The Employment and Training Administration has announced the annual list of labor surplus areas for FY 2019 through a notice in the September 13, 2018 Federal Register .
The Department of Labor's regulations implementing Executive Orders 12073 and 10582 are set forth at 20 CFR part 654, subparts A and B. These regulations ETA to classify jurisdictions as labor surplus areas pursuant to the criteria specified in the regulations, and to publish annually a list of labor surplus areas. Pursuant to those regulations, ETA has published the annual list of labor surplus areas. In addition, the regulations provide exceptional circumstance criteria for classifying labor surplus areas when catastrophic events, such as natural disasters, plant closings, and contract cancellations are expected to have a long-term impact on labor market area conditions, discounting temporary or seasonal factors.
ETA issues the LSA list on a fiscal year basis. The list becomes effective each October 1 and remains in effect through the following September 30. The reference period used in preparing the current list is January 2016 through December 2017. The national average unemployment rate (including Puerto Rico) during this period is rounded to 4.66 percent. Twenty percent higher than the national unemployment rate during this period is rounded to 5.59 percent. Since 5.59 percent is below the "floor unemployment rate" of 6.0 percent, a civil jurisdiction must have a two-year unemployment rate of 6.0 percent in order to be classified an LSA. Therefore, areas included on the FY 2019 LSA list had an unemployment rate for the reference period of 6.0 percent or higher. To ensure that all areas classified as labor surplus meet the requirements, when a city is part of a county and meets the unemployment qualifier as an LSA, that city is identified in the LSA list; the balance of county, not the entire county, will be identified as an LSA if the balance of county also meets the LSA unemployment criteria.
The FY 2019 LSA list and statistical data on the current and prior year's LSAs are available at ETA's LSA website at http://www.doleta.gov/programs/lsa.cfm .
Additional background / procedures for classifying labor surplus areas / petition for exceptional circumstance consideration / contacts: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-09-13/pdf/2018-19905.pdf
Department of Labor Announces Three Disaster Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grants
Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, Dislocated Worker Grants temporarily expand the service capacity of dislocated worker training and employment programs at the state and local levels by providing funding assistance in response to large, unexpected economic events that cause significant job losses.
The Department of Labor has announced three grants today (September 12):
- $975,000 Disaster Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grant (DWG) awarded to Workforce West Virginia to assess workforce needs in response to storms that brought heavy rainfall and flooding throughout seven counties. The funding will assist the following seven counties declared eligible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Public Assistance Program: Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan, and Pendleton.
- $833,325 Disaster Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grant awarded to Workforce West Virginia to assess workforce needs in response to storms that brought heavy rainfall, flooding and wind damage. The funding will assist clean-up efforts in the following 21 counties declared eligible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Public Assistance Program: Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, Doddridge, Hancock, Harrison, Lincoln, Logan, Marshall, Mason, Monongalia, Ohio, Pleasants, Preston, Ritchie, Taylor, Tyler, Wayne, Wetzel, Wirt, and Wood.
- $875,000 in National Dislocated Worker Grant (DWG) funding to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to assess workforce needs after layoffs from the General Motors plant in Lordstown as well as from three additional auto industry suppliers in Northeast Ohio.
All workers dislocated from these employers have been certified as eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), enabling them to seek training through that program in order to find comparable reemployment. The DWG funding will primarily provide these workers with employment and training services, and critical supportive services not available through the TAA program.
September 17 Webinar: Eligible Training Provider Reporting (Requirement and Tools for Reporting, Part I)
The requirements for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) performance reporting became effective beginning program year 2018 (July 1, 2018).
Employment and Training Administration staff will provide an overview of ETP reporting provisions during a Monday, September 17 webinar (1:00 p.m. Eastern). ETA encourages WIOA Title I (i.e., Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth programs) workforce leadership and data/reporting staff, as well as eligible training providers to participate in this webinar.
Attendees will learn about:
- The performance requirements for eligible training providers (ETP) and
- The tools for reporting on ETPs.
