Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents.......................................................................................................................... ii

TAB 1: AGENCY ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW .......................................................................... 1

Mission........................................................................................................................................ 1

Authorizing Legislation .............................................................................................................. 1

Organizational Structure ............................................................................................................. 2

Organizational Changes During the Past Eight Years................................................................ 5

Key Leaders................................................................................................................................ 6

TAB 2: INITIATIVES ....................................................................................................................... 7

Policy and Regulatory Issues...................................................................................................... 7

Agency External Stakeholders.................................................................................................. 18

Regional Offices Policy Issues and Priorities........................................................................... 18

TAB 3: 30/60/90 DAYS – STATE OF PLAY.................................................................................... 25

Major Grants and Contracts...................................................................................................... 30

Significant Government Accountability Office (GAO) Studies............................................... 32

Significant Office of Inspector General (OIG) Audits/Investigations...................................... 35

Management.............................................................................................................................. 37

Calendar.................................................................................................................................... 40

TAB 4: BUDGET ........................................................................................................................... 41

TAB 5: AGENCY PERFORMANCE................................................................................................. 59


TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

3 

Organizational Chart 

Assistant Secretary

Portia Wu

(PAS)

Chief of Staff

Sean Cartwright

Non-Career

Senior Policy Advisor

Tiffany Smith 

 Non-Career

Policy Advisor

Brent Parton

Non-Career

Policy Advisor

Ana Hageage

Non-Career

Deputy Assistant Secretary

Byron Zuidema

(Career SES)

Deputy Assistant Secretary

Gerri Fiala

(Career SES)

Deputy Assistant Secretary

Eric Seleznow

(Non-Career SES)

Office of Trade Adjustment 

Assistance

Norris Tyler

(Career SES)

Office of Policy, 

Development & Research

Adele Gagliardi

(Career SES)

Heidi Casta, Deputy

Office of Financial 

Administration 

(Comptroller)

Vacant

(Career SES)

Nyesha Newton, Deputy

Office of Workforce 

Investment

Amanda Ahlstrand

(Career SES)

Kimberly Vitelli, Deputy

Division of Youth Services

Jennifer Troke

Division of Indian & Native 

American Programs

Athena Brown

Division of WIA Adult 

Services and Workforce 

System

Robert Kight

Division of National 

Programs, Tools & Tech 

Assistance

Steven Rietzke

Division of Strategic 

Investments

Robin Fernkas

Office of Foreign Labor 

Certification

Vacant

(Career SES)

Al Herrera, Deputy

Division of Operations

Wi liam Rabung

Division of Policy & 

Integrity

Laura Dawkins

Division of Management

Maryan Cummins

Division of Programs

Brian Pasternak

Atlanta National 

Processing Center

Brandt Carter

Office of Management & 

Administrative Services

William Thompson

(Career SES)

Lisa Lahrman, Deputy

Office of Administrative 

Services

Yvonne Sims

Office of Special Programs 

& Emergency 

Preparedness

Walt Weatherington

Office of Human Resources

Crystal Kelly

Office of Regional 

Management

Carrie Snidar

Office of Unemployment 

Insurance

Gay G lbert

(Career SES)

Jim Garner, Deputy

Division of Legislation

Suzanne Simonetta

Division of Fiscal & 

Actuarial Services

Ronald Willus

Division of Unemployment 

Insurance Operations

Betty Castillo

Office of Contracts 

Management

Sandra Foster

(Career SES)

James Kinslow, Deputy

Division of Contact 

Services, Policy & 

Administration

Jeff Saylor

Division of Job Corps 

Procurement

Jillian Matz

Office of Apprenticeship

John Ladd

(Career SES)

Deputy for Operations & 

Regional Management

Jose Velazquez, 

 Deputy for Policy and 

National Office 

Management 

Deniel Villao

Division of Investment, 

Operations & Performance

Michael Qualter

Division of Promotion and 

Strategic Partnerships

Laura Ginsburg

Regional Offices

Boston – J ll Houser

Philadelphia – Thomas 

Bydlon

Atlanta – Garfield Garner, Jr

Chicago – Dean Guido

Dallas – Steven Opitz

San Francisco – Patricia 

Garcia

Office of Job Corps

Lenita Jacobs Simmons

(Career SES)

Robert Pitulej, Deputy

(Career SES)

Division of Education 

Services

Marcus Gray

Division of Facilities & 

Asset Management

Marsha Fitzhugh

Division of Technology 

Performance & Support

Edward Benton

Regional Offices

Boston – Aneta Hrebenko

Philadelphia – Francis Cole

Atlanta – Willie Taylor

Chicago – Thony Martino

Dallas – Vacant

San Francisco – Brian Daher

Division of Policy, 

Legislation & Regulation

Vacant

Division of Strategic 

Planning and Performance

Karen Staha

Division of Research and 

Evaluations

Wayne Gordon

Boston - Region 1 

Holly O’Brien 

(Career SES)

Philadelphia - Region 2

Leo Miller 

(Career SES)

Atlanta - Region 3 

Les Range 

(Career SES)

San Francisco - Region 6 

Virginia Ham lton 

(Career SES)

Dallas - Region 4 

Nickolas W. Lalpuis

 (Career SES)

Chicago - Region 5 

Christine Quinn 

(Career SES)

Associate Comptroller for 

Accounting and Reporting

Edward Kim

Associate Comptroller for 

Budget

Vacant

Chicago National 

Processing Center

 Shane Barbour

National Prevailing Wage 

Center

 Renata Adjibodou

Office of Grants 

Management

Laura Watson

(Career SES)

Latifa Jeter, Deputy

Office of Information 

Systems and 

Technology

Aung Htein (Career SES)

Param Soni, Deputy

Division of Regional 

Operations and Program 

Integrity

Rekha Bartlett

Division of Policy, 

Communication & Planning

Erin Fitzgerald

Division of Program 

Quality, Standards and 

Policy

Zachary Boren

Division of IT Specialist 

Governance

 Phil ip Dixon

Division of Business 

Operations

Renee Evans

Division of Enterprise 

Solution Services

Vacant

Division of OFLC IT 

Services

Cyrus McCormick

Division of Workforce 

System Federal Assistance

Subri Raman

Division of Discretionary 

Federal Assistance

Eric Leutkenhaus

Division of National & 

Departmental Federal 

Assistance

 Donna Kelly 

Division of Policy Review 

& Resolution

Vacant

Internal Control, Risk 

Management& System 

Division

Jerome Cooper

Job Corps Division

Herman Narcho

Division of Performance 

Management 

Vacant

Western Division of Job 

Corps Procurement

Marisol Krist
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

4

Workforce At-A-Glance
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

5

Organizational Changes During the Past Eight Years

During the past eight years, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training 

(OASET) transitioned to three Deputy Assistant Secretaries (two career and one political), up 

from two. The Chief Learning Officer position within OASET was eliminated. The Office of 

Regional Innovation and Transformation was reconfigured; Regional Administrators report 

directly to OASET. 

The Office of Job Corps (OJC) was reassigned from the Office of the Secretary to ETA. 

The Office of Financial Administration and Management was reconfigured: a separate Office of 

Financial Administration (OFA) was established to oversee ETA’s financial functions; the Office 

of Contracts Management (OCM) was established to oversee contracting functions, including a 

separate Division dedicated to Job Corps’ contracts; and the Office of Management and 

Administrative Services (OMAS) was established and oversees the Office of Human Resources, 

administrative, Equal Employment Opportunity, grants management, regional management, 

information technology, and emergency preparedness functions. 

There are two new SES-led Office positions established within OMAS: One is for the Office of 

Grants Management, which awards over $8 billion in grants annually as well as provides grant 

services for other Department Agencies. The other is for the Office of Information Systems and 

Technology, to lead agency-level FITARA requirements for an IT budget of over $86 million 

and the largest IT footprint among all DOL agencies.

The Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance was established and the head of that office was 

established as a new SES position subsequent to the reauthorization and expansion of TAA. 

The Office of National Response was disbanded; the Worker Dislocation and Special Response 

functions were reassigned to the Office of Workforce Investment (OWI), the grants functions 

were incorporated into the Office of Management and Administrative Services (OMAS), and the 

responding to inquiries regarding Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) 

were assigned to the Office of Policy Development and Research (OPDR). 

The Office of Performance and Technology was disbanded; its information technology functions 

transitioned to OMAS and its performance and strategic planning functions transitioned to 

OPDR. 

The functions of the Business Relations Group were incorporated into the Office of Workforce 

Investment and a Division of Strategic Investments was established. 

During the last 6 fiscal years, ETA has added seven additional career SES positions, bringing 

them to a total of 21 SES slots: Administrator, OCM; Comptroller, OFA; Deputy Administrator, 

OJC; Deputy Assistant Secretary; Administrator, OTAA; Administrator, OGM; and 

Administrator, OIST. In addition, ETA eliminated one SES position in that same timeframe: 

Administrator, ONR.
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

6

Key Leaders

Office of the Assistant Secretary for 

Employment and Training

Assistant Secretary for Employment and 

Training

• Portia Wu (Political Appointee)

Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Employment and Training

• Gerri Fiala

• Eric Seleznow (Political Appointee)

• Byron Zuidema

Chief of Staff

• Sean Cartwright (Political 

Appointee)

Office Administrators and Deputy 

Administrators

Office of Policy Development and 

Research (OPDR)

• Adele Gagliardi, Administrator

• Heidi M. Casta, Deputy 

Administrator

Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance 

(OTAA)

• Norris Tyler, Administrator

Office of Financial Administration (OFA)

• Kevin Brown, Acting Administrator

• Nyesha Newton, Deputy 

Administrator

Office of Workforce Investment (OWI)

• Amanda Ahlstrand, Administrator

• Kim Vitelli, Deputy Administrator

Office of Foreign Labor Certification 

(OFLC)

• Bill Thompson, Acting 

Administrator

• Al Herrera, Deputy Administrator

Office of Management and 

Administrative Services (OMAS)

• Lisa Lahrman, Acting Administrator

• Lisa Lahrman, Deputy Administrator

Office of Unemployment Insurance (OUI)

• Gay Gilbert, Administrator

• Jim Garner, Deputy Administrator

Office of Contracts Management (OCM)

• Sandra Foster, Administrator

• James Kinslow, Deputy 

Administrator

Office of Apprenticeship (OA)

• John Ladd, Administrator

• Daniel Villao, Deputy Administrator 

• Jose Velazquez, Deputy 

Administrator 

Office of Job Corps (OJC)

• Lenita Jacobs-Simmons, 

Administrator

• Bob Pitulej, Deputy Administrator

ETA Regions

Region 1 (Boston)

• Holly O’Brien, Administrator

Region 2 (Philadelphia)

• Leo Miller, Administrator

Region 3 (Atlanta)

• Les Range, Administrator

Region 4 (Dallas)

• Nick Lalpuis, Administrator

Region 5 (Chicago)

• Christine Quinn, Administrator

Region 6, San Francisco

• Virginia Hamilton, Administrator
TAB 2: Initiatives

7

TAB 2: INITIATIVES

Policy and Regulatory Issues 

Over the past seven years, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) helped lead the 

way out of the Great Recession into a new era of economic growth and productivity. ETA’s job 

assistance and training programs helped and continue to support hard-working Americans to find 

good jobs and careers; employers to recruit and hire skilled workers they need to compete in the 

changing global economy; and American communities build the skilled workforce they need to 

attract business investment and create jobs. It also provided and continues to provide a critical 

safety net to those who lost employment and economic stabilizer during times of increased state 

and national unemployment. 

