WIOAPL 21-02 (Implementation of Workforce Development Services Under the Fresh Start Grant)
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter No. 21-02
May 25, 2022
TO: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Local Workforce Development Boards Directors, Fiscal Agents, and OhioMeansJobs Center Operators
FROM: Matt Damschroder, Director
SUBJECT: Implementation of Workforce Development Services Under the Fresh Start Grant

ATTACHMENTS:

AttachmentA:Glossary of Fresh Start grant terms

AttachmentB:Community I – IX Descriptions

AttachmentC:Fresh Start Communities Targeted map

AttachmentD:Allowable Source Documentation

I.Purpose

To define participant eligibility, allowable services, and other policy parameters to enable participating local workforce development areas (local areas) to implement and deliver opioid emergency grant services.

II.Effective Date

Immediately

III.Background

Opioid use disorder and overdose deaths continue to be pressing public health issues and workforce challenges facing Ohio. Opioid-related overdoses have increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Widespread labor shortages have put an additional strain on the workforce, and the demand for training and career services to address substance use concerns is critical at this time.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has awarded the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) with a two-year National Health Emergency Disaster Recovery Dislocated Worker Grant conditionally approved for up to $8,500,000, and funds will be issued statewide to Ohio’s local areas to continue providing training, career services, supportive services and temporary disaster relief jobs to ameliorate the opioid epidemic. These grant services are intended to address the opioid crisis and better support Ohio’s employers as well as individuals who are in recovery.

Services in each county will be tailored to the local needs of their community. Dislocated workers and long-term unemployed individuals are expected to be served. ODJFS proposes to use the funding to continue to: 

  • Test innovative approaches to combating the opioid problem – for example, by supporting employers to develop recovery-friendly policies, practices, and encouraging new hiring of individuals who are in their recovery journey.
  • Provide job training, career services, and supportive services to dislocated workers and long-term unemployed individuals, including those impacted directly or indirectly by the opioid crisis. Supportive services may include referrals to healthcare services, outpatient mental healthcare services and addiction treatment, help purchasing work clothes, or transportation assistance.
  • Provide temporary disaster-relief employment to help alleviate issues caused by the opioid crisis in impacted agencies, such as hospitals, recovery homes, child protection agencies, courts, educational settings, and related agencies.
  • Build the addiction and substance use disorder treatment, mental health, and pain management workforce.
  • Facilitate peer learning and sharing of best practices through cross-discipline learning collaboratives across partner agencies.

IV.State Requirements

As the state workforce agency and grantee, ODJFS shall: 

  • Submit grant applications, modifications, quarterly reports, and other communications to DOL on behalf of the local areas;
  • Assign a project manager to serve as the point of contact and coordinator of grant-related resources and information;
  • Review and approve implementation plans and budgets submitted by the local areas that will include proposed participant enrollment goals and spending;
  • Manage grant funds, including the determination of sub-award amounts;
  • Manage incremental funding to local areas and potential revisions to such awards, to address underspending, ensure maximum investment of the available resources, and take action designed to ensure ODJFS qualifies for the second and third funding increment from DOL;
  • Assess the local area’s quarterly expenditures and actual participant enrollment. ODJFS reserves the right to withhold subsequent allocations or to de-obligate funds from a local workforce area that is not meeting the quarterly performance, reporting, and/or expenditure goals stated in an approved implementation plan and budget.
  • Equally, ODJFS reserves the right to allocate additional funding, as available, to a local area that is exceeding its goals and requires additional funds.
  • Form and/or enhance partnerships with other state agencies and initiatives, to implement a comprehensive statewide response to the opioid crisis, such as collaboration with RecoveryOhio to leverage work with other state departments, boards, and commissions, and partnering with the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) to educate employers about substance use and recovery and to encourage establishment of recovery-friendly policies and practices; and
  • Provide technical assistance to local areas and other stakeholders on the terms and conditions of the Fresh Start grant.

V.Local Workforce Development Area Requirements

The Fresh Start grant is a National Disaster Recovery Dislocated Worker grant issued to local areas under the authority of the WIOA subgrant agreement between ODJFS and each local area. Therefore, local areas must implement the grant-funded services and activities in accordance with the terms and conditions of the WIOA subgrant agreement, along with the requirements found in this policy letter.

A.Local Area Planning

Local areas must submit a budget and implementation plan describing the partnerships, service design, planned number of participants, and other details for implementing the Fresh Start grant. Local area plans and budgets must be submitted by May 25, 2022. Local areas that have not submitted a plan and budget and received the Office of Workforce Development approval, will not be eligible to receive the second increment of funding when DOL releases the state's second increment.

