March 2022

Dislocated Worker and Federal Adult Programs

MN RETAIN

• Enrollment for the program opened in late December Currently, there are 75 participants enrolled. For more information please visit the MN Retain website.

Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership (MJSP)

• The next Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP) Board Meeting is Monday, March 7^th, Learn more at https://mn.gov/deed/business/financing-business/training-grant/mjsp/

Please email all requests, reports, and technical assistance questions to the Dislocated Worker Federal Adult Programs general email at dwfaprograms.deed@state.mn.us

Dislocated Worker and WIOA Adult Performance Updates

Cases accessing Program Year (PY) 2020 Dislocated Worker (DW) and WIOA Adult (AD) Allocations

Reminder: PY2020 allocations will be expiring on June 30, 2020. All cases showing the following funding streams within an open activity will need your attention.

If needed in alternative format, please contact amy.carlson@state.mn.us

If the participant will continue receiving a service currently supported by PY2020 allocations after June 30, 2022, a new activity will need to be opened for each service the participant will continue.

Reminder: All Dislocated Worker and WIOA Adult program year formula allocations (small layoff grants/WIOA Adult allotments) remain active for two years.

• PY2020 = July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2022
• PY2021 = July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2023
• PY2022 = July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2024

This means, the new activity will need a PY2021 or PY2022 formula grant selected within them depending on your agencies budget.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO KNOW

• All activities with a PY2020 allocation selected within them cannot have a start date after June 30, 2022 and must have an end date no later than June 30, 2022.
• If any participant will continue participating in an activity that is currently showing a PY2020 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, 2022
  • An active funding source (PY2021 or PY2022) will need to be selected within them.
• To help in this funding source transition
  • Amy Carlson will mass close all currently open PY2020 funded activities with an end date of June 30, 2022, which means you will only need to open/copy the old activities. If you want to close the old activities yourself with a date no later than 06/30/2022, that is fine. If you choose not to close them yourself, it will be taken care of for you.
  • This mass activity closure will begin August 1, 2022.
  • If there are cases without other open activities on record showing a different funding source, this mass closure will not work for those cases. Any cases that show they cannot be included in the PY2020 funded activity closure will be emailed to the management team for the COFFR funding the case with direction on how the case manager needs to correct the data.
• Shortly after July 1, 2022, additional funding streams will be added to your dropdown lists for PY2022 allocations. The date these new funding streams will be available is dependent on when PY2022 contracts are in place. Your management teams will be alerted as soon as your agency’s PY2022 funding streams are available in WF1.

If needed in alternative format, please contact amy.carlson@state.mn.us

Update on Adjusted Levels of Performance for Program Year (PY) 2020

Minnesota was deemed successful by the United States Department of Labor for both performance indicators subject to adjustments!! This achievement was still made after 3 of our four performance standards were adjusted upward due to statistical adjustment model updates with actual program year participant demographics.

Huge kudos to all the WIOA Adult and WIOA DW service providers across the state for assisting your participants to achieve great success!

If needed in alternative format, please contact amy.carlson@state.mn.us

Should you have any performance or data entry questions, please contact the State Program Administrator Coordinator for ETP Adult programs, Amy Carlson, at amy.carlson@state.mn.us

Adult Career Pathways (ACP)

Legislative Direct Appropriation Grants/ Competitive Grants

The ACP team is busy finalizing the Direct Appropriation and Competitive contracts for SFY22.

• Currently, the ACP team is managing 16 directly appropriated contracts and over 100 Competitive contracts for SFY22.

Notifications for competitive grants have been sent as of Jan. 31, 2022. The new SFY 22 Funding Streams will not be available in Workforce One until all parties have signed the contract and the finalized/executed contract has been emailed to the grantee.

The Targeted Community Capital Project RFP was released on Friday October 22^nd. This grant will award $18 million to non-profits organizations and government entities within Minnesota for capital projects. Projects utilizing these funds must result in providing, increasing, and/or expanding access to economic development, education or workforce development programs or services to underserved communities or economically disadvantaged persons or groups. Applications are currently in the review process. Anticipated notification to applicant will be mid-March.

Two Workforce One training sessions specific for ACP programs will be held on Feb. 22 (for Pathways to Prosperity providers only) and Mar. 1 (for all other ACP providers). Coordinators have sent invitations. If you or your staff missed either training, please contact your Grant Coordinator for information to view the recording.

Internationally Trained Professionals RFP was re-released on Feb. 9; proposals are due Mar. 28,2022 by 5:00pm (CST).

As a Reminder: In order for your organization to capture outcomes for SFY20-21 participants, they must be appropriately exited within 45 days from the completion of the grant in Workforce One (WF1) from the expiration of the grant contract 

If your organization received a SFY22-23 grant for the same services/training and have appropriate participants can be re-enrolled in the SFY22-23 grant. In this case, these participants will have to be exited in WF1 with the Program/Type Transfer exit reason for SFY20-21, then re-enrolled into your SFY22-23 program.

It is imperative that the participant is EXITED from the SFY 21 funding and ENROLLED into SFY22-23 with a new application. Do not just change funding streams on activities. If this happens you will not capture the service to the participant on your SFY20-21 grant and they will not be counted in outcomes.

Please ensure all enrollment documents (intake/application, IEP, etc.) are current, up-to-date, and signed prior to enrolling into the new funding stream. In addition, a case note in WF1 detailing the transfer will be required. Workforce One will not allow an enrollment with paperwork outside of 180 days (6 months).