Programs administered by ETA helped drive a significant drop in the Unemployment Rate from 

(around 10%) nationally to its current (5%) and spawned economic growth in many of our 

regions across the country. We achieved this by helping over 55 million individuals to find jobs 

from Program Years 2008 to 2015. During the same time period, over 150 million participants 

received job-related services, including roughly 11 million veterans and 1.6 million participants 

who completed training programs. Between July 2015 and June 2016, ETA served over 13.2

million participants and over 5.8 million previously unemployed people found jobs.

2 During that 

one-year period, approximately 860,000 veterans were served.

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA): July 22, 2014, marked the enactment 

of the bi-partisan Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the first legislative 

reform of the public workforce investment system in 15 years. The Department of Labor (DOL)

has worked in strong partnership with the Departments of Education (ED), Health and Human 

Services (HHS) and other key federal agencies to support and implement WIOA’s unprecedented 

alignment of employment and training programs for more comprehensive, accessible, and highquality workforce services with maximum impact. WIOA advances greater coordination and 

alignment by positioning Federal investments to support job seekers and employers, through 

unified planning; streamlining the governing bodies that establish State, regional and local 

workforce investment priorities; fostering regional collaboration to meet the needs of regional 

economies; and lining up goals and increasing performance accountability and transparency of 

information for job seekers and the public. Successful implementation of many of the 

approaches called for within WIOA, such as career pathways and sector strategies, require robust 

partnerships across programs and with business, economic development, education and training 

institutions, including community colleges and career and technical education, local entities and 

supportive services agencies. The Department, along with its federal partners, has published 

Final Rules in August 2016, issued key guidance and provided technical assistance to the 

workforce system, which are already beginning to drive the system toward the effective 

implementation of the new law. 

 2 This is the most recent program year that DOL has complete data to report. These figures may include some 

participants multiple times, which reflects customers who received services from different programs.
TAB 2: Initiatives

8

Aligned Performance Accountability for Multiple DOL and Department of EducationAdministered Employment and Training Programs: Under WIOA, performance 

accountability provisions were aligned for the six core programs: DOL-administered title I 

adults, dislocated workers, and youth programs and title III Wagner-Peyser Employment 

Service; and Department of Education-administered title II adult education and family literacy 

programs and title IV vocational rehabilitation programs. These core programs use the same 

data elements and definitions for each of the primary indicators of performance. 

Additionally, the enactment of WIOA in 2014 and the Trade Adjustment Assistance 

Reauthorization Act (TAARA) of 2015 provided an unprecedented opportunity to align 

indicators of performance and performance reporting across multiple DOL Federally-funded 

employment and training programs, including most DOL administered programs, which are 

administered by ETA and the Veterans’ Employment and Training Services (VETS). While 

significant components are implemented, implementation continues. This alignment will ensure 

adherence to the new provisions in WIOA and TAARA, and will be of value for program 

management, service delivery and evaluation purposes. 

Registered Apprenticeship: The President issued a bold challenge in 2014 to double and 

further diversify the number of registered apprenticeships within five years. Since that call to 

action, the number of registered apprenticeships has grown by nearly 20 percent, with over 

500,000 apprenticeships nationwide today. Taking the system from all-time lows in participation 

to these modern-day heights marks one of the greatest turnarounds in growth the apprenticeship 

system and we continue to lay a strong foundation for the future. To further apprenticeship, ETA 

takes advantage of several tools such as the ApprenticeshipUSA Leaders Campaign that brings 

together corporate, community college, labor and community leaders and elected officials to 

promote the value of apprenticeship; and the Registered Apprenticeship College Consortium that 

makes it easier for apprentices to earn college credit as a postsecondary education option. Our 

Registered Apprenticeship College Consortium also expanded to over 294 colleges and 975 

training programs to make it easier for apprentices to earn college credit. ETA secured $90 

million in the FY 2016 budget through bipartisan support to increase apprenticeships, enabling it 

to realize greater returns on its investments in the coming years as ETA grows and modernizes

American Apprenticeships. 

Reentry Employment Opportunities: The Reentry Employment Opportunities program 

(formerly RExO), which provides funding to connect young adults and adults who are formerly 

incarcerated (returning citizens) to careers and training and supports these individuals’ 

reintegration through collaboration and coordination between community-based organizations, 

foundations, state and local justice agencies, school districts, and the public workforce system. 

In November, 2015, DOL announced new actions to promote rehabilitation and reintegration for

the formerly incarcerated, and launched the fourth round of our Training to Work grant 

competition that will award about 14 grants to expand access to tech jobs and other high growth 

occupations for adults ages 18 and older returning from correctional facilities. Last spring, DOL 

awarded $12 million in grants to expand our National Guard Youth ChalleNGe programs and to 

offer court-involved youth with job training, work experience, and assistance in identifying 

short- and long-term career and education options. ETA’s reentry effort is a win-win-win: It 
TAB 2: Initiatives

9

helps people put their lives back together and reintegrate in their communities; it gives 

employers greater access to skilled workers; and it is a smart public safety strategy too.

Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT):

Under the Obama Administration the Department of Labor oversaw one of the largest 

investments in job-driven training in our nation’s community colleges, with $1.9 billion 

distributed among all fifty states as part of a four-year initiative. The Trade Adjustment 

Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program issued grants to 256 

projects to support nearly 700 of the nation’s community colleges in building their capacity to 

train workers who are eligible for training under the TAA for Workers program. Working hand 

in hand with businesses, nearly 2,000 new or enhanced programs of study have been launched as 

of June 30, 2015, supporting skill development to meet the needs of growth industry

employers. TAACCCT also requires content developed by grantees to be free and openly 

licensed for free use available through the TAACCCT SkillsCommons.org online repository.

Job Corps: Since its inception, the Job Corps program has provided job skills training for 3 

million young people who were in need of a second chance. Job Corps prepares students for the 

jobs of the 21st Century like healthcare and IT, with the help of thousands of employer hiring 

partners— from major national companies to small businesses in the local community. In the 

program year ending June 30, 2015, 79 percent of Job Corps participants successfully started 

careers or enrolled in higher education/advanced skills training in the first quarter after exit from 

the program. Ninety-five percent of Job Corps students attained industry-recognized credentials. 

ETA has also initiated a National Safety Campaign – Standup for Safety – that requires Job 

Corps centers to review their security procedures. 

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA): Under the Obama Administration, the Department of 

Labor has overseen the largest expansion of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for 

Workers program since its inception in 1974, providing more reemployment services and job 

training opportunities for more workers. TAA expansion was an important part of the economic 

response to the Great Recession. The bi-partisan enactment of the Trade Adjustment Assistance 

Reauthorization Act of 2015 (TAARA 2015) as part of the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 

2015 on June 29, 2015 extended the program for another six years, ensuring that a wide-range of 

workers who will have access to readjustment services and job training opportunities. TAA also 

provides wage supplements for eligible older workers to accept new jobs more rapidly by 

offsetting earnings losses after losing their previous jobs. 

Over 350,000 trade-affected workers participated in the TAA Program between FY 2009 and FY 

2015 of whom over 52 percent (182,896) participated in TAA-approved training, while more 

than 81,000 of those workers who completed training received a degree or industry-recognized 

credential. The rate at which participants went back to work rose from 56 percent in FY 2010 to 

74 percent in FY 2015 – the highest level of achievement on record.3

 And of the reemployed 

participants in FY 2015, 92 percent were still employed six months later, up from 86 percent in 

FY 2010.4 

 3 Common Measures (TAA) Entered Employment Rate (EER)

4 Common Measures (TAA) Employment Retention Rate (ERR)
TAB 2: Initiatives

10

Unemployment Insurance: A critical part of a resilient economy is a safety net of support for 

anyone who has lost a job and needs assistance to find new employment. Millions of 

unemployed workers and their families were able to stay afloat during the Great Recession and 

its aftermath due to unemployment benefits and fewer jobs were lost in local communities due to 

the buying power of these individuals retained that helped keep many business afloat as well. 

Over all of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit programs from FY 2009 through FY 2016, 

$625.4 billion has been paid in benefits to 67 million people, which not only allowed families to 

meet basic needs but also stabilized local economies by adding local purchasing power. UI also 

was expanded and modernized, with 37 states adopting new provisions to extend UI to better 

protect underserved populations, such as those who had to quit their jobs due to domestic 

violence, those who are only able to work part time, or those who need to pursue training to help 

them re-enter the labor market. As part of layoff aversion measures, ETA supported state 

adoption, implementation, and expansion of Short-Time Compensation (STC), or work-sharing, 

through a variety of means, including guidance to states, development of model legislative 

language to assist states in enacting or amending their laws, technical assistance to states, among 

others. Currently, 28 states have amended their STC laws or enacted new STC provisions in 

their state UI laws. ETA currently is looking to address UI issues such as solvency, integrity, 

and modernization to make sure the UI benefits program is responsive in a recession. 

Foreign Labor Certification: Employers’ demand for foreign workers has increased, and 

hiring foreign workers for employment in the US generally requires approval from several 

federal agencies. As a first step, employers apply to ETA’s Office of Foreign Labor 

Certification which has responsibility for certifying that employers may bring temporary nonimmigrant and permanent immigrant foreign workers into the United States to perform jobs 

under one of several employment visa programs. While there are similar requirements that an 

employer must complete prior to the issuance of a labor certification, each foreign labor 

certification program (e.g., PERM; H-1B Specialty (Professional) Workers Program; H-2A 

Temporary Agriculture Program; H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Program) is unique.

