CD-ROM Information: The new, enhanced format for the PY 1995 CD-ROM contains the complete public use data set on all individuals who exited the PY 1995 JTPA Titles IIA, IIC, III, and Section 204(d) programs. (Individual identifiers for each record have been removed to ensure JTPA participant confidentiality. Unique identifier codes have been substituted.) For the first time, the SPIR CD-ROM also contains the PY 95 SPIR Data Book, all 52 State SPIR Data Books, the Guide to JTPA Performance Standards for Program Years 1996 and 1997, and additional technical documentation. Acrobat TM Reader software in both MS-DOS and Windows versions are included to allow easy reading and printing of the documents. The readme.txt file provides a summary of the CD-ROM's contents and may be a useful place to start. A complete list of the contents of the PY 1995 SPIR CD-ROM is attached. The data in the public use data set are provided in a pure text (ASCII) format that can be read by any appropriate statistical analysis program (for example, SASTM or SPSSTM) or database program. In addition to the actual data set, the CD-ROM contains complete documentation of the public use data files for the JTPA Title IIA, IIC, III and Section 204(d) programs. All documentation is in Adobe AcrobatTM (.pdf) format. Files with a ".pdf" extension can be easily viewed and printed using the AcrobatTM reader automatically invoked on the CD-ROM. The report "Overview of PY 95 SPIR Public Use Data Files," contains important caveats for users. A copy is attached, and it is also in the pub_over.pdf file. The entire record layout for all 300 variables in the public use data set is listed in the pub_use.pdf file. The CD-ROM also contains extensive tables derived from the SPIR data, including SPIR Data Books for the nation and for each State. The Data Books provide detailed descriptive tables on characteristics, services and outcomes for individuals who exited JTPA programs. These tables are also provided in AcrobatTM format, as is the Guide to JTPA Performance Standards for Program Years 1996 and 1997. Errors in Economic Data. Due to a programming error, not all data items based on the ES202 data were updated as the documentation claims. For the following items in the economic conditions data set, 1994 data instead of 1995 data are incorrectly included on the CD-ROM in the econ.dat file: 1) annual earnings in retail and wholesale trade, 2) 3-year growth rate of earnings in trade, and 3) percent employment in manufacturing, agriculture and mining. A future notice will transmit printouts of the corrected economic data. SPIR Background. Please refer to TEIN No. 5-97, dated July 25, 1997, for background information on the SPIR data set and Data Books, including some expected benefits of use of the data for State and local analysis. The TEIN also transmitted printed copies of the PY 1995 SPIR Data Book.

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Background: The workforce development system is rapidly changing to accommodate new training and employment demands and emerging service delivery systems such as the One-Stop Career Center System. The changes are affecting all employment and training programs including the SCSEP. More changes are anticipated as Congress revisits the roles and responsibilities of programs and projects comprising the nation's workforce development system. SCSEP grantees must be in position to deliver quality services to their customers. They must continue to improve while meeting customer needs. As key staff and local program administrators change, an increased need for training and technical assistance is created. The Division of Older Worker Programs encourages SCSEP grantees to participate in a system that provides for experienced, specifically skilled grantees to deliver technical assistance or training to other grantees desiring specialized training. This system of Peer-to-Peer TAT will utilize the expertise of individuals who are knowledgeable in certain program and administrative areas to assist their counterparts in other programs. Peer-to-Peer TAT will make it possible for grantees to help each other as, collectively, we all strive to deliver the best possible services to our customers. Planned Activities: The Division of Older Worker Programs has an agreement with DTI Associates, Inc. to work with Federal and non-Federal staff to assist in the design of the SCSEP Peer-to-Peer TAT system. One of the first activities being undertaken is to review other programs where a peer-to-peer system is working or has been attempted. Conversations are ongoing with staff in the Indian and Native American Program which has had a peer-to-peer system in operation for many years. Similarly, work done by MDC, Inc. that culminated in the June 1995 publication of a manual titled Learning and Teaching: A Demonstrated Approach to State and Regional Peer-to-Peer Capacity Building, is being reviewed for applicability to this effort. Following the research of past peer-to-peer efforts input will be sought from SCSEP National and State sponsors, and other organizations involved in the program. This will occur in a number of ways: Requests for review and comments on drafts of the peer-to-peer system under development; Establishing a work group to obtain feedback as the project progresses (this group is described in the next section of this Bulletin); and Presentations at Older Worker conferences where comments, observations, and recommendations may be made by attendees. Feedback Group: The feedback group is made up of representatives from SCSEP National and State Sponsors and other organizations. The purpose of the group is to provide feedback to the developers of the system as the design begins to take shape. We do not envision that it will be necessary to physically convene this group in one location. Rather, input will be accomplished through e-mail or conference calls. The group size will be kept to 10 members. If you are not a member of the workgroup, and would like to present a view, voice a comment, offer a suggestion, or make a recommendation you may contact any member of the group or any of the developers in the Division of Older Worker Programs. When the group is established you will be provided with names, addresses, phone and fax numbers. The main thing is that you should view the Peer-to-Peer system as your system and take part in its design. Accordingly, you will have many opportunities to provide your input. The work group is currently comprised of representatives from the following organizations: Green Thumb National Urban League National Council on the Aging National Association of State Units on Aging Senior Texas Employment Program (STEP) U.S. Forest Service National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A) State of Colorado Technology: One of the features of the Peer-to-Peer TAT system will be the use of technology to exchange information among grantees. Preliminary plans are to make use of the ETA Older Workers Homepage on the Internet for this purpose. A special section would be devoted to SCSEP Peer-to-Peer TAT information exchange. This would be a place where grantees can go to seek "how-to" information on a variety of program and administrative issues. Also planned on the Homepage is a place where grantees can find information on successful linkages and innovative projects. When the system is up on the ETA Older Workers Homepage, we hope that you will contribute information for inclusion. Training: Training on the new system will take the form of briefings at the Older Worker conferences planned for the fall of 1997. A Peer-to-Peer workshop will be held at each of the conferences. Each workshop will be conducted in a manner to provide for the maximum amount of dialogue and input from grantees and other partners in the system. The guides used in the workshops will later become the manuals for the Peer-to-Peer TAT system. Action Requested: Each sponsor interested in helping to structure the TAT Peer-to-Peer system is invited to send comments, suggestions and recommendations to the Division of Older Workers in the ETA National Office. All submissions should be sent to the attention of Frances Hawkins.

