Background: On March 8, 1997, President Clinton issued an Executive Order to Federal department and agency heads instructing them to use all available authorities to hire people off the welfare rolls into available job positions in the Federal government. In this order, the President directs each Federal agency to prepare an individualized hiring plan detailing how the agency intends to recruit and hire welfare recipients. The agency welfare recipient hiring plans are to be submitted to the President by April 7, 1997. Each agency's plan is to describe, in detail, how the agency intends to recruit and hire qualified welfare recipients. The description is to include a proposed local outreach program that builds upon the Government's existing nationwide employment information systems to bring Federal job opportunities to the attention of welfare offices, State and private employment offices, nonprofit organizations and others who work with welfare recipients on a regular basis. In addition, the plan is to describe, in detail, how the agency will assist welfare recipients in keeping their jobs and performing well after they are hired. ETA's Role in the Federal Hiring Initiative: The Employment and Training Administration is responding to this initiative by creating two products--a web site, http://www.doleta.gov/ohrw2w, that is geared to assisting Federal human resource managers in hiring and retaining welfare recipients; and a parallel resource guide that provides information on resources within the workforce development system. The web site became operational March 19. It has many built-in links which will permit users to tap into many other related sites. The draft resource guide, which is being sent under separate cover, is now available on the web site. The final guide will also be distributed in hard copy format to Federal human resource managers and will be made available in its entirety on the web site. Both the web site and the resources guide provide valuable information on programs and information on contact points at the State and local level. The web site will also contain links to many other related sites and will permit human resource managers to search for offices by program or geographical area. At the Federal Regional level, our ETA Regional Administrators will be reaching out to the other Federal agencies to ensure they are fully aware of the value that the employment and training community can provide to those agencies, i.e., recruitment, screening, training, referral of welfare recipients to jobs at the Federal agencies, limited follow-up services and coordination of support services after placement. Wherever possible, they will attempt to broker meetings of multiple agencies in an area. They will help the Federal agencies understand how the services that can be provided will save them both time and money. Opportunities for Workforce Development System: The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) service delivery areas, the local employment service offices, Job Corps Centers and the JTPA Title IV special targeted grantees are in a strategic position to provide a service to Federal agencies which will make their task of hiring welfare recipients easier. Each Federal agency is in the process of developing its plan for the hiring of welfare recipients using existing authorities at the entry level consistent with the President's direction to assist the nation in solving the employment problems of welfare recipients. This development provides a clear opportunity to assist Federal agencies in meeting their needs for persons who can succeed. The employment and training community has a proven track record over a period of years. It has demonstrated that it is knowledgeable of the welfare population's needs for unsubsidized employment. In many communities, the JTPA entity has operated both the JTPA Title II-A program and the welfare JOBS training program. Currently, 42 percent of our terminees are from the welfare population. In a similar manner, the employment service has served as the primary resource for placing welfare recipients who are job ready. Many Job Corp Centers have arranged for child care so young mothers may participate in education and training activities at their centers. Our national grantees for Indians, Migrants and Older Workers have all served a significant number of welfare recipients. It is essential that the employment and training community work with the Federal agencies as they begin the process of filling entry level jobs--initially they may be temporary or seasonal jobs for some agencies--leading to good jobs which can eventually make the recipients self-sufficient. At the local level, an evolving partnership has developed between the employment service, the JTPA service delivery area, other JTPA funded programs including Job Corps Centers and special targeted programs, and the social services agency. Together, these organizations have effectively moved toward solving the training and employment needs of the welfare recipients. As States have started to move forward with their efforts under the welfare reform legislation, this relationship has become even more closely linked. Building on these relationships, there is a need to reach out to the Federal agencies to make them aware of the resources that exist and how they can assist in meeting the President's objective of hiring welfare recipients. If we effectively meet this challenge, it will demonstrate to the nation that the employment and training community can be a partner in addressing the complex issue of moving welfare recipients to gainful employment. Action Required: Please provide information on the Federal welfare to work hiring initiative to local service providers so that they can best position themselves to take advantage of this opportunity.

