June 2023
 Adult Career Pathways (ACP)
Team Updates
Meng Moua has accepted another position within DEED., his last day with the ACP team is May 23rd. He sent all his Grantees and email with their new Coordinator contact information. Please let Ann know if you did not receive that ann.meyers@state.mn.us.
The COVID waivers put in to place in 2020 will end beginning July 1, 2023. The team is working on updating the Operations Guide to reflect the updates. We want to say Thank you! to those that completed the short survey. We plan to use those results to assist us to provide better onboarding and ongoing technical assistance to Grantees. We will share those results in next month’s issue.
We encourage Grantees and interested organizations to check out the DEED Competitive Grants and Contracts page for SFY24-25 programs. The site posts all outgoing grants, and each solicitation includes a brief description of work and a link to its Request for Proposals (RFP). Sign up to receive emails when new opportunities are listed. Another suggestion is to watch the legislative sessions as you can see what is being proposed and if/when it gets funded.
Marketing ACP programs? A reminder to review the ACP Cost Category Guidance for allowable marketing and outreach costs and the disclaimer that must be included on ALL marketing material.
“The State of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) funded (or funded in part) this training through a grant. The grant recipient created this training. DEED does not endorse this publicity or training or make guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability or ownership of the information herein or elsewhere.”
MN Family Resiliency Partnership (Federally known as Displaced Homemaker Program)
The MN Family Resiliency Partnership (MFRP) has been a staple program at DEED for over 20 years. It is unique in services and targeted populations they serve. We encourage a collaborative approach to serving participants to seamlessly meet the needs of participants and enhance a participant’s career goals. Co-enrollments are allowed within organizations and between organizations including participants receiving pre-employment services through one of the six MFRP providers across the state. For more information about the Minnesota Family Resiliency Partnership program check out DEED’s ACP webpage.
SNAP E&T 50/50
The SNAP E&T project can provide additional, unrestricted funds to your organization when partnered with your ACP Grant. If you serve SNAP recipients within your ACP program(s) and are interested in more information about adding the SNAP E&T 50% Reimbursement program to your organization, please contact Ann Meyers at ann.meyers@state.mn.us.
Workforce One - ACP Programs
The ACP Team encourages all our Grantees to utilize the new Workforce One Connect app. This app is a great way to maintain communication with participants, sign documents on-line, and send resources conveniently. Interested providers should connect directly with Becca Johnson at becca.johnson@state.mn.us to coordinate a training session.
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.
Adult Career Pathways Guides
The ACP Operations Guide has been updated for June 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
Formula Funds - WIOA adult, WIOA DW and State DW:
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PY23 State DW Formula: Preliminary allocations will be available soon.
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PY23 WIOA DW & Adult TEGL is pending; allocations will be sent out once released.
- Planning documents were due on Friday, May 19th. The grants team will reach out if they have any questions about information provided.
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PY22 Carry Forward Request - Providers may request a waiver to carry forward more than 20% of their allocated PY22 funds into the second year of the grant using the provided template. Providers who expend or obligate at least 80% of their PY22 formula funds by the end of the 4th quarter do not need a waiver.
- Carry Forward Requests pertain to all formula grants: WIOA Adult, WIOA Dislocated Worker, and State Dislocated Worker
- The deadline to submit waivers was June 2, 2023.
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PY21 funds must be used by June 30, 2023.
- We are no longer accepting modifications or transfer requests for PY21.
- Cost category adjustment is allowed on the final Reimbursement Payment Request (RPR) if the total expended does not exceed the total approved budget. However, the Admin cost category must not exceed 10% of total reimbursed.
- Any remaining unused federal funds will be reallocated to Local Areas that have spent out their PY21 funds.
- The statute does not allow for extensions or for reallocations of State DW funds. Unused funds cancel back into the workforce development fund (WDF) and are re-appropriated the following fiscal year.
National Dislocated Worker Grants (DWGs)/ Disaster Relief Grants (COVID-19 and OMNI/Opioids)
- Both DWGs grants will end on June 30, 2023.
- Enrollments and spending are on track.
Re-entry Pilot Grant
- Completed Onboarding of grantees
- Contracts for all grantees are in process
- Funding streams have all been setup in Workforce One
Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)
- Program Year (PY) 2023 Planning instructions and Allotments for Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), TEGL 18-22 was released on 05/15/2023, and can be accessed at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/tegl-18-22.
