February 2023
Open Positions
- Grant Specialist Senior: Job ID 62351
- RETAIN Employer engagement specialist (DWFAP): Job ID 61960
- Adult Programs Administrative Support Specialist: Job ID 62308
- ETPL Administrator: To be posted in the upcoming days.
Search Jobs / Careers in the State of Minnesota (mn.gov)
 Adult Career Pathways
Team Updates
Over the past few months, the ACP Coordinators have updated and posted information to the ACP Webpage to better assist ACP Grantees as they manage programs:
- An instruction guide to complete the quarterly reports
- Program Operations Guide
- ACP EDS Document Types
- Information on Getting or Changing WF1 access
- Guidance on Cost Category Definitions; coming in February 2023
- Documentation Needed to Support Participant Eligibility; coming in February 2023
The ACP Provider Training List for SFY22-23 is now posted! Categorized by industry sector, this is a list of projects funded through DEED’s Employment and Training Division, Adult Career Pathways during SFY22-23. Each provider listed is linked to their website for easy referral. Please reach out to Jenilee Drilling (Jenilee.drilling@state.mn.us ) if updates or changes need to be made to the list.
With the Legislation starting to meet for SFY24-25 budget, we encourage Grantees and interested organizations to check out the DEED Competitive Grants and Contracts page. The site posts all outgoing grants and open-ended PT services. Each solicitation includes a brief description of work and a link to its Request for Proposals (RFP) or Request for Applications (RFA). Sign up to receive emails when new opportunities are listed.
We continue to 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.
FREE MARKETING!! 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), 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. For more information about the Minnesota Family Resiliency Partnership program check out DEED’s ACP webpage.
SNAP E&T 50/50
This program has reimbursed its Grantees over $87,000 in SFY22! Together with your ACP program, a SNAP E&T project can provide additional funds to your organization. If you are interested in more information or adding SNAP E&T 50% Reimbursement program to your organization, please contact Ann Meyers at ann.meyers@state.mn.us.
Workforce One- ACP Programs
REMINDER: Providers are required to enter all Workforce One data within 15 days of the occurrence. When determining past performance, it is important that each Grantee enter data in Workforce One in a timely manner. If you need further assistance with your data entry or are seeing discrepancies in your data, please reach out to your Program Coordinator.
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. In addition, the ACP Team have posted links to ACP WF1 Training sessions on the ACP Webpage. It is also important that any staff WF1 access be de-activated upon their departure.
While Workforce One will require you to enter an assessment prior to opening a training activity, some providers are still utilizing the Covid waivers and do not have the ability to administer an assessment at this time. If your organization is unable to provide an assessment in-person, you may enter an "Other" assessment, and enter the participants highest completed grade level in the Assessment page to be able to open the Credentialed training activity. Please ensure that you are following the entire COVID Waiver process and case noting properly.
Procedures that must be followed in lieu of a standardized academic assessment are as follows.
Providers must inquire about a participant's level of educational attainment.
- If a participant indicates that they have a GED, high school diploma, or higher, the provider must request and collect documentation to verify the highest level claimed.
- Documentation may be provided by a cell-phone snapshot of the last transcript received. The participant's name must clearly visible.
- If a participant claims high school enrollment, but is unable to produce documentation, collect the name of the school and location of the school, and the year and month of graduation.
- For GED, collect the date, the provider, and the location.
- College work must be verified with a transcript.
- The case manager will consider this information in determining whether to enroll the participant. The process and/or findings of the assessment must be case noted in Work Force One.
Adult Career Pathways Guides
The ACP Operations Guide has been updated for October and posted to 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.
 Dislocated Worker and Federal Adult Programs
Policy Updates
- The WIOA and State Dislocated Worker (DW) Eligibility Policies have now been updated and posted. We are appreciative of your feedback, comments, and partnership as we continue to ensure policies are current, responsive, and relevant to the needs of our partners and residents.
- There are now two separate policies (WIOA and DW specific).
- All partners are required to update their DW Eligibility Policy to align with the updated policies.
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Webinars to review these policies will be provided:
- Wednesday (2/1) 1:00pm – 2:30pm.
- Thursday (2/2) 10:30am – 12:00pm.
- Changes are being made to Workforce One to update the eligibility screen. You will be notified once the updates are live.
