TEGL22-00.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

RESCISSIONS None EXPIRATION DATEJune 30 2002 U. S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Washington D.C. 20210CLASSIFICATION ONE-STOP LMI CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL OWS DATE May 23 2001 TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 22-00 TO ALL STATE WORKFORCE LIAISONS ALL STATE WORKER ADJUSTMENT LIAISONS ALL STATE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AGENCIES ALL ONE-STOP CENTER SYSTEM LEADS for FROM LENITA JACOBS-SIMMONS Deputy Assistant Secretary SUBJECT Planning Guidance for Program Year PY 2001 Labor Market Information LMI Products and Services One-Stop LMI Formula Allocations to States 1. Purpose . To transmit guidance for the development and management of PY 2001 One-Stop LMI grant plans. 2. References . Section 7 Parts a 3 D and d and Section 15 of the Wagner-Peyser Act Section 309 of the Workforce Investment Act Section IV C 3 of the WIA Wagner-Peyser Planning Guidance FRN Vol 64 No. 37 Thursday February 25 1999 29 CFR Parts 93 96 97 and 98 and OMB Circular A-87. Consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520 OMB has reviewed and approved the Information Collection Request for this planning guidance OMB Control Number 1205-0417 . This approval expires May 31 2004. Under 5 CFR 1320.f b an Agency cannot conduct sponsor or require a response to a collection of information unless the collection displays a valid OMB Control Number. 3. Allocations . Funding for the One-Stop LMI plan is provided from the 150 million One-Stop Career Center America s Labor Market Information System ALMIS appropriation for Fiscal Year FY 2001. For PY 2001 38 million minus a 2.4 percent postage reserve 912 000 is allocated by formula to the fifty States -2- the District of Columbia Guam Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. See Attachment I for the table of allocations and allocation formula. 4. Period of Performance . The maximum expenditure period for these funds is three years pursuant to the Wagner-Peyser Annual Funding Agreement. The grant plan will cover at minimum the 12 month period of July 1 2001 to June 30 2002 but may if negotiated between the State and Regional Office cover a longer period of time up to the maximum expenditure period ending June 30 2004. 5. Grant Plan . Funds are being provided to States for the development of core LMI products and services and for the development of other LMI products and services which might be required to support the State s strategic workforce investments. These core products and services must be consistent with the most recent priority core products and services defined by the Workforce Information Council the cooperative governance structure established pursuant to Section 309 b 1 of WIA to achieve cooperative management of the nationwide employment statistics system. See Attachment III. If the PY 2001 formula allocation in combination with any fund balances from prior year grants is not sufficient to address all of the priority core products and services the State and Regional Office may negotiate which of the core products and services will be addressed by the plan. In order to receive funding States must submit a grant plan which conforms to the requirements of this issuance. Pursuant to the requirements of Section 309 of WIA the grant plan must also be consistent with the State s WIA Wagner-Peyser Five-Year Strategic Plan. Any planned grant activities and deliverables in addition to core products and services must be developed in consultation with the State Workforce Investment Board in order to support the State s strategic workforce investments with activities and planned outcomes defined in the context of the State s WIA Wagner-Peyser Five-Year Strategic Plan. Funds provided by this grant may not be used to supplant funds obligated from other funding sources for labor market information activities. Any planned data collection activities must conform to the technical standards and methodologies established by the Bureau of Labor Statistics or provide in the plan a sound business rationale for the use of an alternative methodology. -3- 6. Annual Reports . States are required to submit an annual report on achievements and outcomes for each planned activity as specified in Attachment III. The annual report must be submitted to the appropriate Regional Office with a copy to the National Office address found in Section 9 of this issuance within 30 days following the end of the Program Year. States are requested to submit copies of hard copy publications produced with these grant funds to the Regional Office and to the LMI Institute. Posting such publications on the State web site s is encouraged. Submission of publications to the Employment and Training Administration ETA National Office is not required. Note Section 309 of Title III of WIA requires that customer satisfaction information be collected annually and used to continuously improve the nationwide employment statistics system with particular attention paid to improvements needed at the State and local levels. It is ETA s intent to develop a customer satisfaction survey process related to these grants. To that end ETA will convene a collaborative workgroup representing the Workforce Information Council the National Association of State Workforce Agencies and other appropriate stakeholders to develop a methodology for assessing customer satisfaction with workforce information products and services systemwide. It is intended that future State annual reports will include a report on the results of an assessment of customer satisfaction with the State s employment statistics system. 7. Financial Management and Reporting . States are to forecast actual cash needs by program year quarter on SF-424A Section D for all quarters covered by the plan. State Employment Security Agencies SESAs will report quarterly expenditures by direct data entry of Standard Form 269 into the web-based Enterprise Information Management System EIMS . Quarterly financial reports are due within 30 days following the end of each quarter. A financial reconciliation will be conducted by the Regional Office at the end of the program year. Questions regarding financial management and reporting for PY 2001 or any existing prior year fund balances should be addressed to the appropriate Regional Office. 8. Plan Modifications . The Grantee and Regional Office may jointly modify planned activities and associated expenditures within the State allocation during the plan period of -4- performance. The Regional Office has unilateral authority to recommend funding adjustments to the Grant Officer when overall grant expenditures are substantially below quarterly budgeted forecasts in the approved SF-424A. In the event that the Secretary of Labor may be required to carry out other responsibilities not anticipated in the plan States may be requested to submit a plan modification to carry out the additional responsibilities. 