I.Purpose
To provide local elected officials and workforce development agencies information about a DOL Waiver from Section 122 ( c ) (5) of WIA and Section 663.530 of the Regulations extending the length of time of initial eligibility of training providers.
II.Effective Date
Immediately
III.Guidance Statement
Both the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the House Bill (H.B.) 470 require the State, Local Workforce Investment Boards and Local Workforce Policy Boards to establish a performance-based certification system for training providers. The certification procedure will result in a State list of training providers who are eligible to give training services to customers.
The Federal Law requires, after a set period of time of initial eligibility, training providers must be determined subsequently eligible. Ohio's current policy for the time period of initial eligibility (WIA Policy Letter 8A-2000) is eighteen months.
The U. S. Department of Labor issued a waiver of the determination of the subsequent eligibility requirement to the State of Ohio extending the date until January 1, 2004. The State will not be requesting the Local Workforce Investment/Policy Boards to determine subsequent eligibility for training providers until further notice. Since the State is not determining subsequent eligibility, we will not be removing providers from the Eligible Training Provider List for Individual Training Accounts(ITAs) for this reason.
However, all eligible training providers will be required to collect, track, and report the program and cost information. Waiver approval does not mean that every program/provider is guaranteed retention for the waiver period. Local Workforce Investment/Policy Boards may want to review the performance of a provider to determine retention and may exclude them from the Eligible Training Provider List. This verifiable program information may include the federally required performance information or other appropriate types of performance information as established by the Local Board. If the Local Board requests additional information that imposes extraordinary costs, the Local Board shall provide access to cost effective methods of collection or provide additional resources. The intent of the waiver is to extend the time in order to allow both the Local Board and the State to develop reporting systems. This will allow the Local Board to make their subsequent eligibility decisions in the future.
When a training program fails to meet established local program and cost requirements, a local board may choose to remove that program from the state Eligible Training Provider List for Individual Training Accounts (ITAs). A local board can only remove a training program that they have previously approved and recommended to the State. To request removal of a training program, please send a letter signed by the board chair with the name and address of the training institution and the name of the program that you wish to be removed. This letter should be directed to the following address:
Mr. John B. Weber
ODJFS/Bureau of Workforce Services
145 South Front Street - 4th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-4156
As soon as we receive your request, a notice will be sent to all local areas to advise that the program will be removed 90 days from the date of the notice. Eligible Training Providers have the right to appeal the removal by using the Appeal Process provided on the Internet at *http://www.ohioworkforce.org/wiai/ita_appeal_process2.html
When a program is no longer eligible and has been removed from the state provider list, participants enrolled in that program prior to the date of removal can complete the training. This applies to participants, if WIA ITA has covered the cost of the training.
Once training providers are removed from the state provider list, they will be required to wait for a period of 12 months before they can be considered for re-certification. This would provide the local board with a representative sampling of data from which to make a decision for the provider's re-certification.
IV.Technical Assistance
On March 12, 2002, the State of Ohio applied to the U. S. Department of Labor for a waiver of federal deadlines to re-certify training providers. This waiver request was recently approved. The result of the waiver is that Initial Eligibility for eligible training providers is extended until January 1, 2004. However, if the new re-certification process is completed before the deadline, Ohio may terminate the waiver before January 1, 2004.
This provision should provide more opportunities for eligible programs to work with WIA customers. Many programs have not been able to enroll enough WIA participants to ensure a statistically valid assessment of performance on the measures that apply to those students. The waiver addresses this concern as well as allowing the State ample time to develop a user-friendly automated system for performance reporting.
Please contact the Bureau of Workforce Services (614) 644-7078 or E-Mail WIAQNA@odjfs.state.oh.us with any questions.
V.Reference
Workforce Investment Act Section 122 ( c ) (5)
Section 663.530 of the Regulations
Rescissions: None
Distribution: WIA Guidance Letter
Expiration: Continuing
*NOTE: The hardcopy erroneously list the URL as: http://www.ohioworkforce.org/wiai_appeal_process2.html, however the electronic version has been revised to reflect the correct URL.