TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER No. 7-92
Transition Guidance for Implementation of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Amendments of 1992
To provide guidance to States to facilitate their developing policy for Service Delivery Areas (SDAs) and other sub recipients as they establish systems in response to the JTPA Amendments, which take effect on July 1, 1993. This guidance is being provided
Questions may be directed to Jim Aaron at (202) 219-6825 or Hugh Davies at (202) 219-5580.
References: JTPA Interim Final Regulations published on December 29, 1992; TEIN No. 16-92; TEGL No. 2-92; TEGL No. 4-92; and TEGL No. 6-92. Background: Public Law 102-367, dated September 7, 1992, established major revisions to JTPA. Section 701(i) of Public Law 102-367 permits the Department to "establish such rules and procedures as may be necessary to provide for an orderly implementation of the amendments...." Interim final rules published December 29, 1992, provide policy on transition to the new requirements at 20 CFR 627 Subpart I. The JTPA Amendments of 1992 made significant enhancements to program requirements and administrative systems. The regulations state that transition activities will be accomplished during the balance of Program Year (PY) 1992 in order to fully implement the Amendments on July 1, 1993, unless otherwise stated. Comments on the interim final rule have indicated considerable concern with the transition provisions. The anticipated expansion and enrichment of the Title II-B program for the upcoming summer has also prompted a reexamination of transition provisions. Accordingly, pursuant to the authority provided by Section 701(i) of Public Law 102-367, this issuance provides rules and procedures which the Department finds necessary to provide for the orderly implementation of the Amendments. It is intended that these guidelines may be relied on by States and SDAs. The Department will issue conforming amendments to the JTPA Interim Final Regulations as soon as possible. Program Implementation: The Department recognizes that implementation by the States and SDAs of the new program design requirements, particularly objective assessment and development of the individual service strategies (ISS), may require additional time to fully implement beyond July 1, 1993. The Department intends that the program design changes be undertaken in a manner which ensures the long term quality of service delivery in JTPA. Reasonable efforts to implement the provisions of 20 CFR 628.515, 628.520, and 628.530, objective assessment, individual service strategy, and referrals of participants to non-Title II services as soon after July 1, 1993 as possible, are expected to be made. However, all new participants will not be expected to initially receive such services until January 1, 1994. The Department acknowledges that the quality of those activities is expected to be improved and refined during PY 1993, as are all aspects of the JTPA program. Monitoring of the program aspects of the Amendments during PY 1993 by all levels of the JTPA system, including the Department, should focus heavily on improving service quality. In determining compliance with the program design requirements during PY 1993, the grant officer will consider the extent to which the States and SDAs have made good faith efforts to implement the new provisions during PY 1993. Immediate action: In order to make the transition from the old to the new requirements, the JTPA Regulations at 20 CFR 627.902 identified actions that must be accomplished by the Governor prior to July 1, 1993. These actions cover four major areas: (a) Funding; (b) Participants; (c) Procurement; and (d) Reporting. a. Funding Effective July 1, 1993, PY 1993 funds must be administered in accordance with the new legislation and regulations. PY 1992 funds unexpended on June 30 may be expended after July 1 to serve "grandparented" participants under "old" rules, or they may be expended after July 1 to serve "new" or "old" participants under new rules. Whatever amount is used under the "old" rules is to be reported on the "old" reporting form. Whatever amount is used under the "new" rules is to be reported on the "new" reporting form. There will be an increase allowed in the administrative cost limitation for PY 1992 funds from 15 percent to 20 percent, with a corresponding adjustment to the other cost limitations. Specifically, not less than 80 percent of Title II-A funds may be expended for training and participant support, and not less than 65 percent may be expended for training. Any unexpended PY 1992 funds to be used after June 30, 1993, may be used according to the "old" rules (20 CFR 626 et al., published September 22, 1989) so long as these funds are used to provide training to participants who were enrolled on or before June 30, 1993. When all such participants are terminated, remaining unspent funds must be used and accounted for in accordance with the rules implementing the 1992 Amendments. States and SDAs should identify PY 