TEGL_29_12_Acc.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION ADVISORY SYSTEM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Washington D.C. 20210 CLASSIFICATION Workforce Information CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL DNPTTA Workforce Information DATE May 10 2013 ADVISORY TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 29-12 TO STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES STATE WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATORS STATE LABOR COMMISSIONERS STATE AND LOCAL WORKFORCE BOARD CHAIRS AND DIRECTORS STATE WORKFORCE LIAISONS STATE LABOR MARKET INFORMATION WORKFORCE INFORMATION OR RESEARCH DIRECTORS FROM JANE OATES s Assistant Secretary SUBJECT Program Year PY 2013 Workforce Information Grants to States WIGS Policy and Program Guidance Application Instructions and Formula Allocations 1. Purpose . To provide policy and program guidance for the development management and delivery of Labor Market Information and Workforce Information LMI-WI funded through WIGS for services to job seekers employers educators economic developers and others. 2. References . Paperwork Reduction Act PRA of 1995 Pub. L. 104-13 and 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520 29 Code of Federal Regulations CFR Parts 93 96 97 and 98 and 2 CFR 225 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Section 508 as amended 29 U.S.C. 794d Wagner-Peyser Act Sections 6 7 10 c and 15 29 U.S.C. 49e 49f 49 i c and 49 l 2 Workforce Investment Act WIA Pub. L. 105-220 Sections 111 d 8 and 309 29 U.S.C. 2821 d 8 and 49 l 2 Training and Employment Guidance Letter TEGL No. 27-11 May 2 2012 Program Year PY 2012 Workforce Information Grants to States WIGS Policy and Program Guidance Application Instructions and Formula Allocations 3. OMB Approval . To conform with the PRA OMB has reviewed and approved this information collection OMB Control Number 1205-0417 whose authorization expires May 31 2014. Under 5 CFR 1320.5 b an agency cannot conduct sponsor or require a response to a collection of information unless the collection displays a valid OMB Control Number. RESCISSIONS EXPIRATION DATE None Continuing 2 4. Fund Allotments Goals and Objectives . ETA is awarding 31 939 520 in PY 2013 for WIGS. ETA distributes a total of 176 655 to Guam and the Virgin Islands and allocates the remaining 31 762 865 by formula to the states the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. For the latter group 40 percent is distributed equally and the remaining 60 percent is distributed based on each jurisdiction s relative share of the civilian labor force for the 12- month period ending September 2012. Attachment 1 shows the allocations. Hereafter we have incorporated the District of Columbia and the territories into the term state. Each year the Employment and Training Administration ETA funds these LMI-WI formula grants to the states and specifies grant requirements. State workforce agencies use WIGS to develop and disseminate essential state and local LMI-WI for job seekers employers educators economic developers and others. The main body of this TEGL describes required encouraged and allowable activities and explains the rationales for ETA policies and requirements. Attachment 2 summarizes WIGS requirements and includes important administrative details that are not covered in the body of the guidance such as deadlines and submission requirements. 5. Required Encouraged and Allowable Activities . Grantees primarily serve four customer groups 1 the public including job seekers and employers 2 labor market intermediaries who help individuals find a job or make career decisions such as employment and school counselors case managers at American Job Centers and community-based organizations 3 policymakers and employment and economic program planners and operators and 4 miscellaneous other customers including researchers commercial data providers and the media. Grantees have considerable flexibility to meet customer needs but must consult their customers and prepare several types of products. Required products. Grantees must produce a database a below plus two types of public products b and c below . ETA encourages states to produce additional reports d below . If the grantee does not produce a required deliverable it must negotiate an extension and a revised schedule with the appropriate ETA regional office. a. Workforce Information Database WIDb . Accurate and reliable data is a cornerstone of the nation s workforce investment and employment statistics systems. The WIDb includes the most important workforce-related data elements and defines them consistently ensuring comparability across jurisdictions. Its variables include employment projections wages educational programs the locations of educational and training institutions contact information for all U.S. employers and occupational licenses. States must use WIGS funds to populate maintain and update the WIDb and to provide related staff training. Grantees must implement and maintain the most current version now 2.5 of WIDb and populate all Analyst Resource Center ARC -designated core tables. The ARC Web site www.workforceinfodb.org describes all required data elements and helps grantees obtain maximum benefit from the WIDb. The National 3 Crosswalk Service Center can help grantees to recode their occupational data and provides a repository for other types of crosswalks www.xwalkcenter.org or call 515- 242-5034 . ETA uses the WIDb to offer career information and guidance via CareerOneStop www.careeronestop.org ETA s suite of national electronic tools for job seekers labor market intermediaries such as employment counselors employers and many others. b. State and local industry and occupational employment projections. These projections are the most frequently-requested type of employment statistic besides the unemployment rate. Projections are used for career guidance to plan employment education and training and economic development programs as supporting documentation to apply for Federal grants and for many other purposes. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics BLS funds national employment projections but WIGS fund the state and local projections produced by the states with assistance from ETA and BLS. Because ETA views employment projections as among the most important products funded by WIGS its projections requirements are more stringent than for other WIGS products see the table below . ETA s requirements do not differ between industry and occupational projections but vary for long-term vs. short-term projections and statewide vs. sub-state projections. ETA grantees who are unable to produce the required projections must report this to their ETA Regional Administrator. Grantees must use the methodology software and guidelines specified by the Projections Managing Partnership PMP and its Projections Workgroup to produce all projections. To meet these requirements ETA encourages grantees to use WIGS funding to obtain training provided by the PMP see http dev.projectionscentral.com . Other LMI-WI staff training is also allowable using WIGS funds. Type of industry and occupational projection Required encouraged and allowable activities Applicable years for this TEGL Statewide long-term 10-year projections required in odd- numbered calendar years Projected to 2022 using a 2012 base year Statewide short -term 2-year p rojections submission required each year ETA also encourages states to disseminate their short-term projections State may produce longer projections e.g. 3 4 or 5 years . ETA discourages 1-year projections which date quickly. ETA also encourages states to disseminate these projections. Projected to 2015 using a 2013 base year Sub-state long-term 10-year projections required in even- numbered calendar years NA required next year Sub -state short -term Optional an allowable and encouraged but not required activity NA 4 c. A statewide annual economic analysis report. ETA regards state economic and labor market analyses as essential to plan WIA and other Federal workforce investment system programs. Therefore ETA requires statewide economic analysis reports and encourages annual publication. However ETA recognizes that conditions may not change sufficiently each year to necessitate an annual report and gives states the discretion to determine their frequency. For years in which a comprehensive economic report is not issued grantees must publish other less comprehensive economic reports of value to state policymakers including the governor and state legislature as well as state and local workforce investment boards WIBs . Grantees have broad discretion over the reports contents but they should include analyses of trends and challenges at both the state and sub-state levels of such topics as gross domestic product employment growth or decline actual and projected unemployment and other labor market hardship indicators such as low earnings critical industries and occupations and skill shortages mismatches and deficiencies within the limitations of the available data. The analyses should address the jobless population as a whole as well as the experiences needs and challenges of the jobless targeted populations identified in ETA WIA planning requirements specified on page 3 of http www.doleta.gov usworkforce wia-planning docs integrated-planning-guidance.pdf . ETA will not accept the following submissions for the economic analysis report or its substitute 1 data tables alone 2 job listings 3 maps alone 4 reports done by the grantee for BLS e.g. news releases employment situation reports etc. or 5 reports funded by Federal sources other than WIGS. d. Other economic and labor market reports and products. ETA encourages grantees to produce other reports and data in addition to those specified above grantees have wide discretion in both the topics and presentation format. These reports should include accurate data actionable information and resources that enable job seekers employers staff in American Job Centers policy makers and the workforce investment system to make informed decisions about the services training and career paths that lead to good jobs. Examples of such miscellaneous products include occupational and career guidance resources for job seekers which may take the form of electronic self-service tools industry- or occupation-specific research and studies of topics of continuing interest such as labor or skill shortages mismatches and deficiencies. ETA encourages grantees to review the reports issued by other states to obtain useful ideas http www.doleta.gov performance results AnnualReports annual report.cfm . Other encouraged activities. ETA strongly encourages grantees to help their state Wagner- Peyser WIA and other grant partners better identify and more rigorously report when participants receive workforce information services to ensure that performance reports better measure the value and impact of LMI-WI. ETA also encourages grantees to 1 leverage WIGS funds by expanding partnerships among the workforce investment system and education training and economic development communities and 2 apply for other Federal and competitive grants to complement WIGS funds. 