As changes to the local implementation plan and/or budget occur, such as the provision of new services not identified in the plan, significant changes in the number of planned participants or changes in costs categories the local area must submit to the designated ODJFS project manager a revised implementation plan and/or budget explaining the changes as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days after each change.

B.Eligible Participants

Local areas shall ensure that individuals served under the Fresh Start grant have met all eligibility criteria, including those in 20 C.F.R. § 687.170(b)(1) and WIOAPL 15-02.1 Adult and Dislocated Worker Eligibility.

Individuals eligible to receive Fresh Start grant services must be one of the following:

1.A dislocated worker;

2.An individual temporarily or permanently laid off as a consequence of the opioid emergency;

3.A long-term unemployed individual; or

4.A self-employed individual who became unemployed or significantly underemployed as a result of the opioid crisis.

The eligible individuals are not required to have a history of opioid use disorder to qualify for Fresh Start grant services and cannot be required to disclose whether they have been impacted

by the opioid crisis as a condition of participation. However, to target services to individuals impacted by opioid use disorder and to make appropriate referrals, the only permissible question that local areas may ask applicants or participants regarding opioid use disorder is:

Your answer to this question is voluntary. Do you, a friend, or any member of your family have a history of opioid use? Please answer "Yes," or "No."

Local areas must treat applicant and participant responses to the above question as confidential information, along with any other medical information obtained from applicants or participants or shared by partners, mental health providers, addiction recovery centers, or other organizations pertaining to the individual's health, disability, or medical conditions. If the above question is presented on a form, it must be separate from the WIOA intake or assessment forms. In accordance with 29 C.F.R. § 38.41(b)(3), the confidential information must be: 

  • Used only for determining appropriateness for services;
  • Maintained in a separate file apart from the WIOA case file;
  • Locked up or otherwise secured (such as through password protection if maintained in an electronic system); and
  • Restricted from access by unauthorized individuals.

C.Opioid Disaster Grant Communities

Extensive research has shown that the opioid crisis in Ohio is so pervasive in multiple impact categories that disaster recovery requires a comprehensive approach.

Data for each county in the state was reviewed for four key categories of impact:

A.Overdose mortality rates,

B.Costs per capita of opioid abuse (costs for health care and treatment, criminal justice, lost productivity among current opioid users, and lost productivity due to overdose deaths),

C.Limited or no access to medication-assisted treatment, and

D.The percentage of children entering County Children Services custody due to parental opioid use.

Ohio then organized the counties into nine Fresh Start grant communities according to the combination of common impacts they are experiencing. Attachment B to this policy lists these communities, and for each one, the counties it comprises and the occupations for which training and job placement can be supported by the grant.

Local areas shall ensure that each county provides allowable activities in the assigned community.

After determining the impacts experienced by each community, Ohio further identified its humanitarian and clean-up needs, as well as the healthcare, treatment, and training needs specific to the community.

D. Allowable Services and Activities

In planning and implementing services under the Fresh Start grant, local areas should consider that the grant is meant to alleviate the devastating effects of the opioid crisis through: 

  • Disaster-relief employment aimed at alleviating the issues caused by the opioid crisis in affected communities;
  • Career, training, and supportive services for eligible participants aimed at increasing the number of qualified professionals in fields that can have an impact on the opioid crisis;
  • Providing a full array of workforce services to eligible participants who disclose that they have been impacted by the opioid crisis, in an effort to reintegrate them into the workforce; and
  • Increasing engagement with employers and supporting modification of their hiring practices and drug-free workplace policies, to ensure job opportunity growth and greater job retention.

Participants enrolled in disaster-relief employment may also receive career services, training services, and supportive services. Individual enrollment in temporary disaster relief employment must neither exceed 12 months, nor exceed 2,080 hours.

Participants who are not enrolled in disaster-relief employment may also receive career services, training services, and supportive services.

Participants may be enrolled in: 

  • Disaster-relief employment only;
  • Employment and training activities only; or
  • Both disaster-relief employment and employment and training activities. These may occur concurrently, or one may occur prior to the other.

Career Services

Local areas will provide basic and individualized career services such as job search assistance, initial and specialized assessments of skill levels, career planning, and prevocational services, as outlined in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter (WIOAPL) No. 15-08.1, Career Services for Adults and Dislocated Workers. Additional services for individuals may include job coaching and peer support, to address barriers to employment such as criminal history, drug relapses, probation and treatment requirements, and gaps in employment.

Training

Training services provided under this grant must prepare eligible individuals for employment in high-growth sectors within the local economy.