The PERM regulations govern the labor certification process for employers seeking to employ 

foreign workers permanently in the United States. In response to a series of stakeholder listening 

sessions and intensive internal review of the current procedures, the Department is engaged in 

rulemaking that will propose options to modernize the PERM program to be more responsive to 

changes in the national workforce, to further align the program design with the objectives of the 

U.S. immigration system and needs of workers and employers, and to enhance the integrity of 

the labor certification process. Additionally, ETA continues to streamline application processing 

to ensure even better results.

In response to recent court decisions that created uncertainty around the H-2B Temporary NonAgricultural Visa Program, in the past year ETA published new regulations jointly with the 

Department of Homeland Security to reinstate and make improvements to the program and 

establish a consistent prevailing wage methodology for employers. Additionally, in response to 

recent court decisions in the H-2A Program related to workers engaged in sheep or goat herding 

on the range, ETA published on October 16, 2015, a final rule that creates a more streamlined 

case processing framework for employers, significantly improves worker wages, and establishes 
TAB 2: Initiatives

11

standards for housing on the range that better protect the health and safety of these vulnerable 

workers. 

Measuring Success: ETA has a strong commitment to using rigorously derived evidence to 

inform policy, in coordination with the Office of the Chief Evaluation Officer. ETA has 

commenced a rigorous random assignment evaluation of the Adult and Dislocated Worker 

programs established under title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), now funded 

under WIOA. We have also invested in the Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI) to help 

states expand and enhance their information technology infrastructures to connect state 

workforce and education databases and to build the public-facing performance reports that will 

increase training provider information available to consumers. States may use these resources to 

leverage work on scorecards and data systems that has already begun via previous grants under 

this initiative. Further, it provides an opportunity to address aging state IT infrastructures that 

support state capacity for activities such as performance reporting and detecting and recovering 

improper payment. 

WIOA Implementation Priorities

• In consultation with the Department of Education, ETA has identified a number of key 

subjects (e.g., performance, infrastructure, One-Stop competition, local and regional 

planning) in the WIOA statute and regulation that will require additional guidance.

 The States and local governments require time to analyze the various 

requirements and obligations outlined in the statute and regulations – some new, some 

modified, some strengthened, some relaxed– that would impact successful implementation 

before the submission of formal waiver requests. 

 

• ETA provides ongoing training and technical assistance to the workforce system to support 

implementation of WIOA. For topics of interest across the WIOA core programs, we 

coordinate these activities with our partners in the Departments of Education and Health and 

Human Services. Activities include virtual and in-person training on the law, regulations, 

and information collection requests, as well as virtual and in-person technical assistance to 

help states meet performance, governance, and service delivery requirements and the 

adoption of best practices. Virtual activities are hosted at ion.workforcegps.org. In-person 

activities take place through ETA regional office meetings and site visits and through 

participation in events hosted by associations, states, and local areas. ETA plans to host a 

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 2: Initiatives

12

series of national convenings and training activities hosted at ION to provide TA and 

training and support peer-to-peer learning in 2017.

• ETA and ED have collaborated extensively in the development and implementation of the 

framework for the WIOA performance accountability provisions through the development 

of the final rule and the performance reporting requirements (approved through the 

Paperwork Reduction Act process). The two Departments’ collaboration also extends to 

alignment of performance and data element definitions and the administration of state plans. 

• Additionally, as required under the statute, the Departments developed a statistical 

adjustment model framework to be used in the negotiations of performance levels for each of 

the core programs under WIOA. The Departments now are developing several pieces of 

program guidance and related technical assistance in the area of performance for States and 

program grantees, and other stakeholders. DOL has also submitted a statistical model 

framework for the over 600 local areas nationwide. 

 

• DOL is also aligning additional programs beyond the WIOA core programs (Adult, 

Dislocated Worker, Youth and Wagner-Peyser) for performance accountability and 

performance reporting purposes. WIOA requires the use of the same primary indicators of 

performance by Job Corps and WIOA National Programs (the National Farmworker Jobs 

Program, the Indian and Native American Program, Youthbuild and National Dislocated 

Worker Grants). Further, Trade Adjustment Assistance, the Rentry Employment 

Opportunities grants, the H-1B Skill Training grants, the Jobs for Veterans State Grants, and 

the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Programs also will use the same primary indicators of 

performance. SCSEP, now that its reauthorization aligns performance more closely with 

WIOA, also will use three of the WIOA primary indicators of performance. 

• The first WIOA annual performance report is due October 2017; however, due to the 

definitions of the indicators of performance, which were mostly statutorily defined, states 

will have minimal outcomes to report in the first year. It should be noted that this report will 

consequently only include counts of program participants and exiters broken out by specific 

barriers to employment. It will be October 2018 at the earliest before the Departments of 

Labor and Education have outcomes from states and grantees against the WIOA primary 

indicators of performance, and still only partial outcomes will be reported. 

• DOL is working on the requirements for the Eligible Training Provider (ETP) report. Initial 

data elements were approved in the joint information collection request (ICR); 

• ETA also is administering a WIOA Implementation Study evaluation, and is collaborating 

with the Chief Evaluation Office on this study. 

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 2: Initiatives

13

Expansion and Diversification of Registered Apprenticeship 

• The FY14 budget included an ambitious proposal of $2 billion over 4 years to double the 

number of apprentices—an initiative branded ApprenticeshipUSA. Despite not receiving this 

level of resources, DOL has been developing plans and strategies in support of attaining this 

goal. To date, the number of apprentices has grown dramatically from 375,000 and now 

stands at over 500,000. This leaves 250,000 active apprentices to be added over the next 3 

years. 

• Next Steps:

o ApprenticeshipUSA Accelerator Grants: 51 states and territories, and the District of 

Columbia are currently 6 months into 2 year $200,000 grants. ETA has held an all 

grantee virtual orientation and approved grantee action planning tools.

o ApprenticeshipUSA Expansion Grants: capacity building grants were awarded to 

37 States on October 21, 2016. A technical assistance support contract has been 

awarded with a focus on quickly addressing state capacity building needs.

o ApprenticeshipUSA Industry Contracts: 10 industry contracts were awarded to 

industry intermediaries on September 21, 2016 with the goal of developing sectorbased technical assistance to more rapidly create apprenticeships in healthcare, 

advanced manufacturing, IT, transportation, construction, among other industries

o ApprenticeshipUSA Equity Contracts: 4 equity contracts were also awarded to 

national organizations on September 21, 2016 with the goal of advancing technical 

assistance to help improve diversity in apprenticeships.

• National Activities: DOL is rolling out a number of critical investments to support the 

national Registered Apprenticeship system including IT modernization, national marketing 

and communication, ApprenticeshipUSA state grantee technical assistance, research 

evaluation and reporting, and targeted subject matter expertise.

Job Corps Program Policy Priorities

•

• Safety and security concerns have been at the forefront of the Job Corps program, which has 

made numerous changes to improve safety and security on its centers – both physically and 

programmatically – and these efforts will continue. 

• In February 2015, DOL’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a report entitled Job 

Corps Needs to Improve Enforcement and Oversight of Student Disciplinary Policies to 

Better Protect Students and Staff at Centers. This report was followed by two student 

homicides on Job Corps campuses: St. Louis in April 2015 and Homestead (FL) in June 

2015. ETA is awaiting issuance of 2nd OIG Report on Student Safety. 

• Job Corps is conducting Center Safety Assessments of the facilities at 12 centers to 

determine what facility changes are needed to secure the campuses. 

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 2: Initiatives

14

• As part of the FY 2017 budget request, Job Corps is requesting $105 million for 

Construction, of which $70 million will be directed to correct critical facility deficiencies

through shovel-ready projects which can be awarded within 120 days that if not corrected 

within the next three to five years will result in further facility deterioration and escalated 

repair costs. 

• As a direct result of reduced funding, and considering the approximately 4,300 aging 

buildings that make up Job Corps Centers, Job Corps anticipates that the repair backlog and 

deferred maintenance will significantly increase. To date, the estimated cost to address the 

current repair backlog is more than $470 million. 

• ETA has also been working through a backlog of its competitive procurements for Job Corps 

Centers and Outreach and Admissions contracts. 

 Each calendar year, 

ETA competes and awards approximately 30-40 contracts for Center Operations and/or 

OA/CTS contracts. 

• Damage sustained during Hurricane Katrina led to the temporary closure of the Gulfport Job 

Corps Center in September 2005. A group of local alumni are unhappy with the 

Department’s plans to replace the existing facility with a new facility because some of the 

campus’s buildings were originally part of the 33rd Avenue High School, the only AfricanAmerican High School in Gulfport when it was built in the 1950s. While the Gulfport Job 

Corps Center has reopened in a temporary facility with limited enrollment, the Department is 

now engaged the community in the process outlined by the National Historic Preservation 

Act (NEPA), which requires Federal agencies to take into account the effects of their 

undertakings on historic properties, and to consult with stakeholders to discuss options to 

mitigate any adverse effects. 

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Reauthorization

• Now and in FY 2017, we will continue to provide technical assistance to Congress through

the Department’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs (OCIA) and 

others in an effort

 and to conduct outreach and education to policy makers, 

stakeholders and the general public about a reorientation of the program to focus on 

reemployment – services and training that readdress the impact of globalization.

• Other policy initiatives for the TAA Program currently underway and continuing in 2017 are 

the Public Education Campaign and Ongoing Technical Assistance to Support the TAA 

Program’s 2015 Reauthorization. ETA has launched the new TAA branding by 

prominently featuring new TAA informational themes on posters, blog posts, websites, a 

series of one-page fact sheets, and other promotional materials in a campaign to celebrate the 

achievements made during the first year of the program’s re-authorization. 

Unemployment Insurance (UI) Policy Priorities

• Reducing UI improper payments remains one of the Department’s top priorities and is 

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

TAB 2: Initiatives

16

at the front end of a recession. In the Great Recession, Extended Benefits did not trigger on 

in most states until the recession had been in progress for well over a year. 

• Administrative funding to support state program operations is insufficient as a result of 

failure of the current allocation methodology to build in inflationary increases or the ability 

to accommodate salary increases in states. Approximately two-thirds of states are operating 

their programs on antiquated information technology systems and there is no dedicated 

funding stream to support modernization of state systems. 

