March 2024

Adult Career Pathways Team Updates

Please help me welcome our three newest ACP Grant Coordinators; Sarah Lee, Beth Bidinger, and Hony Yang! All three started their positions on February 7^th and are working closely with the rest of the ACP Team on their training.

It is an exciting time for our team as the Adult Career Pathways team continues to release and review applications for the Drive for Five Program, the Targeted Populations Workforce, Targeted Populations Capacity Building, Targeted Populations Diversity and Inclusion for Small Employers, and  the Clean Economy Equitable Workforce request for proposals.  

We encourage Grantees and any interested organization to visit the DEED Competitive Grants and Contracts webpage and review all outgoing grants.

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.”

SFY24-25 Adult Direct Appropriation  

Just a reminder: Quarterly reports are due the 30^th of the month following the end of the quarter (see schedule below). Report templates are available on the Adult Career Pathways webpage under the specific program. If you need assistance completing your report, please connect with your Grant Coordinator. If needed, we have posted report instructions here.   

Quarterly reports are due the 30^th of the month following the end of the quarter or

• October 30
• January 30
• April 30
• July 30

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

As a reminder, all participants enrolled in any SFY22-23 ACP program MUST be appropriately exited from Workforce One (WF1) upon the completion of the grant. As a reminder, past performance is taken into consideration when reviewing and recommending future ACP funding. The team recommends you run the “Grant Information Summary” report to ensure all data is entered correctly.

In order for your organization to capture outcomes for these participants, including participants enrolled in training, completing training, and entering employment all participants must Exit from Workforce One (WF1) within 45 days from the expiration of the grant contract. Be mindful as final Reimbursement Payment Requests (RPRs) are being processed and compared to data within Workforce One.

For our new Grantees in SFY24-25, the ACP team facilitated a Workforce One training session in September and have posted the recording here. If you need further assistance, please connect with your Coordinator.

Adult Career Pathways Guides

The ACP Workforce One User Guide has been updated and posted to the ACP home page.

The ACP Operations Guide has been updated 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.

Formula Funds – WIOA Adult, WIOA DW and State DW

Friendly Reminders:

• Quarterly Progress Reports (QPRs):
  • Please use this updated Quarterly Progress Report that allows for reporting on two funding streams of the same grant running simultaneously.
• Monthly Financial Status Report (FSR)/Monthly Reimbursement Payment Request (RPR):
  • Due the 20th day of the month following the preceding month-end. For example, the June RPR/FSR (June 30 end date) is due July.
  • Report accrued monthly
  • A monthly RPR/FSR is required even if no funds were

 Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership (MJSP) Board Quarterly Meeting

• The next meeting of the Board will be held on Monday, March 4, 2024.
• Get more information on the MJSP Board web page.

Retaining Employment and Talent after Injury/Illness Network (RETAIN)

• Celebrating another milestone: 2,700+ enrollments!
• We’re back on the air! MN RETAIN radio ads are playing across the state through the end of May 2024.
• Visit the Employer Reasonable Accommodation Fund to see how small to medium sized businesses can take advantage of reimbursements for employee accommodations!
• RETAIN staff have presented to several WDAs and their Career Navigators – email john.connell@state.mn.usif you’re interested in learning more about how RETAIN can support your clients
  • If you or someone you know have an injury or illness that affects work? Visit mnretain.com to see if RETAIN could help.

Re-Entry Grant

• Check out the Re-Entry web page for information and resources. We’ll continue to update the page as needed.
• For any related questions relating to Re-entry Pilot grants, send emails to our general mailbox at dwfaprograms.deed@state.mn.us.

Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) 

Equitable Distribution.

Every year, SCSEP conducts an analysis on Equitable Distribution (ED) for all its grantees nationwide.

What is ED?

