References: a. The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), as amended; b. Goals 2000: The Educate America Act; c. School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994; d. JTPA Final Rules, as published in the Federal Register on September 2, 1994; e. Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 4-94 (December 19, 1994): "JTPA Titles II-A, II-C, and III Allotments for Program Year (PY) 1994; Title II-B Allotments for Calendar Year (CY) 1995; and Wagner-Peyser Preliminary Planning Estimates for PY 1994"; f. Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 5-93 (April 11, 1994): "Summer Challenge II: A Program of Work and Learning for America's Youth"; g. Training and Employment Information Notice No. 6-93 (July 30, 1993): "Instructions for the Title II Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Quarterly Financial Status Report" and Change 1 to this TEIN (January 13, 1994); h. Training and Employment Information Notice No. 33-92 (June 1, 1993): "Child Labor Restrictions Applicable to Youth Participants in Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Funded Programs"; i. Training and Employment Information Notice No. 25-93 (November 23, 1993): "Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Youth Assessment and Program Design Options Technical Assistance Guides". Background a. Budgetary Concerns. While we recognize that the House Appropriations Committee has proposed elimination of all funding for the Title II-B Summer Youth Employment and Training Program (SYETP) for CY 1995, planning for the 1995 summer youth program needs to continue in the event that final action on Department of Labor appropriations allows the Title II-B program to go forward. A successful program requires early, orderly, and careful planning, procurement, recruitment, and negotiation of agreements with local business, public/private organizations and educational institutions, as well as staff training sessions. Therefore, consistent with our regular program cycle, we are issuing this Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) to provide necessary guidance to States and local communities to facilitate program planning and operations. Federal funds, expended prior to a notice by the Department of Labor of a rescission, which were provided to States (Service Delivery Areas) to operate the 1995 summer youth program in accordance with the SDAs' job training plans will not be deobligated by the Department of Labor.

Reference: TEGL No. 2-94. Background: The Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance (OTAA) receives and considers petitions for assistance for workers being dislocated as a result of trade impact. After the OTAA investigation is completed, a written response is sent to the petitioners. Since the workers affected are all facing dislocation, regardless of the results of the investigation, the State Dislocated Worker Unit (DWU) should be made aware of the situation so that they can take appropriate action. Procedures: States have a routine responsibility to encourage and support coordination between JTPA Title III and TAA programs. Copies of every TAA and NAFTA-TAA petition received by the Department of Labor will be provided to the appropriate State Title III contact for information and followup. If the workers are certified as trade impacted, the individual State Title III program can dual enroll the workers for additional services. If the petition is denied, the Title III program has a responsibility to take steps to ensure that the workers are informed of other appropriate service opportunities. Action Required: The State JTPA Liaison should advise the State DWU of this new procedure.

Background: The Forums will be sponsored by the United States Employment Service (USES) in a cooperative agreement with the Texas Employment Commission and working with the Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies (ICESA). Over the past few years, public sector employment, training, and education professionals have become increasingly active in working together to address workforce development issues. A key player in these activities is the national network of public Employment Service Agencies that are improving the way they do business through service innovations and the creation of meaningful collaborations with other government programs, the private sector, and organized labor. An example of this is the leadership it has demonstrated in helping to develop, organize, and co-sponsor the Workforce Development Forums. A National Planning Committee, consisting of a wide range of individuals and organizations from SESAs, Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), business, labor unions, educational institutions, and other Federal, State, and local governments, met and selected the following overall theme for the three Forums: "Envisioning A Competitive America: The Workforce Development Challenge." Within this title, three broad based sub-themes for each Forum were also selected which are identified below and described in the attached registration packet. Forum Schedule: The following three Forums are planned in different areas of the country in order to allow for maximum participation. a. "Successful Collaborations: Partners in Workforce Development" (Boston, Massachusetts - April 14-16) b. "Building A Customer Driven System: Empowering Job Seekers, Employers, and Other Labor Market Participants" (Des Moines, Iowa - May 26-28) c. "Creating A New Employment and Training Infrastructure: Strategies for Systemic Change" (Albuquerque, New Mexico - July 14-16) Each of the three Forums will showcase projects supporting all three themes but a different theme will be the central feature of each Forum: collaborating; empowerment; and systemic change. The agenda for each Forum will include plenary session speakers, workshops, panel/discussion groups, and an Exhibit Hall to showcase projects supporting the three themes. The overall mission of the project is to foster a common vision of the employment, training, and education systems by demonstrating successful and promising workforce development strategies. Specific goals to be achieved through these Forums are to: -- Demonstrate successful/promising workforce development strategies; -- Showcase projects that can be replicated; -- Involve a broad audience; -- Enhance recognition/success for the Employment Service as a network leader/participant; and -- Serve as a foundation for future policy development. Action Required: State ES Agencies are requested to coordinate with specified Regional Office staff to publicize the Forums to appropriate policymakers and planners in order to assure their success. JTPA State Liaisons and State Worker Adjustment Liaisons are asked to work closely with their ES Agencies to maximize participation at each Forum.