- PY(2022) Equitable distribution report will be due in August 2023.
- Grants Performance Management System (GPMS)
- All GPMS Training webinars, and Virtual Live Events are recorded and archived at WorkforceGPS. You can also access GPMS e-newsletters, other GPMS resources and related materials at the same site. The FAQ is a great resource for questions and answers already covered, so remember to always check it out when you have a question just in case it is already answered.
- Upcoming GPMS Training Events:
- Reports: June 01,2023 at 1:00 pm Central Time. Registration is open at WorkforceGPS.
Retaining Employment and Talent after Injury/Illness Network (RETAIN)
- MN RETAIN continues to scale its efforts across Minnesota. More than 1,200 people have enrolled!
- Do you or someone you know have an injury or illness that affects their work? Visit mnretain.com to see if RETAIN could help!
- Check out MN RETAIN new promotional video about the enrollment process if you haven’t already.
Required Statement When Publicizing Workforce Programs and Services
This new requirement applies to all state funded grants and contracts approved by DEED’s legal counsel. It has been confirmed that the template agreements maintained by the Department of Administration contain a requirement that Grantees identify the State as the sponsoring agency and publicly credit the State for programs primarily funded by grants (Publicity clause). This statement should be found on any workforce product that grantees create going forward.
The standard boilerplate language approved by DEED’s general counsel’s office follows:
“This workforce product was funded (or funded in part) by a grant awarded by the State of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The product was created by the grant recipient and does not necessarily reflect the official position of DEED. DEED makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership.”
The following language that may be used in lieu of the language quoted above:
“The State of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) funded (or funded in part) this training through a grant. The grant recipient created this training. DEED does not endorse this publicity or training or make guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability or ownership of the information herein or elsewhere.”
Grantees are prohibited from claiming that the State endorses its products or services (Endorsement clause). The Department of Administration does not require specific language to demonstrate this lack of endorsement, but the quoted language above is more than sufficient.
The first sentence of the quotes above meets this standard and should not be significantly changed, as the language has also been approved (quote it verbatim) and will not require additional general counsel review. Consultation with DEED’s general counsel is needed if any changes are made to contractual language.
This requirement follows from the Department of Administration which has the authority to set policy standards for state agencies in their grant administration, and the agencies must follow the Department of Administration’s guidance. Minn. Stat. 16B.97, subd. 2.
Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
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
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Program Year 2022 Data Freeze Date is now scheduled for July 15, 2023. Please have all your data entry up to date including all Measurable Skill Gains achieved by your participants during the timeframe of 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2023 entered into Workforce One no later than close of business 07/15/2023.
Cases accessing PY2021 Dislocated Worker (DW) and WIOA Adult (AD) Allocations
Reminder: PY2021 allocations will be expiring on June 30, 2023.
 If needed in an alternative format, contact amy.carlson@state.mn.us
All cases showing the following funding streams within an open activity will need your attention.
 If needed in an alternative format, contact amy.carlson@state.mn.us
This means, the new activity will need a PY2022 or PY2023 formula grant selected within them depending on your agencies budget.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO KNOW
- All activities with a PY2021 allocation selected within them cannot have a start date after June 30, 2023. They must also have an end date no later than June 30, 2023.
- If any participant will continue participating in an activity that is currently showing a PY2021 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, 2023
- An active funding source (PY2022 or PY2023) will need to be selected within them.
- To help in this funding source transition
- Amy Carlson will mass close all currently open PY2021 funded activities with an end date of June 30, 2023, 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 06/30/2023, 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, 2023.
- 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 PY2021 activity closure will be emailed to the management team for the COFFR funding the case with directions on how the case manager needs to correct the data.
Shortly after July 1, 2023, additional funding streams will be added to your dropdown lists for PY2023 allocations. The date these new funding streams will be available is dependent on when PY2023 contracts are in place. Your management teams will be alerted as soon as your agency’s PY2023 funding streams are available in WF1Click to edit this placeholder text.
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.
 Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)
Virtual Information Sessions
Minnesota TAA is hosting virtual informational sessions for people who may be eligible to apply for TAA benefits. The team will be inviting people based on their petition and layoff dates. As always, TAA will refer attendees to enroll in the DW program to access their TAA benefits. Thank you in advance for your work to serve these shared customers, some of whom may have been laid off under a TAA petition years ago. Upcoming sessions are scheduled for June 21 and July 18 from 6:30pm-7:30pm. Links to the live virtual Microsoft Teams meetings will be posted here: https://www.careerforcemn.com/TAA
OJT FAQs for Employers
As promised, the OJT FAQ flyer for employers has been posted at https://www.careerforcemn.com/taa-ojt-information-employers You can find it on the employer section of TAA page on careerforcemn.com. TAA hopes this FAQ will help answer those initial questions employers might have concerning the OJT process. Feel free to share it with employers via print-out or by sending the link listed above.
