Partner Express Newsletter - May 2019

Partnership Express Header 2018

Adult Career Pathways Updates

SFY18 Funds expire June 30,2019

If your grant contract has funds from SFY 18, please note that any funds not expended by June 30, 2019 cannot be extended and will not be available after that date.

 

OJT versus Paid Work Experience

An OJT (On the Job Training) is when an employer hires a participant as an employee directly. An organization/grantee enters into a contract with that employer to provide a reimbursement of a set amount of the participants wages for a set amount of time. Generally up to 50% of the wages paid, for up to 6 months. This is done to offset the cost of training a new employee. At the end of the contract the participant remains a regular employee with the employer.

A Paid Work Experience may also be referred to as “Subsidized Employment” or a “Transitional Job”. Very similar to a paid internship, Paid Work Experience is when a participant is placed by an organization/grantee at an employer to gain hands on work experience and skills. The organization/grantee is the employer and pays wages directly to the participant. While it is allowed and encouraged, there is no expectation that the employer hires the participant on a permanent basis at the end of the Paid Work Experience.

Please note these definitions when inputting activities in Workforce One or writing your work plan.


TAA Updates

TAA Petitions

  • Pending DOL’s investigation
    • 94699 – The Mosaic Company, Plymouth
    • 94663 – Assurant Inc., Assurant IT Help Desk, Woodbury
    • 94627 - Toppan Merrill, St Paul
  • Certified by DOL
    • 94202 – DLR Group a/k/a Epsilon/Catapult Marketing, Minneapolis
  • Denied by DOL
    •  94576 – Optum Technology, Eden Prairie
  • Recent or Upcoming informational sessions
    • 94364 - Ditech Financial LLC, St Paul, May 10th
    • 94510 – ECi Macola/MAX, LLC, Burnsville, May 15th
    • 94532 – Adam’s Publishing Group, Blaine, May 23rd

TAA Training Application Tip

TAA is providing tips for each section of the training application in the recent editions of Partner Express. Each TAA training application needs to meet the Six Criteria for Approval. May’s tip relates to three of the six criteria.

Any individual enrolled in the Dislocated Worker program seeking TAA approved training must complete an assessment. This assessment must be documented by the Dislocated Worker Counselor on the Individual Employment Plan (IEP) and a copy of the completed assessment must be submitted with the TAA training application.

Service providers may select one assessment to use for all participants or use a variety of different assessments available to the participant. The selection of an assessment is based on the participant’s career/training goals or on participant preference.  TAA can provide access to CAPS, COPS, COPES free of charge to DW. To utilize CAPS, COPS, COPES, contact the general TAA email with the customer’s name and email address. TAA will send an invitation to that person to take the assessment. The customer can share results with the DW provider for DW to submit with the TAA training application.

Why are assessments important? Because they show due diligence in light of the large sums of money that are spent on training and have been prescribed to TAA as a best practice by monitors and Department of Labor.

Assessments apply to the six eligibility criteria:

  • Criteria 2, the customer would benefit from appropriate training.  How does the DW program and TAA determine appropriate training? By having the customer take an assessment.
  • Criteria 5, the customer is qualified to undertake and complete training. Again this is a determination that can be made through assessments.
  • Criteria 6, the training is suitable for the customer and available at a reasonable cost. The key here is suitable for the customer. Again, an assessment would provide key information as to suitability.

If you have questions about assessments, please contact the general TAA line at deed.taa@state.mn.us or 651-259-7543. Training applications and many other forms are available on the Counselor Portal.


New TAA Staff

Our newest Senior Specialist, Tamika Brewer, joined the TAA team on April 10th. She’s worked at a Dislocated Worker provider, at North Hennepin Community College, and most recently, at the North Minneapolis CareerForce location. She brings leadership, marketing, strategy, and process improvement experience to the TAA team. Her education is in Social Work. Welcome, Tamika!

Margaret “Meg” Odanga joins the team on May 1st as a TAA Specialist. She comes to us from United Health Group where she delivered customer service to providers and employer groups. Meg’s also worked as a program manager and adjunct community health instructor, and serves as an interpreter and language test evaluator. Meg has a Master of Public Health and is currently enrolled in Graduate Certificate in Health Education studies. Welcome, Meg!

Graduation and Job Search Allowance

TAA can pay for graduation caps and gowns for students who are graduating this Spring. It’s best for the school to charge TAA directly. Please also remind customers about the Job Search Allowance benefit available for interviews that are 15 miles or more from the customer’s home. The customer should fill out and submit the application prior to interviews. See the application on the counselor portal for more details and deadlines.

Topics you’d like addressed?