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Background: Today, America's workforce is undergoing an unprecedented series of changes. While technology is rapidly reshaping the face of our economy, a large segment of America's population, the Baby Boom Generation, is aging as business struggles to compete in an increasingly global market. Simultaneous advances in technology and changes in demography are having an impact that will continue reshaping our economy well into the 21st century. Many people are familiar with facts about technology, computers and downsizing. However, many do not know that the number of workers age 45 and over will have increased by nearly 17 million between 1994 and 2005. To meet the challenges that these impacts suggest, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) commissioned the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute to conduct a series of focus groups on issues related to the training of older workers. Over the course of a year, several focus groups were convened. The first round of focus groups was composed of workers age 45 and over from a variety of workplaces. Another round of two additional groups, one composed of professional trainers and another of supervisors and human resource professionals, approached the issue from a different perspective. With the intent of obtaining information on workforce issues that would be useful to employers, policy makers, trainers, Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and SCSEP administrators, the focus groups discussed several questions regarding attitudes towards the training of older workers. Although the focus group participants were generally more well off financially than SCSEP enrollees, they voiced concern about many of the same practices and perceptions of employers commonly experienced by older workers across-the-board. To assist older workers to have more positive workplace experiences, you should be aware of the employer attitudes and practices often experienced by mature workers in today' workplace. The report concludes with this caveat: "As we close out the last decade of this century and look toward the next, it is clear that neither employers nor employees can afford to sit by as the skills of the workforce become obsolete." Actions Required: SCSEP sponsors should: a. Undertake efforts to disseminate information about mature workers revealed by the study; b. Initiate dialogues with employers to educate them about the findings of the study; c. Promote efforts to educate employers about the benefits of hiring, retraining and retaining mature workers; d. Facilitate and promote continued participation by mature workers in the workforce - e.g. through job fairs, mature worker luncheons, news releases and radio and television public service announcements emphasizing the benefits of hiring, training or retraining, and retaining mature workers; and e. Coordinate with State Employment Security Agencies, JTPA State Liaisons, and Service Delivery Areas, the Governor's office and other SCSEP sponsors to further foster community efforts to hire, train and promote mature workers at the State and community levels.

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Background: RAL 2-87, issued May 26, 1987, disseminated a package containing UI Tax Rates by Industry for 1975-1985. These data were prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from the ES202 Employment, Wages, and Contributions report. Each year, BLS has prepared annual updates of this information as it has become available. The attached tables update the series through 1995.

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Background: Legislation enacted by Congress has increased requirements for full and complete reporting of national program performance for public information and accountability purposes. These laws include the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 and the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993. GPRA requires all federal agencies to develop and submit to Congress both a 5-year strategic plan and a Fiscal Year 1998 annual plan, with major emphases on measuring and reporting program outcomes and impacts. The Employment and Training Administration's (ETA) internal assessment of its capability to respond to these increased mandates has shown we need to do a better job of ensuring that recipients comply with existing reporting schedules. Recent experience also has illustrated the ongoing need for ETA to monitor and ensure the quality of financial and program data reported to it by recipients. Data Quality: ETA, in collaboration with the Department's Office of Inspector General, has developed a Data Quality Review Guide with which Regional Offices are conducting State reviews of data quality on a multi-year cycle. Error, edit, outlier, and data quality reports from the SPIR database contractor also help States and Regional Offices monitor the quality of SPIR data submissions. Reporting Schedule: The attached is a reporting schedule for your use in monitoring your own response to the existing reporting time lines as currently established. Reporting deadlines are, of course, subject to change in response to future developments. A major change in JTPA reporting occurred with Program Year 1992, when for the first time records for each individual terminee were required for the new SPIR system. Each successive year has shown improvements in most States' ability to work with the SPIR database contractor and to submit timely and accurate SPIR files with fewer fatal errors and fewer iterations. During those years, however, the reporting deadline was not rigorously enforced in order to provide a window of time for States to edit their SPIR data and refine their data submission procedures. Final Cutoff Date for SPIR Reporting: Due to Congress' heightened requirements for program accountability reporting, and because SPIR is now fully operational after several years of phase-in, ETA will now require firm adherence to current SPIR reporting deadlines. August 15, 1997, is the due date for initial PY 1996 SPIR submissions. ETA will now firmly observe December 1, 1997, as the final cutoff date for States' submission of PY 1996 SPIR data revisions. ETA's SPIR database contractor has been instructed not to accept further submissions after that date. ETA's public information and analysis of JTPA performance will be based on data received by December 1. Submissions received after that date will not be used for purposes of analyzing JTPA performance, testimony, public discussion and dissemination of performance data and findings. Missing and incomplete data will be identified appropriately, such as in footnotes.