Converting Layoffs Into Minnesota Businesses (CLIMB)
- Unemployment Insurance (UI) is returning to pre-pandemic process for individuals enrolled in State Dislocated Worker CLIMB activity.
- During the pandemic UI stopped using paper forms and instructed participants to respond to questions online. Now they will begin directing CLIMB participants/UI applicants to use paper forms again. Using these forms allows UI to clearly identify any income received from an applicant’s CLIMB business, as opposed to earnings from other sources. This ensures the integrity of the program and helps applicants who earned non-CLIMB income when UI reviews accounts for unreported earnings.
- All newly enrolled applicants will be supplied with the required forms and directed to use them. UI will switch over applicants who could still potentially collect multiple weeks of benefits. However, applicants with only a few potential weeks of benefits remaining will probably not be required to complete the paper forms. The goal is to have all applicants using paper forms within the next couple of months.
Grants and Contracts
- Quarterly Progress Report (QPR) for the period Oct-Dec 2022 was due Jan. 31st. As a reminder, a QPR is required if the grant is active.
Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Board (MJSP)
- The Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP) Board will be meeting on March 6, 2023. Supplemental Funding request is on due February 8, 2023
Re-entry Pilot Grant
- Serves justice involved individuals seeking re-entry into workforce; RFP was closed on Dec. 1st, 2022; $3 million available.
- Received 30 proposals, totaling $11.4 million.
- Announcements will be made in the upcoming weeks.
Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)
- PY2021 Data Validation Ended on 12/31/2022 with only 3 grantees nationwide not able to complete it.
- GPMS All Grantee Training 1/31/2023. Please register for a seat ASAP.
- Check out the GPMS e-Newsletter January 2023 Issue 2 Volume 1.
- PY 2021 National Customer Satisfaction Results produced high scores, to be published very soon.
- PY2022 2nd Quarter Progress Reports are due January 30, 2023.
Retaining Employment and Talent after Injury/Illness Network (RETAIN)
- MN RETAIN continues to scale its efforts across Minnesota. We are quickly approaching 800 enrolled participants and have a new healthcare partner – HealthPartners.
- Do you or someone you know have an injury or illness that affects their work? Visit mnretain.com to see if RETAIN could help!
- We continue to look for additional employer, healthcare, and community partners to help us serve ill/injured workers.
Acknowledgement of Federal Funds
Pursuant to Public Law 115-31, Division H, Title V, Section 505 as well as State’s Federal award terms and conditions, when issuing statements, press releases, requests for proposals, bid solicitations and other documents describing projects or programs funded in whole or part with Federal money, all non-Federal entities receiving Federal funds shall clearly state:
- The percentage of the total costs of the program or project which will be financed with Federal money;
- The dollar amount of Federal funds for the project or program; and
- The percentage and dollar amount of the total costs of the project or program that will be financed by non-governmental sources.
Example from NDWG: “Preparation of this document was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor to the Minnesota Dept of Employment and Economic Development in the amount of (full grant amount) that will be incrementally provided. ____% of grant funding is from U.S. Federal funds.”
Please contact DWFAP staff if you have any questions about required disclaimer for publicity materials.
Questions from the field
- Can WIOA funds be used to provide employment and training services to individuals arriving from Ukraine?
- Recognizing that it may be advantageous to support students in the next term/semester after enrollment, are local areas allowed to pro-rate in-progress training for payment, which started before DW program enrollment for eligible participants?
Click here for answers to the questions above.
Please email all requests, reports, and technical assistance questions to the Dislocated Worker Federal Adult Programs general email at dwfaprograms.deed@state.mn.us
 Performance Updates for Dislocated Worker and WIOA Adult
Workforce One (WF1) glitch disallowing participant enrollment under the category of WIOA and State DW traditional/small layoff Resolved
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Problem: During the recent WF1 mapping to connect Dislocated Worker Eligibility policies the Small Layoff configuration was found to be incorrect. This problem is now resolved.
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Next Steps: Counselors/Data Entry staff will now need to complete their data entry by entering WF1 program enrollments and capturing services within Activities, Support Services, and case notes. All dates will need to be backdated to the actual dates of enrollment and when services were provided as soon as they are able. If the backdating is more than 15 business days in the past, please case note the following “Delay in data entry was due to a required WF1 system update. Backdating data entry was preapproved by Amy.Carlson@state.mn.us."