The Partner Express is a resource designed with you in mind. If you have suggestions on topics you’d like TAA to address, please let us know! We are here to help: deed.taa@state.mn.us or call 651-259-7543. Applications, news, resources, and forms are available on the Counselor Portal: https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/dislocated-worker/counselors/


Dislocated Worker and WIOA Adult Program Updates

Monitoring

  • DEED Monitors will continue to reach out to schedule monitoring visits.

Final Quarter of PY18

  • Since we are going to be entering the final quarter of PY18, remember that 80% of funds must be expended by June 30th2019 (actual expenditures + obligated).
  • If you will not be expending at least 80%, be sure to submit a waiver/carry-forward request.

Quarterly Reports

  • You can now submit Quarterly Reports 30 days after the close of the quarter
  • These reports are meant to be high level and not laborious. Please contact DW Program staff if you have any questions.

Reimbursement Payment Requests/Financial Status Reports (RPR’s/FSRs)

  • Reimbursement Payment Requests/Financial Status Reports are due for each month, by the 20th of the following month. Thank you for getting these in on time and please remember that if you have not spent money in any given month –populate the RPR/FSR with $0.00.

Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership (MJSP)                          

  • Next MJSP Board Meeting:
    • June 17th, 2019
    • Supplemental Funding Requests are due 30 days before MJSP Board Meeting (May 17th)

Performance Updates

Importance of using the “Employed, Pending Exit” Activity

As a reminder, the “Employed, Pending Exit” activity was created for counselors to use when their participants tell them they are no longer in need of services. This usually happens when the participant obtains employment but it could be for other reasons too.

When a participant informs their Dislocated Worker or WIOA Adult program provider that they are no longer in need of services, the person responsible for Workforce One (WF1) data entry should reflect that information within the database. The “Employed, Pending Exit” activity is the activity that holds the case open for the 90 day waiting period determines when a program exit must occur. WIOA Regulation 677.150 says a participant must be exited from the program 90 days after the last date of service and the exit date is retroactive back to that last date of service.

When the “Employed, Pending Exit” activity is opened it means the participant is no longer accessing services. This means, all other activities on the case should be closed with the same date used as the start date of the “Employed, Pending Exit” activity. The reason for this is because activities in WF1 reflect services the participant is receiving. If there are other activities open then the case should not have an “Employed, Pending Exit” activity open too. Again, the “Employed, Pending Exit” activity should only be opened after the participant is no longer receiving services. If the participant returns for a service within the 90 day countdown, the countdown restarts (the activity start date is changed to the new last date of service and the service received is noted in the appropriate area of WF1 (Support service tab, new activity with a start date and end date the service was provided, and/or case noted)).

A benefit of using the “Employed, Pending Exit” activity is communication requirements are no longer needed while the activity is open since no services are being provided during this time. However, there are communications you must have at the time your participant provides you this information.

  • Make sure to inform all participants exiting to employment they are eligible for Follow-up services for 12 months as of that day and case note that conversation.
  • Make sure to tell all compliant exiting participants that their case will remain open for the next 90 days just in case they should need another service during that timeframe.
  • Make sure to tell all compliant exiting participants as of today (the day they tell you they are no longer in need of services) all communication requirements (for the participant and the counselor) are no longer required (30 day contacts).

On the 85th day after the start date of the “Employed, Pending Exit” activity a tickler will be sent to the case manager alerting them the case is approaching the 90th day of no service.

On the 90th day, the activity should be closed and the case exited with the date the activity began. (See the Data Entry Timeliness Policy for the timeframe allowed to capture this information in WF1.

For example: If the Employed Pending Exit activity’s start date is 04/02/2019 and no other services were provided through 07/01/2019…

    • On 07/01/2019, the individual is no longer considered a participant and must be exited from the program.
    • 04/02/2019, must be the Employed, Pending Exit activity’s end date.
    • 04/02/2019, must be the Program Exit Date.

Keep in mind, if there is only an “Employed, Pending Exit” activity on a case and that activity has a funding stream that expires during the 90 day waiting period, do not close and reopen the activity with a new funding stream. The reason for this is because the activity will be closed retroactively back to its start date, which is while the old funding stream was still active. If the participant returns for a service during the 90 days and that service falls on a date the original funding stream was no longer active, the original “Employed, Pending Exit” activity must be deleted and reentered with the new start date and funding source that supported the most recent service. The 90 day countdown restarts from the new last date of service date.

 

Dislocated Worker WIOA Adult Grantees table

During the Minnesota Association of Workforce Boards Jobseeker Services committee meeting on April 24, 2019, the committee requested an update to this procedure that would require a Workforce One system change. This approach is currently being discussed. As soon as more information is available and a decision is made whether or not this approach can be implemented, that information will be provided to all Dislocated Worker and WIOA Adult management teams. Until further notice, please continue to follow the above procedure to ensure your participants’ last date of service and exit dates are complying with program regulations. 