Background: The Quality Forum is a working group of representatives of eight program offices and initiatives in USDOL, all active in encouraging the use of quality principles and practices to continuously improve workforce development organizations. The members of the Quality Forum represent: The Capacity Building Initiative; Employment Service Revitalization; The Enterprise; The National School-to-Work Office; The Office of Policy and Research; The One-Stop Career Center System; PEPNet (Promising and Effective Practices Network); and Simply Better!. The Quality Forum members have created resources that are of great value to State and local organizations, from those just beginning on the journey of continuous improvement to those who have been developing quality processes for a period of years. Resources are available at no cost to organizations, and cover a wide variety of topics ranging from how to generate customer satisfaction data to creating staff training programs that provide real benefit to the organization. The Guide: The Quality Improvement Resource Guide provides information about USDOL-sponsored resources available to State and local agencies and organizations interested in customer satisfaction and continously improving their organizations. The Guide was developed by the members of the Quality Forum to inform State and local organizations about all of the quality-based resources available to them from Quality Forum members. The Guide is organized around the seven areas of the national Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award, a framework that any organization can use to look at and assess its everyday business practices. A description is provided of each of the resources, along with contact information for requesting copies of these resources. Information is also provided about the member offices and initiatives of the Quality Forum, including Internet Web site addresses. One copy of the Guide is attached to this TEIN. Additional copies may be requested by contacting the Enterprise Support Team at (202) 501-5440. Action Required: Please share the information in this Guide with local employment and training offices and service providers.

Reference: Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 3-96, dated January 28, 1997, entitled "Program Guidance and Allocations for the Calendar Year 1997 Summer Youth Employment and Training Program (SYETP)." Background: As stated in TEGL No. 3-96, the Department of Labor (DOL) contracted with Westat, Inc. to produce a casebook which details the diverse experiences of 19 service delivery areas (SDAs) in establishing and operating summer jobs programs for economically disadvantaged youth that involve private employers and/or contributors. The sites selected for this casebook represent all 10 Regions; urban, suburban and rural locations; large and small programs; different organizational models; and a variety of innovative features. By showcasing such a cross-section of programs, the casebook presents a variety of successful strategies and models for involving the private sector in creating summer jobs. DOL also contracted with the Maryland Institute for Employment and Training Professionals to produce a "how-to" manual providing information to assist SDAs in involving the private sector in summer jobs programs. This "how-to" guide contains different approaches for engaging businesses as well as suggested marketing strategies, sample marketing materials, and plans which can be adapted for local use. Distribution: Copies of the casebook and resource guide are being provided under separate cover to all State JTPA liaisons for distribution to SDAs, as well as the State JTPA agency.

References: Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 4-95, Change 1, dated May 3, 1996, transmitting revised performance standards for PYs 1996 and 1997, and Change 2, dated August 20, 1996 transmitting Titles II and III performance standards worksheets. Background: The attached Guide is a comprehensive source for PY 1996-1997 performance standards policy (including incentives and sanctions policies) that incorporates the policy issuances referenced above. The Guide includes the following: an overview of DOL performance standards policy for PYs 1996 and 1997; a discussion of the computation of performance measures; a discussion of how performance standards are adjusted for local conditions (includes worksheets and instructions for the optional DOL models); a discussion of incentives policies; and a discussion of sanction policies. Changes from Previous Version: With reference to previous versions of the Guide, major changes in the current version are: Changes throughout to conform to the new performance standards policy for PYs 1996 and 1997, including: The change to the Secretary's definition of failure. Encouraging incentives for model programs for out-of-school youth and placement in jobs with fringe benefits. The previous Guide said that these were required beginning with PY 1995. The change in the definition of complete follow-up data. A new chapter IV on adjustments beyond the model. This chapter was based on the PY 1992 Guide Addendum but contains all new estimates.

