Background: The Department of Health and Human Services published the updated Federal Poverty Income Guidelines on March 10, 1997. These guidelines are used to determine the income eligibility of SCSEP applicants and enrollees. These guidelines also apply to eligibility determinations made for joint Job Training Partnership Training Act-SCSEP projects and the Section 502(e) projects. Directive: The poverty income guidelines found in the attachment are effective from the date they were published in the Federal Register, March 10, 1997. Sponsors must use these income levels when making eligibility determinations and when preparing the SCSEP Quarterly Progress Report. Recision: Older Worker Bulletin No. 96-6.

Background: The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), which is within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Department of Education (ED) and the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) have been meeting to identify opportunities where collaboration between ETA and RSA would result in improved services to individuals with disabilities. A standing work group with staff from ED and ETA has been established to foster a productive partnership between the One-Stop Career Center System and Vocational Rehabilitation at the State and local levels. Action Required: Please distribute the attached issuance to appropriate officials within the State.

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References: Title V of the Older Americans Act (OAA), as amended, P.L. 100-175; P.L. 102-325; and the regulations at 20 CFR Part 641. Background: The Fiscal Year 1997 appropriation for the Title V program is $463 million. This amount includes $28 million which is being used to accommodate the first step of the minimum wage increase, and which was added to the PY 1996 grants. The remainder of the 1997 appropriation, $435 million, will be used for the PY 1997 grants. The 1997 Program Allotments: Attachment I provides the State funding levels and authorized positions. The unit cost used to compute the number of positions is $7,068. As provided for in the appropriations bill, the PY 1997 appropriation of $435 million is to be divided with 78 percent for national sponsors and 22 percent for State sponsors. Grant Application Procedures: Sponsors may apply by submitting the diskette provided with OW Bulletin 95-4 or by submitting the application in hard copy. As in previous years, only selected portions of the narrative are required. The Detailed Cost Breakout of the budget is not required. a. Preapplication. Sponsors must prepare the pre-application (SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance). (See Attachment II for preapplication instructions). All State and national sponsors must share preapplications on an intra-State basis. As required at OAA section 502(d)(1), Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) should be provided with a copy of the preapplication by the sponsors proposing to operate in their service areas. The preapplication should be accompanied by a letter requesting the State office and the AAA to forward their comments on the preapplication to the applicant and the Division of Older Worker Programs (DOWP). Where required, the SF-424 should be submitted through the intergovernmental clearance procedures. Sponsors should submit a copy of the preapplication to DOWP. b. Application. All SCSEP sponsors must prepare and submit an original and two (2) copies of a grant application to DOWP using the forms and instructions in Attachments II and III. Grant documents with photocopied signatures cannot be accepted as official. Sponsors using the diskette must send a signed copy of the grant signature sheet with the diskette. Grantees that need an original signature returned to them on their grant document should submit two grant signature sheets with original signatures. c. Contents of the Grant Application Package. The application consists of: (1.) A grant signature sheet; (2.) A narrative. (3.) A budget (the SF-424A with budget details); and (4.) For those sponsors that apply for a section 502(e) experimental project, the completion of an additional section of the application is required. Clearance Procedure: Applicants must comply with Executive Order 12372 which implements the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) System. Many SPOCs do not require the SCSEP sponsors to submit their applications for clearance. The comments from the SPOC review, if any, should be sent to: Division of Older Worker Programs 200 Constitution Avenue N.W., Room N-4641 Washington, D.C. 20210. Distribution of SCSEP Positions: In line with requirements for an equitable distribution of program positions, sponsors will be expected to decrease the number of positions which are in over-served areas and increase the number of positions which are in under-served areas. To locate positions, the most recent equitable distribution reports should be considered. All sponsors must work cooperatively to improve the distribution of program resources. Responsibility Review: The ETA will conduct a review to determine if the sponsor is capable of continuing to administer Federal funds. This review includes, but is not limited to, the following: outstanding debts; established fraud or criminal activity; grant closeout compliance; failure to correct deficiencies identified during a monitoring review; excess cash on hand; failure to return funds (see OW Bulletin 90-15); failure to have an audit, etc. (See 20 CFR Section 641.205.). When applicable, sponsors will be advised by letter of the Department's concerns. These letters will include any corrective action(s) specified as a funding condition, and a time frame for the completion of the corrective action. Sponsors that fail to remedy deficiencies will place their SCSEP sponsorship in jeopardy. Extension of The Current Grant: Sponsors that anticipate having funds available at the conclusion of the present grant period may apply for an extension. The extension may be up to 60 days. During the extension period, no administrative charges may be made against the current grant (PY 1996). All administrative charges must come from the new grant (PY 1997). To apply for an extension, submit the following documents: (a) One grant signature sheet with an original signature, and the new end date; (b) Generally, the extensions will not require a new budget, but, if a budget modification is required please provide revised budget information forms that reflect how the funds will be spent during the entire grant period; (c) Include a brief explanation of any program changes; and (d) National sponsors should mention in which States the unused funds will be spent. Experimental Projects: Instructions for experimental private sector projects that will be implemented under the authority of section 502(e) are included as Attachment IV. If an experimental project is proposed, sponsors are encouraged to include it with this application. (See 20 CFR 641.326.) The SCSEP Regulations: The final SCSEP Regulations of May 17, 1995 apply. If the Older Americans Act is reauthorized and implemented before the conclusion of the program year it may be necessary to make program and administrative adjustments. Performance Goals: Unsubsidized placements continue to be an important program service. During the last complete program year, over 16,500 SCSEP enrollees were placed in unsubsidized jobs. The program goal of placing 20 percent of the participants into unsubsidized jobs was exceeded nationally with a rate of nearly 26 percent. In addition the program performance indicator for persons served was in excess of the SCSEP program 40 percent customer service target level described in OW Bulletin 96-7. Sponsors should consider these goals when preparing the PY 1997 grant application. Action Required: All sponsors must comply with the following timetable: a. Extension requests are due by May 2. b. The preapplication is due at the State Office on Aging, the Area Agencies on Aging, and DOWP 45 days from the date of this bulletin. Early submittal is encouraged. c. The final application is due at DOWP 60 days after the date on this bulletin. The optional section 502(e) experimental projects may be submitted at this time, or later if agreed to by the Federal Representative. Please mail the preapplication and the final application to: The Division of Older Worker Programs ETA/ US Department of Labor/ Rm. N-4641 200 Constitution Ave, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20210 If a sponsor is not able to comply with the timetable, the Federal Representative should be contacted as soon as possible.

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Reference. Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended. Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1996. Job Training Partnership Act, as amended, Section 142(a)(2) and (3). DINAP Bulletin No. 90-28. Background. The amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) became effective October 1, 1996. Guidance The FLSA amendments must be viewed in terms of the legal requirements of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). A. The new "Opportunity Wage" does not apply to the JTPA. Based on the JTPA statutory requirements at section 142(a)(2) and (3), there is no current authority to allow the use of the new "Opportunity Wage" in the JTPA program. Therefore, JTPA grantees may not pay a sub-minimum wage. This will be the case for all JTPA programs including the Summer Youth programs under title II- B. B. The "Minimum Wage Increase" provision under the amendments to FLSA, does apply to participants enrolled in programs operated under the JTPA. Effective on October 1, 1996, the amendments required that not less than $4.75 an hour must be paid for employment under the JTPA and not less than $5.15 an hour beginning September 1, 1997. Action. Grantees are to implement the new Federal minimum wage when and as applicable. If a State-imposed minimum wage is applicable, and is higher than the Federal minimum wage, then the higher (State) standard applies. Questions. Contact your DINAP Federal Representative.

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Reference. DINAP Bulletin Number 96-13, Attachments Nos. 1-A and 2-A. Background. The recently-completed section 401 designations for PYs 1997-98 have necessitated changes to the previously-issued title IV-A and title II-B planning levels. Action. Grantees should review the attached allocation levels in light of their recently-received designation letters. Any apparent discrepancies should be reported immediately to the appropriate Fed. Rep. Team or to Greg Gross at (202) 219-8502, extension 141. Inquiries. Contact your DINAP Federal Representative Team on (202) 219-8502.