SNAP E&T 50/50

Invitations to participate in SFY22 SNAP E&T 50% Reimbursement program have been sent to those organizations who indicated interest on their primary application. If you have not heard from me and are interested, please contact Ann Meyers at ann.meyers@state.mn.us.

MN Family Resiliency Partnership (formerly known as Displaced Homemaker Program)

Information about the Minnesota Family Resiliency Partnership program can be found on DEED’s ACP webpage.

ACP Guides

Even during these busy times, the ACP team continues to update the Operations Guide posted  at the ACP home page. This guide does NOT include measures implemented in response to COVID-19, which are listed separately.

The ACP team continues to work on updating the ACP Workforce One Guide, Stay tuned for the updated guide to be ready soon!

Adult Career Pathways Webpage

The ACP webpage is currently under construction and may look a bit different. All the information is still available. Once it is complete, we will make an announcement.   

Please contact your Adult Career Pathways Grant Coordinator directly with any questions regarding Adult Career Pathways Programs.

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)

Staffing Update

Trade Adjustment Assistance is thrilled to announce our newest TAA Specialist who started in December: M. Estela Hernandez. Her career with the department began over 20 years ago as a Community Liaison Representative where her Spanish speaking skills were an integral part of her job duties. She also worked as a disability examiner and a disability specialist with DDS managing a large caseload involving very time sensitive issues dealing with disabilities. Estela previously worked with TAA in an unclassified position and most recently has been in the role of State Monitor Advocate working with the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Services. Estela’s email address is maria.hernandez@state.mn.us.      

Technical Assistance

TAA is beginning to plan virtual Roundtables for the Spring. We’re currently planning an optional “TAA 101” session for newer Dislocated Worker Counselors or those with limited experience working with TAA customers. If/when the program is Reauthorized, TAA will offer robust technical assistance for all DW staff. Contact TAA any time your agency would like technical assistance for 2015 Law, Reversion 2021, or other TAA topics.

Tax Time

While only Unemployment/TRA and RTAA are taxable income for TAA customers, some students may receive a 1098-T from their training institution. The national TAA office indicates, “The training provider is to report the total cost of the program in Box 1 and Box 5. These amounts should, in nearly all cases should be identical. As such, the amounts would cancel each other out. This would mean the participant is not able to claim any relevant tax credits when filing. It also means the filing individual would not report the amount as excessive income.”

Updated Form and Applications

TAA regularly updates our forms and applications to reflect changes due to the Final Rule and Reversion 2021. Please access applications on the Counselor Portal to ensure you’re using the most recent documents.

Federal Mileage Rate in 2022

The IRS announced the federal mileage rate for 2022 is 58.5 cents per mile for those going to training or Job Search. TAA updated the bi-weekly transportation forms to reflect this new rate. For customers using Relocation Allowance, the mileage rate is 18 cents per mile in 2022.

Petitions

Here’s the link to check the status of petitions with U.S. Department of Labor

https://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/petitioners/taa_search_form.cfm

• Certified
  • 98171 -- NRI Electronic, Rochester
  • 98104 – Baxter Healthcare, Brooklyn Park
• Denied
  • 98076 – Emerson Process Management LLLP, Eden Prairie
  • 98176 – Nexplore USA, Minneapolis

Please email all requests, reports, and technical assistance questions to the Trade Adjustment Assistance general email at deed.taa@state.mn.us

Labor Market Information

BY THE NUMBERS

Our state is experiencing an unprecedented health care workforce shortage that's impacting thousands of Minnesotans at a critical point in our fight against the pandemic. Right now, emergency room patients can't be moved to a hospital room because there aren't enough employees available to open more beds. People waiting to be discharged from a hospital or otherwise needing long-term care can't access such care because there aren't enough staff to take care of them. People with disabilities struggle to find caregivers to provide the assistance and support they need to live in the community. With nearly 40,000 vacancies, unfilled health care positions account for nearly one in every five job vacancies in Minnesota. But it's not just today's health care workforce we need to be concerned about – Minnesota is projected to add nearly 60,000 new health care jobs over the next decade.

Much like the state's population overall, there is no doubt that Minnesota's workforce is getting older. DEED has kept an analyzing eye on this trend for quite some time. Two data sources, DEED's Quarterly Employment Demographics (QED) and the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI), have allowed us to track this over several decades. This trend will continue to be seen as the baby boomer generation continues to age, unless there is an increase in immigration or an unlikely increase in birth rate. The following article will reveal how Minnesota's share of older workers has shifted in recent history, as well as how this aging compares with other states and the nation.

Ready for a road trip or weekend getaway? For your destination, consider heading to Northwest Minnesota. The 26-county region, the largest planning region in the state, boasts thousands of lakes for boating, fishing, canoeing, and kayaking; dozens of state parks, forests, and recreation areas; trails for hiking, biking, cross-country-skiing, and snowmobiling; the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River at Lake Itasca; and the resorts, towns, and cities in which to eat, relax, and stay the night. Suffice it to say, tourism is vital to Northwest Minnesota's economy and culture.

If you have questions about Labor Market Information, please email deed.lmi@state.mn.us

This newsletter is meant for DEED Grantees, Providers, and Employment Counselors. We want this e-Newsletter to meet your needs! We encourage you to send your comments and suggestions to deed.taa@state.mn.us. Find past issues of Partner Express.