Individuals who disclose that they, a family member, or friend have been impacted by the opioid crisis may be trained in any in-demand occupation. The link below provides access to in-demand occupation data: https://topjobs.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/indemand/top-jobs-list

Individuals who state that they are not impacted by the opioid crisis or do not respond, may only be approved for training in addiction treatment services, mental health treatment, pain management services and practices, and professions that are approved by DOL specific to each community that will mitigate the underlying circumstances of the opioid crisis.

The limitations on training apply to all training services funded by this grant, which include On-the-Job Training and Occupational Skill Training.

Long-term training may be supplemented with WIOA formula funds if the training extends beyond the grant period.

Temporary Disaster-Relief Employment

Ohio analyzed data related to the opioid crisis for each county using four types of impacts, as labeled A, B, C, and D in section C. above. Counties were grouped into nine communities, based on shared impacts and needs. A map of these communities can be found in Attachment C of this policy.

Disaster-relief employment must quickly address immediate, specific needs of the community. DOL approved specific types of disaster-relief jobs based on each community's needs. Disaster-relief employment funded by the Fresh Start grant is allowable only for jobs that alleviate the unique impacts of the opioid crisis, as well as jobs that provide impacted individuals with humanitarian assistance that includes actions to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. Humanitarian assistance jobs must directly relate to the effects of widespread opioid abuse.

A table that details the types of disaster-relief jobs that are allowable based on community assignment grouping can be found in Attachment B to this policy.

Local Areas will use assessments (including those conducted by partners) to determine each individual's needs, interests, skills, work experience, and readiness for work, as they relate to the requirements for the types of disaster-relief employment available, to determine whether an individual will be placed in such jobs and if employment and training activities are needed prior to or during disaster-relief employment.

Temporary disaster-relief employment jobs must neither exceed 12 months, nor exceed 2,080 hours, per WIOA and Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) 12-19.  Disaster-relief employment provides income maintenance to participants and services to the community. while moving participants into permanent, unsubsidized jobs.

Supportive Services

Grant-funded supportive services such as transportation, childcare, and housing assistance, and referrals to mental health, addiction, and trauma specialists may be provided to grant participants in need of such services. Individuals with substance use disorder may be offered additional partner services such as addiction and other outpatient treatment, support during training and employment, and referrals to health and mental health care.

Assessments completed by mental health service providers and other partners should be used to customize supportive services to each participant's needs. Local areas should review their policies to ensure that they authorize the types of supportive services needed by the population targeted for services under this grant.

Local areas must not spend more than 20% of their Fresh Start grant funding on supportive services for participants. Grantees may submit a modification request to spend more than 20% of their award on supportive services, if the request demonstrates the criteria outlined in TEGL 4-18.

Other Allowable Services and Activities

Participants may receive Fresh Start grant services before, during, or after receiving treatment for substance use disorder.

The services and activities may be delivered under the local area's existing policies applicable to dislocated workers, or the local workforce development board (local WDB) may opt to implement new or revised policies specific to the Fresh Start grant.

Examples of such policy revisions may include: 

  • Extending the length of training, or increasing the maximum training funds available, to participants who plan to enter occupations that impact the opioid crisis;
  • Permitting funding for transitional jobs to help participants with employment barriers, to establish a work history, develop workplace skills, and enter or re-enter the workforce; or
  • Expanding the supportive services definition and benefit limits, to allow for outpatient mental health and addiction treatment and related barrier removal, if such services are not covered by Medicaid, private health insurance, or other sources.

In addition to the allowable services for eligible participants, local areas may use Fresh Start grant funds for activities meant to impact the crisis on a wider scale, including, but not limited to: 

  • Piloting innovative approaches to combating the opioid problem - for example, by supporting employers that develop recovery-friendly policies and practices or hire individuals in recovery;
  • Using peer recovery specialists in the community to support individuals in recovery during treatment, training, and employment;
  • Building the addiction and substance misuse treatment, mental health, and pain management workforce through education and training, such as by enabling participant enrollment in the new addiction services apprenticeship being established at Ohio's two-year colleges;
  • Funding full- or part-time program positions to provide on-site basic and/or individualized career services to eligible individuals who, because of opioid use, are involved with children services agencies, jails, courts, or recovery housing; and
  • Facilitating peer learning and sharing of best practices through cross-discipline learning collaboratives across partner agencies.

Up to ten percent of the funds awarded to the local area may be used for administrative costs as defined in 20 C.F.R. § 683.215 that are associated with operating the grant.

E.Unallowable Services and Activities

Fresh Start Grant funds may not be used to pay for: 

  • Testing of participants for the use of controlled substances;
  • In-patient treatment for substance use disorder; or
  • Incentive payments to participants.