Equitable Distribution represents the commitment to serving each county in proportion to its allocated number of positions, forming an integral part of the grant obligation. Grantees are expected to recruit participants from counties based on the authorized number of positions, and adherence to ED is crucial. Grantees must vigilantly monitor and adjust enrollments in counties as needed to fully align with ED as much as possible. It's important to note that while compliance with ED is encouraged, grantees are not obligated to consistently serve every county at the exact ED level.

Determining Authorized Positions (AP):

The number of Authorized Positions (AP) is determined by statute and the annual funding allocated by Congress. This allocation is specific to each state, with the distribution of AP among counties based on each county's percentage of the SCSEP-eligible population, as determined by the Census. ED is recalibrated for each national grantee competition, and AP is adjusted annually based on the existing ED and Congressional appropriations.

The Significance of ED:

Equitable Distribution ensures that every eligible individual in a state has an equitable opportunity to enroll in SCSEP. This measure prevents grantees from favoring areas with higher concentrations of host agencies and job opportunities, promoting fairness in participant selection.

Authorized vs. Modified Positions:

Authorized positions are computed by dividing the total funds appropriated for a program year by the national average unit cost per participant, calculated based on the federal minimum wage.

While Modified Positions (MP) were introduced by the Department of Labor (DOL) to address disparities between local and federal minimum wages. Given that SCSEP funding is based on the federal minimum wage, but grantees are obligated to adhere to any higher local minimum wage, MP reflects the number of positions that can feasibly be supported. This adjustment ensures accurate budgeting and resource allocation, accounting for varying minimum wage rates across localities.

Question: Do you know which counties you are authorized to serve and at what AP level? if not please contact your SCSEP Program Coordinator.

Check out the updated SCSEP web page for information and resources. We’ll continue to update the page as needed.

Question from the Field (Q/A):

Question: Is DEED supportive of DEI training paid for with incumbent worker funds? As you know, an individual employee’s ability to be interpersonally successful with those who are different than themselves on the job is a retention and promotional factor. Are you counting DEI training in Personal development courses?

Answer: Incumbent worker training (IWT) is designed to increase the competitiveness of businesses and incumbent workers by ensuring they acquire the skills necessary to retain employment, advance within the business or to provide the work skills necessary to avert a layoff.

An ideal IWT allows a participant to acquire new skills to move into a higher skilled and higher paid job within the business, thus allowing the organization to hire a job seeker to backfill the incumbent worker’s position.

Types of training not allowed include:

• • Self-paced learning,
  • Personal development courses,
  • Non-skill related assessments,
  • Mandated safety training (such as OSHA),
  • English as a second language,
  • Basic skills or remedial education, and
  • Non-job-related training

IMPORTANT: As more providers consider providing Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) services to employers in their areas, we acknowledge that some requests for training, while relevant to the organization’s staffing needs and/or goals, may not align with our IWT policy requirements. A lot has changed in the workforce since the policy was last updated and because it takes a considerable amount of time complete the reviewing and updating process, we ask that providers continue to contact us with questions, and if needed, send us full IWT applications for further review and consideration.

Additional resources:

• Performance Accountability for Incumbent Worker Training (IWT)
• Incumbent Worker Training Programs policy

You can find additional information and resources here: Office of Dislocated Worker and Federal Adult Programs website.

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

Staffing update

• Torax Medical, St Paul
• Turck, Inc., Plymouth
• Ball Corp, St Paul
• Nordson Medical, Eagan
• Optum, Hopkins
• United Language Group, Minneapolis
• Sleep Number, Minneapolis

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

Data Validation Policy Open for Public Comment

We are pleased to share that the Employment and Training Programs (ETP) Division’s Data Validation 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 etpmonitoring.deed@state.mn.us by Friday, March 29, 2024. 

Data Validation Policy includes:

• Explanation on the purpose of data validation.
• Description of the data validation responsibilities of DEED and the Local Workforce Development Areas (LWDAs).
• Details on the data validation procedures and timeframes.
• Definitions to further clarify data validation processes and methodology.

Data Validation for PY23 will begin soon!