• There is a need to fund reemployment services for greater number of UI claimants for speedy 

return to work. 

Foreign Labor Certification Policy Priorities

• Congress, in the 2016 DOL Appropriations Act, overrode the regulations’ H-2B prevailing 

wage standards, including suspending the 2015 H-2B wage rule that set new limitations on 

the use of employer-provided surveys in H-2B. The provisions in the Appropriations Act 

lapse at the end of FY 2016. 

. 

• Updated guidance as a result of these Congressional changes includes separation of H-2B 

prevailing wage guidance from PERM/H-1B prevailing wage guidance and guidance 

clarifying the current H-2B prevailing wage standards and procedures. 

• FAQs providing guidance for PERM/H-1B are currently posted at 

http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/faqsanswers.cfm. FAQs providing guidance for H2B will be posted shortly. More comprehensive PERM/H1-B and H-2B guidance documents 

are under development with expected completion in Q1 FY 2017. 

• The President’s FY17 budget proposes to authorize OFLC to establish user-fee processing, 

similar to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which would align resources 

directly with the demand for services – providing for better service to employers seeking 

certifications. The Department continues to seek the inclusion of this authorization in the 

initial FY 2017 funding authority for the Department. The fees authorized would provide 

a stable, targeted, and appropriate source of funding to help ensure these applications are 

processed in a timely and effective manner.

• This proposal would authorize the Secretary of Labor to establish by regulation processing 

fees for employers submitting applications to the Department for certification of their 

applications to hire foreign workers. Additionally, the Secretary would be authorized to 

establish additional premium fees for expedited processing of applications for labor 

certifications and prevailing wage determinations. 

• The Department seeks inclusion of Section 104 of Senate Appropriations Bill 3040 in a 

full-year FY 2017 appropriations bill. This proviso would allow ETA to transfer up to $20 

million of the funds collected for H-1B visa applications from an account for 

demonstration projects to OFLC to support H-2A and H-2B case processing. The funds 

would be available in FY 2017 and FY 2018. 

• Application volumes in the non-fee-funded FLC programs were 108% higher in FY 2015 

than in FY 2010 - and all indications point to a continuing increase in FLC caseloads. The 

requested transfer would enable the Department to prepare the infrastructure and human 

capital resources necessary to meet expanding service requirements in future filing cycles, 

(b) (5)
TAB 2: Initiatives

17

and allow the Department to start work to address concerns that Congress has been 

expressing in correspondence, budget hearings, and QFRs for years.

•

Youth Summer Employment Initiative

• DOL has historically provided funding or attention to summer employment programs as a 

means of preparing the future workforce. 

• In the summer of 2015 and 2016, the Department has invested in two major summer 

jobs/demonstration programs and has spent a considerable amount of time providing 

technical assistance to cities with developing summer youth employment programs. 

• In 2015, we awarded $22 million in demonstration grants to seven youth demonstration 

grants in Baltimore, MD; Camden, NJ; Detroit, MI; Houston, TX; Long Beach, CA; North 

Charleston, SC; and St. Louis, MO. In May 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded 

approximately $20,000,000 in grant funds to eleven Career Pathways for Youth (CPY) 

grants. The CPY program is designed to link existing summer employment programs, 

including the WIOA youth formula program and non-WIOA-funded local summer 

employment programs run by cities/counties, with re-engagement centers, employers, and 

other community partners to streamline service delivery, align resources, and assist youth in 

preparing for successful entry into the workforce. 

H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant Funding Priorities for FY2017

• The Secretary of Labor has discretion to make decisions regarding the types of competitive 

grant awards that will be made with H1-B funds. H1-B funds allocated to DOL are used to 

provide job training and related activities for workers to help them obtain or upgrade 

employment in occupations and industries that employ foreign workers with H-1B visas. 

•

 

• Five percent of the H-1B fees collected are allocated to the Department’s Office of Foreign 

Labor Certification to offset application processing costs. Of the remaining amounts, the 

American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-277, Title 

IV), as amended by P.L. 108-447 (codified at 20 U.S.C. 2916a) provides that 56.3 percent of 

the fees collected from employers when they file H-1B applications be made available to 

DOL without appropriations by Congress. (The remaining funds go to the National Science 

Foundation for longer-term science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) 

training.) 

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 2: Initiatives

18

• In June, the Department awarded $150 million to 39 grantees for the TechHire Partnership

grants and $54 million to 14 grantees for the Strengthening Working Families Initiative. The 

remaining H-1B funds available have been allocated to regional workforce partnerships 

through the America's Promise Job-Driven grant 

program: https://www.doleta.gov/grants/pdf/FOA-ETA-16-12.pdf. 

Agency External Stakeholders

Federal Government

Office of Management and Budget; Chief Economic Advisors; National Economic Council; 

Departments of Education; Health and Human Services; Agriculture; Commerce; Treasury; 

State; Homeland Security; Defense; Veterans Affairs; and Small Business Administration

Congress

House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee; Key members of Congress; 

Senator Charles Grassley; Representative John Kline; Representative Virginia Fox

State/Local Government 

Governors; States; Local Areas; State and Local Workforce Development Boards

Associations/Organizations 

U.S. Conference of Mayors; National League of Cities; National Governors’ Association; 

National Association of Workforce Boards; National Association of State Workforce Agencies; 

American Immigration Lawyers Association; National Council of Agricultural Employers; 

Farmworker Justice and other worker advocate organizations (National Employment Law 

Project, unions, state legal services organizations); Small and Seasonal Business Legal Center; 

NAFSA; Association of International Educators; Council for Global Immigration; Federal and 

State Employer Organizations (UWC Strategic Partnerships, US Chamber of Commerce and 

state chambers of commerce, National Federation of Independent Businesses and state affiliates, 

National Association of Manufacturers and state manufacturer organizations); Intergovernmental 

Organizations; Industry Associations; Organized Labor; USTR; National Job Corps Association; 

community-based organizations, economic development, workforce development, non-profits, 

local governments, and educational institutions. 

Others

Companies that pay H-1B visa fees; Businesses involved in TAA program; OA/CTS 

Contractors; Registered Apprenticeship Program Sponsors/Employers. A list of Apprenticeship 

contacts is attached.

Regional Offices Policy Issues and Priorities

Region 1 - Boston 

• In terms of emergencies, Zika in Puerto Rico is an ongoing situation and an initial NDWG 

award for $6 million was released on September 28, 2016. 

(b) (5)
TAB 2: Initiatives

19

 

Region 2 – Philadelphia

• The District of Columbia operates under a High Risk designation. The determination stems 

from years of poor performance, low enrollments, and questionable fiscal reporting. The 

Regional Office has negotiated a long term corrective action plan with the District 

Department of Employment Services staff, 

• Coal Lay-Offs - The Regional Office works almost daily with the State of West Virginia on 

its response to the massive coal layoffs in the State. The State has been awarded over $20 

million in resources to address the training and workforce placement needs of the impacted 

coal workers. 

• Flooding - The Regional Office is engaged in a coordinated Federal partner project to learn 

about the whole impact of flooding in the State of West Virginia and to determine what 

resources Federally can be brought to bear to support the holistic recovery of the State. ETA 

has invested funding to address cleanup and worker displacement. As of September, the 

Regional Office has reached out to the Federal Partnership regionally, and has reached out 

the Governor’s office of WV to determine what other issues need to be addressed. 

• Workforce System - The State of Pennsylvania has made integration of services throughout 

the workforce system its stated priority. The Region has supported the Commonwealth 

through development of its board, investment in the training of its local areas, and extensive 

monitoring and technical assistance. The Region also has negotiated performance measures 

with the Commonwealth aimed at helping it achieve its goal of full integration with the HHS 

TANF Programs in the State. The Regional Office is leading an integration project to link the 

Commonwealth’s four Job Corp Centers with the 23 local areas that administer WIOA youth 

program funding. 

• GE Layoff - ETA has made substantial investments to support the workers impacted by 

layoff at the GE transportation facility in Erie, PA. Upon learning that there is insufficient 

investment in literacy education to support the needs of the dislocated workers, the Region 

has convened a meeting with the local area, the State, and the Commonwealth of Virginia to 

explore setting up a literacy program using DOL TAA funding that operates concurrently 

with occupational skills training. The Region also has provided guidance on the application 

of UI law for those workers in entrepreneurial training and for the integration of services 

with HHS TANF programs.

• 

(b) (5) (b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 2: Initiatives

20

Region 3 – Atlanta

•

 

• The region is also working with several states on recovery efforts from Hurricane Matthew. 

Three NDWG’s were approved for the region, including up to $7 million for Florida, nearly 

$15 million for North Carolina and $500,000 for South Carolina. 

Region 4 – Dallas 

• Energy Industry Impacts Region 4 States: Due to the downturn in the energy industry, some 

Region 4 states are experiencing an economic decline in this industry. Texas 

will submit requests for POWER Dislocated Worker Grants to support the planning and 

implementation of workforce strategies for regions and communities negatively impacted by 

the changes in the coal economy. In addition, North Dakota and Wyoming have seen an 

increase in their unemployment insurance workload, but have not seen a significant increase 

in their unemployment rate. This is a result of individuals returning to their home state upon 

becoming unemployed in the energy industry. 

Region 5 – Chicago 

•

 

• Ohio is implementing the Comprehensive Case Management and Employment Program 

(CCMEP) which looks to align its WIOA Youth and TANF Programs. This is a major shift 

of how Youth will be served in the state and as such, is an area of interest for many 

stakeholders. 

• Illinois continues to operate without a fully approved FY 16 State Budget. Through various 

stopgaps approvals they have been able to release our WIOA funds 

 This is 

also impacting our partners, HHS and Education. 

• Since the recession, states in the region have continued to struggle with the dramatic increase 

in their UI workloads. This is resulting in backlogs, requests for federal loans to the UI trust 

funds, and temporary hiring. 

• The recession hit the Midwest states very hard and over-burdened the Trust Fund in several 

Region 5 states. Most states borrowed money which they, of course, needed to repay. 

Several states nationwide have begun to pass legislation that reduces the amount of weeks a 

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 2: Initiatives

21

UI claimant can become eligible for and thus reducing their benefits. In Region 5 Kansas, 

Michigan, and Missouri have reduced the amount of weeks payable. 

•

 

• The State of Kansas has reclassified their merit staff and has provided ETA with a Policy 

statement that indicated they are providing the merit “process” to their staff. 