Confidentiality Compliance Review (CCR) meeting results with the State Wage Interchange System (SWIS) on Monday, January 9
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Problem: Improper disclosure of employment status for federal performance.
- DEED currently supplies program providers with an indicator showing if WIOA participants have been found employed (either in Minnesota UI wage data or SWIS interstate wage data) in reports called “roster” for the Q2 and Q4 employment indicators.
- The review team stated DEED may not disclose employment status of participants to non-state staff if the employment flag is derived in-whole or in-part from interstate wages.
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Temporary Solution: An amendment to the SWIS agreement to allow sharing of employment data has been proposed, but until it is approved, the following will need to be done (and is planned for 2/9/23):
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FWS will remove Predictive Rosters altogether. This means you will not be able to view individual-level data on employment, MSGs, or credentials. You will still be able to view aggregate data.
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The Roster Detail Report in WF1 will have the employment metrics removed. You will still be able to view preliminary outcomes for MSGs and credentials.
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The CWSIR in WF1 will remove SWIS employment data. It will still display MN wage detail data.
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Fix Date: There is currently no expected timeline for passage of such an amendment, though it has already been proposed. We acknowledge that providers rely on FutureWorks’ Predictive Rosters and the WF1 reports to track performance. We understand this change is undesirable and apologize for the inconvenience. Please respond to Scott.Godfrey@state.mn.us and I with any questions you may have.
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Next Steps: Please reach out to amy.carlson@state.mn.us should you need aggregate performance counts for required reports your staff previously could perform using these rosters.
Initial Summary of PRE-COVID and COVID ERA new enrollment WIOA Evaluation study results
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Reason for Study: WIOA Law requires every state to perform annual evaluations on the WIOA Adult and WIOA DW programs. These evaluations must have a distinct purpose/goal, be thoroughly investigated using reportable data, and the study results must be published.
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Initial Summary Results for WIOA DW: Statistically significant changes in program enrollment demographics during the Covid Era (March 2020 – September 2022) compared to pre-Covid enrollments (July 2018 – February 2020).
- Black/African American enrollments.
- Highest level of education = High School or equivalent.
- For WIOA Adult Priority of Service, 72% of participants were low income
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Next Steps:
- Amy Carlson and Michael Prideaux will work with the Labor Market Information (LMI) team to study reported ONET codes most impacted (generally) compared to program enrollments.
- This study will assist in finding statistically significant changes demographics and LMI (statewide and regionally).
- Study results will be published, and meetings will be scheduled with DEED program leaders and local area leadership teams to advise on recommended policy updates to include additional priority populations to reach based on data results showing the most in need within their service areas.
PY21 through Quarter Four Performance:
- Copies of these reports were emailed to each provider’s leadership team along with their annual report totals listed in DOL’s ETA-9169. If your agency did not receive these, please email amy.carlson@state.mn.us
- PY21 Q4: The State was successful in meeting all negotiated performance goals!!
 PY22 through Quarter One Performance:
- See Attached PDFs for WDA performance information
- PY22 Q1: The State is currently successful in meeting all negotiated performance goals!!
 PY22 through Quarter Two Performance: Report due to the Department of Labor on February 14, 2023. Performance reports/scorecards will likely be issued in the March Partner Express and the following MAWB meeting.
Should you have any performance or data entry questions, please contact the Federal Adult Programs Performance Coordinator, Amy Carlson, at amy.carlson@state.mn.us.
 Trade Adjustment Assistance
IRS Mileage Rate for Travel in 2023
The IRS announced the mileage rate for 2023: For customers traveling to TAA-funded training or using Job Search Allowance, the rate is $.655 (that’s 65.5 cents per mile). For Relocation Allowance, the rate is $.22 (22 cents per mile).
Petition Resource Form
In other to quickly identify foreign trade-related layoff cases, TAA will be introducing a new petition research form which will be available both online and physically. The online version makes it possible for Dislocated Worker program or CareerForce staff to get the necessary information from customers for research at the point of intake or at the first visit to CareerForce locations. The answers given on the online form are received by TAA immediately as soon as the form is submitted. We are currently finalizing work on the form and will send out a notification when the online and physical forms are ready for use.
Program Restoration
TAA program restoration was included in the FY23 omnibus bill. Department of Labor will release a TEGL which will guide states on the next steps. Previous Partner Express newsletters include articles related to the phased termination that the TAA Program entered on 7/1/22.
