| IN THIS ISSUE:
DIRECTOR’S CORNER
TRAVEL AND
SUBSISTENCE CHANGE!
NEW TAA APPLICATION
CURRENT TAA LAW TO SUNSET IN
2014
TAA: STAY TUNED
TRA END DATES: Graduation Date vs. End of Coursework
TAA / DW SUCCESS STORY
DIRECTOR'S CORNER
Happy New
School Year! Our TAA team thanks you for all of your hard work ensuring prompt
and quality service to our shared customers who began classes in fall semester!
Most of the “surge” is over, but please let us know as soon as you can if and
when you have any stragglers. We’ll move as quickly as possible.
The upcoming
start of autumn marks not only a time for our job seeking customers to learn
new things…but also ourselves! In what has become an annual tradition, the TAA
team will coordinate days where we visit across the state and provide content
in your favorite program. There are two new aspects to the training this year.
First,
the training will not focus solely on TAA. While TAA is still carrying much of the freight of
the content and logistics, there will be other components to the agenda. We are
still finalizing details but there are at least two broader components you can
expect: (1) ensuring appropriate access to persons who may have
disabilities and (2) developing quality employment and training plans
for the Dislocated Worker and related programs.
The
training has a mandatory component. Because the training includes topics on ensuring access,
which is part of a federal compliance strategy, we do insist that every
certified provider send at least Two individuals to training. Of course, you
can send more – and those areas with large TAA caseloads and/or newer
counselors should certainly do so. Please talk with your leadership regarding
your organization’s strategy.
We
appreciate all your dedication to doing the best possible work for job seeker
customers and taxpaying investors. Please take time to enjoy the last lingering
bits of summer, and best wishes to you all!
Travel and Subsistence Change
Starting September 15, 2014, the Travel and Subsistence TAA
training benefit will change for a one-year trial period only. Formerly,
participants who traveled 50 miles or more one-way to their training
institution could request the travel and subsistence benefit. Participants
can now request the benefit if they travel 35 miles or more to their training
institution. The benefit will begin with the date of application, and will
not be paid retroactively. DW Counselors, please inform any of your
participants that might qualify so that they send in their training and
subsistence applications today. Please click here for the Travel Subsistence Contract. (You will need to use either a Firefox or Internet Explorer web browser to open the document.)
New TAA Application
A new TAA application is now online. Please notice some of
the changes and a new requirement. TAA has added a box for SWIFT Vendor ID’s.
Although this section will remain optional for your clients, TAA highly
encourages the completion of this step prior to sending in the TAA training
application. Including this step on the application will expedite payments for
items such as Travel and Subsistence and customer reimbursements, should they
be required. Once again, this is an
optional step in the application, but highly encouraged.
The following is a link for vendor registration: https://supplier.swift.state.mn.us/psp/fmssupap/SUPPLIER/ERP/h/
Instructions for registration are available through your TAA
Specialist.
Current TAA Law To Sunset in 2014
Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)
program year guidance laws have changed over the years. The current law—the
2014 TAA Reversion Law—expires December 31, 2014. If Congressional action
does not occur to extend or reauthorize the Trade Act this year, no new TAA
investigations will occur after January 1, 2015. This will prohibit any
new certifications of workers whose jobs have been adversely affected by Trade
on or after January 1, 2015. At this point in time, we are unsure if
amendments to currently active TAA-certified sites will be allowed.
Additionally, a lack of action will likely prohibit any new ATAA/RTAA payments
for workers not already enrolled and
receiving this benefit as of January 1, 2015.
TAA: Stay Tuned
Formal guidance for the 2014 TAA Reversion
Law is forthcoming. Stay tuned for updates this fall for upcoming changes
to the TAA program.
TRA End Dates: Graduation Date vs. End of Coursework
This summer
while TAA Specialists worked on purchase orders for Fall 2014 training, the
question arose whether some clients had completed their coursework and
graduated. Once you as counselors receive that information, please pass it on
to TAA. (TAA realizes that at the time a plan is submitted, the exact end date is
a guess.) As a client’s training draws to a close, TAA needs to know what the
last day of class is so it can be communicated to TRA as TRA funding must then cease.
TAA then uses that date to close the training activity. (TAA realizes that Dislocated
Worker Counselors need to record the actual graduation/date the credential was
achieved when capturing the credential.)
If a client
opts to not complete training, TAA needs to know the last day the client was in
class so that TRA funding can cease and clients do not end up with an overpayment
TAA/DW Success Story
 My name is
Bamidele Raymond Akinruli. I worked for a manufacturing company from 2005 to
2011 as a die setter. In 2011, I was laid off.
Thanks to the
Dislocated Worker Program and TAA, I was able to go back to school (Hennepin
Technical College) to study Manufacturing Engineering Technology with a
concentration in Automation Robotic Technology. During my stay in school, TAA
paid for my school fees, books and supplies and paid me weekly benefits through
TRA. I graduated in December 2013 with an Associate’s of Applied Science degree.
I now have a job in a reputable company as a Technician 3 earning a better wage
than before.
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We strive for the information in this newsletter to be relevant and
useful, and we encourage you to provide feedback and suggestions for future TAA
Topics or TAA Success Stories. To contact the TAA team regarding this
newsletter, please e-mail: cynthia.boyle@state.mn.us and type “TAA
Newsletter” in the subject line.
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