5 6. Required Methods . Grantees have considerable flexibility in how they carry out their work but must meet certain methodological standards in collaborating with partners consulting with customers collecting data and posting their products on the Internet. a. Partnerships. In order to best serve their customers and optimize the Federal investment grantees are to establish and maintain partnerships that grantees consider relevant and mutually beneficial. ETA believes that such partnerships can augment resources improve program outcomes and help LMI-WI data influence planning and program decisions. b. Customer consultation. WIA Section 309 e 2 requires states to consult with customers about the relevance of the LMI collected and disseminated including employers WIBs education agencies and others. ETA does not prescribe how grantees consult customers and methods can include focus groups surveys crowd-sourcing Webinars listening sessions customer satisfaction assessments and or other methods considered appropriate by the grantee. Grantees must document these consultations in their grant file and annual performance report. c. Data collection and research methodology. All data collection activities must conform to BLS technical standards and methodologies and if they do not the grantee must document a defensible rationale. Information used in reports must 1 be based in part on needs identified through customer consultations and product assessments and 2 come from credible sources that meet professional standards. Multiple sources must be used except when the report is based upon a single survey. Sources must be clearly referenced and or footnoted. d. Publication requirements. In order to maximize the availability of LMI-WI products grantees must post grant-funded products reports and workforce information on their Web sites in a readily accessible manner unless otherwise indicated and meet standard Federal accessibility requirements www.section508.gov . To meet this criterion grantees may use WIGS funding to develop maintain improve and or host LMI-WI Web sites and other electronic delivery systems. e. Information technology IT specifications. To maximize its usefulness any IT system or application developed with WIGS is to adhere to industry-standard open architecture principles with documentation and software made available for use by other organizations for Federal governmental purposes. 7. Application for Federal Assistance Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements . a. Application forms. States must submit an SF 424 Application for Federal Assistance and SF 424A Budget Information to apply for this grant see both Action Requested below and Attachment 2 for deadlines and other requirements . ETA regional offices review and approve WIGS applications. Following regional office approval the ETA Grant Officer issues a Notice of Obligation NOO . 6 b. Other standard forms and files. ETA requires grantees to complete ETA Form 9130 quarterly financial reports and to sign an annual funding agreement with ETA which includes grantee assurances and certifications. In addition grantees must maintain their internal grant files in electronic form and make these available upon request to ETA. c. Expenditures. By accepting WIGS funding a state agrees to fulfill all work specified in this guidance. The grant performance period spans July 1 2013 to June 30 2014 ETA expects grantees to expend WIGS funds during this period. Grantees may request an alternative schedule from their ETA regional office but must expend the funds within a three-year period by June 30 2016 or the funds will be returned to the U.S. Treasury. During the performance period the grantee and the ETA regional office may jointly adjust planned expenditures within the state s allotment. The ETA Grant Officer may reallocate grant funds within the ETA region if grantees 1 expenditures and obligations are substantially below the forecasted levels or 2 fail to complete required deliverables. All WIGS expenditures must support the required and allowable activities and conform to reasonable necessary and allocable costs specified in 2 CFR 225. WIGS cannot be used to supplant funding from other Federal or state sources. d. Annual performance report. Grantees must submit an annual performance report to their ETA regional office that summarizes all grantee activities and lists the core deliverables and activities shown below in the order indicated. i. Workforce information database WIDb ii. Industry and occupational projections iii. Annual economic analysis and other reports iv. Customer consultations v. Activities undertaken to meet customer needs vi. New tools and resources vii. Efforts to create and support partnerships and collaborations viii. Activities to leverage LMI-WI funding ix. Recommendations to ETA for changes and improvements to WIGS requirements 8. Additional Resources . The Workforce Information Council s WIC LMI Products and Customer Analysis tool can showcase state LMI-WI or research entity products and tools. Using pre-formatted spreadsheets states can easily categorize their products and tools identify the Web site location and record information on views and downloads. By cross- referencing these tables with WIC s Customer Consultation Study Group product-customer matrix states can better identify under-served customers and important unaddressed topics. WIC s reports and tools can be accessed at http www.workforceinfocouncil.org library.asp . 9. Action Requested . ETA requests that state workforce administrators transmit this guidance to the appropriate state workforce agency SWA office s and the state WIB. The relevant state office should submit to the ETA Regional Administrator an original and one copy of the PY 2013 grant application package which must include a 1 transmittal letter 2 SF 424 Application for Federal Assistance and 3 SF 424A Budget Information . The transmittal 7 letter must be signed by either 1 the governor or 2 both the SWA administrator and the state WIB chairperson. The states must also submit the SF 424 to the Grants.gov Web site. 10. Inquiries . For questions on grant requirements and the statement of work contact the appropriate ETA regional office. For financial management questions contact the ETA regional office Grants Specialist Sharon Carter at Carter.Sharon DOL.gov or Grant Officer Thomas Martin at Martin.Thomas DOL.gov or 202 693-2989. 11. Attachments . 1. Workforce Information Grants to States PY 2012 vs. PY 2013 Allotments 2. Consolidated Requirements for WIGS Grantees