Appendix A (Accessible PDF).pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

A-1 Appendix A Questions and Answers on Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act WIOA Disadvantaged Youth and Adult Data 1. What is the definition of a disadvantaged Youth or Adult See WIOA Sections 127 b 2 C and 132 b 1 B v IV . A 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 a disadvantaged Adult is similar but per WIOA Section 132 b 1 B v I the age restriction is 22 to 72. WIOA Section 127 b 3 requires DOL to exclude college students and members of the Armed Forces on active duty as defined in 10 U.S.C. section 101 d 1 from the number of disadvantaged Youth and Adults to the extent practicable. The LLSIL is an income level determined annually by the Secretary of Labor based on the most recent lower living family budget issued by the Secretary. The LLSILs used in the special tabulations were those published in 2020 see Federal Register Volume 85 Number 84 April 30 2020 for the year 2020 . Notices are located at https www.doleta.gov llsil . For American Community Survey ACS income data from 2016 to 2020 the Census Bureau adjusted income levels for inflation to compare it with LLSIL and poverty levels for 2020. 2. What additional requirements are there for states with concentrated employment program grant recipients The states of Kentucky Minnesota and Wisconsin who have designated local areas served by concentrated employment program CEP grant recipients under WIOA Section 107 c 1 C must use the higher of the number of 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 WflA Section 127 b 2 E and WIOA Section 132 b 1 B v VII . ETA calculated the following low-income levels in the chart below for these states for 20OMI which were used by the Census Bureau to develop the special tabulations in Table 8 Low-Income Level 2020 Kentucky 48 000 Minnesota 46 000 Wisconsin 46 000 A-2 3. If college students are excluded to the extent practicable why are college students in the labor force included in the counts for Table 6 We include college students in the labor force because it isn t possible to exclude them. The Census Bureau cannot distinguish students who work full time from those who work part-time. The Census Bureau can exclude either 1 all college students or 2 only college students who are not in the labor force. The Census Bureau cannot code special tabulations that exclude college students who work part-time. The Employment and Training Administration ETA finds it is better policy to exclude from the calculation of the number of disadvantaged youth only those college students who are not in the labor force. As a result at the local level some college towns may have a larger number of youth defined as disadvantaged than what the state feels is justified. ETA recognizes the issue but it is currently not possible to exclude college students who work part-time from the tabulations. Demographic data on WIOA Youth and Adult participants suggests that a small percentage of participants are in post-secondary education and working while participating in the programs. This being the case excluding all college students could remove some potential WIOA participants from the counts of disadvantaged Youth and Adults. According to the most recent WIOA data Program Year PY 2021 2.2 percent of WIOA Youth participants were in post- secondary education at enrollment. Of those in post-secondary education 26.6 percent were employed at enrollment. For Adult participants in PY 2021 10.7 percent were in post-secondary education at enrollment. Of those 42.9 percent were also employed at enrollment. This suggests that there are adults in the workforce who are taking some college classes who could be WIOA participants and qualify as disadvantaged. 4. Why is ETA using the ACS The most recent census conducted in 2020 did not include the long form survey which ETA previously used to update the disadvantaged data. Instead ETA worked with the Census Bureau to use data from the ACS. ACS data is 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 disadvantaged Youth and Adults was collected between January 1 2016 and December 31 2020. 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 https www.census.gov programs- surveys acs . A-3 5. When will the next update of the disadvantaged Youth and Adult data occur The Census Bureau releases a new set of five-year estimates every year but ETA anticipates updating the 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 2028 allocations. 6. My state s 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 disadvantaged Youth or Adults depending on the program compared with other states relative shares. An increase in a state s disadvantaged data does not always increase its relative share. Despite increases in the number of 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 website do I need to use It depends on how your state defines local areas. Files labeled Table 6 contain data meeting the WIOA definition of 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 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 and Wisconsin will need additional data in Table 8 because these three states have designated CEPs. CEPs use the higher of the number of disadvantaged Youth or Adults contained in Table 6 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 WIOA Sections 127 b 2 E and 132 b 1 B v VII . 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 is also provided. The other tables 1-3 and 7 are provided for states information but are not used in the WIOA Adult and Youth formulas. See Appendix B for a further description of the contents of tables 1-8.