1992 and earlier funds that will be used in PY 1993 for programs operating under the new Amendments. Of these funds, not less than 40 percent, or the rate approved by the Governor as established under Section 203(b)(2), must be used in PY 1993 as Title II-C funds to provide services to eligible youth. The cost limitations, cost classifications, and allowable costs requirements in the 1992 JTPA Amendments apply to these funds. The Interim Final Regulations provide that administrative cost pool funds must be allocated on the basis of benefits received, rather than the past practice in some States and SDAs of allocating costs on the basis of proportionate fund contribution to the pool. Many commentors viewed this as unduly restrictive. It is important to note that States, in setting policy in this area, may apply whatever allocation methodology is in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices and is acceptable to its auditors. Pursuant to TEGL 2-92, any available section 202(b)(3) PY 1992 or earlier "6 percent" funds may be used to develop and implement data collection and management information systems to track the program experience of participants. The JTPA Amendments of 1992 provide SDAs with the option to transfer funds between the "Parts" within Title II. For the PY 1993 planning process, SDAs may use available PY 1992 and earlier Title II-A funds for Titles II-A and Title II-C purposes in PY 1993, and may also transfer PY 1993 Title II-A, II-B, and II-C funds to Titles II-A and II-C. Guidance that address this was issued separately in TEGL No. 6-92. b. Participants "Grandparenting" Participants Participants enrolled in JTPA programs prior to July 1, 1993, may continue to be served under the "old" rules and regulations. As previously noted, all new Title II-A and II-C participants enrolled after January 1, 1994, must be served under the requirements of the 1992 JTPA Amendments, e.g., assessment, ISS, and referral. The 65 percent barrier requirement for Titles II-A and IIC, however, will apply to all participants newly enrolled after June 30, 1993. The 50 percent out-of-school participants requirement at 20 CFR 628.803(h) will not be the subject of compliance review until the period following July 1, 1994. During PY 1993, however, SDAs must show improvement in the proportion of out-of-school youth being served and ETA and States will monitor performance in increasing the proportion. The Interim Final Regulations call for all participants to come under the requirements of the Amendments as of July 1, 1994. Final Regulations will allow participants on board prior to July 1, 1993 to continue service under the old arrangements until they terminate, which may be after June 30, 1994. c. Procurement Section 627.904(e) of the Interim Final Regulations states that "All procurements initiated on or after July 1, 1993, shall be governed by and follow the requirements in 20 CFR 627.420...." Initiation of a procurement, for purposes of this section, is considered to be either the award of a sole source grant/contract, the award of a small purchase contract or the issuance of an Invitation For Bid or Request For Proposal. In accordance with 20 CFR 627.905, contracts, awards, and agreements entered into on or before June 30, 1993, are to be used to serve only participants enrolled on or before June 30, 1993, unless the contracts, awards and agreements are modified to comply with the new amendments and regulations. d. Reporting Financial Reports States/SDAs may continue to use PY 1992 money for grandparented participants under old requirements, or PY 1992 funds may be used for new participants under new requirements. PY 1992 money used to implement the 1992 Amendments will be reported on the new Title II financial report format, and will be subject to the new financial management requirements. States will continue to report on the JTPA Annual Status Report (JASR), as usual, PY 1992 and earlier money that is not used to implement the 1992 Amendments. Reporting instructions for PY 1993 are forthcoming. As soon as OMB approval has been secured, the Department will issue instructions for the new fiscal reports. PY 1992 and earlier funds used for PY 1993 activity will assume PY 1993 characteristics and cost limitations and audit requirements. They will not, however, lose their appropriation identity. These funds will be reported separately on the new financial report under new cost categories in accordance with the reporting instructions issued for PY 1993 funds. Participant Reporting All current annual and semi-annual reporting requirements for Title II and Title III will continue until full implementation of the Standardized Program Information Reporting (SPIR) system. Full SPIR implementation is required for PY 1993, beginning July 1, 1993. For PY 1992, a dual system of participant reporting will be required as follows: (1) PY 1992 aggregate data required in the JASR and Worker AdJustment Program Annual Program Report (WAPR) will be reported no later than August 15, 1993; and (2) SPIR participant