TEGL11-00Attach1.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

TRADE ACT PARTICIPANT REPORT GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS The following instructions are intended to aid States in preparing TAPR reports. Because each State has its own data system these instructions are general in nature. Database-specific issues must be addressed by each State. States may obtain technical assistance by contacting their appropriate Regional Office Trade Act representative or by calling Curtis Kooser on 202 693-3569 or by e-mail at ckooser doleta.gov. 1.TAPR reports must be submitted each quarter. Each report is to consist of records for Trade Act participants who have exited during a particular quarter. Because of lags that are caused by the use of wage record data for outcomes there may be some confusion between quarter of exit and reporting quarter which mean different things. The quarter of exit is the quarter in which the participants whose records are in the report exited the Trade Act program. The reporting quarter is the quarter during which the records for the exiters should be completed and the report assembled. Reports are due to ETA within 45 calendar days after the end of the reporting quarter. The reporting quarter is five quarters after the quarter of exit . The table below should make these terms more clear. Quarter of ExitReporting QuarterDue Date July - September 1999October - December 2000March 30 2001 not 45 days after December 31 2000 because it s the first report under the revised system. October - December 1999January - March 2001May 15 2001 January - March 2000April - June 2001August 15 2001 April - June 2000July - September 2001November 15 2001 July - September 2000October - December 2001February 15 2002 October - December 2000January - March 2002May 15 2002 2.The reports must consist of individual TAPR records in comma-delimited format. This means that each data item must be surrounded by double quotes and separated from the other data items by commas. In a comma-delimited format there is no need to pad data items with zeroes so that the item fills a particular number of characters. The first few data items for a record from the mythical State of Harmony might look like this Harmony 123ABC4F67 19651022 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 etc. 2 Note that there are two fields in the example record above that do not have any data there are only two double quotes between the commas like this . That is how missing or unknown data items are to be reported. There is no longer an entry such as 9 for example to denote missing or unknown. There are 49 fields in a TAPR record therefore there must be 48 separating commas do not put a comma after the 49th field . 3.States are prohibited from including actual Social Security Numbers SSN in any TAPR report. There are three reasons for this 1 the OMB terms of clearance require this 2 sending personal data identified by name or SSN is a probable violation of the Social Security Act and 3 many State Unemployment Insurance agencies will not allow wage record data to be reported in other databases if the wage record data is identified by SSN. Therefore the second field of each TAPR record must be an individual identifier created by the State that will conceal the actual identity of the exiter whose data are being reported. States are free to create these identifiers in the way that is best for them. However this identifier must be between 1 and 9 characters in length and may use only alphabetic and numeric characters no punctuation marks or other special characters . IMPORTANT individual identifiers should be created by the State in such a way that they identify the same individual no matter where that individual is in the State employment and training system. In particular TAPR identifiers and the equivalent identifiers for the Workforce Investment Act Standardized Record Data WIASRD report should be created in the same way and the same identifier should refer to the same person in both systems. 4.A record should be opened whenever a participant enters the Trade Act system. At that time the participant characteristics should be entered and the pre-program wage record data obtained. As the participant receives Trade Act benefits and services those should be entered in his her record. Finally once the participant is determined to have exited the outcomes data and post-program wage records should be obtained and entered. At this point the record should be ready for submission to ETA. 5.TAPR data must now be submitted directly to ETA s Office of Technology and Information Services OTIS . The submission process is a simple file transfer over the Internet. Detailed instructions are contained in the document entitled Data Submission Instructions which is attached. 6.While preparing reports for the original TAPR some States encountered confusion about reporting data in Section II Activity and Service Record when the participant did not receive any training. For the revised TAPR if a participant receives no training whatever all of the training- related fields field numbers II.1a through II.1j must be reported as no data two consecutive double quotes with nothing between - see instruction 2 above . 7.There are certain fields in the original TAPR that are much the same in the new TAPR but have been rearranged to match the WIASRD specifications. All data on new participants should be gathered according to the new TAPR specifications. However for the first few quarters existing TAPR data original format for client characteristics and benefits services rendered will be used to prepare new reports with the new outcomes measures. In order to convert existing TAPR data into 3 new TAPR data the following conversions should be made Veteran Status 1 in the original TAPR should be mapped to 2 in the new TAPR. Highest School Grade Completed both 17 and 18 in the original TAPR should be mapped to 17 in the new TAPR. The indicator for GED or equivalent 88 is to be used for new participants unless the difference between high school graduate and GED can easily be obtained from the original data. Trade Readjustment Allowances 4 in the original TAPR should be mapped to 0 in the new TAPR. 8.There are two fields where occupational codes are to be entered and two associated fields where values from the occupational coding system are to be entered. All States should be moving as quickly as possible to the O NET Version 3.0 occupational coding system. The other possible systems are included for backward compatibility and for use during the transition period. O NET replaces the DOT and the eight-digit O NET version 3.0 is the current version. States may no longer use the O NET 98 code system. In addition the OES system is being replaced by the Standard Occupational Code SOC system. The SOC value for a classification is the same as the first six digits of the O NET 3.0 code system so there is no need for a separate choice of SOC in the TAPR specifications. 9.States may obtain assistance on preparing and submitting TAPR reports through their Regional Office Trade Act representative or by calling Curtis Kooser on 202 693-3569 or e-mailing him at ckooser doleta.gov. The National Office will implement a regular feedback system so that all of the Regional Office Trade Act representatives will be current on the status of TAPR reporting for their States. Regional Office Trade Act representatives will also receive quarterly summaries of the actual data from their respective States along with the national summary. States will receive immediate feedback on their submissions through the Internet. For more details see the attached document entitled Data Submission Instructions.