To notify State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) of training on foreign labor certification programs being offered by ETA in early December 2006. The training opportunity will update SWA staff on policy guidance regarding prevailing wage determinations, discuss the transition to processing temporary labor certification applications through the National Processing Centers (NPCs), and reinforce standards and timeframes for the review and preparation of employer applications for temporary labor certification.

To announce the designation of September 24-30, 2006, as National Employ Older Workers Week and to encourage State Workforce Agencies, State and Local Workforce Investment Boards and One-Stop Career Centers to provide leadership in activities to promote National Employ Older Workers Week.

To assure that all SCSEP national and state grantees focus efforts on helping minorities gain and continue access to the program, especially through the transition period ending October 1, 2006.

To inform states and local areas about a newly formed partnership to promote careers in Health Care to Hispanics.

To announce the results of the Program Year (PY) 2006 competition of the national Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) grants.

To announce the release and the availability of ETA Occasional Paper 2006-03: Evaluating Grants to Build Collaborations Between the Workforce Investment System and Faith- and Community-Based Organizations: Early Findings

To remind the workforce investment system of the WIA performance reporting deadlines and timeline for submitting data validation results for the following programs: Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title IB, the Wagner-Peyser Act, activities authorized under chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code (Local Veterans Employment Representative and Disabled Veteran Outreach Service programs), Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), and National Farmworker Jobs (NFJP).

To inform states and other Employment and Training Administration (ETA)-fund recipients and sub-recipients of a new limitation on salary and bonus payments that can be made with funds appropriated to ETA and provide guidance on implementing this new provision.

To announce the release and the availability of ETA Occasional Paper 2006-02: Building Relationships Between the Workforce Investment System and Faith-Based and Community Organizations: A Background Paper.

To inform state workforce agencies (SWAs) of the Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA’s) intention to eliminate its authority to pay the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) directly for “employment security” postage costs beginning Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. These plans include the following:

• Phasing out ETA payment to the United States Postal Service (USPS) for state agency penalty mail and postal management costs beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 for states volunteering to be early implementers; beginning in FY 2008, all states will assume responsibility for paying their own postage costs as well as any postal management services currently provided to states through the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Supplemental Budget Request (SBR) process;
• Implementing new procedures to fund UI, Foreign Labor Certification (FLC), Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), and Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) postage beginning with FY 2008;
• Implementing new procedures to fund Wagner-Peyser (WP) and Workforce Information Grants (WIGs) beginning with Program Year (PY) 2008;
• Providing guidance on the payment of postage costs for programs conducted by SWAs in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS);
• Providing information on technical assistance available to states in converting from the (penalty mail) Official Mail Accounting System (OMAS) to commercial mail to improve general mail practices; and
• Soliciting UI SBRs from states for the purpose of implementing commercial mail programs and improving postage management.