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2. References. - JTPA section 401 regulations at 20 CFR 632.43. - JTPA titles II and III regulations at 20 CFR 627.410. - JTPA (Public Law 102-367) section 161(b)(1). - DINAP Bulletins Nos. 95-03, 95-12 and 96-05. Background. Prior to the beginning of PY 1996, DINAP informed grantees in DINAP Bulletins 95-03 and 95-12 that all carryover limits previously imposed since 1991 were suspended. Grantees were further informed in bulletin 95-12 that grantees exceeding the former limit [20% of total available funds] would be required to explain why. Failure to provide an acceptable reason for exceeding the former limit would result in the former limit(s) being reimposed on a case-by-case basis. DINAP suspended the former carry-in policy for the following reasons: a. anticipated loss of JTPA title II-B (Summer Youth) funding for 1995; b. significant reductions in appropriations for title IV-A in Program Years 1995 and 1996 (18% in the past two program years); c. impact resulting from the use of 1990 Census data; and, d. facilitate closeout of the 99-1 grants. In addition, DINAP issued Bulletin No. 96-05 on July 19, 1996 to encourage grantees to adjust their Program Year (PY) 1996 spending plans to reflect the total amount of available funds (carry-in plus PY 96 allocation). These actions were taken by DINAP to make available the maximum amount of program funds in recognition of the fact that the PY 96 title IV-A appropriation was at the historically lowest level since the enactment of JTPA. Despite these actions, a small percentage of grantees have maintained excessive levels of unexpended grant funds available to them in their PMS subaccounts. Furthermore, recent experience with processing carry-in modifications and a review of grantee expenditure rates in general, has revealed that a small number of grantees expenditure rates may potentially result in carryover funds far in excess of the former 20 percent carryover limit. Excessive carry over for these few grantees have reached the level(s) which prompted the imposition of carryover limits ten years ago. Policy. To remedy this situation, pursuant to the regulations at 20 CFR 632.43 and the Act at section 161(b)(1), the Department hereby notifies all JTPA section 401 grantees of its Reallocation Policy. The section 401 reallocation policy will recapture excess carryover (more than 20%) from IV-A grants' and reallocate this excess carryover to grantees that have not exceeded this former limit. Recaptured funds will only be reallocated to section 401 grantees that receive title(s) IV-A and/or II-B grant funds. Policy Implementation. The policy will be implemented for PY 97 and involve the following two-step process: STEP 1 - (a) the Notice of Obligation (NOO) for title IV-A issued annually on or about July 1 will provide 75% of the grantee's total formula allotment for that program year; (b) upon receipt of the required financial portion of the PY 96 Annual Status Report (ASR) which is due within 90 days after the end of the Program Year (certified as accurate AND FINAL by an appropriate grantee official), the Department will compare reported expenditure levels to total funds available for the report period; (c) a grantee's unexpended resources in excess of twenty percent (20%) of total available funds will be recaptured from the current Program Year's (PY 97) allocation and will be subject to reallocation. STEP 2 - (a) A second NOO will provide the remainder of the program year's formula allotment for each grantee reduced to reflect funds withheld as excess carryover amounts as identified by the process above, (No prior allocations will be affected by this reallocation process); (b) these "recaptured" amounts will then be added to the NOOs of ALL grantees which did not have excess carry-in, in accordance with the funding formula found at 20 CFR 632.171. Information. The Department will issue notices to those grantees which our analysis indicates are in danger of losing PY 1997 funds as a result of under-expenditure of PY 1996 title IV-A resources. Action. All grantees should immediately assess their rates of expenditure for PY 1996 JTPA title IV-A funds, if they have not recently done so. Grantees should make sure that their current Budget Information Summary (BIS) submitted to the Department accurately reflects the total available funds for PY 1996, including amounts carried forward from the previous grant period. Grantees who receive JTPA title II-B funds should also review expenditure rates for the summer youth program, to ensure that all available resources are being fully utilized to benefit the target population. Effective date. Date of this bulletin. Inquiries. Questions should be addressed to your Federal Representative team or to Greg Gross on (202) 219-7509.