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:
- Torax Medical, St Paul
- Turck, Inc., Plymouth
- Ball Corp, St Paul
Please email all questions and customer applications to the Trade Adjustment Assistance general email at deed.taa@state.mn.us
 Monitoring
Updating the Monitoring Policy
The Employment and Training Program (ETP) Monitoring Unit is currently in the process of reviewing and updating our monitoring policy. Changes will include what grantees can expect during a compliance review, stronger definitions, and an overview of key program/fiscal elements reviewed during monitoring. Once the draft is complete, grantees will be notified in February 2023 on how to review and submit comments during a 30-day public comment period. Public comments will be reviewed; and adjustments as necessary made to the policy prior to the final release in the Spring of 2023. Watch for updates on our progress within the Partner Express.
Below is a preview of the introduction.
In accordance with 20 CFR 683.410, 2 CFR part 200, and MN OGM Policy 08-10, DEED conducts programmatic, fiscal, and administrative compliance monitoring of WIOA and state awarded workforce development grantees. Monitoring reviews are conducted by DEED program monitors to measure progress, ensure federal and state funds are used responsibly, identify areas of non-compliance, and offer technical assistance.
The purpose of monitoring and oversight is to:
- Assess compliance with applicable federal and state laws and regulations.
- Assess whether grantee/sub-recipient programs have achieved intended results.
- Ensure resources are used efficiently and effectively for authorized purposes and are protected from fraud, waste, and abuse.
- Determine expenditures have been appropriately applied per cost categories and are within cost limitations.
- Determine compliance with nondiscrimination, disability, and equal opportunity requirements of federal and state law.
- Identify system-wide issues requiring policy or program review and resolution.
- Identify promising practices and share with other workforce development partners.
- Identify technical assistance needs.
If you have questions about Monitoring content, please email shannon.rolf@state.mn.us
 CareerForce
New CareerForce customer comment and partner feedback online form
In the footer of every page on CareerForceMN.com, customers can access an online form to Comment on CareerForce and rate their experience. This new online comment form offers an option to select a specific CareerForce location or select CareerForceMN.com when submitting a comment. Customers may remain anonymous when submitting their comments.
DEED and partner staff are also invited to share their own feedback via that same online form – just follow the prompts! You can share your comments on CareerForceMN.com content or functionality, CareerForce resources and more. This is a great way to share what's working and what's not. You can also remain anonymous if you choose.
Please note that this new online form is different than the Submit a Success Story form, which is also linked in the footer of every page on CareerForceMN.com. Why are there two different forms? Here’s why: not every customer will want to share a personal success story – some may just want to submit a quick comment about their CareerForce experience.
Contact the CareerForce Information and Assistance line at 651-259-7500 or careerforce@state.mn.us if you have questions.
 Labor Market Information
DEED’s LMI office published three research articles related to the recent historic rate of wage increases, exploring how they compare with inflation for real buying power and how wages are distributed from low-income to high-income Minnesotans. This research helps improve understanding of wage increases in offsetting inflation, as well as measuring wage inequality in Minnesota. In the first article in the series, labor market analyst Mustapha Hammida sets the stage by describing the distribution of hourly wages of Minnesota workers in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. It offers for the first time an illustration of the shape of such a distribution and its properties, including wage inequality. The second article in the series analyzes how the Pandemic Recession affected the distribution of hourly wages of Minnesota workers and how the recent rise in inflation is influencing growth in hourly wages of workers.
"Wage growth has not kept pace with inflation across the country, and we know Minnesotans have been hit by higher prices at the pump, the grocery store, and in most every shopping experience," said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. "Learning that Minnesota has less wage inequality between low and high-earners than the nation as a whole, and that we're trending in the right direction, is a hopeful sign as we work to empower equitable growth in our economy coming out of the pandemic recession." Total private sector wages have been increasing faster than at any time since such data started being tracked in 2006.
While inflation growth appears to be slowing, wages will have to continue increasing for real wage growth to occur. Post-Pandemic Recession Wage and Inflation Growth by Assistant LMI Director Oriane Casale and Labor Market Analyst Luke Greiner reviews wage growth in Minnesota and the U.S. with comparisons between industries and across states, where available. Read other DEED LMI research articles in the current and past editions of the quarterly publication Minnesota Economic Trends.
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.
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