Background: As we move into the 21st Century, it is critical that the Employment and Training System explore new ways of meeting the needs of the increasing numbers of customers with disabilities who will require employment and training services. By the year 2000, one in five Americans will have some type of disability, due partly to the aging of the population. More significantly, especially for those of working age, greater numbers of people are surviving illness and injury and are expecting to resume work. While societal attitudes have improved, and there is greater acceptance of workers with disabilities, people with disabilities continue to experience widespread unemployment or underemployment. Current data indicate that seventy percent (70%) of those persons with severe disabilities of working age are unemployed; this translates into thirteen (13) million people. In October 1996, Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich referenced the One-Stop Disability Initiative when he announced "plans to turn the nation's One-Stop Career Centers into model facilities for providing access to millions of disabled Americans who are seeking work." The Secretary affirmed that the "goal of the One-Stop Centers is and should be to do everything possible to ensure that all Americans have equal access to re-employment services." He stressed that this goal can be achieved by ensuring that accessibility and services to persons with disabilities are "addressed at the very beginning -- while the One-Stop Centers are starting their operations." The Secretary's speech, along with the press release, is attached for your information. The One-Stop/LMI Office has long recognized that it is cost-effective to address issues related to serving persons with disabilities up front, when One-Stop Centers are being designed. To facilitate this process, ETA has established several work groups to address the various issues related to providing improved services to persons with disabilities. These work groups, which are inter-agency (including non-profit organizations), have initiated specific projects to facilitate improved services to persons with disabilities. ETA's One-Stop Disability Initiative: ETA established the One-Stop Disability Initiative in recognition of the fact that the One-Stop System presents unique challenges, as well as opportunities to provide improved services to persons with disabilities. As directed by the National Performance Review, all agencies are being challenged to develop innovative approaches to provide high quality services. While ETA is integrating this emphasis on improved services to persons with disabilities into all aspects of the One-Stop system-building initiative, it has initiated the following projects to address specific issues: A. Establishment of DOL/ED Work Group. DOL and the Department of Education (ED) have established a standing work group of National Office staff from ED and DOL to foster a productive partnership between One-Stop and Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) at the State and local levels. The work group has identified several activities that it may ultimately sponsor to promote collaboration between Vocational Rehabilitation and the One-Stop Career Center System. On February 28, 1997, Assistant Secretary Timothy Barnicle and Judith Heuman, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, signed a joint issuance to advise the employment and training system and the vocational rehabilita-tion system of this cooperative relationship. DOL and ED worked together to organize a one-day facilitated discussion session for six Directors of State Vocational Rehabilitation agencies and six Leads for State One-Stop Career Center Systems. These discussions were held on April 24, 1997. The findings from these discussions will assist ED and DOL in identifying: (1) strategies for collaboration that are working well and those that are less than satisfactory, with some insight as to why; and (2) areas where policy clarification or technical assistance may facilitate collaboration. B. Cooperative Agreement on WOTC. One of the several eligible target groups for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) are people with disabilities that have completed, or are in the process of completing, an Individual Written Rehabilitation Plan through the State VR agency. ETA is developing a cooperative agreement with the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), within ED, to provide conditional certification of recipients of vocational rehabilitation services. Under conditional certification, a State VR agency verifies that a client is eligible for the WOTC to a potential employer using a simplified form and without prior referral to the Employment Service for certification. C. Agreement with SSA. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has provided ETA funds to (1) review, in consultation with SSA, the return-to-work program and its relationship to the One-Stop Career Center System; and (2) explore the integration of appropriate information and employment-related activities of the return-to-work program into the One-Stop System. ETA awarded a grant to North Carolina to complete this study; North Carolina subsequently contracted with the Technical Assistance and Training Corporation (TATC). TATC has developed a study design and is in the process of conducting preliminary surveys. ETA will share the results of this study with the employment and training system upon completion. D. Cooperative Agreement with Maine. ETA has provided funds to Maine through a State Cooperative Agreement to (1) enable Maine to design One-Stop models of inclusion and access, which can be replicated in other States and local One-Stop Centers; and (2) provide technical assistance to interested States and local One-Stop Cent ers. E. Access Work Group. ETA has formed an access work group to address access issues in the One-Stop System, particularly with regard to the technology intensive self-service areas. The initial focus of this work group has been making the computerized self-service areas accessible to persons with visual impairments. The work group will subsequently concentrate on ensuring that self-service functions are accessible to persons with mobility and hearing impairments as well as persons with other disabilities. The National Federation for the Blind (NFB) has developed a voice response access system to America's Job Bank (AJB). This system, when implemented, will provide a means for job search using the touch-tone system to command the AJB to provide information on appropriate job openings by voice. The NFB is continuing to refine this prototype system so that it can be used to develop access to other One-Stop/LMI technologies and self-service functions for the visually impaired. The universal design feature of this prototype may potentially provide access to other customer segments, such as persons with cognitive disabilities and persons in sparsely populated rural areas. F. Self-Evaluation Access Guide. ETA, with the assistance of the Director of the Department's Initiative For Persons With Disabilities, is developing a self-evaluation guide. The Guide is being developed, in part, by adapting AmeriCorp's Checklist (Self-Evaluation Guide) and various State self-evaluation guides submitted to the National Office for this purpose. It is anticipated that this Self-Evaluation Access Guide will enable One-Stop Career Centers to conduct thorough self-evaluations and, where appropriate, transition plans. The Guide will assist local Centers to assess what has been done to facilitate equal opportunity for people with disabilities and to plan what needs to be done in the future. The Guide will encourage One-Stop Centers to request representatives of the disability community to assist in the self-evaluation. Action Required. States are asked to distribute this TEIN, with attachments, to all staff involved with the One-Stop Career Center System. This includes partnering agencies, especially those with a particular interest in disability inclusion such as Vocational Rehabilitation. With regard to the cooperative agreement with Maine (3. D. above), ETA welcomes suggestions from States and One-Stop Centers as to what types of models or technical assistance, including training, would be helpful.