Click on the link below to view, save, or print out the document.

Reference: Final JTPA Regulations, 20 CFR 627.201, published in the Federal Register on September 2, 1994. Background: One of the major changes in the above-referenced September 2, 1994, JTPA final regulations is the addition of a new section, 20 CFR 627.201, "Waivers." This section, unlike the rest of the final regulations, became effective 30 days from the date of publication of the JTPA final rule in the Federal Register-- October 3, 1994. This was intended to complement the Department's desire to enable States, service delivery areas (SDA's), and Title III substate grantees (SSG's) to implement beneficial changes in the final rule as quickly as they choose, as provided for in the final rule, and to apply for waivers of regulatory provisions to be effective before the beginning of Program Year (PY) 1995 and thereafter. The purpose of the new waiver provision was to be responsive to suggestions and comments which have stated that some of the administrative burden or unintended effect of many regulatory requirements may be reduced through the granting of waivers. In addition to receiving this type of suggestion through the formal regulations comment process, the Department also heard this belief echoed during its recent "JTPA Dialogue" and dislocated worker "Next Steps" meetings. In addition, this was also recommended in Vice President Gore's Report of the National Performance Review--From Red Tape to Results: Creating a Government that Works Better & Costs Less--which was published in September 1993. The Department believes that in order to be responsive to the needs of the JTPA system, some guidance is appropriate in order to maintain consistency in the way that waivers are handled at the Federal level. Accordingly, the Department is issuing the attached guidance to assist Governors in submitting requests for JTPA regu-latory waivers pursuant to 20 CFR 627.201. The Department expects that, as experience is gained regarding specific waiver requests, information will be created which we anticipate will be useful in future policy deliberations, including possible regulatory revisions. Also, as the waiver process evolves, it may be adjusted to respond to concerns and issues that may surface in handling such requests. The States may be contacted periodically for their views on the effectiveness of the waiver process and on the ways the process might be improved and made more responsive. Action: States are requested to share the attached information with appropriate individuals within the State, as well as with their SDA's and SSG's. States are also encouraged to develop as soon as possible standardized internal procedures/mechanisms for SDA/SSG submission of waiver requests to the State, as well as procedures/processes for State evaluation of local level waiver requests. The procedures established should conform to the provisions of 20 CFR 627.201 and the information contained herein.

Reference: RAL No. 3-91, RAL No. 1-82 Background: In the above referenced RALs, it was requested that data from the ETA 539 report, Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data, not be released until the official release time in the National Office. Early release of this data could give some individuals or companies unfair advantage in the financial markets. Embargoing of this data has been difficult for some SESAs because of State freedom of information acts and increasing pressure from within State governments to have that data available. Because of the need to use interstate agent information to have accurate State by State insured unemployment and because of issues with clearance and publication requirements, it was not possible for the National Office to officially publish this data much earlier than twelve days after the close of the period to which the data relate. However, in consultation with State Labor Market Information Chiefs, and at their urging, the ETA 538 report was developed to allow for an earlier release of National figures and greatly reduce the time that the States are requested to embargo their data. The ETA 538 data will be published by the National Office each Thursday, five days after the end of the week to which the data relate. The first ETA 538 data was published on March 18, 1993, for claims filed during the week ending March 13, 1993, and reflecting unemployment for the week ending March 6, 1993. Embargoing State ETA 538 data until the official release time will allow SESAs to release State ETA 539 data for the same week--which is of more interest within the State--at that same time or seven days prior to the former embargo date. This also means that States can release their input to the ETA 539 report seven days prior to the date this State-specific data will be released by the U.S. Department of Labor in its Weekly Claims Report and news release. Action Required: It is requested that SESAs not release their ETA 538 data to outside parties until the official National Office release time, usually 8:30 a.m. eastern time each Thursday following the end of the week in which the claims were filed. It is further requested that States not release their ETA 539 data until the date of the release of the ETA 538 representing the same week.