.

Region 6 – San Francisco

• The Region is using transition authority to keep all the processes and structures in place for 

the current year for the 4 territories in the Pacific, but WIOA requires new ways of allocating 

funds, which will need to be implemented or changed in the coming year. 

• California’s Legislative Analyst Office has made a recommendation that the California 

Workforce Development Board to determine a set of common outcome measures for 

workforce programs and require programs to collect and report data for those measures. They 

also recommended the Legislature replace the state’s existing method of linking data with a 

streamlined, system-wide method. To increase the value of workforce data, they further 

recommend the board present the data in a few workforce reports each year, with the intent 

of informing policy makers’ policy and funding decisions and improving the overall quality 

of the state’s workforce system. This recommendation has been, in part, included in a new 

piece of legislation, which will be considered next legislative session. This would be a major 

accomplishment, consistent with the goals and vision of the Workforce Innovation and 

Opportunity Act. 

• California has invested $500,000 in Governor’s Reserve funding to incentivize and provide 

resources for local boards to implement Human Centered Design (HCD) approaches to 

service delivery. This is a result of their participation in Region 6 HCD training, and in the 

ETA Customer Centered Design challenges. Moving towards this kind of service design will 

provide better customer experience and outcomes throughout the State. 

• The State of Oregon has implemented a new policy requiring customers entering an 

American Job Center to be greeted within one minute, and be connected to the appropriate 

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 2: Initiatives

22

service provider within 15 minutes. Although this is still an aspirational policy, it signals the 

State’s commitment to improving customer service.

Regulations Under Development 

Final Rules Under Development

Equal Employment Opportunity in Apprenticeship Amendment of Regulations

Revisions to the equal opportunity regulatory framework for the National Apprenticeship Act 

are a critical element in the Department's vision to promote and expand Registered

Apprenticeship opportunities in the 21st century while continuing to safeguard the welfare and 

safety of apprentices. In October 2008, the Agency issued a Final Rule updating regulations for 

Apprenticeship Programs and Labor Standards for Registration. These regulations, codified at

title 29 CFR 29, have not been updated since 1977. The companion regulations, 29 CFR 30, 

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) in Apprenticeship and Training, have not been

amended since 1978. The Agency proposed to update 29 CFR 30 to ensure that the National

Registered Apprenticeship System is consistent and in alignment with EEO law, as it has 

developed since 1978, and recent revisions to 29 CFR 29. This second phase of regulatory 

updates ensures that Registered Apprenticeship is positioned to continue to provide economic 

opportunity for millions of Americans while keeping pace with these new requirements. The 

regulation is under review at OMB.

Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) Under Development

Modernizing the Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM)

The PERM regulations govern the labor certification process for employers seeking to employ 

foreign workers permanently in the United States. The Department of Labor (Department) has

not comprehensively examined and modified the permanent labor certification requirements

and process since 2004. Over the last ten years, much has changed in our country’s economy, 

affecting employers’ demand for workers and the availability of a qualified domestic labor 

force. Advances in technology and information dissemination have dramatically altered 

common industry recruitment practices, and the Department has received ongoing feedback

that the existing regulatory requirements governing the PERM process frequently do not align 

with worker or industry needs and practices.

Therefore, the Department is engaging in rulemaking that will consider options to modernize the

PERM program to be more responsive to changes in the national workforce, to align the

program design further with the objectives of the U.S. immigration system and needs of workers 

and employers, and to enhance the integrity of the labor certification process.

Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers

On July 29, 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 

(Pub. L. 114-27). Title IV reauthorizes the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Workers 

program through 2021; and it is known as the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act 

of 2015 (TAARA 2015). The regulations governing the TAA program have not been updated 
TAB 2: Initiatives

23

since 1994. Since that time, there have been five major reauthorizations. A recent reauthorization 

and reform of the workforce development system, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 

Act (WIOA) (Pub. L. 113-128), reaffirms the TAA program as a mandatory partner program in 

the one-stop delivery system. All five major TAA reauthorizations were implemented through 

the use of Operating Instructions issued via Training and Employment Guidance Letters 

(TEGLs). As a result, the cooperating state agencies must use a combination of outdated 

regulations and a patchwork of administrative guidance to operate the program. Issuing updated 

regulations will simplify and provide clarity for state operation of the TAA program. Through 

the NPRM, the Department seeks to modernize the TAA program and consolidate and streamline 

all applicable program regulations into a single section of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Request for Information

Labor Certification for Permanent Employment of Foreign Workers in the United States;

Revising Schedule A

The Department of Labor’s (Department) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is

considering updating Schedule A of the permanent labor certification process at 20 CFR 

656.5. For this reason, the Department is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) so that the

public may provide input on whether Schedule A serves as an effective tool for addressing

current labor shortages, and how the Department may create a timely, coherent, and 

transparent methodology for identifying occupations that are experiencing labor shortages in 

keeping with the requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The Department

wants to ensure that it is fulfilling its obligation under the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., to ensure 

the employment of foreign nationals does not displace U.S. workers or adversely affect their

wages and working conditions. Information received from the public will help inform 

decisions regarding how to improve Schedule A and ensure that its purpose is met.

Final Regulations Recently Published

Federal-State Unemployment Compensation Program; Implementing the Total Unemployment

Rate as an Extended Benefits Indicator and Amending for Technical Corrections

Published August 24, 2016. (81 FR 57764).

Regulations at 20 CFR 615 apply to the Extended Benefits (EB) program as implemented 

following passage of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970

(26 U.S.C. 3304 note). They do not include amendments passed in 1992 (Pub. L. 102-318) 

which allowed States to implement an optional total unemployment rate (TUR) trigger

mechanism. The final rule adds the TUR trigger to regulations. Also, until recently, the

computation of the TUR trigger paralleled the computation of the insured unemployment rate

trigger in the original law and truncated digits after the second decimal place expressed as a

percentage. This rulemaking implements a new methodology using rounding instead of

truncation to compute the "on" or "off" TUR indicators to determine when EB periods begin

and end in a State.

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

Published August 19, 2016. (81 FR 56072)
TAB 2: Initiatives

24

On July 22, 2014, the President signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

(WIOA) (Pub. L. 113-128). WIOA repeals the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) and

amends the Wagner-Peyser Act. (29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) The Department of Labor issued a 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on April 16, 2015, that proposed to implement the 

changes WIOA makes to the public workforce system in regulations. Through the NPRM, the

Department proposed ways to carry out the purposes of WIOA to provide workforce 

investment activities, through State and local workforce development systems, that increase 

employment, retention, and earnings of participants, meet the skill requirements of employers,

and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the Nation. The Department analyzed the

comments received and developed a final rule.

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; Joint Rule With U.S. Department of Education for

Combined and Unified State Plans, Performance Accountability, and the One-Stop System 

Joint Provisions

Published August 19, 2016. (81 FR 55792) 

On July 22, 2014, the President signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)

(Pub. L. 113-128) which repeals the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). (29 U.S.C. 

2801 et seq.) As directed by WIOA, the Departments of Education and Labor issued a Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on April 16, 2015, to implement the changes in regulations that

WIOA makes to the public workforce system regarding Combined and Unified State Plans,

performance accountability for WIOA title I, title II, title III, and title IV programs, and the onestop delivery system. The Departments of Labor and Education in separate NPRMs published 

all of the other regulations implementing WIOA. The Departments analyzed the comments

received and developed a final rule.

Other 

Senior Community Services Employment Program

Legislation authorizing the Senior Community Services Employment Program was amended in 

2016, and requires changes to the performance accountability system to be implemented by 

December 2017. 

 

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

25

TAB 3: 30/60/90 DAYS – STATE OF PLAY

Key Meetings, Decisions and Announcements

By end of February 2017

• ETA to Hold Quarterly Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA) Meeting: ETA 

anticipates holding its quarterly ACA meeting on January 11, 2017. 

 

• the National Job Corps Association (NJCA): The NJCA is a professional 

trade association made up primarily of the contractors that operate the 126 Job Corps centers 

around the country and also includes other stakeholders such as business, labor organizations, 

and community organizations associated with the Job Corps program. NJCA engages in 

government relations, lobbying, and outreach campaigns intended to increase the visibility of 

the Job Corps program. 

•

 

 

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

26

• Convene Quarterly Permanent and Temporary Foreign Labor Certification Stakeholder 

Meeting: Convene regular quarterly meeting with representatives of national associations 

and worker advocacy organizations 

• Issue TAA and Reserve Funds to States: Specific time frames are prescribed in the 

regulations at 20 CFR 618.9 for the issuance of TAA funds to states. During the first 90 days 

of Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, OTAA will ensure these requirements are met. If under a 

Continuing Resolution (CR) and the agency does not receive the full year appropriation 

amount in the initial or subsequent CRs, per the regulation, ETA will delay this allocation 

until the full FY amount is funded (can be multiple CRs). ETA also will provide funds to 

states that meet the requirements for reserve funds as set forth in 20CFR 618.930. 

•

 

 (b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

27

• : The Senior 

Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) national grants are competed every five 

years. Incumbent SCSEP national grantees received two quarters of funding to continue to 

serve current SCSEP participants and between October and December 2016 will be 

transitioning to new grantees. 

 

 

NAWB and NGA generally 

hold their forums in February. The February 2017 events represent the first such sessions 

since the publication of the final WIOA regulations in June 2016. 

 

By end of March 2017

•

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

29

By end of April 2017

•

 

• Anticipate Issuing PY 2017 WIOA Allotment TEGL: The allotment TEGL occurs every 

program year. It provides States and outlying areas with WIOA Title I Adult, Dislocated 

Worker and Youth Activities information on their program allotments for the year. It also 

provides the States with final allotments for program year funding for the Wagner-Peyser ES 

program, and the Workforce Information Grants to States allotments. TEGL should be 

available to stakeholders by April 1, 2017. It may be published in the Federal Register 

shortly after the April1 deadline.

