October 2022

Dislocated Worker and Federal Adult Programs

RETAIN:

• Over 430 participants have been enrolled.
• MN RETAIN was at the State Fair 8/25 - 9/5
  • 22,000 promotional items were distributed.
  • Special visitors included Tim Walz, Lt. Gov Flannagan, and Commissioner Grove.
• Rochester Clinic join the project as a new healthcare partner.
• There are ongoing engagement with employers and community groups.
• Please contact connell@state.mn.us if you’re interested in learning more about how MN RETAIN helps ill/injured workers stay at work.

DWGs:

• Recruitment and enrollment for COVID-19 and Opioids National Disaster Relief DWGs are ongoing, as the Period of Performance was extended to June 30, 2023.

(The COVID-19 National Disaster Grant provides disaster-relief and humanitarian assistance employment, as well as employment and training services, to minimize the employment and economic impact of COVID-19. Opioids - The Minnesota Initiative (OMNI) project is a workforce development initiative which seeks to address the state's opioid crisis.)

Policy Updates:

• WIOA and State Dislocated Worker Eligibility Policy is in final review and will be released later this month.

Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership (MJSP)

• The next MJSP Board Meeting will be held on Monday, October 24, 2022.
• State DW supplemental funding request deadline was September 12, 2022.

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

Additional performance information:

• State DW Performance PY21 Q4
• Total DW Performance PY21 Q4
• WIOA Adult Performance PY21 Q4
• WIOA DW Performance PY21 Q4
• WIOA DWG Performance PY21 Q4

If you have any questions on your PY21 reports, please contact Amy Carlson at amy.carlson@state.mn.us

Program Year 2022 and 2023 local area performance negotiations went great!! We appreciate our partnerships and are truly thankful for all the work you do for Minnesotans!

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

Adult Career Pathways Team Updates

• Quarterly reports are due October 30^th for the period of July-September 2022. Reach out to your Coordinator with any questions.  Quarterly report templates are available on the ACP Webpage under each programs’ summary.
• The ACP team is excited to move in to this new grant period! We are witnessing great work happening across the State and know the next year will bring lots of training opportunities to Minnesotans. Your ACP Coordinator is here to assist you. Please be sure to reach out to them with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
• We encourage grantees to begin preparing for the end of COVID waivers. Please be sure to review the current waivers and reach out to your Coordinator if you have any questions.
• The ACP team has partnered with CareerForce MN to give our Grantees the opportunity to post their free trainings on the CareerForce website; https://www.careerforcemn.com/training-programs . This is an excellent opportunity to market your courses to the thousands of users that visit the site every month.  Feel free to reach out to the CareerForce help desk at careerforce@state.mn.us  to request access or any additional assistance.

Mn Family Resiliency Partnership

(Federally known as Displaced Homemaker Program)

• The MN Family Resiliency Partnership (MFRP) - federally known as Displaced Homemaker Program (DHP), assists individuals who have spent a substantial number of years in the home providing homemaking services and have been dependent upon the financial support of another. Now due to divorce, separation, death, or disability of that person or no longer receive public assistance they no longer have that support and must find a job that can support themselves and the family. Services will help develop the marketable skills participants need to find and maintain a job.

For more information about the Minnesota Family Resiliency Partnership program check out DEED’s ACP webpage.

Workforce One- ACP Programs

• We have heard from Grantees that they are bringing on new staff. It is important that any new staff attend the ETP Programs Case Management Training as soon as possible after receiving WF1 access. This training offers users an overview and navigation of the site. The ACP team will facilitate two ACP Specific Workforce One Training sessions on Monday October 24^th and Tuesday October 25^th. The Tuesday October 25^th training will be specific to Pathways to Prosperity Grantees only. The training will be facilitated as a train-the-trainer model and is limited to two staff from each agency per session according to grant type awarded. Please be sure that whoever attends this training will be able to take the information back to others at your organization to provide additional training. The link to register is https://forms.office.com/g/dVC3pdHG1c. All registrants must attend the ETP case management training prior.
• The ACP Team updated the ACP Workforce One Guide is now posted to the ACP Webpage!

SNAP E&T 50/50

• This program has reimbursed its Grantees over $70,000 so far in SFY22! If you are interested in adding SNAP E&T 50% Reimbursement program to your organization, please contact Ann Meyers at ann.meyers@state.mn.us.

