The purpose of this Training and Employment Notice (TEN) is to encourage workforce system collaboration and strategic partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership program and the Manufacturing USA network of institutes to provide assistance and support to manufacturing firms, particularly small and medium-sized manufacturers, to prepare a skilled workforce to support economic growth while preserving and creating jobs.

This Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) announces the availability of additional funding to cover ongoing administrative costs related to reporting, data retention, audit-related and oversight activities, efforts to detect, establish and recover overpayments, and financial reconciliation efforts associated with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) programs and the provisions of Section 2105 of the CARES Act for Temporary Full Federal Funding of the First week of Compensable Regular Unemployment for States with No Waiting Week (Section 2105).

To notify states that the Department of Labor’s (Department) is making available technical resources and services through the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) to support implementation of ARPA-funded projects. 

Consistent with Joint WIOA Final Rule requirements, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education (the Departments) have determined it is appropriate and reasonable in PY 2023 for the:

•    U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to assess performance for four performance indicators under the WIOA title I core programs and for three performance indicators under the Employment Service (referred to as “WIOA title III”) core program;
•    U.S. Department of Education (ED) to assess performance for four performance indicators under the Vocational Rehabilitation (referred to as “WIOA title IV”) core program; and
•    Departments to delay assessing performance for the purpose of imposing sanctions for the WIOA title II core program and for the remaining performance indicators in the WIOA titles I, III, and IV core programs to provide for the orderly transition from the requirements of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) to those of WIOA, as permitted under section 503(a) of WIOA.

The Departments’ determinations, as will be described more fully herein, are consistent with the phased-in approach to performance assessments described in Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 11-19, Change 1 issued on May 10, 2023.  

This Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) transmits Veterans Program Letter (VPL) 05-24, Jobs for Veterans State Grants Staff Roles and Responsibilities, and Coordination with Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Services to Veterans, jointly developed by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS). VPL 05-24 clarifies JVSG statutory duties, roles, and responsibilities such staff are expected to perform and discusses relationship between JVSG and other programs within the workforce system. Additionally, the guidance is designed to update state workforce professionals about AJC staff roles with JVSG. It emphasizes statutory duties and describes staffing flexibilities available to states to meet their JVSG responsibilities while maximizing the integration of services and collaboration of partners in the AJCs.

To inform states that connect to the ICON system for real-time services that direct connection to the ICON Cloud Hub is now available and recommended. States are encouraged to transition to one of two potential direct connection options which are 1) Connecting via Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)/Web Services and 2) Connecting via packaged code (ICONnect).

To provide guidance to recipients of the Department of Labor’s (Department) Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending, specified in Appendix I: Eligible Applicants.