9. Action Required . Grant plans are due within 45 days of the date of this directive. Regional Offices may extend the due date if necessary. SESA Administrators are requested to a. Immediately transmit this planning guidance to the appropriate SESA office. b. Submit two signed copies of the PY 2001 grant plan to the appropriate Regional Administrator and one copy to the 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 Attention Olaf Bjorklund c. The grant application must include 1. A Transmittal Letter 2. Application for Federal Assistance SF-424 3. Budget Plan SF-424A Section D only 4. Annual Plan Narrative 10. Inquiries . Questions on plan requirements may be directed to the appropriate Regional Office or to Olaf Bjorklund at 202-693-2870. Grant and financial management questions may be directed to the appropriate Regional Office or to Gwendolyn Baron-Simms at 202-693-3309 or to Fred Tello Grant Officer at 202 693-3333. 11. Attachments . I. Allocations for PY 2001 II. Grant Procedures III. Annual Plan Guidelines Attachment II Grant Procedures A. Grant Agreement . The Wagner-Peyser Annual Funding Agreement will encompass the Base Grant and the One-Stop LMI grant for PY 2001 FY 2002. The Funding Agreement includes Assurances and Certifications which apply to all grants covered by the Agreement. B. Grant Application . Grant Applications are to be developed in accordance with Attachments I II and III. 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 Narrative. States are requested to submit two signed copies of the final negotiated 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 Olaf Bjorklund C. Plan Approval . Regional Administrators are responsible for final approval of the plan and will issue an approval letter with a copy of the approved plan to the State and a copy of the approval letter and plan to the Grant Officer. A Notice of Obligation will be issued by the Grant Officer subsequent to the receipt of the Regional Office s approval package. D. Plan Modifications . The Grantee and Regional Office may jointly modify planned activities and associated expenditures within the State allocation during the plan period of performance. The Regional Office has authority to unilaterally recommend funding adjustments to the Grant Officer when overall grant expenditures are substantially below quarterly budgeted forecasts in the approved SF- 424A. In the event the Secretary of Labor is required to carry out other responsibilities not anticipated in the plan States may be requested to submit a plan modification to carry out the additional responsibilities. E. Financial Reconciliation . The Regional Office will conduct a financial reconciliation of State and ETA accounting records at the end of the Program Year. Attachment III Plan Guidelines Plan Narrative States must submit a plan narrative describing each planned activity in detail including planned outcomes principal customers milestones for achieving the outcomes and total estimated costs for the activity. At a minimum the plan must address achievement of the most recent priority core products and services defined by the Workforce Information Council. Priority core products and services which cannot be addressed due to insufficient funds must be identified and an explanation provided in the narrative along with the rationale for selecting those core products and services which will be addressed. Except for those core products that have a specific national focus such as population of the ALMIS Database long-term employment projections and short-term employment forecasts all other activities must be within the context of the State s WIA Wagner-Peyser Act Five-Year Strategic Plan and developed in consultation with the State Workforce Investment Board. The annual plan must specifically include narrative information on the following areas how the State plans to provide the core products and services as identified in the most recent Workforce Information Council s Annual Plan the major activities to be funded by the grant how the activities support the State s WIA Wagner-Peyser Act Five-Year Strategic Plan and the consultation process with the State Workforce Investment Board the principal customers to be served measurable outcomes to be achieved through funding of activities milestones timetable for achieving outcomes and total estimated cost of each major activity including identification of planned equipment purchases of 5 000 or more per unit cost. Priority Core Products and Services 1 Continue to populate the ALMIS Database with State data. The ALMIS Database structure was designed to provide States with a resource for storing information in a single format and location to facilitate information delivery to a wide range of customers. When populated to the fullest extent at the State level the database can serve as the cornerstone for information delivery research and product development. One-Stop LMI funds may be used for equipment programming database development staff or other required costs to implement and maintain the database. The ALMIS Database Consortium is responsible for updating the database structure to accommodate new data tables changes and customer information needs. This process is facilitated through minor minimal anticipated impact to applications and major substantial changes version releases. States are encouraged to upgrade to the latest ALMIS Database version available. However depending on individual State implementation requirements and applications States may need to continue to maintain an earlier version of the Database. States are requested to indicate in the plan which version of the database is currently being used. Sharing of applications and database access across States is one of the most significant advantages to be gained through the development and support of the ALMIS Database. States should begin exploring options for data sharing with other States to maximize access and dissemination of workforce information. States are required to populate all tables previously designated as core tables in accordance with guidelines issued by the ALMIS Database Consortium. States are strongly encouraged to populate the database to the fullest extent possible beyond the core requirements in order to maximize usefulness for state local information delivery research and product development. Information and technical support are provided at the Consortium s web site at http almis.dws.state.ut.us. Additionally the maintenance and updating of occupational licensing data is the responsibility of the ALMIS Database administrator in each State. According to instructions from last year States are required to populate the following database files license.dbf licauth.dbf and lichist.dbf. Licensing data should be updated every two years. States are required to submit licensing data through the National Crosswalk Service Center NCSC for inclusion on the America s Career Information Network ACINet site. The NCSC also provides support to the ALMIS Database Consortium and State database administrators including access to ALMIS Database files and information on updates to those files. States may access information and support through the NCSC web site at http www.xwalkcenter.org or by calling 515-242-5034. 