References: Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 4-97. Background: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) continues to promote linking education and work through functional context-based instruction. Within the last decade, ETA has shifted SYETP's focus from one that emphasized giving young people an introduction to the working world to one that emphasizes integrating work and education addressing basic skills and other educational needs of participants. To provide support to the Workforce Development system in operating effective summer programs, ETA contracted with Social Policy Research Associates (SPRA) and Brandeis University's Center for Human Resources (CHR) to conduct an evaluation of the educational services component of SYETP and to create a Technical Assistance Guide (TAG), "Providing Educational Services in the Summer Youth Employment and Training Program", which could be of assistance to the system. The TAG was developed based on in-depth case studies of 83 educational programs in 30 service delivery areas (SDAs) across the country. Technical Assistance Guide: The TAG is based primarily on the quantitative analyses and qualitative data collected during site visits. It also draws on observations of the research staff from their long-term experiences studying related employment and training programs. The TAG is divided into two main parts, each with its own intended audience. Part A: Getting Started is intended primarily for Service Delivery Area staff, especially Summer Youth Coordinators. Chapters I through III are designed primarily for SDA staff, especially Summer Youth Coordinators. They include suggestions for strategies that SDAs can use in designing educational services. Part B: Strategies for Summer Youth Instruction is directed at the practitioner audience, including classroom instructors and worksite supervisors. This section of the TAG provides information on effective strategies for delivering educational instruction in the context of SYETP. While Chapters IV and V address issues of interest primarily to practitioners, including classroom instructors and worksite supervisors, these two chapters also provide step-by-step guidance on how to improve the content and instructional methods of the educational component. Chapter IV of the TAG focuses on Project-Based Learning, an instructional strategy in which participants plan, implement, complete, and evaluate a valuable real-life project. One strategy is to have youth prepare journals or maintain portfolios which expose them to becoming actively engaged in learning at the project level. They create a record of the youth's summer experiences and provide evidence of the skills used and attained which can forge a bridge when the youth returns to school in the fall. Furthermore, they document what a student learned and did through involvement in a project. The TAG is based on real experiences of SDAs and their work sites where active learning is taking place. The examples are not theory. The TAG can assist persons working with youth this summer. States and SDAs are encouraged to review the overall strategies and utilize them to the extent possible. States and SDAs are encouraged to review the specific examples about how project based learning and classroom training can be effectively integrated with plans at the local sites where the youth will be assigned. Many of the ideas may be able to be adapted for implementation this summer with only a little additional planning. Coming Up Taller: The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities' publication, "Coming Up Taller", is filled with examples of arts and humanities programs for at-risk youth. These examples, many of which successfully combine the arts and job training, provide guidance to States and SDAs interested in launching summer programs with an arts focus. This publication illustrates how, in addition to their intrinsic value, the arts can provide youth with both resiliency skills (i.e., self esteem, assertiveness and discipline) and career opportunities. "Coming Up Taller" is available electronically at www.cominguptaller.org. States and SDAs are also encouraged to be in touch with State and local arts agencies to enlist their support for and participation in such summer projects. These agencies can provide mentors, project faculty, etc. Local arts agencies can be found through contacting the appropriate State Agency. Action Required: States are requested to: -- a. work with their SDAs to promote specific targets for educational service; and -- b. seek opportunities for linking work and learning during this summer's program.

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References: ETA Handbook NO. 401, 2nd edition; UTF On-Line Accounting System User Guide. Background: The Department of Treasury implemented the UTF On-Line Accounting System in October 1996. This system replaced the State Unemployment Data System. In addition to providing States with on-line access for drawdowns (State and Federal funds), the UTF system provides for on-line Title XII loan repayments and book adjustments between accounts. The system also provides States with on-line access to information on: deposits to and withdrawals from the UTF, by date and amount; UTF trial balance; detailed General Ledger; account balances; Title XII summary; and Reed Act transactions. The Funds Accounting Branch of Treasury's Bureau of Public Debt has recently expanded the UTF on-line system's capabilities to allow States to make CWC quarterly reimbursements through fund transfers between States' accounts. The use of this feature eliminates the administrative burden associated with the use of checks or electronic fund transfers between banks, and the loss of interest income to the UTF. Instructions from the National Office for reporting CWC reimbursements have been delayed because reporting the amount of disbursements handled through the use of this method of reimbursement requires activation of a data cell for electronic reporting on the ETA 2112. The data cell was inactivated when implementing existing electronic reporting for the ETA 2112 to prevent improper entries; the programming necessary to activate this cell is being delayed by other programming priorities, i.e., Year 2000 activities. However, since most States are now using the new feature for CWC reimbursements, interim instructions are needed for reporting on the ETA 2112. A change to the ET Handbook with the revised instructions will be issued separately. Reporting Instructions: States are to report the amount of CWC benefit payment reimbursements received from other States (deposited directly to the reimbursed State's account in the UTF) on line 16E of the ETA 2112 ("Deposits --- from other States --- interstate benefits"). States using the UTF fund transfer feature to transfer funds directly to other States' accounts to reimburse CWC charges are to enter the amount of such transfers on line 45E (Disbursements --- Other) and provide a brief explanation in the "Comments" section. If the amount reported on line 45E includes more than one type of disbursement, the "Comments" section should distinguish each type of disbursement and the related dollar amount. Action Required: Each SESA administrator is requested to reimburse CWC charges from other States using fund transfers through the Treasury UTF Accounting System and report all debits and credits resulting from use of the UTF system on the ETA 2112, in accordance with instructions in Section 4 above.

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