Happy November!
As you can see from the
information listed below there is a lot going on in our offices so we will keep
this part short.
We just want to remind
everyone that if you have any questions about this email’s content to please
reach out to us. Our staff list is in the right-hand column. We also want
to spread the Partner Express newsletter far and wide so if there is anyone in
your office we should add to our mailing list, please send that information to
Liz McLoone at liz.mcloone@state.mn.us
Thank you for all your
great work!
DW and TAA Teams
TAA Updates
Acceptance of a Waiver
without a Training Plan
A waiver
does not have to be accompanied by a training plan, however TAA expects that a
participant is interested in attending training. If TAA accepts a waiver
without a training plan, TAA requires that a training plan be forthcoming. All
participants with waivers must continue their work search until TAA funded
training begins.
Waivers
without initial training plans should indicate “Training Not Available” as the
reason.
With the
waiver, DW should include an IEP that expresses interest in training and
- what sort of
training the participant is focused on, or
- what steps
the participant intends to take in order to discern an occupational goal.
Waivers
require a review every 30 days by the Dislocated Worker Counselor. During that
30-day review, DW needs to document updates in WF1 to ensure the participant is
progressing towards enrollment in training.
Examples of
documentation that would be admissible at each 30-day waiver review are:
- Interest assessment results
- Communication to DW of
actual interests
- Documented communication
with professors/industry professionals about the field
- Research as to which
institution offers the occupational skills training
- A chart showing which
courses are needed, providing research of what occupational goal they
would like to pursue
- A letter of acceptance from
the training institution
A waiver
will be revoked by TAA if:
- the participant has
indicated interest in an occupational goal and enrollment is delayed that
is open and available at a reasonable cost, or
- Basic TRA has exhausted and
a training plan has not been submitted and approved.
If either of
these events occur, TAA will notify the participant of the waiver revocation in
writing and offer steps for the participant to appeal.
TAA and Overseas Training
TAA has had inquiries
about training opportunities outside of the USA. This is not allowed under
federal regulations per 20
CFR 617.22(i).
(i) Training outside the United
States. In no case shall an individual be approved for training under this
Subpart C which is conducted totally or partially at a location outside the
United States.
Remember the
reason TAA applicants are eligible for TAA is due to foreign competition. Therefore
it is understandable that TAA wouldn’t allow TAA dollars to be spent on foreign
studies/travel.
If a student
chooses to still participate in training overseas, TAA funding must end
immediately. This is
further explained in TAA policy regarding Choice of Training Institution found
here, and referenced on the TAA training application that applicants sign: https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/ddp/PolicyDetail.aspx?pol=178
Under
Training and Employment Guidance Letter 22-08, a participant is not allowed to pay for any
portion of TAA-approved training. The Reasonable Cost section begins on page A-37.
Please let TAA
know as soon as possible if applicants plan to pursue training outside of US
soil during a TAA-approved training plan. Minnesota’s TAA program will
not be able to support a training plan that has any training that occurs
outside of US boundaries.
Assessment Correction
A previous
Partner Express TAA article regarding assessments indicated that skills and interest assessments were
required as support documentation for all TAA training applications. To clarify, prior to submission of a TAA
Training application, ALL
participants must have interest assessment results entered on the IEP.
Participants with less than a
Bachelor’s degree must have official ability (skills) assessment results
entered on the IEP detailing their current math and reading level.
Grants and Performance Updates
PY17 Performance Standards Negotiations
Local area negotiation for PY17 has started. Local
area statistical models were emailed to all WDAs on October 19, 2017. Forms
showing a list of populations were also attached to those emails. These forms
will assist in your negotiations. The population listed in the forms have a
co-efficient that will decrease your performance standards if higher
percentages are reported.
Please remember that the new methodology for
performance standards requires local area statistical models that take into
account demographics of populations that each WDA served and LMI/unemployment
rates in their region.
o
Change from WIA local area standard negotiations:
Instead of applying the state standard to each WDA on all indicators except
earnings and applying the same earnings standard to all WDAs serving the metro,
all performance standards are now specific to each WDA and are determined by
their participants, LMI, and UI rates.
We have also received many questions about
Measurable Skill Gains (MSG) data entry.
- Data entry section of WF1: Reporting
Collection tab within the case record. Enter the date within the accurate MSG
option (five choices) that the participant received that type of MSG.
- How often it needs to be entered: At least
once every fiscal year a WIOA training activity is open on the case.
