TEGL_21_12_Att_A.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

1 Appendix A Questions and Answers 1. What is the definition of an economically disadvantaged Youth or Adult See WIA Sections 127 b 2 C and 132 b 1 B v IV . An economically disadvantaged Youth is defined as an individual who is age 16 through 21 who received an income or is a member of a family that received a total family income that in relation to family size does not exceed the higher of the poverty line or 70 percent of the Lower Living Standard Income Level LLSIL . The definition of an economically disadvantaged Adult is similar but per WIA Section 132 b 1 B v I the age restriction is 22 to 72. WIA requires college students and members of the Armed Forces to be excluded from the number of economically disadvantaged Youth and Adults to the extent practicable. The LLSIL is an income level determined annually by the Secretary of Labor Secretary based on the most recent lower living family budget issued by the Secretary. Because the ACS data used were from 2006-2010 the LLSILs used in the special tabulations were those published in Appendix D of the Federal Register Vol.75 No. 88 May 7 2010. The LLSILs used in the special tabulations were those published in 2010 see Appendix D of the Federal Register Vol.75 No. 88 May 7 2010 . For ACS income data from 2006 to 2009 Census adjusted income levels for inflation in order to compare it with LLSIL and poverty levels for 2010. 2. What additional requirements are there for states with rural concentrated employment program grant recipients The states of Kentucky Minnesota Montana and Wisconsin which have designated local areas served by rural concentrated employment program grant recipients under WIA Section 116 a 2 B must use the higher of the number of economically disadvantaged Youth or Adults in such areas or the number of individuals age 16 to 21 or Adults age 22 to 72 in families with an income below the low-income level in such area. The low-income level is defined in WIA Section 127 b 2 E and WIA Section 132 b 3 B . ETA calculated the following low-income levels for these states for 2010 which were used by the Census Bureau to develop the special tabulations in Table 8 Low-Income Level 2010 Kentucky 41 000 Minnesota 40 000 Montana 43 000 Wisconsin 40 000 3. If college students are excluded to the extent practical why are college students in the labor force included in the counts for Tables 5 and 6 Due to a change in the survey question format which started in the 2000 Census and continues in the ACS Census cannot distinguish students who work full-time from those who work part-time. What Census can code are special tabulations excluding all college students or special tabulations excluding only college students who are not in the labor force. Census cannot code special tabulations that exclude college students who work part-time or not at all. In an effort not to lose elements of the economically disadvantaged population group WIA Adult and Youth funds serve such as those working full-time and taking some college or graduate courses ETA decided to only exclude college students who were not working. ETA recognizes that this decision may result in some areas with large concentrations of college students having a larger number of youth defined as economically disadvantaged but it is not possible at this time to exclude college students who work part-time from the tabulations. Demographic data on WIA Youth and Adult participants suggests that some participants are in post-secondary education and working while participating in the programs. This being the case excluding all college students could remove potential WIA participants from the counts of economically disadvantaged Youth and Adults. According to the most recent WIASRD databook PY 2011 4.2 percent of WIA Youth exiters are in post-secondary education. Of those in post- secondary education 16.7 percent are employed at enrollment. This information was not required for Adult exiters in PY 2011. However for the 6 386 Adults for which ETA does have information on school status at enrollment 450 or 7 percent were in post high school education when they began participating. Although the statistics on Adults are incomplete it suggests that there are adults in the workforce who are taking some college classes who could be WIA participants and qualify as economically disadvantaged. 4. Why is ETA using the ACS The most recent Census conducted in 2010 did not include the long form survey which ETA previously used to update the economically disadvantaged data. Instead ETA worked with the Census Bureau to use data from the ACS. ACS data are based on a rolling annual sample survey mailed to approximately three million addresses a year over five years. The data used in the special tabulations for economically disadvantaged Youth and Adults were collected between January 1 2006 and December 31 2010. By pooling several years of survey responses the ACS can generate detailed statistical portraits of smaller geographies that can replace the data no longer collected in the long form of the decennial Census. For more information on the ACS go to htt p www.census.gov acs www . 2 5. When will the next update of the economically disadvantaged Youth and Adult data occur The Census Bureau releases a new set of five-year estimates every year but ETA anticipates updating the economically disadvantaged Youth and Adult data using the ACS only every five years. Therefore the next update is anticipated to be in time for the PY 2018 allocations. 6. My state s economically disadvantaged data increased. Why did my state s allotment not also increase Allotment amounts are based on a state s relative share of the total number of economically disadvantaged Youth or Adults depending on the program compared with other states relative shares. An increase in a state s economically disadvantaged data does not always increase its relative share. Despite increases in the number of economically disadvantaged data a state s relative share may decrease and that could cause the state s allotment amount to decrease. 7. What data files on the Web site do I need to use It depends on how your state defines local areas. Files labeled Table 6 contain data meeting the WIA definition of economically disadvantaged Youth and Adults and are available at different geographic levels. Most states will need Table 6 at the County-level 050 . Some states may need additional data at the County-Subdivision level 060 and County- or State-Place levels 155 and 160 in order to develop data sets for their states local areas. States that are a single area do not need the data at all. The State-level 040 and National-level 010 data are provided for states information. Kentucky Minnesota Montana and Wisconsin will need additional data in Table 8 because these four states have designated local areas served by Rural Concentrated Employment Program RCEP grant recipients and those RCEP local areas use the higher of the number of economically disadvantaged Youth or Adults in such areas or the number of individuals in the appropriate age range with an income below a low-income level calculated based on the definition described in WIA Sections 127 b 2 E and 132 b 3 B . Table 8 contains the number of individuals below these calculated income levels and is available at various geography levels County 050 County-Subdivision 060 County-Place 155 and State-Place 160 . Arizona and New Mexico also will need county-level American Indian Area Alaska Native Area Hawaiian Homeland Areas 270 data to determine Navajo Nation grant allocation amounts. Similar data at the state level 260 are also provided. 3 The other tables 1-5 and 7 are provided for states information but are not used in the WIA Adult and Youth formulas. See Appendix B for a further description of the contents of tables 1-8. 4