•

 

 (b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

30

Major Grants and Contracts

ETA Recent, Current and 1 Year Prospective Funding Opportunity 

Announcements (FOA)

(As of September 2016)5

FOA Amount Date Published Status6 Awards 

Announced

Training to Work 3 

(Second Closing) Approx. $20 million Announced 10/29/15 Closed Announced 6/24/16

NFJP - Jobs/Housing Approx. $81 million Announced 3/16/16 Closed Announced 

7/7/16

Tech Hire Approx. $100 

million 11/17/2015 Closed Announced 6/27/16

Power Initiative TBD

Commerce issued a 

coordinated FFO 

(including a TEGL 

from ETA) on 5/11/15

Open until 

6/30/18 TBD

Strengthening Working 

Families Approx. $25 million Announced 12/17/15 Closed Announced 6/14/16

Senior Community Service 

Employment Program 

(SCSEP)

TBD Announced 3/15/16 Closed October 2016

Linking to Employment 

Activities Pre-release 

PY2015

Approx. $5 million Announced 1/13/16 Closed Announced 

6/24/16. 

Reentry Demonstration 

Projects for Young Adults Approx. $28 million Announced 3/17/16 Closed Announced 6/24/16

Pathways to Justice (youth) Approx. $8 million Announced 4/7/16 Closed Announced 

6/24/16

Summer Jobs and Beyond: 

Career Pathways for Youth 

(CPY)

Approx. $19 million Announced 2/4/2016 Closed Announced 

5/16/2016

Disability Employment 

Initiative (2016) Approx. $15 million Announced 6/27/16 Closed September 2016

WANTO Approx. $1.9 million Announced 4/5/16 Closed Announced 

6/14/16

YouthBuild 2016 Approx. $70 million Announced 5/17/16 Closed Mid-September 

2016

America's Promise JobDriven GrantsApprox. $100 

million Announced 6/6/16 Closed 8/25/16

Early November 

2016

 5 This list does not include FOAs for other DOL agencies for which ETA provides grant management services. 6 “Closed” status indicates that the Department is no longer accepting applications under the FOA.
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

31

Apprenticeship USA 

Expansion and Innovation 

Grants

Approx. $52 million Announced 6/22/16 Closed Late October 

2016 

UI Program Integrity, 

System Performance and 

IT Modernization

TBD Announced 8/2/16 Closed October 2016 

Occupational Licensing 

Review and Portability 

Notice of Intent

Approx. $7.5 million Announced 6/17/16 Closed TBD

Reemployment & System 

Integration Dislocated 

Worker Grants (For States)

Approx. $65 million Announced 8/9/16 Open October 2016 

Linking to Employment 

Activities Pre-release 

PY2016 

Approx. $5 million Announced 1/13/16 Closed

These additional 

selections from 

the PY15 

competition will 

be announced in 

the fall of 2016

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

32

ETA Current Contracts

ETA Program Office Number of Contracts Annual Value of All Contracts

OMAS 18 $15-$20M

OFA 0 $0

OCM 2 $4M

OWI 29 $32M

OPDR 26 $26M

OTAA 1 $580K

OA 15 $17M

OJC National Office 10 $1.8M

OJC Operations 105 $1.3B

OJC Construction 50 $65M

OUI 11 $3.7M

OFLC 21 $28M

288 $1,498,080,000

Significant Government Accountability Office (GAO) Studies 

(August 22, 2016)

Below is a list of key GAO studies and brief summaries of GAO’s recommendations, or a brief 

description of the study if it is still in process. The Employment and Training Administration 

(ETA) has responded to all of GAO’s recommendations, all of which can be found in full on 

GAO’s website. Recommendations remain open until they are designated as “closedimplemented” or “closed-not implemented.” GAO will close each recommendation when they 

determine that the agency has implemented, it or substantially met its intent, or that the 

recommendation is no longer relevant. GAO requests status updates on all open and in process 

recommendations on an annual basis, usually for a five-year period. 

Foreign Labor Certification

H-2A and H-2B Visa Programs: Increased Protections Needed for Foreign Workers (GAO15-154, March 6, 2015). GAO’s Recommendations for Executive Action: GAO recommends, 

among other actions, that DHS publish information on jobs and recruiters; that DOL and DHS 

finalize their data sharing agreement; and that DOL review its H-2B enforcement efforts and 

collect data on cases affected by the debarment statute of limitations. ETA generally agreed with 

GAO’s recommendations.

H-2A Visa Program: Modernization and Improved Guidance Could Reduce Employer 

Application Burden (GAO-12-706, October 15, 2012). GAO’s Recommendations for 

Executive Action: GAO recommends that DOL and DHS- Develop a method of automatically 

collecting data to improve timeliness of application processing. DHS and DOL agreed with the 

recommendation to collect additional data and DOL agreed with the recommendation to update 
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

33

its guidance. DOL disagreed with the recommendation to allow employers to apply once per 

season. 

Management Letter: Actions Needed to Improve the Transparency and Reliability of 

Labor’s H-2A Data – Final Letter (GAO-13-144R , July 2, 2013). GAO’s Recommendations 

for Executive Action: GAO recommends that the Secretary of Labor should enhance the 

transparency, validity, and reliability of the data reported to the public on the H-2A program. 

ETA agreed with GAO’s recommendations that it take specific actions to enhance the 

transparency of the data reported to the public on the H-2A program in the data files on our 

website and improve the reliability of the data on H-2A applications filed on behalf of multiple 

employers. ETA did not agree with GAO’s recommendation that it enhance the validity of the 

data reported on multi-employer applications by collecting separate data on where workers will 

be employed and where they will be housed. 

Job Corps 

Job Corps: Assessment of Internal Guidance could Improve Communications with 

Contractors (GAO-15-93, January 22, 2015). GAO’s Recommendations for Executive Action: 

GAO recommends that ETA review the sufficiency of its guidance for internal notices about 

program changes. ETA agreed with this recommendation. 

Unemployment Insurance (UI)

Federal Employees' Compensation Act: Case Examples Illustrate Vulnerabilities That 

Could Result in Improper Payments or Overlapping Benefits (GAO-13-386, May 3, 2013) 

GAO’s Recommendations for Executive Action: GAO recommends that the Secretary of Labor 

assess the feasibility of developing a cost-effective mechanism to share Federal Employees' 

Compensation Act (FECA) compensation information with states, such as reporting information 

to the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) to help identify whether claimants are 

inappropriately receiving overlapping UI and FECA payments. DOL agreed to study the 

feasibility of sharing compensation information with the states.

Income Security: Overlapping Disability and Unemployment Benefits Should be Evaluated 

for Potential Savings (GAO-12-764, August 31, 2012). GAO’s Recommendations for 

Executive Action: The Department of Labor should work the Social Security Administration to 

evaluate overlapping Disability Insurance and UI cash benefit payments and assess whether cost 

savings or other benefits might be achieved by reducing or eliminating overlapping benefit 

payments. DOL and SSA agreed with the recommendations. 

Information Technology: Department of Labor Could Further Facilitate Modernization of 

States’ Unemployment Insurance Systems (GAO-12-957, September 26, 2012). GAO’s 

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

34

Recommendations for Executive Action: To further facilitate state and consortium modernization 

efforts, GAO recommends that the Secretary of Labor perform and distribute a comprehensive 

analysis of lessons learned. DOL generally agreed with GAO’s recommendations.

Unemployment Insurance: States' Reductions in Maximum Benefit Durations Have 

Implications for Federal Costs (GAO-15-281, May 21, 2015). GAO’s Recommendations for 

Executive Action: To inform the design of any future federal UI programs, the Secretary of 

Labor should examine the implications of state reductions in maximum UI benefit duration on 

federal UI costs, for example, by modeling the net effect of paying federal benefits earlier to 

more beneficiaries, albeit for a possibly shorter period of time, and develop recommendations for 

the program, if appropriate. DOL agreed with GAO's recommendation. 

Workforce Development

Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Potential Duplication in Federal 

Teacher Quality and Employment and Training Programs (GAO-11-509T, April 6, 2011). 

Among other findings, GAO found that 44 of the 47 employment and training programs 

identified overlap with at least one other program, in that they provide at least one similar service 

to a similar population. There are no open recommendations from this report and many of its 

findings were addressed by the passage of WIOA, but this report is still sometimes cited as 

evidence of duplication of education and training programs. 

Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax 

Dollars, and Enhance Revenue. GAO has a statutory requirement to identify federal programs, 

agencies, offices, and initiatives which have duplicative goals or activities, which GAO 

examines and publishes a report on each year. Some years they have addressed employment and 

training activities for specifics groups such as for veterans or disabled populations. This year's 

report found Post 9/11 GI Bill Overpayments by the Department of Veterans Affairs. It also 

recommended to Congress to pass legislation that prevents individuals from collecting both UI 

and Disability Insurance benefits, which they say the CBO estimated would save $1.9 billion 

from FY 2016-2025. Part of this recommendation was to pass legislation allowing DOL the 

authority to access wage data.

Workforce Investment Act: Strategies Needed to Improve Certain Training Outcome Data

(GAO 14-137, March 5, 2014). GAO’s Recommendations for Executive Action: To provide 

policymakers and program managers with better quality information to assess the value of 

training provided by WIA's Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs, the Secretary of Labor 

should identify and share with states strategies for collecting and reporting data on trainingrelated employment that could either increase access to employment information or reduce the 

subjectivity of determining when training is related to employment. DOL agreed with GAO’s 

recommendation. 

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

35

Other

Regulatory Guidance Processes: Selected Departments Could Strengthen Internal Control 

and Dissemination Practices (GAO-15-368, May 18, 2015). GAO’s Recommendations for 

Executive Action: To better ensure the adherence to requirements for approval of significant 

guidance, the Secretary of Labor should review and update the department's written procedures 

for approval of significant guidance and make them available to appropriate component staff. 

To improve agencies' guidance development, review, evaluation, and dissemination processes for 

non-significant guidance, GAO recommends that the Secretaries of USDA, HHS, DOL, and 

Education should strengthen their selected components' application of internal controls to 

guidance processes by adopting, as appropriate, practices developed by other departments and 

components. USDA, Education, HHS and DOL generally agreed with the recommendations. 

Significant Office of Inspector General (OIG) Audits/Investigations

The Department’s OIG anticipates issuing final reports (which will require a management 

response) for the following significant audits in the October-December 2016 quarter or beyond: 

1) Job Corps Center Safety: In August 2015, OIG initiated a review to assess safety and 

security at Job Corps centers in response to two Job Corps student homicides. A report is 

expected to be issued in the last quarter of Calendar year 2016. 

