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AWBA Utilization: The attached listing identifies the AWBA which is to be used when computing the weekly amount of disaster unemployment assistance (DUA) for major disasters where the date of the disaster for the individual occurs during the fourth quarter of FY 1993 (refer to 20 CFR 625.6). The AWBA for each State is based on the total amount of unemployment insurance paid in that State in the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the quarter in which the major disaster began. States shall use the AWBA, rounded to the next higher dollar amount, in the computation of the DUA weekly benefit amount. An updated listing will be provided for each subsequent calendar quarter. Action Required: State Employment Security Agency Administrators are requested to provide this information to appropriate staff.

References. None Background. a. PY 1995 Partnership Plan: Attached is the Partnership Plan that was developed in consultation with Section 401 grantees. The plan is comprised of several practical steps for improving the overall results of the Indian and Native American Program. b. New Federal Representative (Fed. Rep.) assignments: Three two-member Fed Rep teams have been established which reflect the new multi-region format adopted during the Partnership Plan process. Grantees now have the benefit of two Fed. Reps. to assist with administering their Section 401 grants. East Team: Ms. Dawn Bush and Mr. Guy Suetopka (Regions I-V), Midwest Team: Mr. Bob Lunz and Mr. Duane Hall (Regions VI-VIII), and West Team: Ms. Veronica Dabney and Ms. Athena Brown (Regions IX, X, Hawaii and Alaska). c. PY 1995 Master Meeting Calendar: Development of the Master Meeting Calendar was necessitated by the need to better utilize the limited national office and grantee program resources. It also encourages the expansion of technical assistance delivery at the multi-regional level (see Partnership Plan: Technical Assistance section). d. Grant Management by Function: Several DINAP Fed. Reps. have been assigned specific area responsibilities and should be contacted directly with questions related to: regulations, closeouts, P.L. 102-477, Payment Management System, Performance Standards, and on-site Technical Assistance and Training (Mr. Greg Gross). School-to-work and youth issues (Ms. Veronica Dabney). New Directors' Manual (Ms. Dawn Bush). Electronic communications (Mr. Earl Mcletchie). Action. Review attachments and assist with implementing the Partnership Plan goals. Effective Date. Program Year 1995. Questions. Contact your DINAP Federal Representative Team.

References: TEIN 49-93, Capacity-Building Strategy Paper - "Building Tomorrow's Workforce". Background: A key objective of the ETA capacity-building strategy is to improve our program performance pertaining to our customers-- both participants and employers--by strengthening the capability of the system's front-line staff. One approach supporting this objective is the encouragement of State and local training structures that will be able to deliver quality training for State and local staff in the employment and training community. As part of this approach, the Employment and Training Administration and the Missouri Training Institute are organizing a project which is designed to assist States and local programs interested in developing or strengthening their staff training capability. The Conference: The project will be "kicked-off" with a conference called "Organizing State and Local Capacity Building: A Hands On, How To Approach". The conference will be held in St. Louis, Missouri on August 14 through August 16 at the St. Louis Marriott Pavillion Hotel. A full two day agenda is planned to provide practical, usable guidance on "the care and feeding" of local staff training organizations. The presenters will be recruited from those States and local programs that are currently active in the provision of these staff development activities. Next Steps: Following the conference, Missouri Training Institute will be organizing "a peer-to-peer" consultation and technical assistance system for local training capability development. Again, the "consultants" will be drawn from those programs that have already introduced and are operating successful local training and staff development efforts. Action: We ask you to help us publicize this conference broadly in your area to those organizations and individuals who would be interested in and could benefit from attending the conference. Attached are a flyer describing the conference arrangements, a list of the topics to be covered, and a tentative agenda. Please copy and distribute these documents freely to potential attendees.

Reference: Training and Employment Information Notice (TEIN) No. 20-92, JTPA Amendments Implementation Strategy. Backqround: This Case Management TAG was prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) by the Center for Human Resources of the Heller Graduate School at Brandeis University. The Center is one of the nation's leading research, training, and policy development organizations in the fields of youth development, employment, and education. The "Guide to Case Management For At-Risk Youth" provides line practitioners, managers, and policy makers with an orientation to the essentials of "client centered" case management serving young people who require assistance from a variety of human service institutions. While it is focused on implementation of case management for at-risk youth within the context of JTPA and its 1992 Amendments, the lessons in the TAG are generally applicable to additional target groups with multiple needs and other human service institutions as well. Brandeis conducted three DOL sponsored train-the-trainer sessions on Case Management during June and July, 1993. Over 120 State and local JTPA staff attended this training. Advance copies of the Case Management TAG were distributed at these sessions. This Case Management TAG is part of a series of technical assistance guides and training being developed to assist States and Service Delivery Areas (SDAs) in the implementation of quality JTPA programs. The series will include technical assistance guides and training in critical program areas such as: Youth Assessment and Program Design Options; Assessment; SDA Monitoring of Service Providers; Targeting, Outreach and Recruitment; On-the-Job Training; Financial Management; Procurement; and State Oversight. Distribution: Copies of the Case Management TAG and computer disks (in WordPerfect 5.1 format) will be provided under separate cover to all State Liaisons for distribution to SDA's and to the State JTPA agency. Sufficient copies will be provided to furnish at least four copies of the TAG to each SDA with the balance for use at the State's discretion and provide each State and SDA with one computer disk. The TAG has been prepared in a loose-leaf format suitable for use in a three-ring binder. The TAG also will be available for purchase through the Government Printing Office.

References. JTPA Section 165(a)(2) Farmworker Bulletin 95-4 Farmworker Bulletin 95-8 Background. SPIR concepts were first introduced to a subcommittee which met in November 1993 in Washington to review and redesign the MSFW reporting system. Subsequently, the subcommittee recommendations were introduced to a representative group of MIS directors at a meeting held January 11-12, 1994, in Tucson. A draft version of the SPIR was presented at the MSFW Training Conference in San Diego held in March that same year. Work continued and a pilot year trial (Program Year 1994) began following the productive sessions with grantees at the Key West TAT Conference held in October of 1994. A final session at AFOP headquarters December 6, 1994, with a representative group of grantees resulted in the issuance of Farmworker Bulletin 95-4 on December 12, 1994. Record Layout Guidelines were issued February 2, 1995. Changes to SPIR Data Record Format and Record Layout Guidelines. SPIR Data Record Format and Instructions have only one permanent change from the versions attached to Farmworker Bulletin 95-4 issued December 12, 1994. Item 36e. had asked for the 2-letter postal abbreviation of the State Where Job is Located. This has been changed to ask for the FIPS Code. This change will conform Item 36e to the usage employed for Item 2--the location of the Field Office. The Record Layout Guidelines have been revised in accordance with the above and a new version is attached to this Bulletin. Changes in the Record Layout Guidelines are as follows: -- Field 43 (SPIR Form Item No. 23k.) -- Added to the Guidelines section: 1 = Yes 2 = No (The Yes-No options pertain to this as well as all other items under Barriers to Employment but were inadvertently left out of this field.) -- Field 93 (SPIR Form Item 36e.) -- Changed from 2-letter Postal abbreviation to FIPS Code. -- Fields 84, 85 and 86 (SPIR Form Items 35a., b. and c.) -- For each of these fields, the Edit Check section has been changed to read: (A) Must be 1 or 2. (B) Cannot be 1 unless field 83 = 1. (This simply corrects an error made in composition.) -- Field 117 (a one character numeric field) has been added to the end of the record to facilitate reporting during the 90-day PY 1994 grant close-out period. (See the Close-out Instructions below and the Record Layout Guidelines.) This field is to be used to designate the year of the source of funds at the time of termination for each individual terminee; if Program Year 1994, then Code = 4; if Program Year 1995, then Code = 5. This is a temporary field and should be used only during the first quarter of Program Year 1995. Special Instructions for Program Year 1994 Close-out. The 90-day extension of time (See Farmworker Bulletin No. 95-8) to facilitate the closeout of Program Year 1994 grants presents certain problems regarding financial accountability and performance management, including performance standards. It is essential to maintain records which show that funds which were expended for a certain year, resulted in a certain number of terminees. On the other hand, it is also essential to provide continuity from year to year in developing and setting performance standards. To accommodate these needs, it is necessary to make a distinction between individuals terminated while the grantee was operating primarily with PY94 funds and those terminated following the shift to operating primarily with PY95 funds. For this purpose, a one-character numeric field has been added to the end of the record. All grantees, whether they participated in the Program Year 1994 SPIR pilot or not, should follow the instructions in No. 4 above regarding Field 117. These instructions will apply only for the first quarter of Program Year 1995. Grantees who did not participate in the Program Year 1994 SPIR Pilot should submit their Program Year 1994 Annual Status Report as usual on/before August 15, 1995, which will include data for participants and terminees as of June 30, 1995. On or before November 15 these grantees should submit a revised Program Year 1994 Annual Status Report covering only the period beginning July 1, 1995 through September 30, 1995 (or the last date Program Year 1994 funds are expended), whichever comes first. Followup information should be reported following existing instructions and extending due dates to conform with the 90-day extension necessitated by the closeouts. SPIR Submittal Instructions. The experience accumulated during the pilot year gave rise to some additional considerations in data formatting and submittal. These are noted below and grantees are requested to pay special attention to these items. -- Please label your diskette with your 4-digit grantee number and the file format (whether fixed-field, comma delimited, or other). -- There will be four quarterly submittals of data. Each submittal should be a single file with data cumulative up to the quarter of the submittal. The submission of cumulative data allows for corrections of previously submitted data and facilitates the transmittal of those corrections in the simplest way possible. -- To facilitate the transmission of Followup data for the last quarter of the program year, a fifth transmittal of data should follow as soon as fourth-quarter Followup information has been collected and recorded. -- SPIR Pilot Grantees do not have to submit an ASR for Program Year 1994. Policy. There are no policy changes. Action Required. Grantees are instructed to begin reporting quarterly using the SPIR Forms, Instructions and Record Layout Guidelines for Program Year 1995 beginning July 1, 1995. Grantees should transmit Financial Status Reports and Program Status Summaries (as amended) in accordance with existing instructions for all four quarters of the program year. Grantees need not submit Annual Status Reports. Inquiries. Contact Richard Hoff on (202) 219-6485, Ext. 113 or Alicia Fernandez-Mott on (202) 219-5487, Ext. 107, or the Federal Representative assigned to your grant.