2 Produce and disseminate long-term industry and occupational employment projections. Each State is required to produce and disseminate State-level long-term industry and occupational employment projections using the methodology software tools and guidelines developed by the Long-Term Employment Projections Consortium and the MicroMatrix User s Group in consultation with BLS and ETA. For PY 2001 projections will be produced with calender year 2000 as the base year and 2010 as the projected year in coordination with the BLS National Projections for the same time period. In addition States are required to produce sub- State long-term projections every two years. Inability to produce sub-State projections due to size or other restrictions must be noted in the plan. States are required to populate the ALMIS Database with the projections data and submit the data for public dissemination following procedures established by the Consortium in consultation with BLS and ETA. 3 Produce and disseminate short-term industry and occupational employment forecasts. Each State is required to annually produce and disseminate State-level short-term industry and occupational employment forecasts using the methodology software tools and guidelines developed by the Short-Term Forecasts Consortium and the MicroMatrix User s Group in consultation with ETA. For PY 2001 States will produce forecasts using any quarter in calender year 2001 as the base year and forecast to the same quarter in 2003 as the forecasted year. In addition States are required to test the production of forecasts data for sub-State areas in accordance with Consortium guidelines. Access to local employment forecasts has been identified as a critical need by the workforce investment system. Inability to produce sub-State forecasts due to size or other restrictions must be noted in the plan. States will be required to submit the forecasts data for public dissemination in accordance with procedures to be developed by the Consortium in consultation with ETA. 4 Develop occupational analysis products. Each State will continue to develop customer-focused occupational and career information products incorporating related information such as occupational supply information employment projections forecasts and trends and providing skills-based information using O NET and other skills research and information. Occupational information products and services must be developed in consultation with Workforce Investment Boards and other appropriate stakeholders. States will determine the appropriate technologies and media for development and dissemination of this information. Describe the products to be developed including the products utility for intended customers. 5 Provide an employer name and address list that can be accessed by the public. The majority of States are licensed to use the ALMIS Employer Database. States not licensed are required to provide public access to an alternative comprehensive employer name and address list to facilitate the job search process and for other purposes. Licensed States are required to integrate the ALMIS Employer Database with the ALMIS Database in accordance with ALMIS Database Consortium guidelines. States are required to develop applications allowing easy public access to the employer name and address list and describe in the plan the employer name and address list being used or developed how workforce investment customers will access the information and the functionality of the application for workforce development requirements and operations in the State. The ALMIS Employer Database also resides on the ACINet site. States have the option of developing system links to or direct use of ACINet for public access to the employer name and address list. 6 Provide information and support to Workforce Investment Boards and produce other State information products and services. The plan must describe the strategy for collaborating with State and local Workforce Investment Boards and other stakeholders to provide timely needed workforce information and services to customers. Describe the process to be used for determining customer s information requirements the customer groups to be consulted and the expected information products and services to be provided. 7 Support the development of State-based workforce information delivery systems. Funds are to be used to support the development and improvement of electronic access to and dissemination of workforce information. Describe what system development activities will be undertaken to improve the delivery of workforce information to ensure universal access and information utility to facilitate informed choice for all customers of the State workforce information system. Examples include but are not limited to developing web-based applications for self-service access to the ALMIS Database or other information repositories creating systems which are compatible with other States workforce information systems for interstate functionality or integrating labor market information systems with other workforce systems. 8 Support State workforce information training activities. Describe the training activities to be undertaken to increase staff and customer knowledge and use of workforce information. The plan must describe the type of training to be provided and its purpose the intended recipients of the training the number of training sessions planned or alternative methods of training delivery to be used. Funds may be used to support the costs of course development training materials training delivery facility rental tuition training related travel expenses and other associated costs necessary to provide workforce information training. Annual Report States are required to submit an annual report which summarizes the achievements and outcomes of the plan. The report is intended to serve as an accountability management and analysis tool for the States ETA and the Workforce Information Council. States are required to report for each planned activity 1 The outcomes achieved in comparison to planned outcomes and an analysis which explains the cause of any significant variance from planned outcomes and actions to be taken to bring the activity into conformance with the approved plan. 2 The extent that the activity has conformed to the planned development delivery schedule including an explanation for the cause of any significant variance from plan and actions to be taken to bring the activity into conformance with the approved planned activity schedule. 3 Total estimated expenditures for the activity and an explanation for any significant variance from plan.