DEED’s data validation working group has been working diligently to prepare for the rollout of PY23 data validation, which will commence late March of 2024. This will be DEED’s first effort to conduct data validation using our own internal processes and tools, so we ask for your grace as we work through the details of this enormous effort.

First and foremost, please don’t panic!  We are minimizing the number of Local Workforce Development Areas (LWDAs) who will participate in PY23 to give us the opportunity to fully test our process.  At the conclusion of our initial data validation period, we will identify issues and strategically address problems that may arise prior to implementing data validation across the field. DEED willork towards gradually scaling implementation in PY24 and PY25. Watch for data validation updates each month in the Partner Express.  

See Q&A below for more details.

What is data validation?

Data validation is a series of internal controls and quality assurance methods established to verify the accuracy, validity, and reliability of data. This framework requires a consistent approach across programs to ensure that all program data consistently and accurately reflects the performance of each grant recipient.

Who will participate in PY23 data validation?

Three Local Workforce Development Areas (LWDAs) will be invited to participate in PY23 data validation. To maximize the number of files validated, LWDAs already using WF1 EDS (Electronic Document Storage) to maintain participant source documentation will be selected.

Which participant files will be validated?

• WIOA Adult
• WIOA Dislocated Worker
• WIOA Youth
• Wagner-Peyser
• TAA
• National Dislocated Worker (DWG)

Approximately, how many participant files will be validated?

250 files total (about 50-60 files per participating local partner)

What is the timeframe of PY23 data validation?

April 1- June 30, 2024

Who will conduct the data validation?

Data Validators are Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) staff who are independent of the data collection process. CareerForce and local area staff will not validate their own data.

What will be the responsibilities of each LWDA? 

Each participating local area will work with DEED validators to ensure participant source documentation is uploaded into WF1 EDS for data validation and will work as needed with DEED to correct identified data errors by June 30, 2024. 

If you have questions about Monitoring content, please email shannon.rolf@state.mn.us.

Contact the CareerForce Information and Assistance line at 651-259-7500 or careerforce@state.mn.us if you have questions.

At 2.9% in December, Minnesota's official unemployment rate is a useful indicator of the health of the state’s economy, but it does not tell the whole story. We can get a more complete picture of Minnesota's labor market by looking at alternative measures of unemployment, and by providing the rates by age, gender, and race. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has developed alternative definitions of unemployment and underemployment published as 12-month moving averages, using data from the Current Population Survey. In addition to the official rate, DEED also publishes three other unemployment rates that provide more detail on discouraged workers, marginally attached workers, and people who are employed part-time but want full-time work. In December 2023, the unemployment rate including discouraged workers was 3.0%, representing about 4,500 discouraged workers – those who have looked for work in the past year but stopped looking in the past month because they think they cannot find a job. The unemployment rate including marginally attached workers - people who looked for work sometime in the past twelve months but, for reasons other than discouragement, did not look in the past four weeks, dropped slightly to 3.7% in December. And finally, with just over 49,000 involuntary part-time workers, leading to a total unemployment rate of 5.3%. The median duration of unemployment rested at 7.3 weeks in December, as the number of long-term unemployed (lasting more than 27 weeks) dropped to just 7,700 people.

Labor force participation rates were mostly up and unemployment rates were mostly down across difference races over the course of 2023. Well known for our hard work ethic, Minnesota often has among the highest labor force participation rates in the U.S. By race, Minnesota’s Black labor force participation rate rose to 75.2% in December 2023, ahead of the Hispanic rate at 73.4% and the Asian rate of 73.0%. Due to an aging population, Whites had the lowest participation rate at 67.5%. Likewise, Minnesota is also well known for having a tight labor market and a low unemployment rate, often ranking in the bottom 10 U.S. states on a monthly basis. Asians had the lowest rate at 1.9%, followed by Blacks at 2.7% and Whites at 2.8%, with Hispanics reporting the highest rate at 5.7%. Unemployment rates were similar across genders, at 2.8% for females and 3.0% for males.

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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