Cases accessing Program Year 2017 Dislocated Worker and WIOA Adult Allocations

Reminder: Program Year (PY) 2017 allocations will be expiring on June 30, 2019. All cases showing the following funding streams within an open activity will need your attention.

  • State DW Formula – State-wide
  • WIOA DW Formula – State-wide
  • WIOA AD Formula – State-wide                                                                            

If the participant will continue receiving a service currently supported by PY 2017 allocations after June 30, 2019, a new activity will need to be opened for each service the participant will continue.

Keep in mind, all Dislocated Worker and WIOA Adult program year formula allocations (small layoff grants/WIOA Adult allotments) remain active for two years.

  • PY17 = July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2019
  • PY18 = July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2020
  • PY19 = July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2021

This means, the new activity will need either a PY18 or PY19 formula grant selected within them depending on your agencies budget.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO KNOW

  • All activities with a PY17 allocation selected within them cannot have a start date after June 30, 2019 and must have an end date no later than June 30, 2019.
  • If any participant will continue participating in an activity that is currently showing a PY17 allocation supporting that service, that activity needs to be copied within their activity detail screen.
    • The new activity will need a start date of July 1, 2019
    • An active funding source (PY18 or PY19) will need to be selected within them.
  • To help in this funding source transition
    • Amy Carlson will mass close all currently open PY17 funded activities with an end date of June 30, 2019, which means you will only need to open/copy the old activities. If you want to close the old activities yourself, that is fine. If you choose not to close them yourself, it will be taken care of for you.
    • This mass activity closure will occur on August 1, 2019.
    • If there are cases without other open activities on record showing a different funding source, this mass closure will not work for those case. Any cases that show they cannot be included in the PY17 funded activity closure will be emailed to the management team for the COFFR funding the case.
  • Shortly after July 1, 2019, additional funding streams will be added to your dropdown lists for PY19 allocations. The date these new funding streams will be available is dependent on when PY19 contracts are in place. Your management teams will be alerted as soon as your agency’s PY19 funding streams are available in WF1.
Dislocated workers and WIOA Adult Grantees

Upcoming Inactive Case Database Purge

Due to a 2015 federal Finding where the Department of Labor found inactive cases remaining enrolled beyond the timeframe that determines when a program exit must occur, the Employment and Training Division responded by ensuring compliance by performing periodic database purges of Dislocated Worker and WIOA Adult cases showing the participant had not communicated with their provider for more than 90 days. This is directly tied to the WIOA Regulation 677.150 that explains a participant must be exited from the program 90 days after the last date of service.                                                                     

What is considered an inactive case?

  • Participants who have not responded to any attempts to communicate by their case manager and/or
  • Participants who have not acknowledged receipt of services their case manager was/is providing them.

The way this is tracked in WF1 is within the case note contact type “

  • If a participant’s case record does not have a live contact case note entered within 90 days of their last live contact they have not acknowledged receipt of services provided to them.
  • Since the participant has not acknowledged receipt of service in more than 90 days and the participant is not complying with 30 day communication requirements for more than 90 days they are no longer considered a participant in the program and need to be exited with a date retroactively set to the last date they received a service.

In the near future, all Dislocated Worker and WIOA Adult provider management teams will receive spreadsheets with case IDs listed that are not showing live contact for more than 90 days. Along with those spreadsheets, they will receive instructions on how to investigate whether or not the participant’s case is truly inactive or if data entry into WF1 is not accurately capturing case details. A deadline will be provided to complete this investigation prior to the set purge date.

Currently, 472 cases or 10% of all Dislocated Worker customers and 66 cases or 7.2% of WIOA Adult customers are showing as inactive. If you would like to reduce these numbers prior to the date spreadsheets go out to your management teams, it is highly recommended to update your WF1 cases with any missing data as soon as possible.

No contact for 90 days

Should you have any performance or data entry questions, please contact the Dislocated Worker and WIOA Adult Performance Coordinator, Amy Carlson, at amy.carlson@state.mn.us.


Labor Market Information Updates

Labor Market Information for Decision Making

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is excited to be offering a series of workshops on utilizing our Labor Market Information tools. Registration for the workshops is now open online.

These 2- or 3-hour hands-on training sessions will help attendees learn where to find and how to use DEED’s labor market information data tools. Attendees will navigate our website and learn how to use the most relevant data tools to understand the local economy and provide the best guidance to job seekers and other clients.

This is a great session for CareerForce staff and partners in the workforce development system, economic development staff and board members, career and education counselors, small business owners, human resource professionals, and other people needing labor market information. This training session offers CEUs for GCDF certification.

