New rule aimed at improving employment services for veterans proposed by US Department of Labor

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service, known as VETS, has proposed a rule establishing a uniform national threshold performance level to be applied to state grantees that provide employment services to veterans.

The national threshold applies to those state grantees responsible for serving veterans under both the Wagner-Peyser State Grants administered by the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration and the Jobs for Veterans State Grants administered by VETS. The draft rule specifies that the national threshold will apply to "state employment service delivery systems" funded by the two-state grant programs but not the employment services provided through state and local agency grants under the Workforce Investment Act.

To determine whether any of the state employment service delivery systems are deficient in their services to veterans, the proposed rule will apply the national threshold as part of a two-step process. The first step will identify those state agencies whose performance on behalf of veterans is to undergo further review.

As the second step, the department will conduct a comprehensive review of the operations and outcomes of those state agencies whose performance falls below the national threshold, taking into account economic conditions and other key factors that vary by state. If the review determines that the performance of a state grantee is deficient, the draft rule requires that the state grantee prepare a corrective action plan, with technical assistance provided by VETS. The corrective action plan then will be submitted to the department for approval.

The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register, allows 60 days for public comments, which are due no later than April 19, 2011. The notice can be accessed at http://s.dol.gov/D6.