- Need to a data freeze: The WF1 team is working
on an update to the Reporting Collection tab to include a date retention that
will hold on to the latest date entered within each fiscal year.
Transferability of Funds Policy Now Live
DEED has posted the updated Transferability
of Funds between WIOA Adult and WIOA Dislocated Worker policy to DEED’s policy website. If you wish to request a transfer of your federal funds,
please be sure to include the “Transfer of Funds Request” form (found at the
bottom of the policy), a WIOA Dislocated Worker budget and work plan
modification, and a WIOA Adult budget and work plan modification with your
request. Please contact Monica Weber (monica.weber@state.mn.us) or Chelsea Georgesen (chelsea.s.georgesen@state.mn.us) for more information or help with your request.
MJSP Board Policy on
Requesting Supplemental Funding
The Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MSJP) Board voted on
October 30, 2017 to adopt proposed revisions to DEED’s Requests for
Supplemental Funding to Serve Small Layoffs policy. The new policy is effective
immediately, and can be found at https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/ddp/PolicyDetail.aspx?pol=475,
along with the Supplemental Funding Request Workbook.
Revisions to the policy include:
- Edits and examples to provide additional clarity
- Inclusion of staff and administrative
commitments as obligations even if they are not reported on RPRs/FSRs
- Requires reporting on intent to transfer federal
funding – no longer requires transfer to be completed before requesting
additional funding
- Clarifies required information to include in
narrative
- Clarifies intent of asking for history of
supplemental funding requests
As a reminder, supplemental funding requests for the
upcoming December 11, 2017 MJSP Board meeting are due to DEED staff by Monday,
November 13, 2017.
Upcoming MJSP Board
Meeting Dates
The Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MSJP) Board voted to
approve proposed 2018 meeting dates during the October 30, 2017 meeting. Meeting
dates for 2018 are:
- Monday, March 12, 2018
-Supplemental funding requests due to DEED staff
by Monday, February 12, 2018
- Monday, June 18, 2018
-Supplemental funding requests due to DEED staff
by Monday, May 21, 2018
- Monday, October 29, 2018
-Supplemental funding requests due to DEED staff
by Friday, September 28, 2018
- Monday, December 10, 2018
-Supplemental funding requests due to DEED staff
by Monday, November 12, 2018
ETPL/WIOA
Certification Updates
Beginning this week, DEED will be actively reaching out to
all institutions who have course or program listings on the ETPL with the requirement
that they update their listings by the end of the calendar year in order to
remain active on the list. Please note that any institutions who do not provide
the required information will be deactivated, and counselors will not be able
to use federal funds to pay for these trainings.
For questions about this process or the Eligible Training
Provider List (ETPL)/WIOA Certification, please contact Rachel Vilsack
(rachel.vilsack@state.mn.us), who now oversees this process. The ETPL/WIOA
Certification Handbook has also been updated and can be found at: https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/dislocated-worker/counselors/training/
Staffing Updates
The DW/Adult team congratulates Abdull (Abdiwahab) Mohamed
on accepting a new position within DEED working for the Minnesota Trade Office.
He will be missed and his contributions to the team during his tenure are
greatly appreciated! His tentative last day is November 15, so please begin
copying Chelsea Georgesen (Chelsea.s.georgesen@state.mn.us) on all
communications to the DW/Adult Grants Team and Amy Carlson
(amy.carlson@state.mn.us) on all communications to the DW/Adult/TAA Performance
team. We will be working to backfill his position as quickly as possible.
 Corner On The Market:
With Cameron Macht
Regional Analysis & Outreach Manager
Minnesota Dept. of Employment & Economic Development
cameron.macht@state.mn.us
320-441-6596
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Corner on the Market: Seasoned Workers
As we head into the winter season of our 8th straight year of
job growth coming out of the Great Recession, there has been a flurry of hiring
activity spread across the state. According to data from the Census Bureau’s
Quarterly Workforce Indicators program,
there were nearly 485,000 hires in Minnesota in 2016, about 70,000 more hires
than occurred in 2011.
As shown in Figure 1,
the number of hires increased across all age groups from 2011 to 2016, rising
17 percent overall. It may be surprising to learn that the fastest hiring
growth occurred for the oldest workers – the number of hires of workers aged 55
to 64 years rose about 24 percent, and the number of hires for workers aged 65
years and over jumped 42 percent from 2011 to 2016.