Adult Career Pathways Guides

A reminder to all SFY22-23 ACP Grantees: Please be sure you are using the most updated version of the DEED required Equal Opportunity of the Law (Complaint Discrimination) and How We Use Your Personal Information (Data Privacy) forms. These forms are available in multiple language from the links below:

• Tennessen Warning - English.pdf – https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/assets/policies/pdf/notice-english.pdf
• Tennessen Warning - Hmong.pdf - https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/assets/policies/pdf/notice-hmong.pdf
• Tennessen Warning - Lao.pdf - https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/assets/policies/pdf/notice-lao.pdf
• Tennessen Warning - Russian.pdf - https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/assets/policies/pdf/notice-russian.pdf
• Tennessen Warning - Simple Chinese.pdf - https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/assets/policies/pdf/notice-simplified-chinese.pdf
• Tennessen Warning - Somali.pdf - https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/assets/policies/pdf/notice-somali.pdf
• Tennessen Warning - Spanish.pdf - https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/assets/policies/pdf/notice-spanish.pdf

Forms must be dated within the current grant cycle. For participants exited “Program Type Transfer” at the end of one grant cycle (SFY 21, for example) and re-enrolled into the next grant cycle (SFY 22, for example), new forms must be signed and dated when participant is re-enrolled.

Grantee must:

• Print Equal Opportunity is the Law and How we Use Your Personal Information back-to-back.
• Have participant initial both “I Have read the…” attestations located above the signature line.
• Have participant print his/her/their name, sign, and date the form.

Retain a copy of this form in the participant’s file

This information may be found on the ACP Webpage, within the ACP Documentation Needed to Support Participant Eligibility.

• The ACP Operations Guide has been updated for August and posted at the ACP home page.  If you have any suggestions for the guide, please submit those to your Grant Coordinator.

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

Trade Adjustment Assistance

TAA Must be the Primary Source of Funding

• Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) needs to be the primary source of funding for any DW/TAA customer seeking training, and/or job search and relocation assistance. If a person is eligible for TAA, the DW Counselor must submit the application for TAA’s review. Training can be short or long-term, part or full-time, a graduate degree, a certificate, etc. Dislocated Worker Counselors should follow the usual process of submitting all applications to deed.taa@state.mn.us

Sunset Provisions/ Reauthorization

As highlighted in the three previous Partner Express newsletters (available at this link: https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/dislocated-worker/counselors/news/), the TAA Program entered a phased termination on 7/1/22. Although this impacts worker eligibility, it does not immediately impact State operations.

Here’s a quick eligibility summary based on what petition a person is eligible under:

• 2015 Law and earlier laws – Can still apply for TAA benefits.
• Reversion 2021 (petition numbers are 98,xxx) – had to have been laid off on or before 6/30/22. If/when Congress extends or reauthorizes the TAA program, Minnesota TAA will publish guidance in the Partner Express newsletter, and will notify workers who may be eligible at that time.

U.S. Department of Labor outlined these requirements for continuation of State operations:

• State TAA operations will and must continue.
• States must still provide benefits and services to eligible workers.
• States must still conduct outreach to members of certified worker groups.
• Co-Enrollment still required.
• Oversight and Control Measure Efforts still required.

Petitions

Petitions can still be filed, but DOL’s investigation is paused until reauthorization occurs. 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

Filed after July 1 (DOL’s investigation will start after program’s reauthorization)

• Petition number to be assigned – Torax Medical, St Paul

Please email all questions and customer applications to the Trade Adjustment Assistance general email at deed.taa@state.mn.us

Labor Market Information

Minnesota had 2,929,700 jobs in August of 2022, a slight decline from the huge jump reported in July. “We saw a pause in our job growth in August, amidst an otherwise record-setting year for Minnesota’s economy,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “Despite the fluctuations we’ve seen in the global economy, Minnesota’s resiliency remains strong. Our number one focus continues to be on connecting job seekers and businesses during a time of opportunity for Minnesota’s labor market.” Minnesota's unemployment rate ticked up one-tenth of a point to 1.9% in August, although it remains at a historic low. With Minnesota having the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, here is how Minnesota ranks on several other economic indicators:

• The state’s 1-year growth in employment was 2.5%, ranking 38^th The U.S. rate was 3.8%.
• Minnesota’s labor force participation rate was 68.2%, ranking 6^th highest nationwide. The U.S. rate was 62.4%.
• Minnesota’s total non-farm employment was 2,929,700 jobs, seasonally adjusted, ranking 19^th
• The state’s unemployment rate was 1.9%, seasonally adjusted, the lowest nationwide. The U.S. rate was 3.7%
• Minnesota’s job openings rates was 7.2% (July), ranking 15^th The national rate was 6.9%
• Minnesota’s proportion of vacancies per unemployed worker was 4.1 (July), the highest nationwide. The proportion for the U.S. was 2.0 vacancies for every unemployed worker.
• Minnesota’s percent of population below the poverty line was 9.3%, the 3^rd  lowest nationwide. The national rate was 12.8%.
• The state’s share of population with high school diploma or higher was 94.1%, ranking 5^th The national rate was 89.4%.
• Minnesota’s percent of population with bachelor’s degree or higher was 39.8%, ranking 12^th The national rate was 35.0%.

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 deed.taa@state.mn.us. Find past issues of Partner Express.