001 WIASRD.

  —Types of training are (1) adult education, basic skills and/or literacy activities (Item 335), (2) on-the-job training (Item 336), and (3) occupational skills training or skills upgrading/retraining, and/or workplace training (Item 337).

  —All training should be classified in one of these three categories. ³

  —Only training should be reported in these categories. These items should not be used to indicate activities provided as intensive services.

  —If there is a date of first training (Item 333) then at least one of the three training types (Items 335 to 337) should be 'yes.' Conversely, if any of the training types are 'yes,' a training date should be reported.

• Youth services are categorized in Items 340 to 345. In the PY 2001 WIASRD many youth were reported as not receiving any youth services. Almost all youth (younger and older) should be recorded as receiving one or more of these service categories. These categories are combinations of the youth program elements in the legislation:

  —Educational achievement services (Item 340) combines (1) tutoring, study skills training, and instruction leading to completion of secondary school, including dropout prevention strategies, and (2) alternative secondary school services.

  —Employment services (Item 341) combines (1) paid and unpaid work experiences, including internships and job shadowing, and (2) occupational skill training.

  —Received summer youth employment services (Item 342).

  —Additional support for youth services (Item 343) combines (1) adult mentoring and (2) comprehensive guidance and counseling, which may include drug and alcohol abuse counseling and referral.

  —Leadership development opportunities (Item 344).

  —Follow-up services (Item 345).

• The supplemental data items (Items 602, 609, and 611) should be recorded only if an individual did not have positive earnings in the corresponding quarter and was found to be employed in that quarter through the use of supplemental data. The supplemental data item in the PY 2000 WIASRD was often inconsistent with either the corresponding employment or earnings item.

  —If earnings in the quarter is greater than zero, then the supplemental data item should be blank.

  —If earnings in the quarter is zero and employment in the quarter is 'no,' then the supplemental data item should be blank.

  —If earnings in the quarter is zero and employment in the quarter is 'yes,' then the supplemental data item should be '1' (case management…) or '2' (record sharing…).

• Type of Credential (Item 621) should be consistent with the services reported.

  —Code '9' (N/A, individual did not receive training) should be used only for adults and dislocated workers who did not receive training.

  —Code '9' should not be used for older youth because youth are not categorized by receipt of training. ⁴

  —Credential should not be blank for adults and dislocated workers who received training and for older youth who exited on or before December 31, 2002.

• Younger youth who were attending secondary school at exit should be reported as code '3' in Item 673: Attained Secondary School Diploma. Some states did not report any youth as attending secondary school at exit. This has an adverse computation on the younger youth diploma rate.

—Some states may be recording receipt of diplomas and still attending secondary school in separate fields in their data systems. This information should be combined for WIASRD reporting.

—If a youth was still attending secondary school at exit and obtained a secondary school diploma by the end of the quarter after exit, Item 673 should not be reported as code '3' (attending secondary school at exit). Instead it should be reported as codes '1' (attained a secondary school diploma) or '2' (attained a GED or high school equivalency diploma), as appropriate.

• Attained Secondary School Diploma (Item 673) should be consistent with Highest Grade Completed (Item 123) and Education Status (Item 130). In the PY 2001 WIASRD the attainment of a diploma was reported for many younger youth who also were reported as high school graduates at registration.

  —If a younger youth was a high school graduate at registration (Highest grade completed (Item 123) is 12 or more or Education Status (Item 130) is '2' or '4') then Attained Secondary School Diploma should be '4' (did not attain diploma) or blank.

• Date of School Diploma or GED Attainment (Item 674) should be after the registration date (Item 302) and on or before the end of the quarter after exit.

Table 1
Required Completeness for PY 2002 WIASRD Items

NOTE: Items not included in the table should be complete for all exiters included in the WIASRD.

Table 2
WIASRD Items with Special Codes