F.Community Partnerships

To address the wide-ranging impacts of the opioid crisis on the labor market, local areas must implement an integrated, comprehensive service delivery model by establishing partnerships with other organizations in the community that have expertise in treatment and recovery or that serve individuals who require assistance with employment and training to enter or re-enter the workforce.

Examples of such partnerships include, but are not limited to: 

  • Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health (ADAMH) boards which coordinate treatment for individuals with substance use disorder.
  • Public children services agencies and their related programs aimed at improving the lives of families and children who are impacted by opioid use disorder.
  • Rehabilitation facilities and other providers of evidence-based drug and alcohol addiction treatment.
  • Training providers including community colleges that can offer education, credentialing, and licensure in career fields that treat substance use disorder or provide related interventions.
  • Courts and the criminal justice system (e.g., county jails, state prisons, probation departments) that can assist restored citizens with employment solutions to aid their transition back into society.
  • Local libraries that can provide outreach and referral of potentially-eligible individuals.
  • BWC staff participating in the Safety Grant pilot program, which educates employers on managing employees in recovery and adopting recovery-friendly human resource policies.
  • Public children services agencies that can coordinate referrals to their services for participants in need of such services and can serve as employers of record for temporary disaster-relief employment.
  • Providers of recovery housing that can coordinate referrals to their services for participants in need of such services and can serve as employers of record for temporary disaster-relief employment.

G.Subrecipients and Contractors

Local areas may enter into subrecipient agreements or contracts with public entities, not-for-profit organizations, and private-for-profit entities, including organizations that assist individuals in recovery from substance use disorder. The determination of subrecipient or contractor status must be based on the considerations in 2 C.F.R. § 200.331.

Competitive procurement of a provider that meets the definition of a subrecipient is not required but is recommended, when feasible, to increase the likelihood of obtaining the highest quality of services at the lowest cost.

Contractors must be competitively selected in accordance with federal, state, and local procurement rules. For-profit contractors and subrecipients may keep the profits earned from performance of grant activities. The amount of profit must be negotiated as a separate element of the overall price of the services with consideration given to the complexity, risk, past performance, and industry profit rates in the surrounding geographical area for similar work. Profits that are excessive or that are not justified using the aforementioned criteria will be disallowed and cannot be paid from grant funds.

VI.Reporting Requirements

Local areas must report Fresh Start grant participant data in the state's designated case management reporting system, under the special grant office created for the grant. Each participant enrollment, service, and activity must be reported in that manner, within 30 days of occurrence.

The outcomes of participants in the Fresh Start grant will not affect the local area's WIOA performance measures, unless the local area opts to co-enroll participants in local WIOA formula-funded programs.

Local areas must request cash draws and report expenditures and other financial information using the State's designated financial reporting system, including the client tracking detail for participant-level direct service costs.

In addition, local areas must submit quarterly narrative reports on a template provided by the designated ODJFS project manager. Reports must be mailed to OpioidRelief@jfs.ohio.gov no later than the last day of the month that follows after the end of each calendar quarter.

VII.Monitoring

Local areas that issue subawards must assess the risk of non-compliance of each subrecipient and develop monitoring policies outlining the procedures, frequency, and methods for assuring that grant-funded services carried out by the subrecipient are compliant, and for resolving any findings of non-compliance.

Through the state's monitoring system, ODJFS program and fiscal monitors will review the local area's implementation of Fresh Start grants, including participant file review and verification of actual expenditures, during the onsite monitoring review of the local area for compliance with all applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and guidance letters including this guidance letter. Any findings will be addressed through the state's monitoring resolution process.

VIII.Technical Assistance

For additional information or to request technical assistance, contact the project manager designated by the ODJFS Office of Workforce Development to oversee implementation of the Fresh Start grant. To receive the project manager's contact information, email opioidrelief@jfs.ohio.gov.

IX.References

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act §§ 134 and 170, Pub. L. 113-128.

USDOL, Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 4-18, National Health Emergency Phase Two: Disaster Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grants to Address the Opioid Crisis (September 14, 2018).

USDOL, Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 12-19, Change 1, National Dislocated Worker Grant Program Guidance (November 02, 2020).

2 C.F.R. § 200.331.

20 C.F.R. §§ 683.215 and 687.170.

29 C.F.R. § 38.41.

ODJFS, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter No. 15-02.1, Adult and Dislocated Worker Eligibility, (October 1, 2020).

ODJFS, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter No. 15-08.1, Career Services for Adults and Dislocated Workers, (June 6, 2017).

ODJFS, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter No.15-11.2, Use of Individual Training Accounts, (August 11, 2020).

Strategies for Helping Individuals Impacted by Opioid Use Disorder, A Toolkit for Ohio's Public Workforce System.