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Background: Last year, ETA awarded a grant to the National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC), an organization with an extensive background in youth programs and issues, to plan, test and develop PEPNet. This network will establish standards, methods of measurements, a nomination process and recognition for youth programs that have demonstrated their effectiveness or potential. Programs with promise or demonstrative effectiveness will be examined as models for replication and vehicles for learning. Furthermore, it is expected that PEPNet will assist in showcasing many of our finest youth programs (or program components) to demonstrate what works and what is possible. The identified programs will not be limited to ETA funded programs, although it is expected that most will be from Job Training Partnership Act (including Job Corps), Bureau of Apprenticeship Training, and School-to-Work. ETA is focusing its effort into creating a more comprehensive youth development system that will serve in-school and out-of-school youth and foster the underlying philosophy -- work-based, contextual learning that fuses work with experiential schooling. PEPNet will further these goals by establishing a visible network of successful or promising youth programs that can be a catalyst to expand the number of effective youth programs. Next Steps: NYEC has convened a broad-based group of experts in youth programs from both the public and private sectors, including researchers, program operators, educators, and business representatives, to develop criteria needed to select promising and effective youth programs. It is anticipated that the criteria will be distributed by the end of March 1996. The nomination process and format will be completed by the end of April 1996. A Training and Employment Information Notice containing further details on the nomination process will be sent to you, requesting nomination of youth programs or program components you believe meet these criteria. The PEPNet workgroup of experts will then select the youth programs from those nominated based on the criteria and evidence of effectiveness. Information Accessible Electronically: As information on PEPNet becomes available, it will be made accessible electronically via the Training Technology Resource Center (TTRC) on-line information system. TTRC is accessible by: calling 1-800-488-0901 voice; via modem by dialing 1-800-767-0806; or Internet: WEB URL: HTTP://WWW.TTRC.DOLETA.GOV.

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Reference. DINAP Bulletins Nos. 95-03 and 95-12. Background. As was stated in DINAP Bulletin No. 95-03, there will be no new title II-B appropriations from which to allot new funds to eligible grantees for the summer of 1996, although summer youth activities remain allowable under the Act. As also stated in that bulletin, grantees with unspent title II-B funds may carry them over to the summer of 1996 to provide allowable summer youth activities/services. Because no new funds have been appropriated under title II-B for summer youth programs, section 401 grantees are not required to submit a Summer Plan. However, those grantees who have sufficient carry-over title II-B funds to provide summer program activities during 1996 must submit a formal modification requesting Grant Officer approval (see MOD attachment). Action. Grantees planning to use title II-B funds to provide allowable Summer Youth activities during the summer of 1996 must submit a formal modification to the Department of Labor by April 12, 1996. Mail modifications to: U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Division of Indian and Native American Programs Room N-4641 FPB 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20210 ATTENTION: MIS DESK This modification should clearly state that the grantee intends to expend title II-B funds carried over to provide allowable Summer Youth activities during the summer of 1996. Grantees must also complete a Budget Information Summary (BIS) form indicating the level of Federal funds to be devoted to the 1996 summer program. To utilize title II-B funds appropriated prior to 1995 (under the now-expired 99-1/B-3 grants), grantees should have submitted a modification according to the instructions contained in DINAP Bulletin No. 95-12. If a modification request to transfer title II-B funds from expired grant periods to the current grant has not been submitted, it must be prior to the submission of a modification requesting approval to provide Summer Youth activities in 1996 with II-B carry-over funds. All previously-issued rules, regulations, and statutory requirements for the title II-B program remain in effect during 1996, including reporting requirements. Grantees are reminded that only Federal (JTPA) funds utilized for 1996 title II-B activities need to be accounted for in the summer Financial Status Report. Questions. Contact your DINAP Federal Representative Team.