Background: In the Solicitation for Grant Application (SGA) for One-Stop Implementation, ETA provided four broad principles to guide the States in the development of their One-Stop Career Center Systems. The Federal design outlined in the SGA is not prescriptive and provides considerable flexibility to the States. The conduct of One-Stop Career Center system operations is left to the direction of State and local partners. In order to define (within this broad Federal framework) what their State systems would look like, many States have developed certification or chartering criteria that specify the types of planning processes to be followed, the services to be offered, and how services are to be delivered in a One-Stop environment. The chartering or certification process has been critical to the States in meeting their responsibility to guide and oversee the development of local One-Stop Centers. In March 1996, several One-Stop Implementation States requested that ETA conduct a formal study to determine how the States were approaching the certification or chartering of local One-Stop Centers. States differed greatly in how they were approaching the development of these criteria and the application of the criteria in determining when a facility should be certified as a One-Stop Center. Thus, ETA contracted with Social Policy Research Associates (SPR) to perform a study on State certification and chartering efforts for One-Stop Centers. Certification/Chartering and Accessibility For Persons with Disabilities: Particularly noteworthy is that adequacy of facility is one of the critical areas identified by the States in their One-Stop certification policies. Many States and some local Workforce Investment Boards are using a certification or chartering process to ensure that One-Stop Centers are fully accessible to customers with disabilities. These States recognize that the certification process is a good vehicle for ensuring that all local One-Stop Centers are in compliance with the requirements of Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and applicable State laws related to accessibility for persons with disabilities. The Report: The attached report prepared by SPR consists of two parts: Part I is a narrative that compares and contrasts the certification criteria established by the States and reflects on the States' varied experiences with certification requirements. It also provides information from the States about what they have learned, including ideas about what they might have done differently; and Part II is a matrix that documents the certification criteria and approaches of the twelve (12) States selected for this study. The States selected were Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin. In addition, SPR has attached to Part I samples of documents that are being used by several States in the certification process. Action Required: This information should be shared with all State and local staff working with One-Stop implementation. This study should be of interest to all States, but especially those States just beginning the implementation process.

Background: Over the past decade, global competition and calls for upgrading the American workforce have generated public interest in the preparation of American youth for employment. To promote and evaluate initiatives designed to address this concern, the Department of Labor (DOL) sponsored the School-to-Work/Youth Apprenticeship Demonstration. The demonstration began in September 1990 with grants to six organizations to develop and implement a wide array of school-to-work-based learning approaches. A report presenting a final assessment of the early implementa- tion experiences of the demonstration programs and the students who participated in them, was prepared for ETA by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR), of Princeton, New Jersey. The report presents a final assessment of the early implementation experiences of the demonstration programs and the students who participated in them. The findings and recommendations contained in this report are the culmination of more than four years of program observation and data collection conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) which began an evaluation of the demonstration in June 1991. During this period, as evidence on barriers and promising practices emerged from this and other research efforts and as Federal priorities shifted, the policy context for and expectations of school-to-work initiatives evolved. Copies of the Mathematica report, Experiences and Lessons of the School-to-Work/Youth Apprenticeship Demonstration, have been distributed under separate cover. However, inadvertently, pages 1 and 2 of the Executive Summary were not included in the publication. Under separate cover you will receive copies of these two pages. Action Required: Please ensure that pages 1 and 2 of the Executive Summary are distributed to all those who received copies of Experiences and Lessons of the School-to-Work/Youth Apprenticeship Demonstration.

Reference: Training and Employment Information Notice No. 17-96: Employment and Training Administration PY 1996/FY 1997 Goals.

References: Title V--NAFTA Transitional Adjustment Assistance and Other Provisions of PL 103-182, North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act; Trade Act of 1974 as amended; regulations at 20 CFR 617; General Administration Letters (GAL) Nos. 6-94; 7-94; and 1-96.

Background: The SYETP web page, located at , became operational last summer and contained allocations, policy directives, questions and answers, and technical assistance directives and materials. Web Site: The page has been updated for this summer and contains the Training and Employment Guidance Letter 3-96 with this year's allocations and policy guidance, Training and Employment Information Notice 25-96 transmitting this year's two new private sector summer jobs technical assistance guides, the texts of the guides, and last summer's SummerWorks guide. Action: States should inform service delivery areas that the web page has been updated and encourage them to use it to assist in their SYETP operations.