Background: Many organizations in the employment and training community have expressed a desire to have electronic access to one another. Several have established independent electronic solutions for accessing information data sources. In order to meet the growing communications and information needs of the employment and training community - national, Regional, State, and local - ETA has, with additional impetus from the 1992 Amendments to the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), decided to develop a "corporate strategy" to communications and networking. An ETA-wide task force has been formed for this purpose and has come together to develop a collective approach to electronic communications. Objectives: The objectives that will guide development of ETA's networking strategy are threefold: -- to provide a facility for electronic communications between ETA and its grantee universe; -- to provide a facility for electronic communications among and between ETA grantees; and, -- to seamlessly interconnect ETA's three principal operating environments (the ETA LAN and its components, the Unemployment Insurance Service Artecon/Sun system, and the Office of Job Corps communications/data system). This effort will serve to bring all of ETA's existing and planned communications systems and initiatives under one umbrella. Design and Implementation Strategy: Several steps have already been taken towards establishing a network strategy. a. Task Force. The Data Communications Network project is guided by a task force under the direction of David Morman, Deputy Director of the Office of Information Resources Management. Its members represent the ETA National and Regional Offices, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, and the Office of the Inspector General. The task force, with the assistance of a technical consultant, has begun to review the configuration of existing hardware/ software/communications systems within the employment and training community. This may entail some detailed data collection about these configurations. The task force has also begun to design and evaluate some architectural options for a wide area data network. b. National Conference. To facilitate input/feedback from the employment and training community regarding its functional requirements and the overall network design, ETA has and will continue to host a series of meetings/conferences with the user and grantee community. A conference is scheduled for August 26 and 27 at the Stouffer Hotel at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland. This conference is intended to bring together all users within the ETA community to discuss the communications needs and expectations of each user group and to review the work to date on the network design. ETA has informally contacted the States to identify attendees representative of the employment and training community to attend this conference. Attached is a list of names submitted to the National Office to date, as well as detailed conference information. c. Network Pilot. The next phase in our communications strategy, anticipated to begin in October 1993, will be to test a selected architectural approach, through the establishment of a pilot network. This will allow us to fine tune the overall design, and will provide a more indepth understanding of potential usage of the fully implemented network. One of the ten ETA Regions will be identified as a pilot site to test network options; grantees in the selected Region will participate on a voluntary basis. From the pilot of the network we hope to learn: (1) what technical approaches work best, (2) the amount of traffic required by network, (3) how much it will cost to implement and maintain, and (4) how complex it may be to operate/manage the network. This phase will last 6 months. Upon completion of the pilot, the knowledge gained will be used to establish a strategy for developing a nationwide employment and training wide area network. Technical Workgroup: As an adjunct to the task force, a larger workgroup of users within the ETA grantee community is being formed. Members of this workgroup will provide their individual views and concerns as we proceed. Action: Recipients of this TEIN are requested to: a. Please widely share the information in this TEIN with State, service delivery area, and grantee organizations; b. Determine if additional representatives from the employment and training community in their States should attend the system-wide conference in August or join the large networking workgroup. If so, please submit the names, addresses, and affiliations of the additional attendees to the National Office by FAX to either Roxanne Rozek (FAX: (202) 219-6510) or Diane Mayronne (FAX: (202) 219-7190).