Reference. Job Training Reform Amendments of 1992. Background. As required by the Job Training Reform Amendments of 1992, the Native American Employment and Training Council was established by charter, effective July 1, 1993. The charter provides for eighteen members appointed for two years. Currently, the Council has two vacancies, the Region I representative position which expires on June 30, 1996, and the Other Discipline Member which expires on June 30, 1997. Additionally, the nine memberships which will expire as of June 30, 1996, are as follows: Region I Region V Vacant Karen Kay Central Maine Indian Assoc. Michigan Indian Employment Bangor, Maine and Training Services, Inc. Expires June 30, 1996 Holt, Michigan Expires June 30, 1996 Region II Alaska Ms. Marie Benedict Mr. Alexie Morris St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Association of Village Council Hogansburg, New York Presidents Expires June 30, 1996 Bethel, Alaska Expires June 30, 1996 Hawaii Ms. Winona Whitman Alu Like, Inc. Honolulu, Hawaii Expires June 30, 1996 Other Disciplines Mr. Gaiashkibos Vacancy Lac Courte Oreilles Expires June 30, 1997 Hayward, Wisconsin Expires June 30, 1996 Dr. Rose-Alma McDonald-Jacobs Mr. Clarence Skye Native American Consultant United Sioux Tribes of South Hogansburg, New York Dakota Expires June 30, 1996 Pierre, South Dakota Expires June 30, 1996 Mr. Eddie Tullis Poarch Band of Creek Indians Atmore, Alabama Expires June 30, 1996 Grantees may renominate these individuals for these memberships, or may submit the names of new individuals. Consistent with the terms of the charter, all nominees must be Indian or Alaskan Native or Hawaiian Native individuals. Only grantees in Regions I, II, IV, and Hawaii may submit nominations for the membership vacancies in those areas. The Department of Labor (the Department) will accept nominations for "other discipline" vacancies from all Section 401 grantees. Indian tribes or Indian, Alaskan Native or Hawaiian Native organizations that do not operate Section 401 grants may also submit nominations for the "other discipline" category. Self nominations will also be considered. In submitting nominations, grantees should consider the willingness of the nominee to attend Council meetings, and to provide feedback to the grantee community. The Department views the Council as its major source for consultation with the grantee community, and, as such, communication between the Council member and his/her constituency is critical. Action. If you would like to suggest nominees for the Council, please submit the names of these individuals to the following address: Thomas Dowd Chief Division of Indian and Native American Programs U.S. Department of Labor 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Room N-4641 Washington, D.C. 20210 ATTN: Council Desk We would appreciate having the nominations postmarked no later than April 12, 1996. Questions. Contact Thomas Dowd, Chief, Division of Indian and Native American Programs on (202) 219-8502. In his absence, call Mr. Greg Gross at (202) 219-7509.

References. DINAP Bulletin No. 94-23. Background. a. To assist grantees missing numerous active DINAP bulletins, DINAP has put these bulletins onto a 3.5" diskette. Paper copies of the supplemental attachments complete the bulletin diskette packet. b. You will need access to a computer with the following system requirements to use the diskette: 1. IBM Compatible. 2. 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive. 3. WordPerfect 6.0 or higher. 4. Printer. c. PY 1994 and PY 1995 bulletins are available on the TTRC database. To access, refer to Section 4: Configuring Other Systems Information of the PC Sprintmail for Windows Installation and Configuration Guide provided to all grantees with their Sprintmail software. d. The bulletin diskette is intended for those programs missing many or all of the active operating bulletins. Grantees missing only a few bulletins can receive them by FAX, Sprintmail (attachment), or standard mail. Action Required. Determine what bulletins you are missing by referencing DINAP Bulletin 94-23 and contact your Federal Representative (Fed. Rep.) Team and inform them of your needs. You are strongly encouraged to communicate your request by utilizing your Sprintmail account. Questions. Contact your Fed. Rep. Team.

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References: Public Law (P.L.) 104-92; Subchapter I of Chapter 85 of Title 5 U.S.C.; 20 CFR Part 609; and ET Handbook No. 391. Background: General. During the recent partial shutdown of the Federal Government from December 15, 1995 to January 6, 1996, several SESAs issued UCFE payments to furloughed Federal employees for weeks of unemployment occurring during this period. P.L. 104-92 provided, in part, that all officers and employees of the affected Federal agencies were deemed to be performing services during the partial shutdown period and were issued retroactive salary payments for the period of their furlough. This should result in the establishment of overpayments by the SESAs which issued UCFE payments to furloughed employees for weeks of unemployment during the partial shutdown for which these Federal employees subsequently received retroactive salary payments. The SESA has the responsibility for determining if a UCFE program overpayment has occurred and commencing recovery actions on UCFE overpayments. Federal law at 5 U.S.C. 8502(b) provides that UCFE will be paid by the State to a Federal employee in the same amount, on the same terms, and subject to the same conditions as is provided to individuals covered under the applicable State's unemployment compensation (UC) law. For UCFE purposes, the applicable State is the State to which the individual's Federal wages were assigned under 5 U.S.C. 8504 (or 20 CFR 609.8). Further, the UCFE program regulations at 20 CFR 609.11 provide, in part, that the establishment and recovery of UCFE overpayments are made under provisions of the applicable State's UC law, including if the State law requires the employer, rather than the claimant, to reimburse the State for the overpayment. The UCFE program operating procedures for the establishment and recovery of overpayments are contained in Chapter XXI of ET Handbook No. 391 (see Change No. 1, dated May 1985). The regulations at 20 CFR 609.11(c) also provide that SESAs may take all actions provided under any State or Federal law to recover any outstanding UCFE overpayment amount. Effect of UCFE payments to furloughed employees on the Benefits Quality Control (BQC) sample: Once a SESA issues a UCFE payment, there is a potential that the payment may be selected for the BQC sample. Payments made to furloughed Federal employees are thus valid parts of the BQC sample and consistent with BQC policy, should be pursued by BQC regardless of any subsequent actions such as the payment being returned by the claimant or an overpayment being established. If sampled, SESA BQC units should treat these UCFE payments as normal BQC cases, and the SESA BQC units should evaluate them based on all applicable eligibility criteria. State BQC units should take into consideration that in these unique cases, SESAs have made payments based on all the facts that existed at the time the payment was issued. Therefore, a legislative change that occurred after the payment was issued should not in and of itself, affect the propriety of the case for BQC purposes. In other words, receipt of compensation for the period of the Federal furlough should not by itself constitute an improper payment for BQC coding. Information Provided Federal Agencies: The Department has notified Federal agencies that the SESAs will likely establish overpayments on the claims of furloughed Federal employees who received UCFE payments for weeks of unemployment during the December 15, 1995 through January 6, 1996 partial Federal Government shutdown. Federal agencies were asked to provide retroactive salary information to the SESAs that made UCFE payments to furloughed Federal employees and to cooperate with the SESAs in their overpayment establishment and recovery activities. Action Required: SESAs are requested to: Share the contents of this directive with all appropriate staff, including the BQC Supervisor; Review SESA UCFE payment records to determine if payments were made to furloughed Federal employees for weeks beginning between December 15, 1995, and January 6, 1996; Determine whether UCFE payment(s) made to furloughed Federal employees for weeks beginning during the above period constitute an overpayment under State law; If such payments do constitute an overpayment under State law, obtain from the current employing Federal agency of each furloughed employee who was paid UCFE during this period-- The amount of the retroactive salary payment made to the furloughed employee, and The weeks to which the retroactive salary payment applies; Establish UCFE overpayments in accordance with the provisions of State UC law; Initiate all overpayment recovery actions permitted under the UCFE program, including, if contained in the State's law, provisions requiring the employer, rather than the claimant to reimburse the State for the overpayment; and Fully cooperate with the Federal agencies in any UCFE overpayment determination and recovery activities.

Background: The MLS program is a Federal/State cooperative program which uses a standardized, automated approach to identifying, describing, and tracking the effects of major job cutbacks using data from each State's unemployment insurance database. The MLS program is authorized by Section 462(e) of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) (P.L. 97-300), as amended by P.L. 102-367, which directs the Secretary of Labor to "develop and maintain statistical data relating to permanent lay-offs and plant closings." The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was directly funded to administer an MLS program from FY 1984 through FY 1991. Funding for the program was dropped from the BLS budget in FY 1992, but was provided by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) from JTPA Title IV funds. The MLS program was eliminated in November 1992 primarily for lack of funding. Language in Congressional Appropriations Reports on the Department of Labor's budget request for FY 1994 called for ETA to provide BLS with funding from JTPA Title III discretionary accounts to continue the MLS program. ETA and BLS entered into an Intra-Agency Agreement (IAA) under which ETA transferred $6,000,000 to BLS to administer an MLS program. One of the provisions of that agreement called for BLS and ETA to establish a Federal/State workgroup to examine the utility of the MLS program to the Dislocated Worker program. The workgroup has finished its work and issued its Final Report (attached). The recommendations in the report have implications for actions at the state level. Findings of the Workgroup: The objective of the workgroup was to determine (1) whether the MLS program is, or can become, responsive to the information needs of the Dislocated Worker program, and (2) if changes are needed, what those changes are and what they would cost. In this regard, the workgroup defined four broad information needs for the Dislocated Worker program: Information which could be used to provide Early Warning of possible plant closings and mass layoffs that would require services from State or local Dislocated Worker program providers; Information which could serve as a means to identify the overall Dislocated Worker Population in need of EDWAA-funded services; Information which could be used as inputs to improve the Planning and Funding Allocation processes at the State level; and Information which could be used to facilitate Program Evaluation and Policy Analysis at both the State and National levels. The value of the information provided through the MLS program was determined by assessing how well it met, or could be made to meet (through reasonable changes), these information needs. In general, the workgroup concluded that the MLS program, as currently constituted and with no change, did not provide information that was of significant value to the Dislocated Worker program. However, the workgroup also concluded that, if certain key changes were made in the MLS program, the resulting information would be of value and could be used, at least at the State level, to meet or partially meet three of the four principal information needs of the Dislocated Worker program. Recommendations of the Workgroup: To enable the necessary changes to be made in the MLS program, the workgroup made the following recommendations: Take the actions necessary to make the definitions in the MLS program consistent with Dislocated Worker program definitions and to expand the population identified by the MLS to include the bulk of those persons eligible to participate in the Dislocated Worker program. Add occupational data for claimants identified through the MLS program. Provide training for State and local users of the MLS system, not just the system operators. Add a series of questions to the Employer Contact Survey to gauge customer satisfaction with services provided by State and local Dislocated Worker units. Require, as part of the BLS cooperative agreement with States regarding MLS, that State LMI/Research offices contact State Dislocated Worker offices to jointly determine what services can and will be provided to Dislocated Worker units using the resources provided under such agreement; concurrently, ETA should issue an instruction to State Dislocated Worker programs asking them to work cooperatively with the LMI/Research offices in this regard. Commit to continued funding for the revised MLS program for two to three years in order to implement the changes and evaluate their impact on the utility of the resulting data. Continue the MLS workgroup, or a similar body, to plan and oversee implementation of the required changes to the MLS program. Resolve the issue of the degree of flexibility allowed States (by BLS) in carrying out the MLS program. Determine the feasibility of using alternative means, in some instances, for the manner in which follow-up contacts with employers are conducted to reduce the cost of conducting the follow-up survey. While a final decision has not been made to accept all of the recommmendations of the Workgroup, several have been accepted and are already being implemented. Of primary interest is recommendation (e) above, which BLS has incorporated in its FY 1996 Cooperative Agreements with the States to carry out the MLS program. This recommendation grew out of a recognition by the Workgroup that there was a "clear need for a strong link between State Dislocated Worker program and LMI offices..." Moreover, the funding provided by BLS to LMI offices to carry out the MLS program, which comes entirely from Title III, primarily buys staff. The Workgroup believed that some portion of that staffing should be used to support the information needs of the dislocated worker program. In implementing this recommendation, BLS has called for a written agreement between the LMI and the Dislocated Worker offices as a deliverable under its Cooperative Agreement with each State. This agreement is intended to set out how MLS resources will be used and the support services that will be provided. It might also address the restrictions (under State or Federal law) that would be placed on the use of MLS Data by staff in State and local dislocated worker offices. Action Required: Ensure that the Dislocated Worker Unit (DWU) works with the State LMI/Research office to identify its information needs and to determine the services that the LMI/Research Office will provide to the DWU unit; and Share a copy of the attached report with appropriate staff.

References: Training and Employment Information Notice (TEIN) No. 49-93, Capacity Building Strategy Paper; TEIN No. 11-94, Consultation with our Customers: A Process to Build a Comprehensive Capacity Building Structure; TEIN No. 15-94, Status of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Program Year 1994 Capacity Building Pilot Projects; TEIN No. 11-94, Change 2, System-Wide Survey on Staff Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Needs. Background: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) supports a variety of technical assistance and training initiatives. These activities include staff training, curricula development, technological innovations, and other capacity building endeavors. ETA has recently published the attached document, titled ETA: Inventory of Technical Assistance and Training Initiatives, which is a comprehensive resource guide of all the major initiatives. Improving the skills, knowledge, and abilities of managerial and front-line staff of the nation's many disparate employment and training service delivery agencies has long been a priority of ETA. As public programs have become more aware of the importance of continuous improvement and customer satisfaction that are part of the "quality movement" now popular in the private sector, the need for more concerted and coordinated efforts in the area of staff development has become more acute. All of ETA's major programs have made plans to provide staff training and technical assistance to their local agencies. The purpose of this document is to transmit information about all of these programs to customers throughout the nation*s workforce development system. Description: The ETA: Inventory of Technical Assistance and Training Initiatives was originally developed to assist ETA officials in identifying common areas of capacity-building activity, opportunities for working together, and appropriate contacts within ETA from whom to obtain more specific information and/or establish cooperative relationships. It has since been determined, however, that this resource is appropriate to a wider employment and training audience as a tool to inform the system about the various national capacity- building efforts and where to go at the national level for more information about these activities. The ETA: Inventory of Technical Assistance and Training Initiatives documents the systemic and professional development capacity- building projects currently underway throughout ETA*s various employment and training units. These programs include: Employment Service Revitalization, One-Stop Career Center Systems, JTPA Titles II and III, the Office of Work-Based Learning, School-to-Work Initiatives, America*s Labor Market Information System (ALMIS), Older Workers, and Migrant/Seasonal Farm Workers. The capacity- building activities of the Veterans* Employment and Training Service and the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee are also included. This information was gathered through interviews with principle national office managers of each of these programs. A summary matrix at the front of the document provides a brief overview of all of these initiatives. This matrix is organized into the following categories: Information/Data Collection Training Delivery Methods Training System Development Training Programs Best Practices Standards/Evaluation System Coordination/Development The body of the document includes the overall purpose/approach of each of these initiatives and the following information about each capacity-building activity: Key Activity Target Audience Specific Products Delivery Method The appendices include contact information for each initiative and a list of acronyms. Distribution: Copies of ETA: Inventory of Technical Assistance and Training Initiatives will also be distributed to: ETA Regional Offices, State Training Institutes, State Training Coordinators, and other stakeholders. A copy of this publication is also available via the Training Technology Resource Center (TTRC) on-line information system. TTRC is accessible by calling 1-800-488-0901 (voice); via modem by dialing 1-800-767-0806; or via the Internet: WEB URL: HTTP://WWW.TTRC.DOLETA.GOV. Action Required: None.