 In a tightening labor market where many employers are struggling to
find enough workers to fill open spots, every industry has increased their
reliance on older workers. However, over half of all new hires for workers aged
45 years and over occurred in just five industries:
- Administrative Support & Waste Management
Services (which includes staffing agencies)
- Educational Services
- Health Care & Social Assistance
- Retail Trade
- Accommodation & Food Services
Interestingly, only one of those industries also made the top 5 list
where older workers accounted for the highest share of hires. While the five
industries listed below had much smaller numbers of hires, they showed the
largest share of new hires of workers aged 45 years and over:
- Mining
- Educational Services
- Utilities
- Transportation & Warehousing
- Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting
In the face of a tight labor market where employers are seeking out
skilled workers, jobseekers that are more seasoned can look for opportunities
in these industries, which have shown a higher propensity for hiring workers
aged 45 years and over.
Creative Corner - Successful Job Search over 40, 50 and 60 Workshop at Burnsville WorkForce Center
Susan Dahl, Workforce Development Representative, at the Burnsville
WorkForce Center offers a unique opportunity for job seekers over the age of 40
to learn the tricks of the trade when re-entering the job market.
The three hour class of 18 individuals started with a
discussion of the different generations currently in the job market. This analysis helped the job seekers examine
how others, especially potential future employers, may view them and their
competition. It can also help in the on-boarding process as you begin the new
job and understand your new co-workers. Discussing how others view you can make the
next steps of job search easier to jump into.
“How do I change my job search tactics now that I have been an employee
for twenty some years”? The search tactics you used to get the last job are
very different today.
Susan advised attendees to constantly keep this in mind;
“Search for the job for right now while keeping in mind the job you want after
that one.” Examine how each job may
benefit both you AND the employer. This
advice empowered the job seekers to re-focus their purpose and absorb the other
great advice Susan had to offer.
- Take your dream job from when you were
growing up and run with it. They showed an AARP video of a gentleman who went
from being a telephone technician to studying shoe design in Paris at the age of
50. https://youtu.be/Lb5kf7exfS8
- Search for a job with a sense of a new beginning and without
fear. For example, you have 30 years of
experience to put on a resume’, Susan says “Consider an addendum for your
resume, or address in your cover letter, change resume styles. You may also
break it down by job function rather defining it by years. Show your
expertise.”
- There is unspoken email bias out there. Create a
professional email address that is more universally accepted such as Gmail.
Keep the old AOL and Hotmail accounts for personal use, but use a Gmail for
work.
- Update your resume targeting it for each and every
job. Take out references to old technology and put to bed the Times New Roman
front and replace it with Calibri, Arial or Tahoma. Use a clean, easy to read
font.
- Network, network, and network-we have classes for
that! Don’t isolate yourself. Get out there and connect with people. You will
be pleasantly surprised that people really do want to help, but first you must
know what you want, and how to articulate it to others.
- Remember to breathe, assess your financial situation,
spend time with family and friends to recharge and stay motivated.
If you would like Susan to present this class to your group please
contact her at:
Susan.Dahl@state.mn.us
or call at 952-703-3111.
You may register for classes at www.mn.gov/deed/dakotascottworkshops
Susan’s background includes work in human resources,
counseling, teaching at the post-secondary level, accounting and finance, and
holds a master’s degree in Educational Administration.
She facilitates Successful Job Search Over 40, 50, and 60, Creative
Job Search, networking, individual resume reviews, has taught resume classes
and offers one-to-one consultations. And yes, she is 29 +
Success Stories
Cindy was laid off from Mesabi Nugget in Hoyt Lakes, MN in
2015 and it was important to her to find employment on the Iron Range. Navigating the unfamiliar waters of a career
change and the idea of entering training as an older adult and non-traditional
student was extremely anxiety-ridden for her.
Cindy and her career counselor worked together on career
assessments, researching industry sectors, exploring training programs, and
discussing the challenges and rewards of each option. They decided she had the interest and
aptitudes to become a successful Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). The process of
determining and actively planning this career transition empowered Cindy and
she embraced the exciting, yet frightening journey with dedication and
positivity.
Through the support from Cindy’s counselor at the Northeast
Office of Job Training and the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, she started
her LPN training in January 2016 and graduated May of 2017. Cindy passed her National Council Licensure
Examination this past June and recently started as a LPN with Essentia Health
Northern Pines.
We want this e-Newsletter to meet your needs! We
encourage you to send your comments and suggestions to Liz.McLoone@state.mn.us,
View past editions of the Partner Express
Newsletter at http://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/dislocated-worker/counselors/news/index.jsp
Wanting to subscribe to this newsletter? Contact Liz McLoone at Liz.McLoone@state.mn.us with your request!
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