Program Status and Outreach Efforts
The TAA program has funding and continues to serve customers. TAA must be the primary source of funding for customers who are eligible. Previous Partner Express newsletters include articles related to the phased termination that the TAA Program entered on 7/1/22. The U.S. Department of Labor recently released TEGL 14-22 - Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Workers Program Phase-out Termination Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and it has been added to the ETA Advisory database and is available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/tegl-14-22
TAA will perform various outreach efforts this spring and summer to ensure those who are eligible for TAA are aware of the benefits available. Contact TAA with outreach suggestions or to ask about an individual’s eligibility.
Petitions
Petitions can still be filed, but DOL’s investigation is paused until program restoration or reauthorization. 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
- Nordson Medical, Eagan
- Banner Engineering, Huron, SD (HQ in Minnesota)
- Optum, New York (HQ/base in Minnesota)
Please email all questions and customer applications to the Trade Adjustment Assistance general email at deed.taa@state.mn.us.
 Monitoring
We are pleased to share that the Employment and Training Programs (ETP) Division’s revised Monitoring Policy is currently open for a 30-day public comment period.
Visit DEED’s Policy and Guidance webpage to review the policy.
Comments may be emailed to shannon.rolf@state.mn.us by June 23, 2023.
Changes include:
- Expanded language on the purpose of monitoring.
- Clarifies steps that DEED may take if a grantee has repeated Areas of Concerns or Findings.
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Definitions were added to further clarify monitoring processes.
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A compliance rubric is attached to provide examples and guidelines of when a grant issue may result in a finding during a monitoring visit.
If you have questions about Monitoring content, please email shannon.rolf@state.mn.us.
Follow Your Heart to a Caring Career
The campaign needs you to be successful!
The Follow Your Heart to a Caring Career (Caring Career for short) campaign aims to connect people with employment in home-, community- and facility- based care. The focus is on entry level positions with a potential for career growth. We are hoping to reach young people, New Americans, people who need employment now – and most of all people looking for work where they can make a real difference in the lives of others!
View the Governor's Proclamation of June 1 as Follow Your Heart to a Caring Career Day.
A paid advertising campaign, funded by DHS, to support these efforts kicked off on June 1 and runs through August. To accompany this campaign, CareerForce is also engaging in an earned, social and GovDelivery mass email campaign.
- We need your help reaching local media near you! Please contact Rita.Beatty@state.mn.us if you have ideas for getting coverage in your local newspaper, on local TV or radio or via other means!
- We will be sending GovDelivery emails to job seekers statewide every other Tuesday starting June 6 and continuing through the end of August.
- And we'll be posting on CareerForceMN social channels using #CaringCareerMN.
All public-facing resources are posted on CareerForceMN.com/Caring Career.
Below are some key resources for you to use to help make the Follow Your Heart to a Caring Career campaign a success:
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- You can find materials organized by topic:
- You can find materials organized by language
Have questions about this campaign or ideas to make it successful? Please share your ideas with CareerForce@state.mn.us and note Caring Career in the subject line.
Contact the CareerForce Information and Assistance line at 651-259-7500 or careerforce@state.mn.us if you have questions.
 Labor Market Information
During second quarter 2022, employers reported a total of 184,588 vacancies across the state of Minnesota. This is the third largest number of vacancies on record (going back to second quarter 2001) in Minnesota and shows continued strong demand for workers. Our regional analysts have put together a new set of blogs for March focusing on the new 2022 Job Vacancy Survey results, which were down compared to 2021 but are still near historic highs.
Our analysts also completed a series of articles for the March 2023 issue of Minnesota Economic Trends, including articles about The Great Resignation in Minnesota, Regaining Immigration Levels to Help Resolve Minnesota's Tight Labor Market, Reemployment After COVID-19 Layoffs in Minnesota, Public Sector Employment Recovery from the Pandemic Recession, Challenges and Changes in Minnesota's Leisure & Hospitality Industry, and The Gender Math Gap and its Effects on Earnings.
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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