Presenters:
Christina Eckenroth, Executive Assistant, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Kellen Grode, Workforce Analyst, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Matt Gee, Senior Research Scientist, University of Chicago, Center for Data Science and Public Policy
Moderator:
Andy Ridgeway, Supervisory Workforce Analyst, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
Registration for this event is limited and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Register
September 26 Webinar: Understanding Competency-Based Apprenticeship Programs
Understanding Competency-Based Apprenticeship Programs
Wednesday, September 26, 2018 2:00-3:00 pm ET
The Jobs for the Future's Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning will host this webinar exploring the growing influence that competency-based learning frameworks and program models are having on apprenticeship in the United States.
This JFF webinar will examine the increased use of competency-based apprenticeships, where apprentices master a specific skill and then move on to the next level, an approach that reduces the time needed for workers to achieve full productivity. The webinar will feature experts who have operated successful programs and developed nationally recognized competency frameworks for critical jobs in multiple industries to help strengthen apprenticeship across the nation.
Panelists:
- Zachary Boren, Chief of the Division of Program Quality, Standards, and Policy, Office of Apprenticeship, US Department of Labor
- Diana Elliott, PhD, Senior Research Associate, Urban Institute
- Manny Lamarre, Executive Director, Governor's Office of Workforce Innovation, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Cheryl Olson, Project Director, Truckee Meadows Community College
- Eric Seleznow, Senior Advisor, JFF
Registration: https://jff.webex.com/jff/onstage/g.php?MTID=e2782584a12ac49bf82f50125ae073b0e
Access and Mobility: Federal Transit Administration Announce Two Competitive Funding Opportunities
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced the Access & Mobility Partnership Grants that present opportunities to apply for funding under two competitive grant programs.
- FTA makes available $3,903,715 in funding for the Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility Pilot Program (ICAM) . Asrequired by Federal transit law, funds will be awarded competitively to finance innovative capital projects for the transportation disadvantaged that will improve the coordination of transportation services and non-emergency medical transportation services.
- FTA makes available $2,434,767 in funding for a Human Services Coordination Research (HSCR) Program with funds available under the Public Transportation Innovation Program. Research activities awarded under this competitive program will support the implementation of innovative strategies in the coordination of human services transportation to provide more effective and efficient public transportation services to seniors, individuals with disabilities, and low-income individuals. Proposed research projects should address gaps identified in the locally developed Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan. The HSCR funds will finance operating and capital project expenditures to develop and deploy projects that improve transportation services for targeted populations as noted above through methods that effectively and efficiently coordinate human services transportation.
Under both competitions, applications should be submitted to www.grants.gov by November 13.
Excerpts:
- Under ICAM, successful projects will work collaboratively and leverage partnerships among Federal agencies of the Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM), including the Department of Health and Human Services' operating divisions such as the Administration for Community Living, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Partnerships that cross health and transportation sectors facilitate better health for communities by increasing access to health/wellness services.
- Under HSCR, FTA may make grants to assist in financing innovative projects for the transportation disadvantaged that improve the coordination of transportation services and non-emergency medical transportation services including: The deployment of coordination technology; projects that create or increase access to community one-call/one-click centers; and other innovative projects. The FTA's goal for these pilot demonstration grants is to identify and test promising, innovative, coordinated mobility strategies for healthcare access solutions that other communities can replicate.
Full background / eligibility requirements / application requirements / review process / evaluation criteria:
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-09-13/pdf/2018-19897.pdf
Credential Engine Announces Military Working Group Initiative Supported by the Northrop Grumman Foundation
Credential Engine has announced a grant from the Northrop Grumman Foundation for Credential Engine's growing work to publish credentials in support of the Department of Defense (DoD), our military service members, and our nation's veterans. With this grant, Credential Engine will convene a Military Credentials Working Group to identify and facilitate partnerships within and across DoD and the military's various branches, the Veterans Administration, veteran service organizations, employers and unions.
"The benefits of comprehensive credential transparency to the military and veterans are clear, and will improve efforts in recruitment, readiness, development, retention and transition" said Credential Engine Executive Director, Scott Cheney. "Credential Engine has been working with the U.S. Department of Defense since 2016 to publish military-issued credentials to the Credential Registry, align and integrate our credential and competency schema with product lifecycle standards, and support the development of a Defense Department lead clearinghouse of federally-issued licenses and other credentials."
This work builds, in part, upon existing efforts with the U.S. Navy under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), announced earlier this year . The project will commence in September of 2018 and is currently expected to run for two years.