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Reference: Older Worker Bulletin 96-14. Background: OW Bulletin No. 96-14 provided information to SCSEP sponsors about ETA's Quality Initiatives, including Simply Better! Recently an internal memorandum was prepared that provides an update on the Simply Better! project. A copy of that update is attached for your information. Note that the first of a series of "Case Studies in Quality" is now available, and may be downloaded from the Simply Better! home page. Actions Required: Please share the attached with interested parties.

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References: Older Worker (OW) Bulletin No. 97-2; Training and Employment Information Notice (TEIN) No. 31-96. Background: ETA goals for both Program Year (PY) 1995/Fiscal Year (FY) 1996 and PY 1996/FY 1997 have focused upon performance improvement and customer satisfaction, among other things, while involving ETA's partners and stakeholders in the processes of goal development and implementation. This Bulletin deals with this year's processes. Discussion: OW Bulletin No. 97-2 transmitted ETA's PY 1996/FY 1997 goals. Included among them, at #14 (c) and (d), were the following: "c) At least 25% of Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) enrollees will be placed in unsubsidized jobs; and d) Ensure that the number of SCSEP persons served exceed the number of positions funded by 40% to permit the program to serve as many participants as possible." For many, goal #14 (c) was a surprise. We apologize for this. Sponsors were involved in informal discussions about projected placement rates during the summer months, prior to the development of draft ETA goals later in the fall. Since the program experience for PY 1995 resulted in placement of 25 percent of SCSEP enrollees in unsubsidized employment, we concluded that such a goal for the program in PY 1996 would be readily attainable, and this was incorporated in the draft goals. No further thought was given to this until the overall ETA goals were made final and disseminated later in the year. SCSEP sponsors should have been notified that this decision had been taken. This ETA goal applies to the overall SCSEP program, not to individual sponsors. The regulatory provision at 20 CFR Section 641.314, that the Department has established a goal of placing into unsubsidized employment the number of enrollees which equals at least 20 percent of the project's annual authorized positions, continues to apply. Note that the provision establishes a goal, and not a regulatory requirement with which all sponsors must comply. Also note that while the regulations require the development and submittal of a plan of action when the 20 percent goal is not achieved, such a plan is not necessary when the sponsor achieves at least 20 percent although less than the newly formulated overall ETA 25 percent goal for SCSEP. In addition, the conditions of the grant agreement with sponsors are controlling. Thus, when the numerical goal (obtained by multiplying the number of authorized positions by 20 percent) is calculated, that number is the goal against which the sponsor's unsubsidized placement performance is assessed. Similarly, the goal for the number of enrollees to be served is determined by multiplying the number of authorized positions by 140 percent. The number obtained is the goal to which actual performance against this indicator is compared. Customer Satisfaction Goals. Over and above the performance- related goals, ETA's goals also address grantee and service delivery partner satisfaction with services provided by ETA, and the satisfaction of the "customers" of grantees with the services they are provided. Specifically, the goals most directly relevant to SCSEP sponsors are as follows: "15. b) Increase to 75% or by at least 5 percentage points, the number of ETA's direct service delivery partners who use a customer satisfaction measurement system for continuous improvement, contingent upon availability of baseline data that reflect how many ETA partners have such measurement systems and on an assessment of what constitutes a realistic increase." "16. b) At least 75% of OSTP's grantees' customers will rate the services they receive as `very' or `extremely' helpful in facilitating the accomplishment of their objectives." To translate this jargon into more familiar terms, "ETA's direct service delivery partners" refers to entities that deliver services directly to participants. This would include local Job Service offices, Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) service delivery areas and service providers like community-based organizations, One-Stop Career Centers, and local SCSEP projects providing services to enrollees. The first goal aims at increasing the number of such entities using "customer" satisfaction measurement systems to 75 percent of the total of all such entities. "OSTP's grantees' customers" refers to the "customers" of grantees associated with the Office of Special Targeted Programs -- Indian and Native American grantees, migrant and seasonal farmworker grantees, projects for people with disabilities grantees, and SCSEP grantees. In this context, "customers" refers primarily to ETA's ultimate customers -- program participants, including enrollees in SCSEP projects. The term "customers" could also refer to employers, to sub-projects, and to host agency worksites in the SCSEP program. The second goal seeks to set a floor for the satisfaction of such customers with the services received from ETA-funded programs. Tools for Meeting Customer Satisfaction Goals: The attached TEIN was recently distributed to the JTPA, One-Stop Career Center, and State Employment Security Agency systems. It notes ETA's customer satisfaction goals, and identifies Simply Better! technical assistance products as tools that can be helpful in establishing customer satisfaction measurement systems, and in obtaining useful feedback from direct service delivery customers that may be helpful in improving program operations. Training may also be available to SCSEP sponsors and local project operators through ETA's Regional Offices. Simply Better! contacts for ETA's 10 Regional Offices are provided as an attachment to the TEIN. Action Requested: Sponsors that have not already done so should take steps now to establish customer satisfaction measurement systems in local projects, and may do so at National and State (and Regional, where applicable) levels as well. Sponsors are also requested to communicate the 1996 program-wide 25 percent placement goal and the 140 percent service goal to appropriate individuals in their organizations. Please explain that the goals are not applicable to individual sponsors but apply to the entire SCSEP program.