PILOT TEST A one day pilot training session will be held in Crystal City, Virginia, on September 30. This office will be contacting you shortly concerning the identification of pilot test participants. TRAINING The training schedule, and geographic areas covered are as fol- lows: Regions Covered Location Date I, II & III Washington, DC area Oct. 19 - Oct. 22, 1993 V Chicago, IL Nov. 2 - Nov. 5, 1993 VI & VII Houston, TX Nov. 16 - Nov. 19, 1993 IX & X San Diego, CA Nov. 30 - Dec. 3, 1993 IV & VIII Atlanta, GA Dec. 7 - Dec. 10, 1993 Each of the five three-and-a-half day training courses is sched- uled to start on Tuesday morning and end Friday at noon. At each training site we would like to schedule a meeting on Monday evening between Regional Office participants and DTI, the contractor who is developing the training, in order to identify procurement con- cerns specific to the attending Regions. Due to the quick turn around on training development and delivery, DTI is having problems locating hotels that can accommodate the one hundred or so participants that are expected at each site. Should this result in any changes in locale we will let the Regions know immediately. Attached is a listing of State and SDA training slot allocations for each Region. The slot distribution was based on the number of SDAs in each Region. In addition to these, each Regional Office will also be allowed to send four staff to the training. Please have each State solicit the State JTPA agency and the SDAs for nominees based on your Region's allocation to each State. Final nominations will be made by each Regional Administrator. We ask that State level administrative entity staff be limited to no more than two per State, in order to allow for a larger SDA participation. Since there are fewer slots available than there are SDAs, we ask that representatives from "priority need" SDAs be selected for this training. Our goal is to limit the size of each training session in order to accommodate small group discussion. Currently, only 87 slots have been allocated to the San Diego training site. If Regions indicate that the number of slots are insufficient to meet the needs of the States and SDAs, we will be able to accommodate approximately 13 additional State/SDA participants at the San Diego site on a first nominated, first enrolled basis. The proposed list of Regional Office, State and SDA attendees should be submitted to Patricia Wilkinson by c.o.b. October 6, 1993. Ms. Wilkinson's address is: Office of Grants And Contract Management; DAA/Governor's Grant Unit; 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room S-4203; Washington, D.C. 20210. Please use the attached nomination information form or format in compiling and submitting your attendee list.

Background. The U. S. Department of Labor's Native American Cultural Heritage Month Committee (NACHMC) concluded a very successful schedule of activities in the celebration of American Indian Heritage Month. This year's program highlighted American Indian cultural heritage through the creative talent of Indian youth. The committee sponsored an art and poetry contest based on the theme: "The Birth of the White Buffalo, A Celebration of the Partnership of All Peoples." Entries were solicited from Native American high school students throughout the country and judged by Indian artists, Indian educators, and volunteers from various government agencies and Departments. Results. The first place winner, Eric Moulton of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana, and second place winner, Jeremy Bisson also of the Confederated Salish and Kootnai Tribes, were flown to Washington, D.C. to receive their awards. Both winners received their awards from Ms. Cecilia Bankins, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, on November 30, 1995. Third place winners, Emily and Jeremiah Smith, Chippewa Indians from Cass Lake, Minnesota received a plaque, certificate and savings bonds. Three additional contestants were awarded Honorable Mention Certificates: fourth place, Sam Tenakhongva from Hopi, Arizona; fifth place, Sally Peltier from Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, North Dakota; and sixth place, Lorinell Lomahaptewa from Hopi, Arizona. All contestants received Certificates of Appreciation. Entries were displayed in the Department of Labor's Great Hall. They formed the perfect cultural backdrop for the celebration. Inquiries. Questions or suggestions should be addressed to Ms. Dawn Bush on (202) 219-5511.

Background. DINAP reviews anually all bulletins issued since the inception of the Job Training Partnership Act for the purpose of identifying those that are needed by grantees for current program operations and those which may be eliminated. A listing of those which should be retained for operational purposes is attached. Action. Review all bulletins which have been issued since November 7, 1983 (DINAP BULLETIN 84-1) and insure that you have copies of those listed in the attachment. Contact your DINAP Federal Representative to obtain copies of those that are missing. It is recommended that you retain any bulletins which you believe may be needed for audit or close-out purposes, you may wish to retain bulletins that were issued primarily for informational purposes. All bulletins issued in Program Year 1994 are to be retained until the next annual listing of current operating bulletins is issued. Effective Date. Date of this bulletin. Questions. Contact your DINAP Federal Representative.