2023 New York Laws › LAB - Labor › Article 24 - Worker Adjustment Act › 846 - Substate Level Activities.

§  846.  Substate  level  activities.  1. (a) Grantees shall use funds
allotted to them pursuant to section eight hundred forty-eight  of  this
article  to provide to eligible dislocated workers the core functions of
the worker adjustment program,  which  include  intake,  assessment  and
counseling,  as  well  as  basic readjustment and retraining services as
defined in section eight hundred thirty-five of this  article,  directly
or  by  contract.  Provided,  however,  that  such grantees shall not be
required by the department to contract with any  specific  provider  for
the provision of such services.
(b)  Each  substate  grantee  shall  provide  intake,  counseling  and
assessment directly or by contract on an ongoing  basis  at  a  site  or
sites designated by the substate grantee to which all dislocated workers
in the area have access. In addition, the substate grantee may make such
services  available  at  the  location of a plant closing or substantial
layoff.
(c)  Substate  grantees  shall  require  that  all  service  providers
selected  by the substate grantee to receive funds allocated pursuant to
section eight hundred forty-eight of this article, other  than  vouchers
for   training  services  given  to  program  participants  pursuant  to
subdivision four of this section, shall provide  a  written  plan  which
includes:  (i)  the  amount and purposes for which funding is requested;
(ii) a description  of  the  services  to  be  provided,  including  the
duration  of service and the estimated service cost per recipient; (iii)
procedures  for  identifying  and   selecting   participants   and   for
eligibility  determination  and  verification;  (iv)  evidence  that the
proposed  service  program  will  provide  appropriate   assistance   to
recipients   seeking   available   private   sector  employment;  (v)  a
description of  other  funding  sources  which  may  be  used  for  such
programs;  (vi)  a  description of steps the provider will take to avoid
duplication of services available through existing  resources;  (vii)  a
description  of the provider's coordination with programs and activities
funded  through  the  job  training  partnership  act  or  other   state
resources;  (viii)  procedures  for  advising the local private industry
council of the provider's proposal, including ways in which the provider
intends to cooperate with the local private industry council;  and  (ix)
such other information as may be required by the grantee.
(d)  The  grantee  shall  select  training providers and determine the
amount of monies available for each  program.  Selection  considerations
shall   include:   the   provider's  past  effectiveness  in  delivering
employment  or  vocational  training  programs  or  other   readjustment
services  based  on  demonstrated  performance;  for training providers,
ability to provide  participants  with  the  skills  necessary  to  fill
available  jobs in the private sector; cost of the proposed program; the
administrative  capability   to   operate   such   a   program;   fiscal
responsibility;  for  training  providers, a record of job placement for
completers which meets standards of  acceptability  established  by  the
commissioner for this purpose; the degree to which the provider has made
provisions  for coordination with other services available under the job
training partnership act and other state and federal programs; and  such
other  factors  as the grantee may determine. Funds provided pursuant to
this article shall not be  used  to  duplicate  facilities  or  services
available  to  the  substate  area  from  other  federal, state or local
sources.
(e)  Appropriate  vocational  and  educational  institutions  in   the
substate  area  shall  be  accorded  the  initial opportunity to provide
educational services unless  the  grantee  determines  that  alternative
entities  would  be  more  effective  or would have greater potential to
enhance participants' continued occupational and career growth.
(f) Funds shall be made available to service providers through  direct
contract  between  each  such  service  provider  and the grantee.   The
grantee shall notify the department of the award of  each  contract  and
shall certify that the requirements of this article have been met.
(g)  After  March first of each year, the department shall reapportion
an amount of unexpended funds from each substate area's allocation  that
the  department  has  determined  cannot  be  expended  as  planned. The
substate area shall be provided with no less than  thirty  days  advance
notice  and  an  opportunity  to appeal the reallocation. The department
shall  reallocate  those  funds  to  the  substate  areas  in  a  manner
consistent with the purposes of this section and with applicable federal
law  and  regulations. Funds shall be reallocated to substate areas that
have demonstrated an ability to expend funds at a rate in  keeping  with
or   exceeding   planned   levels   and  where  existing  resources  are
insufficient  to  provide  needed  services,   to   be   determined   in
consultation  with  interested  parties.  At  any  time  after  December
thirty-first, a substate area may volunteer to  deobligate  funds.  Such
funds  may  be reallocated immediately by the department to the substate
grantees consistent with the purposes of this article.
2. Opportunities may be  offered  for  on-the-job  training  with  the
following conditions:
(a)  preference  will  be given for jobs which exceed the minimum wage
and which have the capacity for growth and advancement;
(b) the employer will be responsible for at least fifty percent of the
wages and fringe benefits paid to a worker in training.
3. Needs-related payments may be provided under this section  pursuant
to  subparagraph  (e)  of  section three hundred fourteen of the act for
eligible participants upon demonstration of need after  considering  all
of   the   sources  of  income  available  to  the  participant  or  the
participant's family.  However, such payment shall not  be  made  unless
the  participant's  unemployment  compensation,  including  any extended
benefits, will expire prior to their completion of the program.
4.  Alternative  methods  of  providing  retraining  services  may  be
approved such as:
(a)  A  substate grantee may defer the delivery of retraining services
by providing the program participant with a  certificate  of  continuing
eligibility:
(i)  such  certificates may be effective for periods not to exceed one
hundred four weeks;
(ii) certificates will not include references to any specific  amounts
of funds;
(iii)  certificates  shall state that they are subject to availability
of funds at the time that the services are to be provided; and
(iv) acceptance of a certificate shall not be deemed as enrollment  in
training.
(b)  A  substate  grantee  may  provide  the program participants with
vouchers for training services whereby the participants may seek out and
arrange their own retraining with the following limitations:
(i) service providers must be approved by the grantee pursuant to  the
provisions of subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph;
(ii)  the  commissioner  of education shall prepare a list of programs
approved for funding and shall submit such list to the  commissioner  by
July first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, and shall thereafter from time
to  time  as  he  or  she  determines  necessary  update  such list. The
commissioner shall include on such list only non-degree  programs  which
are  at  least  three  hundred  twenty  clock hours in length, and which
provide skills for employment based on current requirements of  business
and  industry  in  an  occupational field for which favorable employment

opportunities are anticipated in the state and which meet  standards  of
instructional  quality established in regulations by the commissioner of
education. These standards  shall  include,  but  are  not  limited  to,
qualifications of administrative and instructional personnel, quality of
the  curricula,  quality  of  facilities  and equipment, record keeping,
admission, grading, attendance and record  of  placement  of  completers
which   meets   standards   of   acceptability  as  established  by  the
commissioner of education in conjunction with the commissioner;
(iii) such services shall be conducted  under  a  grant,  contract  or
other arrangement between the grantee and the service provider; and
(iv)  substate grantees shall provide vouchers to program participants
only upon demonstration that such program participant has been  accepted
for  and  is  proposing  to undertake an occupational retraining program
which has been approved by the commissioner  of  education  pursuant  to
this section.
5.  Substate grantees shall establish linkages with all involved state
agencies, including local and regional  offices  of  the  department  of
labor,  the  department  of  education  and  the  department of economic
development.