reports for all individuals terminating during PY 1992 will be reported no later than November 15, 1993. Reports will contain, at a minimum, that information needed to complete the JASR and WAPR. Title II-B information will be reported on the JTPA Summer Performance Report. Additional requirements may be added, depending on the proposed summer supplemental. Other Issues of Immediate Concern: a. State Human Resource Investment Council (HRIC) Pursuant to Section 701 of the JTPA as amended, States may establish an HRIC that would supersede and replace the State Job Training Coordination Council and other State councils. Section 703(c) provides that a State electing to establish an HRIC shall certify to the Secretary such establishment at least 90 days before the beginning of the 2-program year planning period. The 2-year period for the next State and local plans begins July 1, 1994. Therefore, an HRIC may be established now, or at any time during PY 1993. The certification for the HRIC is required 90 days prior to July 1, 1994. b. Instructions necessary for SDAs to operate the 1993 summer Program There is contradictory language in the Interim Final Regulations at 20 CFR 627.902(j) and 627.904(k). The calendar year 1993 Title II-B Summer Youth Employment and Training Program will be governed by the Act and regulations in effect prior to the 1992 JTPA Amendments pursuant to 20 CFR 627.904(k). Additional guidance will follow related to the proposed summer supplemental. c. Capacity building and technical assistance The JTPA Amendments of 1992 made capacity building and technical assistance priorities at the National, State and local levels. Governors are encouraged to use Section 202(c)(1)(B) funds to develop a Statewide capacity building and technical assistance strategy, including provisions for SDAs in State planning. Funds may be used for capacity building purposes beginning July 1, 1993. Consideration should be given to directing resources and/or training directly to staff of SDAs and local service providers. Other coordinated capacity building arrangements, including cost-sharing approaches, should also be considered. d. Performance standards Consistent with the transition provisions in Section 701, implementation of new performance standards requirements will begin on July 1, 1994 (PY 1994). Until that time, current requirements pertaining to measures and applications (i.e., adjustments, incentive awards, and imposition of sanctions) will remain in effect. Therefore, for calculating PY 1992 SDA performance on the post program performance employment and earnings measures, States are to use the PY 1992 JASR follow-up information (based on the first three quarters of PY 1992 and the fourth quarter of PY 1991). A similar procedure will be used for PY 1993 (using the first three quarters of PY 1993 from the August 15, 1994 SPIR and the fourth quarter of PY 1992 derived from the November 15, 1993 SPIR). This is consistent with the procedures used since the inception of post program measures. e. Grievances The transition provisions contained in the Interim Final Regulations appear to imply that "new" grievances procedures are required at the State and SDA levels as a result of the JTPA Amendments of 1992. This is not really the case. The basic requirements at Section 144 of the Act, to have and maintain a JTPA grievance procedure for complaints and alleged violations of the Act and regulations, were not changed by the Amendments. The Amendments revised Section 144 by adding new subsections which apply to the handling of alleged Section 143 labor standards violations. The States and SDAs will need to modify their grievance procedures accordingly to cover such complaints. Complaints and grievances will continue to be handled in accordance with established grievance procedures, except as modified by the changes in the Amendments to Section 144, and other minor revisions set forth at Subparts E, F, and H of the Interim Final Regulations. f. Coordination Requirements New coordination and linkage requirements are expected to be developed during PY 1993 so as to constructively impact the planning and coordination of PY 1994-95 activities under Titles I, II and III. g. Plans Modifications The Interim Final Regulations call for the modification of State and local job training plans. The plans need to reflect only those programmatic revisions which are necessary to implement the requirements that take effect on July 1, 1993 or during PY 1993. The plans must also reflect provisions for the new coordination requirements for local adult and youth programs which must be in place during PY 1993. h. SDA redesignation Policies for the designation of SDAs need not affect SDAs prior to the designations for PY 1994. It is expected that these policies will apply to SDA designations prior to the 1994-1995 program year Period . Action: States should ensure that transition activities are consistent with this guidance.
ETA Regional Staff
Carolyn M. Golding Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration