The purpose of this guidance is to provide all SCSEP grant applicants with application instruction and procedures for Program Year (PY) 2009 funds, with a period of performance beginning July 1, 2009.

To notify State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) of the availability of FY 2009 UI funds to: 1) develop or update UI IT Contingency Plans, including obtaining an Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V), and 2) improve UI IT Security.

To announce the availability of funds for the 2013 ETA Research Papers Program. This initiative will provide approximately $80,000 in funds, for up to 10 projects, to doctoral and post-doctoral students interested in writing scholarly, policy-relevant research papers on topics of interest to the public workforce investment system. These applications are due on November 11, 2013.

To inform states of a change in the guidelines for negotiating Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title IB performance goals and performance levels for the Wagner-Peyser Act funded activities for Program Year (PY) 2009. In addition to the change in guidelines for negotiating performance goals, this document also publishes the GPRA goals for eleven other programs administered by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA); and explains the regression model used for setting the new national targets for the workforce investment program.

To transmit the subject computation for State Workforce Agency usage in computing minimum weekly DUA amounts for all major disasters declared during the first quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2014.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) amended the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) to increase the maximum annual amount of TAA funds that may be spent on training. The Department will use some of the funds appropriated for TAA in FY 2009 under the Consolidated Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L. No. 111-8) (Omnibus Appropriations) for a supplemental distribution to the states, and will also hold funds in reserve. This program letter explains the formula methodology used in distributing this supplemental distribution and describes the process for states to request additional TAA program reserve funds for training.

To provide the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) information on the nomination extension process for EZs, and the date when SWAs can start processing certification requests for the two target groups, which require its members to reside in EZs.

To inform the workforce system of the mandatory requirement for sub-recipients, i.e., any first-tier subcontract or sub-award funded in whole or in part under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), to obtain a DUNS number www.dnb.com. Any such sub-recipient must also establish and maintain active and current profiles in the CCR at www.ccr.gov.

To provide information to State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) about the potential for sequestration in Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 and how the Department of Labor (Department) would apply sequestration to mandatory Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs for FY 2014, so that SWAs can make necessary operational changes.

To announce the grant application process and to transmit guidance for the development and management of the PY 2009 Workforce Information Grants to States.