Background: Workforce development is a major initiative of the Clinton Administration and the Congress. States, local communities, and Regional Offices have been working diligently to build a high- quality system for our customers that integrates services and programs, including UI. Investments in technology are also creating new and better ways of serving customers. The UI programÆs innovation enabling the remote filing of claims by telephone and/or computers is revolutionizing the way unemployed workers interact with the workforce development system to access unemployment benefits. This trend raises some major issues including: (1) how to maintain connections between UI and the other components of the workforce development system for reemployment services, and (2) how to manage the impact on the system infrastructure (e.g., physical, structural, fiscal)? Consultation Process: The Unemployment Insurance Service recognizes that the UI program is a key player in the emerging workforce development system. The attached paper, developed by a group of UIS National Office and Regional Office managers is an attempt to articulate the role of the UI program within the larger workforce development system-- emphasizing the traditional role of UI and an expanded role in the workforce development system. National Office and Regional Office ETA managers will throughout the summer conduct consultations with the workforce development system including States, local communities, employers and organized labor. All States will be consulted in order to receive and process their input so that a clear vision of UI and its role in the workforce development system can be developed, and to commence appropriate actions to implement this vision. Actions: State Workforce Development officials, especially in the UI and One-Stop areas are encouraged to share and review this paper with relevant partners, commissions, Boards and Councils and provide any comments no later than August 15, 1997. Comments should be addressed to the Regional Administrator, with a copy to Grace A. Kilbane at the U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room S-4231, Washington D.C. 20210.

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Background. The updated directories are the result of changes in grantee leadership along with some changes of address and telephone numbers. The grantee directory also includes new grantees designated as of March 1, 1997. It is important that any corrections or revisions be forwarded as they occur to DINAP to ensure that mail is sent to the correct address and individual. Action Required. Any changes should be placed on the attached "Change of Address Information" form and sent to: Division of Indian and Native American Programs, 200 Constitution Avenue, Room N-4645, Washington D.C. 20210 (Attention: Andrea T.B. Brown). If you have electronic mail capability (e-mail), your programs recently issued password will permit you to update grantee directory information via the "Partnerships Homepage" on the Internet. Information. As a continuous effort to provide service the DINAP FAX number is (202) 219-6338. Inquiries. Questions or suggestions should be directed to your Federal Representative Team.

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Background: The Job Training for the Homeless Demonstration Program (JTHDP) was authorized under Section 731 of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. This program, administered by DOL's Employment and Training Administration (ETA), represented the first comprehensive federal program specifically designed to provide employment and training services (and a wide range of other supportive services) for homeless individuals and to assist them in securing employment. The demonstration effort was launched in September 1988 with a series of grants to 32 locally operated demonstration sites across the nation. JTHDP continued over slightly more than seven years, concluding in November 1995. Action Required: State JTPA Liaisons are requested to distribute copies of the report to the SDAs. A bulk supply of reports has been sent under separate cover.

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Reference: Older Worker Bulletins No. 94-12 and No. 97-7. Background: Additional OAA Title V funds, in the amount of $1.2 million, have become available for obligation and expenditure during this program year. Following internal discussions within the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), we have concluded that the funds should be used to advance the purposes of Section 502(e) of the OAA. Older Worker Bulletin No. 94-12 transmitted the Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. study of the Section 502(e) program, recommending that it be better advertised so that employers and individuals may learn of its existence, and that additional funds be assigned to the program. In conducting reviews of recently submitted grant applications for Program Year 1997, ETA has ascertained that the aggregate amount of funding proposed to be used for Section 502(e) purposes was relatively small. Therefore, the additional available funds are being targeted to advance Section 502(e) purposes. Policy: Section 502(e) projects are effective tools in achieving one of the purposes of the SCSEP program, namely the transition to unsubsidized employment pursuant to the regulations at 20 CFR Section 641.101. Further, OAA Section 502(e) projects may be the best vehicle for obtaining job placements in the private for- profit sector, where wages and fringe benefits are likely to be greater than in the public or non-profit sectors. Thus, such projects can facilitate the achievement of economic self- sufficiency for SCSEP enrollees. Therefore, ETA encourages further and expanded conduct of Section 502(e) projects. Plans: ETA plans to fund four to ten grant modifications ranging in size from $100,000 to $300,000 to National and State SCSEP sponsors, for Section 502(e) projects to be conducted during the present program year. We hope to fund at least two States to implement Section 502(e) projects with these funds. (Final dollar amounts of grant modification funds may have to be negotiated depending on the response to this Bulletin.) In addition, a limited amount of funds will be reserved for: (1) publication and dissemination of technical assistance guides and other materials dealing with Section 502(e) program activities and other SCSEP matters of interest: and (2) workshops and training sessions on on-the-job training, senior employment agencies and other Section 502(e)-related efforts, as well as other areas of interest to SCSEP administrators and local project operators. Procedures: Applications are to be submitted to the Division of Older Worker Programs as modifications to the recently executed grants by August 29. Although applications may be submitted after that date, it is likely that all available funds will be obligated to project proposals submitted earlier. Selections will be made non-competitively based on the quality of the proposal, overall benefits to participants, ability to implement projects quickly, and geographic considerations. Applicants may be funded for more or less than the proposed amount. If more applications are received than available dollars can accommodate, ETA will fund as many applications as feasible. Guidelines for submission of applications may be found in Section 10 of Older Worker Bulletin No. 97-7, and in Attachment IV to that Bulletin. Additional criteria will not be established for these funds, except that some degree of detail in description of planned activities is preferred over general discussions, and that planned approaches that demonstrate ability to mount program activities effectively and expeditiously will be favored. In general, Section 502(e) project applications should be no longer than 10 pages. The projects selected for additional funding will be those that offer the best prospects for quality unsubsidized placements that will enhance the economic self- sufficiency of the greatest number of SCSEP enrollees. Non-Federal matching funds for these Section 502(e) projects will not be required, pursuant to Section 502(e)(1) of the OAA. Additionally, the award of these funds will not be subject to the usual State-by-State formula distribution limitation. As noted in Older Worker Bulletin No. 94-12, the allowable administrative cost level may be increased to 15 percent if there is a good reason for doing so; operation of a Section 502(e) project is a legitimate reason for increasing administrative costs. Further, administrative cost limitations apply to the sponsor's overall SCSEP grant, so that the administrative costs for Section 502(e) projects may even exceed 15 percent, so long as the overall grant budget remains within the administrative cost limitations. The objective is to obligate funds quickly to projects that can readily use them to achieve the unsubsidized placement of substantial numbers of SCSEP enrollees within the balance of the program year. While new Section 502(e) efforts by sponsors that have not previously engaged in such activity are encouraged, funds are limited. Rather than applying for these new monies, SCSEP sponsors that have not previously operated Section 502(e) projects may wish to do so through modification of existing grants, or in preparation of Program Year 1998 grants. Training and technical assistance materials will be made available in the near future. Technical Assistance and Training: As indicated above, publications are being developed for dissemination, and workshops will be presented to advance Section 502(e) project activities and other efforts intended to improve SCSEP program operations. Sponsors wishing to assist in these activities should discuss the contributions they could make with their Federal representative so that determinations may be made in the near future as to how to arrange these TAT activities. Limited funding may be made available to sponsors to defray the costs of conducting these TAT activities.

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