Background: Due to changes in personnel, facilities and agency reorganizations, periodic updates of State agency contacts are necessary. States have provided the names and telephone numbers of individuals designated to respond to inquiries from other States about UC tax and employer accounts. This directory reflects information provided through June 1993. It replaces the directory attached to UIPL No. 35-92. Changes: When changes occur, the page to be changed should be copied and the changes penned in. Mail or fax the revised page to the appropriate Regional Office. They will update their information and forward the changes to the Unemployment Insurance Service (UIS) National Office for inclusion in the next directory update. Action Required: All SESAs are requested to ensure that a copy of the attached directory is made available to appropriate personnel.

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Background: Program letters, or the five letter series, are considered temporary directives containing instructions or information of a short-term nature which complement one of the five parts of the ES Manual. Rather than rewrite and reissue expiring program letters which still contain relevant information or instructions, the expiration date is extended. Attached is a listing of directives with extended expiration dates for the above period.

References: The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 1994, P.L. 103-160, section 1339 and The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1995, P.L. 103-337, sections 1136 and 1137. Background: The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1994 was enacted on November 30, 1993. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1995 was enacted on October 5, 1994. Included were amendments to Sections 325 and 325A of Title III of JTPA. Discussion: The amendments to Sections 325 (DCA) and 325A (DDP) essentially focused on three areas: a. Both DCA and DDP may be funded with "funds made available to carry out this section." That means that National Reserve Account funds under Part B of Title III may be awarded and administered in accordance with section 325 and 325A. b. DDP provisions were amended to clarify that the Secretary of Labor is responsible for Federal implementation of Section 325A. c. Eligible workers under both DCA and DDP include workers dislocated as a result of reduction in the export of defense articles and Defense services as a result of United States policy. Both DCA and DDP are administered by eligible grantees with funds awarded by the Secretary according to application guide- lines published in the Federal Register. The amendments clarify and expand the authorities of the Secretary and the eligible grantees, to serve dislocated defense workers with funds under Part B of Title III (the Secretary's National Reserve). Therefore, even though Department of Defense funds for these programs have already been obligated, Title IIIB funds can be used to fund new requests for DCA and DDP pro- grams. The amendments do not require any modifications to existing DCA or DDP grants, and they do not apply to funds under Part A of Title III (formula funds allotted to the States). Action Required: States should take actions necessary and appropriate to advise eligible grantees of the amendments to DCA and DDP under Title III of JTPA. States should also advise eligible grantees to continue preparing and submitting applications for DCA and DDP grants according to applicable guidelines.