Topics include:

  • Occupations in Demand and Current Job Vacancy Results
  • Occupational and Industry Employment Projections
  • Wage and Salary Data and Career Profiles
  • Labor Force, Employment, and Unemployment Statistics
  • Industry Employment Statistics and Trends
  • Cost of Living
  • Graduate Employment Outcomes
  • Minnesota Economic Trends and Employment Review
  • Demographic and Social Characteristics
  • Other data tools may also be covered upon request

 

Training Location

Date/Time

Instructor

Registration

Bemidji - Rural MN CEP office  2300 24th St. NW  Suite 106  Bemidji, MN 56601

Thursday, May 2  1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Cameron Macht

Register

Rochester CareerForce location  2070 College View Rd E  Rochester, MN 55904

Monday, May 13  9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Mark Schultz

Register

Detroit Lakes CareerForce location  803 Roosevelt Ave.  Detroit Lakes, MN 56501

Monday, May 20  9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Cameron Macht

Register

St. Cloud CareerForce Location  Career Solutions computer lab  St. Cloud, MN 55428

Tuesday, May 21  9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Luke Greiner

Register

Winona CareerForce location  1250 Homer Road  Suite 200  Winona, MN 55987

Wednesday, May 22  9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Mark Schultz

Register

Brainerd CareerForce location  204 Laurel St  Suite 21  Brainerd, MN 56401

Friday, May 24  9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Cameron Macht

Register

Inver Hills Community College  2500 80th Street East  Mac Lab in the Fine Arts Building  Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076

Thursday, May 30  9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Tim O'Neill

Register

Minneapolis North CareerForce Location  800 West Broadway Ave.  Hawthorne Room  Minneapolis, MN 55428

Friday, June 7  9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Tim O'Neill

Register

Bloomington CareerForce Location  4220 Old Shakopee Rd. West  The Oak Room on the 2nd floor  Bloomington, MN 55437

Friday, June 14  9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Tim O'Neill

Register

Marshall-Lyon County Courthouse and Government Center  Conference room 1  Marshall, MN 56258    Attendees will need to bring connected devices, preferably laptops or tablets. 

Thursday, June 20  9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Luke Greiner

Register

Duluth – Lake Superior College  Room LS E1022 (Library Computer Lab)  2101 Trinity Road  Duluth, MN 55811

Monday, June 24, 2019  9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Cameron Macht

Register

 


UNIT DIRECTORY

Marc Majors – Deputy Employment and Training Programs Director, 651-259-7595

Nancy Omondi-Director of Adult Programs (WIOA Adult, Dislocated Worker, TAA, and Adult Career Pathways), 651-259-7525

Jacqueline Buck-Director of Employer Services (Rapid Response), 651-259-7598

Adult Career Pathways Team

Anne Kukowski- Supervisor, 651-259-7530

Cindy Boyle – Monitor, 651-259-7596

Lynn Dahn - Employment and Training Program Coordinator, 651-259-7529

Enock Kakuuku – Grant Coordinator 651-785-1259

Ann Meyers - Grant Coordinator, 651 259- 7174

Amy Miller – Monitor, 651-259-7575

Claire Nelligan –Monitor, 651-259-7573

Vanessa Roman - Grant Coordinator, 651-259-7578

Dislocated Worker and Federal Adult Programs Team

Lensa Idossa – Supervisor, 651-259-7509

Amy Carlson – Performance Coordinator, 651-259-7542

Claudia Ursulescu Kracht – Grants Specialist Senior, Federal Grants, 651-259-7532

Heather Moore – Grants Specialist Senior, State Grants, 651-259-7560

Kokulo James Supuwood – Monitor, 651-259-7586

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Team

General TAA email: deed.taa@state.mn.us, 651-259-7543 or 888-234-1330

Sarah Saito - Supervisor, 651-259-7546

Tamika Brewer Senior TAA Specialist 651-259-7588

Olajide Williams - Senior TAA Specialist, 651-259-7431

Thomas Sommer - TAA Performance and Financial Specialist, 651-259-7585

Jennifer Anderson - TAA Specialist, 651-259-7690

Mohamed Farah - TAA Specialist, 651-259-7505

Laurie Larson - TAA Specialist, 651-259-7681

Ann Malz – TAA Specialist, 651-259-7593

Crystal Nickles - TAA Outreach and Support Specialist, 651-259-7553

Meg Odanga- TAA Specialist 651-259-7551

Claudette Parchment-Roehrich - TAA Specialist, 651-259-7516

Jaclyn Umlauf - TAA Specialist, 218-739-7560

Trade Readjustment Allowance: deed.tra@state.mn.us 651-296-3644 or 877-898-9090 (ask for TRA Specialist)

Rapid Response Team General RR Contact, 651-259-7537

Jason Wadell - Coordinator, 651-259-7552

Marla Beaty - TAA Liaison, 218-259-1380

Liz McLoone - Labor Liaison, 651-259-7145 

Mee Yang - Senior Specialist, 651-259-7548

John Mohs – Senior Specialist, 651-259-7535

Laura Dale – Senior Specialist, 651-259-7519