2) Local Workforce Investment Boards: In May of 2014, the OIG initiated its review of

LWIBs’ management of Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funds and their reporting of 

performance results. The audit objective was later modified to include examining outreach 

efforts and the effects of the newly-passed Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act on the 

State and LWIB, and whether they provided effective services to adult and dislocated worker 

participants and local employers. The following four sites are included in this audit: The 

Detroit Workforce Development Board (Michigan); the Kansas City and Vicinity LWIB 

(Missouri); the Luzerne Schuylkill LWIB (Pennsylvania); and the South Dakota Workforce 

Development Council (South Carolina). A report is expected to be issued in the last quarter 

of Calendar year 2016. 

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

36

3)

. 

Below is a list of ongoing OIG studies of significance to the agency:

 

 

 

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

37

 

 

 

. 

Management

IT Opportunities/Challenges 

While working to ensure that DOL’s basic IT responsibilities for broad complex grant 

management, including required performance and financial reporting, is maintained and 

improved for the full grant portfolio; we also must ensure WIOA implementation IT 

requirements are met. 

 ETA faces significant challenges because of its need to support disparate legacy 

systems lacking technical interconnectivity and that house redundant and often poor quality data. 

(b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

38

Long overdue for replacement, these legacy systems also pose security IT risks and other 

vulnerabilities. Architectural and functional issues aside, the current grant and performance 

management systems are costly to maintain – specifically as DOL billing for departmental IT 

significantly and unexpectedly increases. (OCIO controls ETA infrastructure while ETA 

maintains control over its mission-specific applications as long as they are consistent with 

DOL’s standards and guidance.) 

Multiple IT funding sources from multiple sources (for example, Program Administration, Job 

Corps, and Foreign Labor Certification) with distinct requirements make ETA’s capacity to 

address IT challenges more complex. This has resulted in ETA’s continued maintenance of 

single purpose, program/office-specific IT systems. Advancements have been made in the area 

of performance reporting; however, without a Departmental management and administrative 

budgeting approach to provide administrative IT supports across all program needs, major 

technology challenges, and increased operating costs will continue to constrain progress. And 

stakeholders and ETA staff will continue to voice their general dissatisfaction with the 

capabilities of the current grant and performance management systems, including repeated cases 

of system degradation and downtime, hard to use ad hoc and “canned” reporting capabilities, and 

limited trust of information from converted raw data to support sound decision-making at 

reasonable cost. 

Opportunities: 

 

 

 

Significant Personnel/Engagement Activities

ETA federal staff play a crucial role in ensuring that ETA achieves its desired outcomes in 

support of the Agency’s – and the Department’s – strategic goals and priority performance 

measures, as ETA’s budget represents over 90% of the overall budget for the Department. ETA 

federal program staff administer grants or contracts, provide program direction, shape policy, 

and provide guidance and technical assistance to carry out the Federal investments in the 

workforce system. Each staff member directly impacts the ability of ETA to formulate, award 

and provide effective grant management, technical assistance, training, evaluation and oversight 

(b) (5)
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

39

of increased and more complex Federal investments and ensure that disallowed costs that divert 

scarce resources needed to accomplish outcome goals are minimized. ETA professional 

administrative staff provides support to the administrative, budgetary, strategic planning, 

performance accountability, programmatic, research and evaluation, resource, grant-making, 

human capital planning, IT systems and programs, and contracting functions of ETA. 

Combined, these functions have a direct impact successful implementation of strategies and 

initiatives by state and local workforce system entities related to program outcome goals. 

In FY 2014-FY 2015, ETA asked OPM to conduct agency-wide organizational assessments, and 

OPM concluded in written reports that all ETA offices evaluated were understaffed by 

approximately 30% to adequately meet mission requirement and mitigate risks to federal 

investments. Diminishing program administration funds have exponentially increased risk to all 

ETA programs due to reductions in federal staff, provision of technical assistance to grantees 

(due also to reductions in travel and training), provision of IT systems and services to support 

data collection and analysis for program performance monitoring and evaluation, and 

infrastructure requirements. Reductions in FY 2017 (and beyond) will continue this trend that 

negatively impacts the Agency’s capacity for grant management, oversight of both formula and 

discretionary grants, as well as critical program-related contracts (OJC) and other important

program requirements, especially in light of increased appropriations for new programs that do 

not carry with them proportional increases in infrastructure support for their basic management.

To maximize ETA potential for future success, mitigate risk to federal appropriations and

accomplish critical mission goals, ETA has: 

• Requested, beginning in FY 2012-FY 2016 and now again in its FY 2017 budget, additional 

flexibilities to make use of program technical assistance funds to support federal staff 

engaged in such activities and the travel, training, IT, evaluation and technical assistance 

supports needed for critical program administration functions to support mission and goal 

accomplishment and reduce a growing risk to federal investments;

• Launched “Pathways Through Apprenticeship” in partnership with OPM, to pilot a program 

building upon an OPM intern program to test and utilize Registered Apprenticeship for 

federal general schedule positions as a hiring tool to attract Masters’ candidate students and 

returning Veterans and millennials, address succession planning with ETA’s aging 

workforce, and provide structured foundational and consistent training for mission support. 

(ETA is partnering with OPM which will shortly launch its own apprenticeship pilot and is 

encouraging other Federal Agencies to develop similar Apprenticeship programs through its 

HR Solutions Division.);

• Implemented an ETA-wide training plan for FY 2016/FY 2017 to continue its investment in 

its staff to provide leadership development, required and technical training for certifications 

in grant, contract and financial management, and provide training to support the development 

of process, presentation, and career advancement skills in ETA national and regional office 

staff for GS-4 through SES levels. The training plan was produced by the ETA Training 

Task Force that included managers, bargaining unit, national and regional staff and 

corresponding office union stewards for both Local 12 and NCFLL. This plan is foundational 

to staff interests in ETA’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey annual (response) plan;

• Commissioned a human capital/organizational assessment by OPM of four ETA offices (Job 

Corps, Contracts Management, Financial Administration, and Foreign Labor Certification) in 
TAB 3: 30/60/90 Days – State of Play

40

FY2014 and the remainder of ETA offices engaged in grants management functions as well 

as an assessment of the Office of Foreign Labor Certification in FY 2015 to provide a 

professional expert assessment of organizational capacity to meet mission, better define work 

requirements, clarify needed communication and coordination among and within offices, 

address whether the distribution of staff with the correct skills are in place, help correct work 

processes and workflow, and recommend training. While OPM continues to provide support 

to individual ETA offices to support mission and minimize risk while building ETA staff 

skills, key recommendations have not been fully addressed due to significant deficiencies to 

support needed infrastructure supports in ETA’s program administration funding; and

• Continued to explore funding alternatives and organizational efficiencies currently utilized 

by other grant-making agencies in the Federal Government to address the estimated 30 

percent full time staff equivalency deficiency OPM found and the significant deficiencies in 

other critical infrastructure supports to properly award, monitor, provide technical assistance, 

audit and close-out grants in ETA programs for which such corresponding supports have not 

been addressed as new programs are appropriated.

Calendar 

Calendar of Program Offices’ events: October 2016 - November 2017 

• Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (t) January 11, 2017 (qtrly) 

• AACC Workforce Development Institute: January 25-28, 2017 

•

• NGA Winter Meeting (t): February 21-24, 2017 

• 

• NAWB Forum (t): March 13-17, 2017 

•

• Program Year End: June 30, 2017 

• 80th Anniversary of the National Apprenticeship Act, August 15, 2017 

•

• Fiscal Year End: September 30, 2017 

•

(b) (5) (b) (5)

(b) (5)

(b) (5) (b) (5)
TAB 4: Budget

41

TAB 4: BUDGET

ETA BUDGET AUTHORITY AND FTE SUMMARY

Agency Budget Overview

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) administers federal job training and 

worker dislocation programs, federal grants to states for public employment service programs, 

and unemployment insurance benefits. These services are primarily provided through state and 

local workforce development systems. ETA has seven different accounts through which funds 

are currently appropriated. 

Training and Employment Services (TES)

The FY 2016 appropriation for TES was $3.3 billion in discretionary funds and includes 

resources for the Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth formula grant programs, National 

Dislocated Worker grants, Migrants and Seasonal Farmworkers, Indian and Native American 

Programs, Reintegration of Ex-Offenders, Apprenticeship Grants, Workforce Data Quality 

Initiative, YouthBuild, Technical Assistance, and the Women in Apprenticeship Grants. 

Job Corps 

The FY 2016 appropriation for Job Corps was $1.7 billion in discretionary funds and includes 

resources for Job Corps Center Operations; for the Construction, Rehabilitation and Acquisition 

activities that funds all center construction and renovation efforts, and Administration, which 

funds the federal FTE at DOL as well as other administration-related costs. 

Community Service Employment for Older Americans (CSEOA) 

The FY 2016 appropriation for CSEOA was $434.4 million in discretionary funds and provides 

grants to support the self-sufficiency and employment of older workers by providing part-time, 

paid community service positions and work-based training for unemployed, low-income 

individuals, ages 55 and older. 

Federal Unemployment Benefits and Allowances (FUBA) 

The FY 2016 appropriation for FUBA was $802.4 million in mandatory funds. This account 

provides Trade Adjustment Assistance to workers who have lost their jobs as a result of foreign 

trade. 

State Unemployment Insurance and Employment Service Operations (SUIESO)

The FY 2016 appropriation for SUIESO was $3.6 billion in discretionary funds. This account 

includes the Unemployment Insurance program, that provides temporary wage replacement for 

unemployed workers; the US Employment Service, which connects job seekers with job 

opportunities in their local workforce area; the Office of Foreign Labor Certification, which 

protects the wages and working conditions of American and foreign nationals by processing 

permanent and temporary work programs; and resources devoted to system building and 

workforce information services to bolster the capacity of the public workforce system. 
TAB 4: Budget

42

Unemployment Insurance (UI)

UI benefits are funded by state payroll taxes and states administer the programs. 

These mandatory accounts show up as part of the unified federal budget under the Department of 

Labor’s control. The amount fluctuates significantly, depending on the year. In FY 2015, UI 

Benefits were $32.4 billion, down from a high of $150.2 billion in FY 2010. The U.S. Treasury 

receives federal and state payroll taxes, maintains the trust fund, and makes loans to states with 

insolvent accounts, While largely state controlled, these accounts require oversight by ETA, are 

affected by DOL policy, and interactions between DOL and Treasury administer how funds flow 

from the accounts. 

From time to time during peak unemployment, the Department has requested, and/or Congress 

has provided, federal funding for the extended weeks of UI benefits. This legislation appears 

before the authorizing committees, rather than the appropriations committees.

Advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund

This account makes available funding for repayable advances (loans) to the Black Lung 

Disability Trust Fund (BLDTF) and to two accounts in the Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) 

whenever balances prove insufficient to make payments from those accounts. Even when the 

Department estimates that no advances will be needed (such as in FY 2017) appropriations 

providing “such sums as may be necessary” authority for advances is included to permit 

advances should they become necessary.

Evaluations

ETA program evaluations are funded in some instances directly from program appropriations. In 

addition, the appropriation the Department allows the Secretary to direct a small percentage of 

operating funds for the conduct of evaluation. 

Program Administration (PA)

The FY 2016 appropriation for PA was $154.6 million in discretionary funds. This account 

provides the federal administration of most ETA programs. The majority of ETA staff are 

covered out of the PA account, though Job Corps and SUIESO (the Office of Foreign Labor 

Certification) also fund FTE. Across these three accounts, ETA’s FY 2016 direct FTE ceiling is 

1,151.

Mandatory Proposals 

From time to time, the Department includes legislative proposals as part of the Budget 

transmitted to Congress, but these proposals are referred to authorizing Committees for 

consideration. For example, the FY 2017 budget included several mandatory “Job Driven 

Training” proposals to support workforce programs that combine strong employer engagement 

with high quality training to create pathways for workers into high-growth occupations. The 

initiatives included in FY 2017 were: American Century Talent Compact ($3.0 billion over 5 

years); Apprenticeship Training Fund ($2.0 billion over 5 years); Career Navigators and WIOA 

Workforce Data Science and Innovation Fund ($2.0 billion over 5 years), and Opening Doors for 

Youth ($5.5 billion over 4 years). 

TAB 4: Budget

44

• In FY 2013, ETA received $25.0 million from the Hurricane Sandy supplemental for 

disaster-related National Emergency Grants. $1.3 million was rescinded due to sequestration 

and $3.2 million was transferred to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and 

the Wage and Hour Division. 

• Since FY 2014, TES has transferred approximately 0.25 percent (approximately $8.0 million 

each year) of its total appropriation to the Chief Evaluation Office. 

Upcoming Issues

•

 

(b) (5)

TAB 4: Budget

46

• Job Corps has worked closely with the Forest Service to improve their performance, as CCCs 

are overrepresented in the lower quartile for center performance. Job Corps and the Forest 

Service have disagreed about the amount of money that should be transferred to the Forest 

Service. It is of particular concern that before disagreements have been resolved, the Forest 

Service has on occasion shared pre-decisional information with the Hill, specifically the 

Labor-HHS-Education appropriations committee staffers. 

• Job Corps Construction funding has decreased over the past eight years, despite a large and 

growing backlog of construction projects that exceeds $400.0 million. 

• Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the New Orleans and Gulfport Job Corps centers. The 

Gulfport center has never gotten back up to full capacity. DOL received a supplemental 

appropriation of $16.0 million in 2006 for the purpose of rehabilitating the damaged centers. 

Of the initial appropriation, only $4.1/ million remains unobligated. In 2011, DOL was 

prepared to raze an uninhabitable building as part of center reconstruction, but was stopped, 

as it was of historical significance to the community. DOL and the community have been in 

negotiations ever since regarding the reconstruction process. Senator Cochran remains 

extremely interested in seeing the Gulfport enter operate at full capacity and asks the 

Secretary about progress at every Senate Appropriations hearing. 

• Job Corps Administration funding has been relatively stable, with the funding slowly 

increasing from $28.7 million in FY 2009 to $32.3 million in FY 2016. 

Upcoming Issues

• (b) (5)



50

These grants go to all 50 states and territories for intensive, targeted reemployment services 

to UI beneficiaries. 

• In FYs 2014, 2015, and 2016, funds were transferred to the DOL Chief Evaluation Office for 

use in carrying out evaluations of select programs and activities.

• FLC Federal Administration supports staff performing the activities related to processing 

applications submitted by employers seeking a labor certification for either permanent or 

temporary nonimmigrant labor. It is the only activity in this account that supports FTE. 

o Appropriated funding for FLC activities has declined by 10 percent since FY 2009. 

Half of this decline occurred in FY 2013 as a result of sequestration. Total funding 

available for FY 2016, including fee estimates, will be only 2.5 percent higher than 

FY 2009 funding. 

o While total funding has remained relatively flat, the processing workload has 

increased. Since FY 2010, the PERM, H-2A, H-2B and Prevailing Wage caseloads 

have increased overall by 108 percent, from a total of 122,662 cases in FY 2010 to a 

total of 254,849 in FY 2015. In the first three quarters of FY 2016, the overall 

caseload has increased by another 7 percent when compared to the first three quarters 

of FY 2015, or an additional 12,759 cases. All indications point to a continuing 

increase in the caseload in the coming filing cycles. This increase in workload 

coupled with only slight increases in funding has resulted in backlogs developing in 

PERM, H-2A, H-2B, and Prevailing Wage activities. Employers have expressed a 

great deal of concern with the backlog situation and the timeliness of certifications.

o In FY 2016, Congress authorized the Department to transfer $13.0 million from the 

H-1B fee training account (in TES) to eliminate the PERM backlog. These funds are 

available for a two year period – FY 2016 and FY 2017. 

o The FTE usage rate in the appropriated account has been fairly consistent from FY 

2009 through FY 2015. In May of FY 2016, FLC reorganized and reassigned staff to 

focus on PERM backlog elimination. The staff reassigned to backlog elimination will 

be paid from the funding made available from the H-1B training account. This will 

result in a lower FTE usage rate in the appropriated account. FLC is in the processing 

of hiring and should have their on-board strength for this account on target by early 

FY 2017. 

o From FY 2009 through FY 2015 the FTE usage rate in the fee account has been 

consistently around 30 FTE. The target usage rate is 40 FTE for FY 2016 and 50 FTE 

for FY 2017. 

Upcoming Issues

• (b) (5)
51

•

 

(b) (5)



55

 

 

(b) (5)
56

FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017

DOL PROGRAMS Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted Request

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION

Training & Employment Services:

Grants to States:

Adult Employment and Training Activities 861,540 860,116 769,576 770,811 730,624 766,080 776,736 815,556 842,376

Youth Employment and Training Activities 924,069 924,069 825,914 824,353 781,375 820,430 831,842 873,416 902,139

Dislocated Worker Employment and Training Activitie 1,341,891 1,410,880 1,285,541 1,220,536 1,179,658 1,222,457 1,236,389 1,241,719 1,334,205

National Activities:

Indian and Native American Programs 52,758 52,758 52,652 47,562 45,082 46,082 46,082 50,000 52,000

Migrants and Seasonal Farmworkers 82,620 84,620 84,451 84,291 79,897 81,896 81,896 81,896 81,896

Technical Assistance 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,232 3,232

Reintegration of Ex-Offenders 108,493 108,493 85,390 80,238 76,055 80,078 82,078 88,078 95,078

Career Pathways 125,000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Apprenticeship Grants 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 90,000 90,000

National Programs 59,077 103,050 19,561 16,166 15,323 0 0 0 0

Workforce Data Quality Initiative 0 12,500 12,475 6,463 6,126 6,000 4,000 6,000 40,000

Youth Build 70,000 102,500 79,840 79,689 75,535 77,534 79,689 84,534 84,534

Workforce Innovation Fund 0 0 124,750 49,906 47,304 47,304 0 0 0

Women in Apprenticeship 1,000 1,000 998 996 994 994 994 994 0

Green Jobs 0 40,000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total, TES 3,626,448 3,699,986 3,341,148 3,181,011 3,037,973 3,148,855 3,139,706 3,335,425 3,525,460

Job Corps

Operations 1,540,276 1,572,833 1,570,932 1,569,078 1,487,006 1,578,008 1,580,825 1,581,825 1,608,535

Construction 80,000 99,850 104,801 104,792 99,310 80,000 75,000 75,000 105,000

Administration 28,662 29,190 29,132 29,077 27,556 30,147 32,330 32,330 41,055

Total, Job Corps 1,648,938 1,701,873 1,704,865 1,702,947 1,613,872 1,688,155 1,688,155 1,689,155 1,754,590

CSEOA 571,925 825,425 449,100 448,251 424,805 434,371 434,371 434,371 434,371

State UI & ES Operations (Includes FLC)

Unemployment Compensation 

State Operations 3,446,487 3,195,645 3,189,254 3,165,141 2,949,685 2,801,575 2,697,793 2,630,550 2,592,019

Reemployment Eligibility Assessments-UI Integrity 40,000 50,000 49,900 59,906 46,793 80,000 80,000 115,000 185,900

National Activities 11,310 11,310 11,287 11,266 10,677 10,676 12,892 14,547 15,247

Subtotal, Unemp Comp. (TF) 3,497,797 3,256,955 3,250,441 3,236,313 3,007,155 2,892,251 2,790,685 2,760,097 2,793,166

Employment Service:

Grants to States 703,576 703,576 702,169 700,842 664,184 664,184 664,184 680,000 680,000

National Activities 20,869 20,994 20,952 20,912 19,819 19,819 19,818 19,818 19,818

Foreign Labor Certification

Federal Administration 52,821 53,307 50,418 50,323 47,690 47,691 48,028 48,028 48,666

State Grants 15,129 15,129 15,099 15,070 14,282 14,282 14,282 14,282 14,282

One Stop Career Centers/ALMIS 51,720 63,720 63,593 63,473 60,152 60,152 60,153 67,653 75,153

Work Incentive Grants 17,295 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total, SUIESO 4,359,207 4,113,681 4,102,672 4,086,933 3,813,282 3,698,379 3,597,150 3,589,878 3,631,085

Program Administration

Training and Employment 0 0 0 67,457 63,928 66,879 68,713 68,713 86,946

Adult 51,061 55,412 55,301 0 0 0 0 0 0

Youth 10,932 12,308 12,283 0 0 0 0 0 0

Workforce Security 38,945 42,986 42,900 42,818 40,579 42,733 42,733 42,733 43,461

Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services 21,447 27,784 27,728 27,675 26,228 27,117 34,000 34,000 40,089

Executive Direction 8,078 9,166 9,148 9,131 8,653 11,078 9,113 9,113 10,330

Total, PA 130,463 147,656 147,360 147,081 139,388 150,559 154,559 154,559 180,826

Total, ETA 10,336,981 10,488,621 9,745,145 9,566,223 9,029,320 9,120,319 9,013,941 9,203,388 9,526,332